Tragedy in Mexico City

Two weeks ago Monica's sister in Mexico City was killed in a horrible car accident. Monica has yet to tell us all the details of what happened other than to say it was a terrible unjust thing that happened, but she's struggling with why God has let this happen. Her sister left a devastated husband and two darling little boys ages 4 and 2. Since the accident Monica has been caring for these little boys, no small task for her. Monica has two teen age girls, and tell us that these little BOYS are ALL BOY! She's exhausted, not able to go anywhere, and is having a hard time getting any work done! We understand, don't we! Monica is a single mom, and does sewing in her home, so caring for these little guys has made it very difficult for her to do any sewing. Her sister had accepted Christ as her savior and just the other day, Monica led her brother in law to the Lord. This evening I visited Monica and while I was there her brother in law came for his boys. He couldn't stop hugging and kissing them. They were ready to go PLAY, but Dad wanted more hugs and kisses. PRAY for Eduardo. I never caught the 4 year old's name (it's a very unusual name), but the little one is Edgar. As you can imagine, he's struggling right now and suffering terribly. And we may never know why all this has happened.

Fun at the office

Ivonne and I spend our days at the office each day. I "play" with www.obrerofiel.com (faithful worker) all day and Ivonne sells books, Bibles, Bible studies, small cutsie items, T-shirts, games, basically anything you might find in a bookstore. Our bookstore is like none you've even walked into in the States. It's crowded, as you can see in the picture, it's not decorated beautifully, it's like a warehouse with steel shelving, and it's COLD in the winter! Even though it gets to the 80's outside these days, we're still wearing jackets all day as we work. Ivonne has been a widow for about 12 years. Her children are Jhaid about 24, Gaby 22, and Rosy 18. Rosy was 6 when her dad died, and Ivonne struggled to raise her kids and put food on the table. Jhaid helps her in the office in a myriad of ways AND he plays basketball! His great love. He's well over 6 ft. and is a good player! Gaby is getting married March 22nd. Rosy is a loveable chatterbox that EVERYONE, including me, loves and enjoys! Ivonne owns the bookstore and does an excellent job in making it work for her and her family. She doesn't make a lot, since all the items are heavily discounted, but she does OK. A man from Queretaro is making a web page for her, which will help inmeasurably with the sales. Pray for Ivonne! She's our leader of among leaders in the ladies' ministry here at Abundant Life Bible Church.

Backfire!

Don't you love it when a plan comes together? Remember how the A-Team always ended with that question? Well, sometimes a PLAN doesn't COME TOGETHER so well! It backfires! All this week we've been calling people to tell them we were planning a SURPRISE dinner to thank Gilberto for loaning us his home for our congregation over the past 9 years. This morning in church, we glanced around and GUESS who wasn't there! You guessed it! Gilberto and his wife Delia! But all the ladies had made such delicious food, we went ahead and ate without them! We also celebrated the fact that we're now meeting at our new site and God is blessing us!

Jim and Darla Harlacher from SC have been here for two weeks. He and Paul Becker, along with the help of several of the men, installed the electricity, for which we're so thankful. Darla typed up a number of lessons for the web page, and she doesn't even know Spanish! She did a great job! This weekend Tim and Michele O'Brien, missionaries in Cuernavaca, were with us with their three darling kiddos, Katherine, Samuel and Bethany. He preached this morning and we were blessed, encouraged and challenged.

I have 17 grandchildren, so it's going to take awhile to get all their pictures up here! Tonight we'll start with Jeff and Kim's kids. Our first grandchildren both arrived on the same day, Jeffery and Jesse, who are now the big 13. Jeffery blue shirt, Jesse black shirt.

Reading "Ancient History"

I just finished reading "World's Great Short Stories" which contains such famous authors as Somerset Maugham, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, Bret Harte, and a favorite, O. Henry. After reading it, I checked out the year of publication, August 1942! That's before me! Not a whole lot, but enough! There are so many classics that we miss today because we don't read! My hubby Ken had a saying, "You can never, never, never have too many books!" He was so right. I would add, "You can never, never, never READ too many books!"

BEAUTIFUL weather in San Juan del Rio, Qro

It starts out in the early morning in the low 40's and by 11 AM is 81 degrees! Only in Mexico - or maybe there are other spots like this too! I'm definitely not complaining! I wear a heavy Guatemalan jacket to the office each morning and continue wearing it, because our office is very cold. No windows - well, one teeny one up high, but the neighbors next door built a wall about 5 inches from the window, so we don't get a lot of sun! By 3 PM when I head home, I shed the jacket and thoroughly enjoy the sun as I walk home. Others complain because it's SO HOT, but you don't hear me complaining! It'll continue warming up and by mid-March will probably get into the 90's. That's fine!

More pictures of us chowing the tamales

I'm pretty new at this (is it THAT obvious??) and don't know how to add more than ONE picture! Hopefully we'll get a couple more up here before I give up for today!

Tamales anyone?

Last night the ladies of the prayer group celebrated with tamales! And what were we celebrating? First a bit of explanation. At New Year's we traditionally eat the "rosca", which is a wonderful sweet bread, in which are hidden tiny plastic dolls. The person or persons who get a doll have to bring the tamales for the February 2nd celebration. We had to postpone our "February 2nd" celebration until last night, but that didn't matter! During the day several ladies got together and made them. Some were normal corn husk tamales - both sweet and chile. The very best ones were tiny round ones, wrapped in spinach. They were delicious! I ate two, as well as a chile one. It can't get any better than this! I got a few pictures. I gave the camera to Yadhira and she caught me at my most unflattering moments, but at least you know I was there and ENJOYING those tamales!

Dayton age 6 and holding

Even though all my grandkids are UNIQUE, Dayton goes beyond UNIQUE. He is one of a kind, one of the smartest, most exasperating kiddos around - just ask his parents! In Sunday School yesterday, his teacher Rosy told me that Dayton said ALL the books of the New Testament in Spanish for her! She said it took him a little while, because he was so, well so, soooo distracted! But he said them in order and with good pronunciation! Rosy said she's going to really miss teaching this coming quarter and can't wait till it's over so she can get back with these kiddos - especially Dayton! He's a very loving child, just check out the picture of him with his sweet little cousin Maria! They had such a good time together when Maria was here last Christmas!

Dearest friends

You'll remember Mauricio and Conchita Perez and their daughter Claudia. Claudia is now a single mom with a teen age son, Mauricio and Conchita have begun a new church in Queretaro, New Birth Bible Church, and Mauricio also works selling health insurance. While Ken and Esme were here for Christmas, we all enjoyed breakfast at a favorite spot, Bisquets! What fun our friends had presenting gifts to Ken, Esme, Maria and Lluvia, and they especially delighted in watching Maria enjoy the beautiful gifts they presented to her! Mauricio and Conchita have been and always will be, special beloved friends.

Privileged Women meet again

Last night the Privileged Women (who are the women without a partner!) met at Claudia's house for food, fun, fellowship and Bible study. Claudia doesn't come to our church, not because she doesn't want to, but because she has trouble even getting anywhere past her bed. She has rheumatoid arthritis and can hardly manage the very simplest tasks. Her hands and feet are terribly swollen and weak. Her two teen age daughters care for her, but at this time are in Mexico City visiting family, so she's basically alone. Friends and neighbors look in on her and assist her in a myriad of ways. She glows with her new-found faith in Christ. Her friends tell her, "You are so happy now. Whatever it is you have, I want it too!" Monica led her to the Lord and is herself growing so much through the process of discipling her. After singing and studying The Christian Woman according to Titus 2, we mixed spices for Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing and Dip! The ladies LOVE dips, so now they have the spices to make their own! We then indulged in the veggies and dip, as well as a variety of yummies that everyone brought. I love meeting with these gals! They are so full of life and thankfulness to the Lord for the way He provides for them and cares for them!

Did you know that the first missionary to fly with Missionary Aviation Fellowship was slip of a woman named Betty Greene? I'm reading her fascinating story and marvel at how this mission began and how God led Betty. OK, so it's a book for "youth" - go ahead, look for it and read it!

Tennis anyone?

Grandson Cameron, age 9, loves his tennis lessons. His dog Peanut would love to go along and chase the balls for him.

Sunday morning at our new property

Yesterday we met for the third time at our new property. It has a partially finished house and the conditions are very rustic, but we're very happy to be there. The men put a tarp over the central part of the house, which is where we meet for worship. The young people and children meet for Sunday school in two of the rooms (which have roofs), the ladies and men meet for their class after worship under the tarp. Sometimes the noise level is a little high, but we listen hard to our OWN teacher! How we thank the Lord for our OWN property. We've already had a work day to clear weeds, move rocks and clean up and several teams will be coming this year to help us develop it. Praise the Lord with me!

Susy, Marta and baby Lynet

The cake was beautiful as well as luscious.

Tonight about 23 ladies gathered to welcome Lynet Victoria, who was born a month ago. Her mama is Susy and her VERY PROUD Grandma is Marta. We played games, I gave a talk about what we desire most for our children, we ate and fellowshipped. Bethie made a beautiful cake shaped like a child's block and what was left over, was taken home for many volunteers! Susy's mother in law and two sisters in law joined us - they are not Christians. We're praying that this will be the beginning of a good relationship with them and that soon they will come to know our Lord.