Día del Niño (Children´s Day)

Today is Día del Niño in Mexico, Children´s Day. We celebrated the special day yesterday at our church, Abundant Life Bible Church. And wow!! What a party. We held our normal worship service first, THEN, THEN the party began!

I had invited the two ladies I´m studying with, Rosa and Araceli, and Ara´s three children, and they came! I just hope and pray they´ll continue coming - even when there´s not a party!!

First was a luscious meal of hot dogs and other dishes the ladies had brought: mole verde, several "sopas" (spaggeti dishes), tostadas, beans, and my ever-present veggie and dip plate (no matter how big I make it, and I made it BIG this time, every bit disappears especially the dip!).  When everyone was filled up, the games began! Gaby and Rosy, two very enthusiastic and bubbly sisters, were in charge and definitely made it a fun afternoon for all! The pictures will explain a lot of what happened!

The blue bucket contained jello squares in yogurt - wow! Was that good! The other contained rice pudding, which disappeared almost as fast as the jello!

I made two cakes and Ivonne made two. We served them at the very end of the party. Everyone went home happy!

As the children arrived, to their delight they were given masks. Here Karol and Karen, Ara´s girls, show off their masks. 

I had forgotten my camera so asked Paul to take pictures - and of course the first one he takes is of Grace and me! Can you tell we´re already having fun?

Our newest couple, Julio and Tania, married just ONE MONTH! First time back to church after their wedding April 31st.

Parents (or grandparents) had to answer questions and match what their kiddos answered. What´s Karen´s favorite color? What´s Angel´s favorite TV show? etc. And when they got more than one answer wrong? Well, it´s Truth or Consequences!!

Amazing how it delighted kids to gun down their parents (or Grandmas in this case) with water!

Water-balloon throw! It ended in a free-for-all! That´s when it´s nice to have just a plan ol´ cement floor!

The children were divided by age groups for appropriate games - here José de Jesús helps the little ones fish and of course they receive a prize too!

Ever bob for 1/4 apple? I don´t know if it´s easier or harder, but the kids had fun. This also ended in a free-for-all when the older kids started dunking their friends!

This activity turned out to be a TERRIBLE MESS!! Paint on the table, on clothes, in hair, and you should have seen the bathroom sinks where everyone washed up! But the kids had a blast - of course!

Last activity - line up for a nice picture! And of course you guessed it......

Rosy and Isabel dumped the left-over water all over the kids! Shock, shock! Most of them thought it was fun. Little Joel, age 3, didn´t! Again, thankful for a cement floor, where the water just seeps into it! Climax of a fun, fun afternoon! One the kids won´t soon forget - or the parents, for that matter!

Dreams

I found this cool little poem that is just what I´m thinking - dreaming! I have lots of dreams of "stuff" I want to do before I head to heaven! So, even though some of those dreams seem outrageous and unlikely to happen, I dream on! What?? You say you want to hear what some of them are? Are you sure? OK, here´s a couple!

I dream of taking a trip to England and Scotland. I have a sweet friend in England who I´d love, love, love to visit. And, well, what fun to see one of the countries my ancestors came from - that´s Scotland! Maybe England too, I don´t know for sure! I dream of traveling to LOTS of places: Europe, Singapore to visit special friends, Central America (how about a grand tour??), Peru to visit a cousin, Colombia to visit a sister in law, Israel to see and walk where Jesus walked - and I could go on!

And I dream of getting my big family together - sometime, somehow - that´s one of the outrageous, unlikely to happen dreams, but I dream on! I do research on places we could meet. I wish I could just pay for it all, so, even though none of my kids have the funds to do this, I could make it happen. But, in the end, I have to just wait and see what happens, even though people tell me I need to plan and MAKE it happen. It isn´t that easy! So, what I CAN do is get PART of my family together. I fly one family from Chicago to El Paso to spend a few days with siblings and cousins. I fly one family from El Paso to Chicago for the same reason! I wish I had a million bucks, but I don´t so why wish?? But I AM spending my kids´ inheritance to spend time together! Might as well enjoy it while I´m here, right?

So, I dream on!

Dreams

By Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

IT´S JUST ME, LORD

I am only one, but I am one.

I cannot do everything, but I can do something.

What I can do, I should do and,

With the help of God, I will do!

By Everett Hale

I am reading a book I found called Stories of the Heart, Compiled by Alice Gray. It has all kinds of good stuff! This morning, this poem jumped out at me! WOW! Sometimes, don´t you feel that you´re so little in this huge universe, what in the WORLD can you do for God?? Well, I feel that way a lot. What can little me do? But God just wants us to DO, not worry about HOW we do it! And He´s always there for us - for me! Isn´t that a glorious thought?? And yes, I´m only ONE, but as Everett says WITH GOD´S HELP, I´ll do what He wants me to do, and with His help, I´ll do it well!

The Shaved heads in our house

Alan posted a couple pictures of him and Dayton - two of the shaved heads in our house. There's one more, but he doesn't like to show it off. Here it is, covered up!

 Enjoying some gorditas in Queretaro. After scarfing down these two, he ordered two more! 

The quesadilla in front is mine - rajas with cheese - delicious!

And here are the other two guys!

FOUR RULES TO LIVE BY

FOUR RULES TO LIVE BY

By Francis Schaeffer

1. Seek strength through prayer

2. Be open and trustworthy

3. Bear your difficulties cheerfully

4. Develop the gifts that God gave you

CUATRO REGLAS PARA LA VIDA

Por Francis Schaeffer

1. Busca fortaleza por medio de la oración

2. Sea abierto y confiable

3. Soporta tus dificultades con gozo

4. Desarrolla los dones que Dios te ha dado

This isn't a poem, but I thought it was appropriate for today. The first one, of course, is the most important. And I don't believe God expects busy mothers, wives, whoever, to spend hours and hours in prayer. We can live with a prayerful attitude all day long, right? Hey, today I prayed for some of you on my way to and from La Comer (the grocery store)! Does that count?? I believe so!

It's in Spanish too, because for some reason I translated it, so I guess I need to share that too, especially for those of you who understand the language of the angels better than English!

JULIO AND TANIA

Julio and Tania celebrated their marriage last night. It wasn't their actual marriage ceremony, as they were already married. Here in Mexico the only ceremony that counts or is required is the civil ceremony, which took place about 2 weeks ago. Last night was their celebration with family and friends. And what a party it was!

It began with a short ceremony where several friends and relatives gave the traditional wedding gifts: a Bible, the arras (thirteen pieces of money, given to the bride and groom, that symbolize prosperity in their marriage), the beautiful decorated pillows on which they kneel as the preacher prays, the lazo (a cord - again, beautifully crafted - that goes around the couple to symbolize union in their marriage), and the union candles. Usually there is then a long sermon by the preacher, but the couple decided not to do that, since most of their family would not have stayed if it had happened! They were then introduced as husband and wife.


And THEN the party REALLY began! They had a coffee table, a candy/chocolate fountain table, a fun MC who led in some fun games with prizes, an ice cream cart, a magician and of course a big delicious meal. Bethie and I did the candy/chocolate fountain table - we had NEVER done this, so our learning curve was high! And it started out well - it began raining so we quickly took our table into the eating area, where it was SUPER crowded! And then when people started through the line, we couldn't keep up with putting the fruit on the sticks! Marta helped by doing the chocolate fountain (it was a very small one - like, for 25 people - we had 300!!), Bethie doled out candy, which ran out before the people did, and three teen age boys, Luis, Luis Angel and Victor came along and helped us put the fruit on the sticks! MUCHAS GRACIAS, jovenes! So, we survived! But it definitely was one crazy party! Toward the end of the line, people started asking for special favors, "Could you make one without the marshmallow?" "No, the sticks are already made up." But I don't like marshmallows." "Then, eat everything but the marshmallow!" "No, I guess I don't want one." Ah well! We decided unanimously (Bethie and I, that is) that if anyone else asks us to do this, the answer, without a moment's hesitation, will be N - O !! 


But the guests were happy, the bride was thrilled, the mother of the bride was beaming, so we were happy too!


Here are some snapshots of our crazy party!

Getting ready outside before it started raining!

Here comes the bride - with her parents. And yes, her mom Monica, is crying!!

We moved inside right by the food line. It was extremely crowded and very crazy! But people told me later that the table looked so pretty!

We're RIGHT behind these folks - can you see us back there? BTW, the food was delicious! We didn't eat till we'd served all our guests their chocolate goodies, and even though the food was a little cold by then, it was luscious!

The magician was one of "our" young people from our Queretaro days (back in the 90's!), Adrian Gonzalez. It was a pleasure to see him again and be able to greet him. Here he performs a "magic" trick for the bride and groom.

For those of you who remember Adrian, here's a little better shot of him - sorry, it's all I got. I didn't actually see the performance - I was busy serving chocolate messes!! Someone else was kind enough to get some pictures for me! Thanks Paul!!

Felix and his daughter Lucero brought their ice cream cart and served ice cream as part of the festivities. Bethie and I got in on a vanilla treat that was luscious!

Tania and Julio Cesar

A nasty custom here is to have the one celebrating either a birthday or wedding, take a bite of the cake, and while biting, his/her face is pushed into the cake. Ugly, huh? Julio's family can be mean at times, and here's a good example of it. I couldn't believe they did this to him.

Actually, I can believe it. Here's the proof. Thanks to friend Victor, Julio was able to 'sort of' clean up. Bethie and I headed home while the loooong line formed to get a piece of cake.

It WAS a lovely wedding. And it WAS fun. Yes, it was crazy. We knew it would be! Now the young couple is gone - somewhere - on their honeymoon and hopefully we won't see them for a few days! But we look forward to continued ministry with them at Iglesia Biblica Vida Abundante.