Tough Week

This week was really tough. It seems like I have been really down and not normal for myself.

I guess it makes it worse when you are sick. You feel like yuck, miss home, the memories of Lubbock, and everything else in between.

I also just found out last Wednesday that I have a stomach infection. I think that God has been telling me something lately that I just need to rest and spend more time with Him.

The up-side to this is that I have been craving to read and journal so much. Its like a wakeup call to you when sometimes you don't get the craving that you crave.

A couple of weeks ago I was reading about the vine and the branches in John 15. I love this chapter so much. I really think that God is really doing this to me in what he says here.

In verse 2 its says, "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes. so that it will be even more fruitful."

Pruning will hurt, but you become better. Its like God is the gardener/farmer, we are the fruit that he plants. We will die, but God will take the seeds out of us, so that we can produce more good fruit.

I think that its such an amazing thought to think about. Its so amazing how God can really speak through scripture and you find a verse that just hits home. It's the Holy Spirit. It's like a gift, a gift from God. He gives it to you when you need it the most. You see He knows us better than we know ourselves! He knows what scriptures to feed us so that we can bear more fruit.

Everything that we have is HIS

I have been wanting to blog for several days now, but I seem to not find the time.
First of all I want to wish you Happy Mexican Independence Day! Today is Independence Day in Mexico. I will explain that later on.
Several days ago my Spanish class went to a movie. It was free and all of the churches in Leon were invited. It was a spiritual mindset movie. When our teacher, Tana, told us that the name of he movie was the Death Saint, I kind of freaked out. I wasn't quite sure what I was really going to see. It ended up being a really good movie and has been making me think for several days now on the one of the many beliefs of Catholicism.
The movie was about a saint that many Catholics believe in. Its a saint that if you believe in it and pray to it, that it will keep you from dying. If you also believe in this saint, you also wear the necklace that has the image of it. Its kinda freaky looking- it is a skeleton in a robe with an ax. Throughout the movie, it had Christians telling the people about the true living God. At the end of the movie, the people that were worshiping this death saint turned their lives over to Jesus.
Please realize that this is very hard for me to explain. The reason is because it has so many different views.

"Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." -Romans 10:1-4


Thursday night was small group. I was really looking forward to this all week. I always can't wait for the Christian fellowship and lifting our Father on His throne.
The mom, Patricia, made us dinner again. She was so excited once again to turn the table and serve us. She made Carne de Jugo. Which is steak soup in it's broth. It was so yummy and was full of flavor. You can put onion and cilantro in it and can also take a tortilla and dip it. The tortilla soaks up the flavor. Its making my taste buds water just talking about it.
The lesson was really convicting. We talked about the Prayer of Faith in James 5. I have really been thinking about how my faith is not my own, but it is God's. He is my faith.

God is Radical

So much has happened in the past few days. It has been such a blessing for me to see how God works in so many ways. It has also been challenging for me the past few days, because I have been speaking more Spanish. Which is a good thing. I am a very outgoing people person, but when it comes to speaking a different language I am very timid and shy. I know that God is really trying to tell me something, by doing so many things the past couple of weeks.

About 2 weeks ago the church routine for classes changed. Which means that I had a different job. I was terrified at first to find out that I was put with 2 ladies from the church. Of course they speak Spanish and I was used to helping in a class with one of the missionaries wives. It was so easy for me to be in that classroom because I really didn't have to speak Spanish. So I know that God really is trying to push me out of my comfort zone. I can't push myself, I just have to let God to what He does best for me. By putting my faith and trust in Him.

This past Thursday night I had small group. Instead, this time we did it differently. Just recently one of the AIM girls found out that one of the church family members were in a bind. The husband just left the family and do not know if he is going to come back. He has done this before she said. But this time the situation was worse. The whole family and 5 kids were in a crackerbox apartment. They had no furniture and barely any food. They were all sleeping on the floor, because there is really no place else to sleep.
So Thursday after Spanish class, Donovan, Heather, and I went to Walmart to get $20 each worth of groceries. We bought so much, with such little cost. We mainly bought food that had protien content. Because poor families usually do not eat a lot of protien since it usually costs more.
That night we met up and went to the house of the family. The two women came out and started crying and hugging us. They were so happy and humbled that we were there. We had small group there and sang. Donovan shared a scripture. The daughter and son of Chris Johnson, my coordinator, gave away some of their favorite toys.
I told Christian, the son, that he did something very good. And something that not a lot of adults could even do. He told me that he was really sad. But he was also happy, because the kids were happy. He said even though those toys were really cool and also some of my favorites, I knew that they needed it more than me.
This was an extremely poor neighborhood. I think this place made me think of how blessed I really am. A part of me wishes that I was poor, so the only thing really I had was to really rely on God more than anything. I wouldn't really think about the worldly things so much, instead I think I would have my eyes fixed on Jesus more.

Tonights church service was amazing. Recently 3 young me in their early 20s have been coming to church. I really don't know how they found out about the church. But God does work in mysterious ways that we do not know. 1 of the 3 always comes to church drunk. He sometimes even shouts out things that really don't make sense in the middle of service. But you have to love him anyways, just as Jesus loves us. Tonight just one of the guys came. He has been really taking this seriously. He showed up in the middle of service. I was helping Bill babysit the kids, but Bill really wanted to help him out. So I grabbed Annie to come help me. I couldn't think of a better person than Bill to help out this young man.
The man looked really depressed when he came in and was holding a beer bottle. He said that he couldn't take it anymore. Its just so addicting even though I want to get rid of this so bad. I need help.
I really don't know what Bill told him and the whole story, but I do know that this man is searching. He needs something that lasts eternally and that really does permanantly take the pain away, Jesus, not the beer.
Please be praying about these 3 young men and the one that is really seeking the Truth. Please also be praying for God to crack my comfort zone shell even more. I really do care about these people here. I do know that the language is not the field, its just how you talk to people. The only way you can really connect with people is that they will know us by our love.

Keeping In Touch

Hello everyone! I am so excited about this whole blog. I really hope that this helps me keep in contact with everyone better. And also hopefully meet new people through it also.
I will try to post on a regular basis as much as I can through out the week. Hope and pray all is well with you and your families.
To my supporters: How can I thank you enough? I really appreciate your words of encouragement and prayers. I really does mean so much when you know that someone is praying for you so you can serve the Lord. Thank you. You are all in my thoughts and prayers daily.