Where you go, I will go; where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people for your God is my God.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Tomorrow.

We continue a journey. 

Together

At last. 

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--
A time to give birth and a time to die;
         A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
         A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
         A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
         A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
         A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
         A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate;
         A time for war and a time for peace.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Friends.

One of the greatest things of this lifetime.

Even when the goodbyes come, we know it is not really the end.  Its really just a “See you later.”  

Friendships make me excited to get to heaven, when this lifetime will be like a dream and there will be no more goodbyes. And as a friend of mine said, heaven will be a place where we can spend a thousand years doing one thing and then move on to the next. 

You know a friend is one to keep when they make you excited about being with Jesus. 

So if you are someone who makes me look even more forward to being with my Savior, thank you for being my friend. 

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Little White Hearts.

paperheart(2)

A little while back I discovered simple tutorial for a paper heart chain.  In of honor of Valentines Day I made a big one with the girls that I babysit and they loved it.  I enjoyed it myself. That night found me up in my room with the lamp light glowing softy.  I sat there snipping away, making stripes of paper and stapling them together.  A chain quickly began  to form.  I hung it up and counted how many hearts were there.  One for each day until I will see my beloved again.  Each night we were apart, I break one off.

There are three more left.  And then all the the little white hearts will go away.  For good. 

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Pinching myself.

In a little over a week I will be in a different country.  Staying on a beach where rivers flow down to the mountains into the sea.  Waterfalls and ancient pyramids dot the landscape.  The best feature.  We will be there.  Rafa. Myself.  Just us.  And there will be no more goodbyes. 

Glorious

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Advice.

Last night some very dear ladies held a bridal shower for me. I asked each of them to bring a recipe and a piece of advice to share. Here is some of the jewels of advice I received….

  • Love your husband the way you want your husband to love you.
  • May you always remember that this is a vow you’ve made unto the Lord and each other. Love is a commitment.
  • Let your marriage be one of give and take. Work together as a team—always keeping God at the head of the household.
  • Always keep the Lord first in your life, allowing Him to be the center of your marriage.
  • Build community as a young woman far away from immediate and extended family, it is essential! Been there and done that and without it, life in a foreign land would have been very difficult!
  • May this be the goal of your marriage: “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” Psalms 34:3
  • Don’t’ just be his wife!! Remember to also be his “girlfriend.” always put him first after God and before kids, extended family, friends, ect…
  • …and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband, [that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly.] Ephesians 5:33

Any others? Do tell!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

“I got a one-way ticket on a south bound plane.”

Friday, February 4, 2011

a la cocina

To the Kitchen!  

One of the reasons I am excited about living in Mexico is la comida.  The Food! I mean who would not be excited about discover, learning, creating, and eating such a fine cuisine?  

I would not consider myself a cook.  It is an activity I have participated in for many years; some phases of life more than others.  Most of the time when I cook, I start off with a recipe and then adapt it to my liking.  And by “to my liking” I mean, “what I have on hand”.

But all that is about to change and I am excited!   I love a challenge and a challenge it will be!  Here’s the general break down-

  • Kitchen appliances- stove/oven, mixer, pressure cooker, and blender (a very nice blender, I might add. The best.  It makes me smile just to think about it.  Thanks Dad and Kim!) 
  • Kitchen tools- four cooking knives, a set of silverware, four eating plates and bowls, one pot, some mugs, cutting board, two mixing bowls, canning supplies, spatula, cooking spoon, cooking fork, can opener, measuring cups, and I’m sure a few more odd and ends I may be forgetting. 
  • Shopping a new country and a different language. My Spanish is decent, but there are still a lot of types of vocabulary that I am missing and the food (especially ingredients) category is one of them.  That and things do not translate directly.  For example, a clove of garlic in Spanish would translate directly as a “tooth of garlic”  and Mexican rice is called “Rice Soup”.   You can see how this may be confusing!
  • We will be using bottled water for cooking.
  • If anything is to be stored for any significant matter of time, it must be dried or canned.  Leftovers must be used up quickly. 

Things I have been doing-

  • Recipe collection.  Mostly through blogs and online cooking websites, I have found the directions for the recipes I am familiar with and know that Rafa likes.  I have these neatly organized on a file on my laptop, so internet will not be need to access them. 
  • Menu planning- I have about a week’s worth finished and hope to have a month full by the time I get down there.  With this, I can plan better how to use up leftovers, but at the same time  creating something fresh. For example, Rafa loves Spaghetti, (and I’m a pasta girl myself!) and we will have meatball subs the next day.  From the menu I am also going to make a shopping list and make sure that it is in Spanish, so that I can at least read and explain to someone what I need.
  • Listening- One of my jobs right now is working at a Chick-fil-a.  Most of the time I work in the back and most of the rest of the people there are Hispanic.  They talk all the time about what they are going to be making for dinner, and take the time to explain to me how to make it.  I think they may be frightened that if they do not they will have the responsibility for letting one of their fellow country-men starve. 
  • Observing and helping - when I have visited Rafa and his family over the  past year and also in the times that I have been in my friends’ homes from Chick-fil-a.
  • Actually Cooking-  something that I should have been doing more of, but a lot of times other activities have won.  Such as working or sleeping.

Speaking of which, I currently just finished cooking a pot of black beans for Enfrijoladas that I am making for tonight.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Some Goals….

Personal ones and some of “ours” for the next phase of our life.   I always set goals..and good ones, but never seem to complete them.  But I accomplish a lot more than if I had not set them in the first place.  The give me focused and determined (sometimes!) So here we go….

Home Life

Garden- I have always dreamed of fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers.  And plan on accomplishing it through a square foot garden and as well as using some techniques my friends from the mountains taught me….flowers

Some of the things I was hoping to  grow-like cucumbers- just will not take root where we will be living.  The whole thing will be very experimental and it could all flop, especially considering my (lack of) skills.

Canning- Something that delights me about Mexico, particularly our location, is the abundance of a variety of fresh (organically grown) produce all.year.long.  And the prices.  12 pounds of mandarins for 80 cents?  Yes, please!   To stock up on the things going in and out of season, canning will be the answer!  As well, I personally hope to kill and preserve (salting and canning)  a pig, but we are working on the details of that one.

Animals- I could love a cluster of chicken for eggs and eating once they are done producing, but we must finish closing in the property first…but that should came rather soon.  A dog for security and for play. I was also wanting a goat for milk, but I discovered a place where fresh cows milk can be bought for the equivalent of 45 cents a liter.  That gives the same results and  seems to be a bit simpler.

The House- Simple. Functional. Practical. Lovely.  More on this later. 

Basically, I want to keep our home life pretty simple in order to make it into a haven-a place that is ours and we enjoy being and growing.  “Going Green” has always interested me…not as a means to save the plant, but as a form of healthy, purposeful living.  I have been given the perfect opportunity to attempt it, so attempt I shall!

Community

The community that we will be living in is new to both Rafa and me.  Even though our house is in his hometown, it is in another part than where he grew up.   It will be exciting to discover new things there together.  The plan is to meet all of the neighbors, with something in hand to offer, as soon as possible.  We are planning an English camp for the summer and hope the kids in our neighborhood will participate.  More details on this later too.

Even though our home is small, we want it to open.  We have purposefully designed it to be able to comfortably host over-night guests as well as several people at a time for dinner or coffee. 

Our desire is to know the people in our community-their families, needs, and good times-and to be apart of it all with the ultimate goal of leading them to Jesus.  To be honest, the idea scares.me.to.death. Not because it is Mexico, the idea scares me no matter where I’m at, but because they are people and I could be rejected.  Big time. And I am not comfortable with rejection.    But we know that He is the one who will do the work-and its His love that needs to be scared. 

The group of Christians in our town is small and relatively new.  I am sooo longing forward to getting to know the ladies and kids there!   I have so much to learn about life there, so I plan on asking for help from them and hopefully beginning dear friendships!

Personal-

Continue pursuing degree.

My goal for this year to study Colossians.  When I was in school in Michigan we took time to individually study books of the Bible to learn what they say and apply it to our lives and ministry. I have the tools to do it…now to get to it! 

Reading- to learn. for delight.  to inspire.  Missionary biographies. Theological  interests, relationship books.  Anything that peeks my interest. 

Learn more Spanish.  Self Explanatory. 

Journal.  Prayer journal.  I have started this many times, but seem to slack off.  I want to make it consistent. 

Continue being mentored. 

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

El Techo

techo

 

 

Rafa and I have thought-out plans for our life.  Planning for anything is something I love.  Dreaming is something Rafa and I love doing together.  Sharing our hopes is a large part of what brought us together in the first place.  Taking the dreams of the other as our own has bound us even tighter, and making new aspirations, ones that neither of us would come up with individually, delights our souls.  Now…seeing those dreams be completed as only our God can…spurs us onward. 

One dream is building not only a home together, but a house too.  The picture above is the preparations for el techo (the roof) that was laid Sunday.   Meaning in just a few weeks, we we will be moving in!  

Excitement?  Just a bit!  

Can I just say…

…I.love.skype.  It has made the many kilometers seem not.quite.so.long.  Not only is speaking and typing features available, but seeing ones too.  I see my husband at least once a day.  From 2.000+ miles away.  And for FREE.   All because of skype.  Praise the Lord for technology!