“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” -Psalm 100:4-5
As this bible verse reminds us, we need to praise God and give him thanks because His love is un-ending. Nothing we did made us deserve His love, and nothing we do can use up His love for us. Praise God for His patience with us despite our mistakes!!
Two weekends ago, Tim went with about 90 men to Cancun for a men's retreat. He enjoyed his time and had nice time away to just focus on God. While he was in Cancun, we had girls weekend here in Merida. Sarah and John were out of town, so Angelica, Nicole, Kristi and I stayed in their house and watched their dogs. It was a wonderful 3-day weekend with the girls! We had Nicole's baby shower on Saturday and Sunday I went with the three of them to their mission in the city of Tizimin (approx 22,000). We had a great weekend having girl-bonding, giggling like crazy, talking about babies, and encouraging and challenging each other in faith. I feel so blessed to be such great friends with such strong, wonderful Christian girls! I am thankful for you Nicole, Kristi, Angelica and Sarah!
This past weekend, Tim and I flew home early Friday and arrived back to Merida late Monday night. It was a whirl-wind of a weekend, but was excellent to spend time with family from both sides, and friends! The reasons we went home was to stand up in and celebrate in Kim and Jim's wedding (Tim's sister and now brother-in-law). The weekend was packed with catching up with Tim's side of the family, preparing for the wedding, and enjoying the fun reception. Then, Sunday after church we drove the 3hrs home to Columbus and had Thanksgiving dinner with my parents, my best friend Jenny, and the Reimann clan. It was fun and relaxing evening! We came back tired from the long hours of traveling, and too few hours of sleep, but feeling blessed to have spend time with family and friends. We are so thankful for God's blessing of loving, nurturing, and caring families!
General Merida update:
God is GOOD!!! We were recently getting discouraged about our bible study in Hocaba. The kids were coming, but were not listening and just very disrespectful. Also we weren't seeing the commitment, excitement or growth that we'd hoped for. So, we decided to change how we go about it. Now, we now longer play soccer with them. Instead we have 2 classes they can choose from: guitar class, or craft class. How it works is that we all come together and I do a very dramatic and exciting telling of a Bible story to capture their interest and teach them about God and how he wants us to live. After a discussion of how to apply to story to our lives, we break into groups. Tim leads a guitar class, in which we are using the school's 5 guitars plus Tim's guitar and he is teaching the kids notes, strumming, etc. The goal is to teach them a few praise songs. The kids that are too young, or not interested in guitar go to the craft class with me. We will do something different each week. So far, we used the beads that Jenny generously donated and made necklaces. These kids were beyond thrilled!!! None of them had ever made a necklace before, nor used beads, so they were pumped! Then, we went outside to leave (and it was pitch dark, no street lights in Hocaba) and the kids went ballistic with glee! Some of the beads glowed and they were stunned and so excited!! It was very cute to see. Last week we used water colors donated by Tim's aunt Kristi, and this week we are going to make ear-rings. The new format is proving to be a huge success. The kids are dedicated to coming since they are interested in the classes, and the deal is that they respectfully listen and participate in the Bible study to be able to go to the class afterwards! We are very encouraged!
Also, God is SOOO GOOD!! We have been praying for Hocaba, that God steps in and shows us how to better the Hocaba mission and get people excited about it. In that prayer, we pray for money to continue construction on the permanent concrete building. God is answering that prayer in very unexpected ways! My sister Laura and her husband Matt came to visit in the early fall. They showed their pictures and counted their experience to Matt's family. They felt lead to give a very generous donation to Hocaba. Then, we found out the the Florida's mission team coming in January is focusing on Hocaba and will also be making a donation. Then at Kim's wedding this weekend someone from Tim's church said they recently donated a significant amount, and one of Tim's aunt's church is hosting a fund-raiser and wants Hocaba to be the recipient! God is Good!
Matthew 7:7: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
We are very excited to see progress being made in Hocaba! We hope that the building can be finished enough to be usable, with walls and a roof by the time we leave in July. The finishing touches of windows, paint, etc are secondary. We pray that with the building in place, the church will be able to grow and flourish now having an area to have meetings and services after dark, or in poor weather. God is Good and will provide!
Thats about it from here!!
Some things we are thankful for this thanksgiving:
1. God's love for us
2. Our salvation because of Jesus' death
3. Our wonderful, supporting, and loving family
4. Our friends here and in the US who challenge our faith and support us
5. Those people who have and will donate towards the church and mission of Hocaba
6. For our puppy Cody!
7. For Kim and Jim's recent marriage
8. For our safety, health, and happiness
here is a video of Cody. Silly video, but fun! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiHPkndVtxE
Updated Hocaba video to come soon!!
Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving!
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