Proud Day

There are days on the job when you think you have failed in every area. Then there are days that just make you feel so good to be a part of what God is doing around the globe. Today was one of those days for me. I have been meeting with a group of women every Wednesday for several months now to pray. At first it was just me who would pray. Then one other woman started to join in. We usually have 5 women in all gathered for prayer and we have really gotten close through this time. Today I arrived late b/c I had been at our new home cleaning with Greg and didn't get home in time. So when I did arrive I walked in and was pleasingly surprised by what I saw. Two of our regular prayer partners were sharing from their hearts how God had changed their lives to a new comer.

Now, I must back up a little, this new comer is only coming b/c of one reason...... her son. When we returned from the states almost a year ago my kids got to know a boy named Eto. (pictured below at Alex's birthday party bowling) They really liked him and asked him to come to our study. (that is what we call church) So he started to come by himself every Monday and Friday. He hardly ever missed a day. He loved hearing Bible stories. One night about a month ago, a woman whom we had never met showed up at our study. We were excited to have a new visitor and Greg and I both went to welcome her. Well that is when we found out that it was Eto's mother. She said her son had been asking her to come and she finally decided to give it a try. She hasn't missed a night since. So today she joined our prayer group. It brings tears to my eyes to see how it all works. One boy brings his Mama who hopefully will bring her husband and little by little our village can be reached. One boy.

Okay, back to prayer group. So they were sharing with her about how to accept Jesus as her Savior and how they felt after they were baptized and what a joy it was to meet and pray together. Lafira ( this new comer) listened and was so interested in it all. So it came time to pray and I usually ask who is going to pray so there isn't an uncomfortable silence. To my excitement all 5 of us prayed today. When we were done Lafira said, " I was so scared to do that, I couldn't get the words out. I was just so overcome with love for Jesus." She cried through her entire prayer. It was precious. All of the women then started laughing and said, we were the same way. But.. little by little you get less scared and then you just want to pray. It was just... neat. I left there with a smile on my face that I don't think anyone could wipe off!

Really love these people. I mean..... my heart belongs to these people. I would do just about anything to help them find the peace that I have found. I hope you all have found that same peace. Because it just is too awesome to live without it!

love you all!! Missy

Happy Easter!

Hi friends! Well, I must say Easter here takes on a whole different feel than it does in the US. I remember last year as we enjoyed all the spring flowers and got our spring clothes on for Easter service. We enjoyed celebrating that Jesus had risen from the grave and loved singing the familiar hymns. Of course we also loved eating the goodies that the Easter Bunny brought. I was just looking at a picture I took in Target last year on the candy isle. I couldn't believe how much candy there was for Easter, I mean there were at least 4 or 5 isles filled with different types of Easter candy. Not to mention all of the Easter egg hunts that were advertised at all of the parks and churches and schools. It was just fun, fun, fun.

Well, one good thing about living here is that if you don't see those things advertised, you don't know you should be missing them. Or at least if you are 7 you don't know. Annie has no idea that tomorrow is the day when the Easter Bunny is supposed to come. She hasn't seen one plastic egg, one jelly bean or chocolate bunny . Those just aren't important here and so it hasn't been something she has missed. Which is a huge blessing! I on the other hand have missed the jelly beans! ;o)

It is nice having Easter be about our Savior and not about colored eggs and a bunny. I must say that is where they get it right here. My dad asked me what they did to celebrate here and I told him they have parades with statues of Mary and Jesus and they go up to the statues and pray to them. They wear crowns of thorns on their heads and many may even walk on their knees for awhile to show that they are willing to physically suffer for Him. Now of course it breaks my heart to see them doing this because this isn't what Jesus would want them to be doing. My dad said, " Well at least they are doing it in the name of Jesus." That got me thinking. He is right. I don't agree with what they do here as they are worshipping idols and that is contrary to His teachings. However; is hunting for colored eggs and sitting on an Easter bunny's lap for pictures or putting a lot of focus on all of the things we put our focus on at Easter much different? Really when it comes to Easter I would bet that the church service we attend is about an hour, (in the US) how much time do we spend on all those other things? I am not preaching to all of you, I am pretty much preaching to myself. I haven't spent that much time on those things here in Mexico, but I did when I was in the US.

I read other blogs. Not many but some and I always think, " Man I bet the few people who read my blog get so bored with what I have to write." I am not a biblical scholar. That was actually one of the reasons I thought I couldn't do what I am doing. But then I look at Moses, he said he was awkward with his words and God used him. I never really say much that is life changing or anything, nothing too deep comin' out of this here mouth. But... I do hope I can at least make myself think a little and that is what this post has made me do, THINK. It hurts too! :o)

Anyway, one thing we did on Friday to celebrate was we showed the Jesus film in their language. Greg was a little worried b/c once we had it all set up and lots of chairs put out there were only 3 adults there and it was time to start. (There are always a lot of kids, at that time there were about 10.) So we sang a few songs and sure enough by the end of our singing the place was starting to look full. We started the movie and they kept coming and coming and coming. People we have never seen before filled our place of worship up! It was enough to make me want to cry. People on the streets were hearing this movie in their language and they just came in to see it. It was just awesome. By the end of it, I think we had around 65 people. Many of our regular attendees weren't there but lots of visitors were. We have been asked to do the same thing in another village on Thursday night. So, please pray that Thursday we will see the same effect on another village! Thanks for reading and praying and thanks for not thinking I am a peon! Happy Easter! Love, Missy

Fun times!

Fun times! These are just a few of the pictures I have been meaning to upload. I will try to get more on here, it just takes a loooong time to do so. I will try though! I need to go now because are heading to church for the Lord's Supper and a lesson on Christ's last days. This is always a tough time around here for the people  in our church because there are so many things that are traditional here but are directly related to idol worship. That poses a big conflict for many of them and some continue in their traditional ways of idol worship. This makes us sad, but only HE can change this. Please pray for them throughout this week! Love to you all! Missy

Racing, blindfolded to change a babydoll. It was a hoot!

This was at the baby shower. The women were drawing pictures of what they thought the baby would look like on plates which were on top of their heads.

We were the first people there which was nice, that is a blessing about being here! This was a picture of the boys teaching their friends how to bowl.

Annie was just enjoying the celebration part of the party!

This is Eto, he was loving this!

The boys with their friends at the bowling alley.

This is little baby ? she was born the day after the baby shower. They still haven't named her yet!

Little Alex with Max, the sweetest dog ever!

Alex turns 12!

My baby boy turns 12 today! It seems like yesterday he was 2 and tackling his brother. We knew then he would love football, and sure enough he lives and breathes it!  We celebrated his big day on Saturday because Holy Week starts tomorrow and we knew this weekend would be a very busy week everywhere here in Mexico.  We took two of his friends bowling and that was a hoot. Ya know doing things like that in the states is fun; but doing it here.... well it is something else! We had a blast. The main reason being the two boys we took had never been bowling, so to watch them bowl was just a lot of fun! I am going to bring my computer to town today and try to upload some photos. love you all! Missy

Waist Away

Strange title, huh? Well... let me tell you a story. When I was in 7th grade I was a little chunky and the kids made fun of me on the bus. They mooed at me and called me wide load and put wide load signs on my butt when I would sit down on the bus seat. It was a terrible time in my life. I remember how horrible I felt when they would call me names. One day I just couldn't take it anymore and ran home after getting off of the bus and just sobbed when I got inside my house. Of course my mom tried to make me feel better and told me they just did it because they knew it bothered me. Soon after that I started working out 3 days a week at a little aerobics studio in a strip mall. It was called, Waist Away. I was never good at sports, never good at playing instruments, never good at really much of anything. BUT... I was good at this. I really enjoyed aerobics. The women who did aerobics with me, averaged in ages of probably about 30-50. The majority ( from what I can remember) were probably in their 50's. Or that is how it seemed when I was in the 7th grade. Anyway... these women were so kind to me and so encouraging to me and I felt good when I was there. I learned to love this type of exercise. I then went on to do the same type in high school and in college.


However.... I have NEVER been what I would consider skinny. I have always had to work at staying an average size.

So.... when my precious people asked me to help them; I couldn't turn them down. The majority of the women in our village are really overweight. They receive money from the government if they meet certain requirements. They have to sweep the streets twice a week at 6:30 am, they have to attend some teachings on different things and they have to exercise with a certain lady 2-3 times a week. This certain lady however is teaching them all of these techniques that are causing them a lot of pain. She must have just seen something on TV and is just making them do some things she thinks will help them. However, what she is teaching them is really doing more harm than good. So those that really want to lose weight are meeting together and trying to work out in a proper manner. That is why they have asked me to help them. It really is precious to see. Some of these women are like Biggest Loser big. They have such a desire to lose weight though and they are really dedicated to this. So we had our first session tonight and I have to say you guys would have peed your pants if you had seen it. I mean, the windows were covered tight so no one could see, and they were dressed in everything from skin tight jeans ( b/c they didn't fit) to sweat pants, to their full indigenous dress. I mean all layers of their indigenous dress and they were doing leg lifts and sit ups and dancing around and I was hot, so they had to be dying! Of course I never knew that part of my job description would be aerobics instructor, but... I would do just about anything to reach these people, so.... I guess I am aerobics instructor. (sometimes, hopefully not all the time!) So I guess it is true that God can use even our weaknesses for his glory. Or in this case... my big bottom! ;o)

I have another story to tell, but I will wait and tell you tomorrow! Love you all! Missy

Baby Shower

Hi Friends! Hope you are all doing well! I have to tell you some days I want to write on here and never find a second to do it. So, I am making myself take time before this story is old news. I guess you wouldn't know it was old news, but the way my memory is lately, I would forget. I have lots of pictures to add to the story but b/c our internet is so pewey, it just won't allow me to upload photos anymore. So, I will have to wait until I am in town someday to do  that. Anyway... here goes.

My  friends come by my house last Friday night and ask my how to fill out a Baby Shower invitation. It was all in Spanish except for the words on front which said, "Baby Shower" in English. Now they have never had a baby shower nor been to a baby shower before and really had no idea what to do. All they knew was that they had seen them in movies before and wanted to have one. So, I helped them fill it out and then they asked me if I could come. They were planning on having it the next day at 3 they said. They told me they were telling everyone to come at 2 but they knew no one would be there until around 3. So, I told them I could come and would see them a little before 3.

So... around 2:45 I am thinking I should leave and then I get to thinking. I bet they are expecting me to do everything. So I go online and look up a few baby shower games that don't require reading or writing or many materials and head to their home. I arrive and see that the mama to be is cooking their typical party meal, her mother-in-law is stirring a salsa over the fire in a big pot and the grandma to be is making pineapple juice. I am a little surprised they are just now doing all of this but, nothing really shocks me anymore. I visit some of the family members, take some pictures and hang out with Lupita. (The recently wed teen-ager who we have been praying for) That is a whole other story, for another day.

 So... about 2 and a half hours later, you heard right, 2 and a half hours later, around 5:30 people arrived and we all sat down in chairs. They had some cute decorations, balloons and streamers and a poster up and we looked at those things and then it came... "Melissa.... what do we do now?" Ha! I was so thankful I had planned something ahead. So I taught them some really fun games to play and for some women who never have fun in their lives, these women laughed soooo hard I thought they would wet themselves! It was great! After we played 4 games, we ate their food, then had cake, and then she opened her gifts. It was quite humbling to see some of these sweet gifts. She got a little hat, some fruit, some juice, crackers, a blanket, a tiny pack of diapers, some socks and a few outfits. Some of the women who were more well off bought outfits, cheap, but still a little better than some of the other gifts but she was so grateful for the gifts she received. I was blessed to be there! I will upload the pics of this soon, because they were awesome! Love you all! Missy