Tan Lines and...Spiders!

Today was a beautiful day with lots a sunshine.  In fact, since I spent so much time outside today, I got tan lines!!!

Before you get too jealous, let me tell you that only minutes after I had admired my tan lines this little creature was sitting just centimeters away from my towel that I wanted to use!  In case you're wondering how big he is, this picture is very close to actual size.

This wasn't a black widow or scorpion but I was informed that Jan recently killed a black widow, so they are around.  As I'm writing this, a grasshopper is scurrying around my bedroom floor.  Guess what I'm trying to say is take a little, give a little :)

Mexico: It's Been A Week Now...

Wow, it's already Thursday night!! Here's a little bit of what's happened so far this week...

Why not start with the food :D
The last night Ben and Hannah Martin were here visiting Grant and Hannah we went to Mario's just a few houses down the road for tacos.  Big mistake.  They were wonderful!  That's the problem because now I want to eat them all the time!  Last night after playing a game of Settler's, Hannah and I convinced Grant to get some tacos for the second time in three days.  Poor Grant.

Before Hannah (Martin) left, she had introduced me to the cucumbers they sell in the plaza.  They peel and slice cucumbers then put them in a bag and squeeze on a lot of fresh lime, then sprinkle on mild or hot chili powder.  We went with the mild but sometime I'd like to try the hot.  The Hannahs made their own and they were pretty good!  I'll have to remember this for the summer when cucumbers are plentiful.

On Monday, Hannah taught some boys how to play knock-out.  It took some time to explain the game with limited communication but I think we got our point across.  That's one of the scariest things about knowing a little Spanish...I use what I know but there's a lot open for interpretation.

A neat experience we had on Monday was going to the house of an elderly sister who spends all day in her bed, propped up by a few pillows.  One of her grandsons loves to sing the Sunday School songs but doesn't come to church very often since his mother does not attend regularly.  It was touching the way his face lit up as he sang the songs and did the motions.  After a few Sunday School songs we sang some songs out of the hymnal we brought along.  The grandmother had an amazingly strong voice for an old, frail woman, and she knew those songs as if she had a book in her hands.  I hope to never forget that visit!

Me and my friend, Ivory.  We hang out  together quite a bit and she's pretty amazing!  She must get it from her parents, Grant and Hannah, who have been like family to me.  I can't begin to say how glad I am to have them next door.

A few random things I've seen lately...

Behind the church is a tree that appears to be growing bananas or plantains.

A mini geyser.  They have a larger one somewhere in Ixtlan that I have not been to yet, but from what I've heard it's not impressive so I guess I'm not missing out on much.  In the picture it looks like Ixtlan is in the dessert.  Really this area is on the edge of town and the vegetation is very different from the bright flowers and palm trees in the town.

This week I've been getting in a lot more class time with the kids.  One of the biggest challenges is not knowing their language.  After a few classes I get a little overwhelmed with trying to sort out what I'm hearing...wanting to fully understand but not being able to.  At least that's a motivator to study Spanish.

There are a few other challenges.  I have a good relationship with the English teacher, but there are some things she does that I do not understand.  This school has some students with learning disabilities, as does every school.  That's nothing new.  But my job is to sit one on one with some of these students and help them learn English.  What I'm realizing is that some of them that have needed a simpler course or more one on one time are so far behind that basically I just have to tell them the answers so they can keep up with the class.  Of course, school is not just about giving the answers so I try to make sure they're learning in the process, but it's proved to be a challenge.  The teacher does not have good classroom management so I think that compounds a lot of the problems.

But all the little problems aside, I'm enjoying my time at the school.  The happiness of carefree children is easy to be around.  My collection of notes from students is taking over the bulletin board above my bed. And being with kids the same age as my little brother and sister makes me feel a little bit closer to home.  The joys make up for the challenges :D

In between school hours, Jan's been taking good care of me.  Earlier this week she taught me how to run the washer so I could do a load of laundry.  Also, she keeps me well fed and is helping me with my Spanish studies.

Hopefully soon I can post more about the church people and activities.  But right now it's late so I better sign out.  Stay warm back in the Midwest!!!

Mexico: New Experiences

A lot has been happening in the past few days. There are several groups of American visitors because this weekend four people are getting baptized. Two elders and their wives are down from the States and the visitors of Grant and Hannah and myself.  So far I have been able to get by mostly with English.

But on Friday I went to the school to observe the English classes and the students were talking to me in Spanish very rapidly.  It was so neat to meet the children but I couldn't always understand which was hard.  In the first class I observed the children would come up to me and ask questions or bring me a picture they colored.  In the second grade classroom one of the girls was hanging around me for a few minutes.  She looks at me and says in English, "I love you, teacher."  If that doesn't melt your heart, what does?

After I observed a few classes there was a break and we played some games with hula hoops.  The children love getting their picture taken!  (I bet I could guess what you're thinking, Leah and Miriam :D)  These children are from random grades and this is only a fraction of the students at the school.  It's been fun because two different times when I've been out and about in Ixtlan a student will see me and say hello.

On Friday I went on a walk with a woman from the Ixtlan church and she only speaks Spanish so it was good practice.  I'm still not sure how much of the conversation I understood.  But it was nice to just be with her, see where she lives, and take in some different sights of Ixtlan.

Grant and Hannah's little girl, Ivory, is my play buddy.  We have a lot of fun together.  Since I haven't had a bunch of duties this week, I've been visiting Ivory when there is nothing on my plate.  Well, I can always study more Spanish! But little girls with adorable grins are just too hard to pass up.

The goat man and his goats making their daily trip down the road, right past the compound.

Today I went for a walk with some of the other Americans.  We went on a street with these colorful banners.  There are actually two streets that I have seen so far like this.  It makes it feel like a celebration of sorts which makes me happy.

Tonight at the baptisms it was really neat to hear the testimonies of four people ranging from ~75 to ~24 years old.  There was a group of us Americans that sat together by a translator so we got to understand most of the testimonies.  Later when I was talking with one of the American visitors she pointed out that even though the Mexican and American cultures are so different, many of the spiritual struggles can be very similar.  Likewise, our bond in Christ closes the gap of culture and language.

So tomorrow there will hopefully be baptisms and then on Monday a 'routine' will begin.  Hope everybody has a great week!!!

Mexico: Leaving and Arriving

"Go in peace." II Kings 5:19.

About a week before I left for Mexico, I began to wonder if I was doing the right thing.  It's not uncommon for me to doubt that I'm following God and wonder if I'm really doing His will.  I wasn't doubting leaving like I have doubted some other things in my life, but I was still not holding on to the perfect peace of God.

Then Monday or Tuesday morning when I opened the Bible, the first words I saw were from the verse in II Kings 5:19.  What choice did I have?  What more could I ask for?

This doesn't mean I didn't cry when I said goodbye to my family.  On Tuesday just the thought of saying goodbye brought tears to my eyes.  After I said goodbye at the gate to my Mom on Wednesday, it was hard to get on a plane all by myself and go somewhere I had never been.  But it was also nice to have that reassurance that this is God's will.

The traveling experience went quite smooth.  I had two 2 hour flights broken up by an 1.5 hour layover in Houston.  There were some pretty sights on the Houston-Guadalajara flight.

Not sure which mountains those are but they were beautiful!

Grant and Hannah Herrmann picked me up in Guadalajara and they took me along with Ben and Hannah Herrmann, some friends from the States that had flown in an hour or two before me, to Chile's for lunch.  Two hours later we went back to the airport to pick up Mike and Deb Leman.  Then we got in the van and bumpety-bumped our way to Ixtlan.  While it was still light out the drive was fine and I enjoyed the sights.  But once it got dark I started feeling sick and was very glad to arrive at the compound.  Jan had fixed some delicious stew we ate for supper.  After a full belly and a big day of travel, I was ready to hit the hay.

I slept great but at 4:30 I woke up briefly, did the same thing at 5:30, then was up for real around 6:45.  Jan assured me that since it was my first day we would take things easy.  While I was unpacking my suitcase the children started coming to school and at 8:00 they all stood outside and had opening.  It just melted my heart to see them laughing and playing.  Several times throughout the day they have a break and the happy sounds fill the air.  I love it!

Around 10 we went to the market which is just a few blocks straight down the road.  It was an experience to go in and out of the small stores and say hello to most people we passed.  I learned that they use the term 'adios' for hello when saying it in passing. Hmmm, why did I even try to learn Spanish? :D

Later today Jan showed me around several buildings on the compound and filled me in on a few things. Here are some pictures of the compound...

The main area of Marshall and Jan's home where I am staying.  The door to the left leads to the two bedrooms and bathroom and the door to the right leads to an office.  Straight out the window is the school.

My bedroom.  This would have been the window I saw the kids from this morning.

The view from the bedroom window on the left side of my bed. The building is the church.

The next picture was taken while I was standing at the door hiding behind the tree in the above picture.  It is of Grant and Hannah's home and Marshall and Jan's is only a few yards to the left of it.  Tonight I went there after church (midweek services are on Thursday and begin at 5).  Here the big meal is lunch and supper is usually more like a snack.  So around 8:30 they made delicious quesadillas and got some enchiladas from a stand or restaurant in the plaza.  They have company here this first week but kindly invited me in to play games and hangout anyway.

The courtyard at the church.  This is kind of the congregating area before church begins.

                                     

I tried taking a video but it had a hard time downloading.  Right now I am using my dad's old computer from work that I have affectionately named T-Rex due to it's largeness and ancientness.  Hey, it was not cost so I'm not complaining!  But pictures do take a while to download so there will be few.

Hopefully this makes you feel a little closer, Mom.

This is all for now.  Dios te bendiga! (God bless you.)

Christmas and Wintertime

In only two days I leave for Ixtlan Mexico.  I will try to blog during my time there, but before I start that adventure, I'd like to give a little update on the holidays...

This Christmas was one of my favorite Christmas's.  No, I didn't go to California and no we didn't go to a hotel with the Lehman family.  On Christmas day we went to church and celebrated in the evening as an incomplete family.  So why was it so special?

Ever since I was born, Christ has been the center of Christmas in my home.  But I can't say that was always true in my heart.  When I gave my life to Christ, I'd love to say that everything clicked and my motives were always right and everything was different.  However giving my life to Christ has not been a one time deal and I think that goes for everybody.  We have to fight our human nature daily, hourly, even by the minute!  All that to say that even while I loved God and was thankful for the gift of His Son, it never 'clicked' with me like it did this Christmas the intensity of His love.

The Sunday before Christmas, the sermon really spoke to me.  Instead of just thinking about the manger scene, which is wonderful!, the angels coming to the shepherds, which is wonderful!, and the wise men bringing gifts, which is also wonderful!, we were challenged to think about what Christmas was in heaven.  What were God's final words to the Son as He said goodbye?  What was Christ thinking as He took His final breath in pure holiness and 'became flesh and dwelt among us'?  I usually thought of Easter as the serious time when God and Son were separated spiritually for the first time in eternity.  And that is more serious but it's pretty sobering to think of what happened when Jesus left the throne to come to the earth, a physical separation from the Father.  For a few moments just close your eyes and picture that.  It's beautiful.  It's pure love.

That wasn't meant to be a sermon...just a little explanation of why this Christmas was such a blessing.  Don't you love those times when your eyes are opened a little wider and your understanding of who God is grows a little deeper, yet you know there's still much more depth?! 

Now a few pictures of the festivities at the Lehman house on Christmas day...

Mom and I played some carols together on the harp and violin.  Edie (in her tutu!) started plucking around on the harp.

Some game playing in the other side of the room.

 

Missing Mia and Jim :(

 

So now the holidays are over, and so are my art classes and Foods 1 classes.  It's been great to have those opportunities, but it's also time to move on.  I can't say that I fully understand what that means right now!  Sometimes it's hard to not have a good idea of what I'll be doing after this coming summer, but deep down inside it's freeing to know that as long as I follow God, everything will work out!  For now, I will follow His leading to Mexico for a few months and just write one page at a time.  I hope that you too can find peace in following Him, even when the way may not be clear!  He knows His plans for us all! (Jeremiah 29:11)