Odds and Ends

Well, today I (LeRoy) went for breakfast with Walter, my mentor. We had a wonderful time discussing ministry ideas, chatting about opportunities in the churches etc. I also shared with him some of the struggles we have in our work in the neighborhood of Vista Hermosa. Sometimes I find it very hard to get motivated to go there by myself. Nor is it always healthy to be going it alone.
On a more positive note, Faith is going to start a Bible study with a lady in that area, and I may have made connections with a store owner in the area that says he too is interested in studying the Bible together. Please pray for the Lord to work in Arnie's life (not his real name), and for wisdom and courage for me to find a time that suits him to get together

New Blog:)

So we have decided to keep this blog a more ministry based blog. Where we'll have ministry updates, prayer requests, and answers to prayer. That sort of thing. So now you can find a link up top called Our Family Adventures. That is where you will find more personal blogs on our family, home life, and prayer requests that are more related to us personally. So you can choose where you want to look:) And with links at the top on both blogs you can stay connected to both very easily. And there are also links to our Pictures on both so we're always easy to find:)

Health Update

Thank you for your prayers, LeRoy's grandpa possibly will be going home tomorrow, and they were able to take him off the pace maker yesterday. God is so good.

And my health has once again been restored as well. Sunday evening the kidney pain had already let up so much I was able to have a restful night, and Monday morning I felt like a totally different person, other than the morning sickness. So once again God brought me through a health scare, and I stayed sane through it:)

Update on Grandpa

Thank you for all who prayed for LeRoy's grandpa. He had heart surgery on Friday to try and clear 14 blockages he had. We have not heard how many they were actually able to do, but he made it through surgery. He is now slowly recovering and a huge step in his health is yet to happen. He has a very weak heart due to major heart attacks in the past, so now he is hooked up to a pace maker but they are wanting to take it off. The problem is his heart isn't strong enough. Please pray that his heart will be strengthened so they can disconnect the pace maker and he can continue to live without needing to be plugged into something. And again, thank you for praying for him.

Another prayer request is once again for my (Faith) health. Yesterday was a pregnancy sick day for me, but then in the evening my kidney once again started acting up. So up until now I have been trying to bear with the pain and discomfort since I can't take anything for it this time around with being pregnant. Now it does feel like it's letting up, and my stomach is actually growling for food after not eating for almost 2 days. Pray that I will figure out a way to eat healthier so this doesn't occur so often. I really would prefer not to live with the fear of it always coming back. I'd rather be in labor, when you know there's a good ending to the pain.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY & GRANDPA

Well Dad, today you are 50. Too bad you're not feeling so great, but we are glad you are able to celebrate tonight. We'll celebrate with you in spirit today, and with you personally in 5 1/2 weeks:) You are a very special man to all of us whether you are dad (in-law), grandpa, or my daddy:) We all have our memories with you and are excited to make many more. We pray for you and hope today you can have a very special day. We pray that you will have another year full of blessings upon blessings. We Love You!!!





I recall the day when my LeRoy came to call,
It feels like only yesterday we swam and played football,
But we knew, the time would come, for you to set me free,
But no matter where I go, you know I'll always be,

Your Daddy's Girl

Love you Daddy

Please Pray

LeRoy's grandpa is having heart surgery tomorrow to fix some artery blockages he has. No one knows anymore how many there are, but 2 major ones are completely blocked, another is 80% blocked, and then there is more. Please pray he makes it through the surgery as he has had heart problems in the past and at first the doctors denied doing the surgery, and for some reason changed their minds.

Preschool Already? - 13 weeks

Here in Mexico school works a little differently than back home. In Canada preschool is optional, and kids have to start beginning with Kindergarten. Here, preschool is optional at age 3, but at age 4 is mandatory. So since Brooklyn will be turning 4 in May she has to go to school starting in August. We've kept our ears open for a couple months of different private schools (we said no quite quickly to the public schools) and after a couple meetings with 2 different schools, we registered her today at Colegio Bilingue Gestalte. A private bilingual school that offers preschool up to grade 3. I had a meeting with them on Friday and I was so impressed that I brought LeRoy and the girls again on Monday so they could see it too so we both knew what we were trying to decide on. Brooklyn did not want to leave. Here's a little about this school...preschool has it's own wing of the school and it's own playground area, all the teachers know and teach in english up until kindergarten, music class twice a week, gym twice a week, computer class twice a week, uniforms are a must, they stressed fun in every other sentence...much more I could probably say. We found it quite hard thinking of Brooklyn going to school, more people to entrust her to 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. One of the biggest reasons we picked this school was thinking of Brooklyn's personality. She is quiet, shy, does not give her trust easily (she still refuses to say hi and bye to new friends out here), and she's a timid little girl, all until she opens up and trusts you. Then she's a very different child. The environment we felt when we were at the school was the perfect kind to accept her and help her slowly open up. We are excited to have found a school for her, and to see her excitement about it, that we know will leave very fast when the time comes for her to realize we can't stay with her at school.

Another very exciting part of life is that today I am 13 weeks pregnant. We have hit the date I always look forward to. On Friday I had another appointment and another ultrasound. I love my monthly ultrasounds. I got to hear the heartbeat beating strong, and see baby's 2 legs, 2 arms, 2 eyes, and see it move around like crazy!!! So now in the next month LeRoy and I need to decide if we want to know if this baby is a boy or a girl:) Need to decide before my next appointment, in case the doctor can tell by then and just blurts it out. haha I think we are leaning towards finding out with this one. We are both just too eager to know if we'll have another precious little girl, or our first little man.

Some New Pics

To view the pics I am sure you know what to do by now:) They are in the January '10 album.

Mexican Lasagna

This is a post with an excellent recipe. I found it last year while in Texas and I have now made it for several people, and it's been a huge hit. I've even been told by a few they like it better than the traditional lasagna. And we love it too:) So I thought I'd share the recipe with all of you and you can all taste it, since I can't make it for everybody.

Mexican Lasagna

1 1/4 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups salsa
1 can (16 oz) refried beans
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 envelope taco seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
6 flour tortillas (10 inches)
3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided (I have used other cheeses as well)
2 cups broken tortilla chips
Sour cream, sliced ripe olives, guacamole and chopped tomatoes, optional

In a large skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in salsa, beans, enchilada sauce, chilies, taco seasoning and pepper; heat through. Spread 1 cup sauce in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Layer with 2 tortillas, a third of the meat mixture and 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and meat mixture. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese and top with tortilla chips. Bake 10-15 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with sour cream, olives, guacamole and tomatoes, if desired.

ENJOY!!!

Revoluciona: Youth Conference

If you read the previous post, you see that Faith has a subtle way of making sure that I sit down and write about this past weekend.
Well, it was quite a weekend, very eventful in many ways, and very difficult to put all of it into writing. I guess it would be a good idea to start at the beginning. The event was in Juarez, across the border from El Paso, TX. The CEMM(EMC) churches had invited many of the other churches in the area to attend the event, and this led to there being about 250 at Friday's session. The speaker was great, actually all were really solid, around the theme of revolutionizing your life, church, ministry and city. We were all really challenged by the conference, that if we didn't go home and do something about our faith, acting it out, well then we really haven't learnt anything.
I guess what stuck out to me was that we should be able to say, like Paul, 'if you want to see an example of Christ, look at me'.
As many of you have probably heard, while we were in a session, someone got shot basically in front of the church. That was kind of disturbing, but it taught me many things. One of them is that it is amazing to see the church in Juarez growing and gaining momentum despite the violence. Just seeing how everyone remained calm through it all, trusting and knowing that God takes care of his people. I was amazed and realized more and more, how lacking I am in faith, so often.

In the end, we will only know in time if the event had any impact. I hope and pray that it does. I already heard from some in our group how they were planning on putting their faith into action a lot more. "To the eternal King,immortal and invisible, the only God-to him be honor and glory forever and ever!Amen."

Home Again

We arrived home this evening, LeRoy dropped us girls off while he went to drop off the rest of the full van of guys, and we're looking forward to spending some time together again. LeRoy spent the last 3 days with 6 other guys, plus many more, at a young adults retreat in Juarez. He says overall it was a great weekend, I look forward to hearing more of what he learned. And the best part...God was with them, protected them, and they came home safe and sound. Us girls spent Friday shopping with Tara and her boys and then joined them in Delicias for the weekend. It was a great weekend, full of treating the kids and ourselves. It was a time to relax and enjoy girl time, even with the 4 kids. Now I have the girls in bed, and I await for my dear husband to return so we can spend the rest of the evening together. But I have a feeling he'll want to go to bed early...it was a very full weekend...including about 10-12 concerts in 1 1/2 days...just to give you an idea. I'm sure LeRoy will want to write more yet of his time out there, once he's had time to digest it all.

Hope you all had a great weekend:) We sure did!!

Excitement

With life here feeling very lonely it has been so nice to have some exciting things happen. We have had 2 random men show interest in studying the Bible with LeRoy. One of these men showed up in Vista Hermosa on Saturday asking us where he could find a church. A great conversation starter:) And he also told LeRoy he would love to get together and study the Bible. We don't know exactly where he lives in that area, but do know he only moved there a week ago from Juarez, so hopefully he will be walking around or in his front yard this afternoon while LeRoy has gone to search for him. This coming weekend is a young adults retreat in Juarez. LeRoy along with Dallas will be bringing some young men to this and there has been more interest in going than we initially though which brings more excitement. Hopefully there will still be at least one or 2 seats left in the van for me and the girls to catch a ride to Chihuahua and meet up with Tara for some shopping and the weekend at their house.

Growing excitement here at home is this baby. Brooklyn is getting even more excited, saying good morning to the baby every day. I can just imagine her enthusiasm when she can start feeling the baby kick and move around.

And excitement for future visitors became official yesterday. My parents will be spending close to 3 weeks with us beginning of March. I can hardly wait to see my mommy and daddy:)

We are looking forward to having a family from church over tonight for supper. I have yet to make New Years Cookies this year, so today I will make some, and let our company taste one of our traditions:) This morning the girls had their last Hepatitis needles, and they did so great. Emma clung to me and cried before and until it was over. Immediately after the needle she starts laughing and says "sucker, sucker". haha She already knows at this doctor she gets a sucker when it's over. And Brooklyn also amazed us and didn't scream at the top of her lungs which I was expecting. I like it when kids surprise us.

Yesterday we had a much needed outing with great friends. We met Dallas and Tara in Chihuahua for supper at an excellent fast food tacos restaurant with a nice big play structure for the kids. We ended up being there 2 1/2 hours. We are so thankful to have good friends out here with us. Someone to have a break with and a time of breathing away from ministry. But then there also comes the time to come home, and yesterday again we were hit with the loneliness, even when not leaving the country.

It's About Time

I know it's been far too long since you've heard anything from us here. Every time I sat down to write, my mind went blank. A lot of our feelings have been full of blankness this week. Feelings of loneliness, questioning why we don't just go home, and if we're actually doing what we're supposed to be doing while here. But then the feelings of excitement come with the work we are doing. So a lot of mixed emotions going on. I also was pretty excited last week when we saw snow:)


We had so much fun with LeRoy's family here. With 7 extra adults in the house it was chaos and fun. We met them in El Paso and spent a couple days there and then headed down here on Christmas Eve. It was nice to spend Christmas Day with family, and yet to be able to celebrate it here in our new home. In a way we could have a bit of our own traditions still then too. We started one this year with the girls that LeRoy's family grew up with. It's pretty much like stockings, but involves putting out bowls on the table Christmas Eve. I don't know how that German word is spelled, so I won't even try. The picture above is the girls looking what treats are all in their bowls. It was hard when the time came to say goodbye early Monday morning. After crying for awhile and realizing we were back to feeling lonely, we were thankful the girls let us sleep in a couple hours. The following picture is Emma with Uncle Nate.

This week we have tried to get back into our normal routine, do major cleanup, and try to get healthy. All that seemed to be difficult. LeRoy is still fighting a cold, which seemed to turn into a sinus infection yesterday. He's been miserable so he is at the doctor as I type. Today something hit me, maybe it's just pregnancy, but I'm not sure. I just feel I need to rest which is near impossible with a sick husband and 2 young kids.

My mind has come to a blank once again. There's been lots I what to write about, like....why I like snow so much, differences in culture we noticed over the holidays, and more that I just can't remember. But like I said, as soon as I sit to write on some topic, my mind goes blank. Maybe I can blame this on pregnancy. haha