And This is Love

My sweet mom truly has a heart for others. Since I was a child, I've only seen her love for others grow stronger as she grew in her relationship with the Lord. Sometimes I would even be upset at the amount she put other's first, even when they don't deserve it. She goes out of her way when given an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with others in her life, even when it's not convenient. And never asks "What am I going to get out of it?"

I've seen God bless her through her willingness to give and reach out. As she is faithful and obedient in her calling to share the love of Jesus, a few times she has had the opportunity to see how others also learn to reach out because she has reached out to them. A few times she has seen the joy her love has brought. A few times she has even got a "thank you." But many times these blessings go unseen, only known by God exactly how her love has blessed others. Only He truely knows what happened all those times she takes to share His love, those extra minutes she spends praying for their needs, the extra time she spends listening, those extra meals she has provided, rides given, bible lessons prepared and taught, stories shared, and lives changed. And I am confident that her reward will be great in heaven.

What an amazing picture of the gospel. We don't deserve in any way the grace God has given us, yet out of love and mercy, He sent His son to die for our sins. It is so easy to be nice when you know what your getting in return. It's so easy to love when you know the other person won't turn their back on you. It's so easy to give when it's convenient. The hard part is when we are called to love when it is hard and inconvenient, regardless of how other people respond. The fact is, we are called to love. No if's and's or but's. We are called to share God's love with others so that they may see His love in us.



I can see God developing this type of love in Alisia's heart. She often thinks of ways to bless others without being asked. She will leave me notes throughout the house simply to brighten my day. Her long bedtime prayers shows me how sensitive she is to other's needs. On the way to school this week, she asked me if I had any prayer requests she could share with her class. As a small child she would often make friends with the one person playing alone. I can't wait to see what God's going to do with her life and what he is preparing her for!

These conjoined twins are from Mexico around Alisia's age. They have been in this country for medical treatment since they were small. They were in the area visiting with someone from my mom's church. My mom and Alisia were invited over to love on their family. And that's just what they did. Love.

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."

2 John 1:6

Like Father Like Son

So thankful that Sunday is a day of rest!

Spring Break: Educational Fun

We also planned some educational fun over spring break. We had been wanting to do special things with the kids and have some fun as a family, and we thought it would be a good idea for them to learn new things on their break from school. This was our first time visiting the Frontier Culture Museum.

As you walk around the land, the museum has reproductions of farms and tells the story of early immigrants and their American descendts.

You could tour inside each farm or house to see how life was back then


At this farm we got to see baby sheep!


They were only 1 day old!!


All this farm land to run and get out all that energy!


The kids were laughing at the "pots" under the beds. Angel said he'd get me one since I usually wake up 3-4 times a night to use the bathroom and our bathroom is downstairs!


Peering in the well. My nephew said he forgot his pennies to make a wish...


Then I told him that this was not a "wishing well" but really used to draw water.


Angel claims he could easily survive frontier life. He says it really reminds him of life in Mexico.


Caleb and Eston checking out the weaving wheel.


Clogs:


My sister-in-law sporting some classy wodden clogs:




Grammy and Alisia on this old American farm porch.


What a fun trip.


Did I mention how refreshing family time is?!

Spring Break: Water Park Fun

I want to finnish posting some pictures since I'm way behind in that area! We had a great Spring Break and stayed busy. Angel and I saved some vacation days to enjoy some of the time off with the kids. I'll tell ya, family time is so refreshing!

We planned a "fun day" at a local indoor water park. It was our first time going we had a great time. But we were definitely tired out by the end of the day! We had all day passes, but for future reference, 1/2 a day would have been much cheaper and just as good. The kids were go-go-go ALL day! And with that chlorine in the water, we were beat!

As soon as we got there, Alisia wasted no time and started hitting the slides. By the end of the day, she had went on every single slide! She convinced Papi to go on every single one too! He said next time, he may just let her invite a friend. haha....

Caleb was eager to hit the slides too! But he was more cautious though! He started on the small slide, and worked his way up to the bigger ones!

Papi and Alisia were buddies for most of the day.

And I had fun hanging out with my little man.

There are so many slides at this park!

Can't wait to go again when they have the outside section open!

Getting ready to head home

Easter Festives

Easter Sunrise Service
We took a pic outside to prove that we did actually get up at sunrise. It was such a blessing that everyone woke up in a good mood to be at church by 6am and we weren't even running late!

After the service, we enjoy a traditionl "Mexican style" breakfast with the congregation.

Angel really looks forward to this because he gets to enjoy all of his favorites at once that I haven't learned to make yet!

After we napped some on Easter afternoon, we enjoyed a traditional "American-style" dinner with my family. We have enjoyed finding a balance to our family celebration to bring in both cultures.

Once again, at this special time of year, I am thankful that I am able to celebrate Christ's Resurrection with my family! I'm so thankful for the heritage passed on to be from my parents and grandparents, that I can now pass down to my own children.

One thing we didn't do this Easter was go to an egg-hunt or paint Easter eggs. I didn't really miss it and I don't think the kids really noticed either. It was nice to be able to celebrate Jesus and reflect on His Amazing Love for us, his children.

"...Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
John 1:29

Easter Reflections

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

I'm the type of person who clings to the cross when I need it. There is something so comforting knowing that he knows every tear and every heartache. But, when things are going well and problems are minimal, I know God is there and I am thankful, but I am less likely to cling. My prayer is that I can be drawn to God daily, in all things.

Well, God has been answering my prayer. But not quite how I expected. Lately, God has been reminding me daily of my sin. And it doesn't feel good. I fail. I strive so hard to meet everyone else needs, and I fail. In my sin of pleasing everyone else, I loose sight of what God did for me. But over Easter weekend, I was reminded that this is necessary for me to cling to the cross. I need to be reminded of my failure. I can't be the perfect mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend. I need to be reminded daily that He sent His son to die on the cross for my sin. I need to be reminded that I can't do it alone and by myself. I need God's strength. I need Him. In weakness and in strength, I need him. In all things I need Him.

I have a Savior who died for me. I am not condemned to punishment, because Jesus paid it for me. His blood covers all my sins. Praise God!

Unsettled

I sit here struggling with how to express what is on my heart. Almost exactly one year ago, God reaffirmed in our heart the calling to pursue long term mission work. Last year, we spent a lot of time in prayer and seeking God what this would look like.

We pursued it. We walked through the doors as they were opened. We prayed. We doubted. But God re-confirmed. We kept walking. The doors closed.

But God keeps working. We found out toward the end of last year that we couldn't just pick up and start raising support for a number of different reasons. We started to doubt if that was really what God was calling us to do as a family. But God keeps reaffirming our call to serve him in the mission field as a family. We still feel a strong calling that one day, we will be working with families and church-building somewhere in Mexico. I won't go into all the details for now, but obviously we are not there yet. We have been feeling unsettled. We haven't really made sense of all this yet, but we know that God is calling us as a family to serve him. We know that His word commands it regardless of where you are living. To glorify him in your life daily and point others to Christ.

God keeps opening doors. Last fall, God brought us to another family that are at a smiliar place in their life. They know that God is calling their family to missions, but are not sure how that will play out. We started a home group together "Families with a Mission." It's not super structured, but our goal is to bring our families together as we seek God's will in Missions. We've had reflections from John Piper's book "Let the Nations Be Glad."

Well, from there, we talked about putting together a summer group to serve together as families. We ran it past the church to get their support, and started praying about where God would have our families go to serve Him. Dalton, Georgia is little smaller than Harrisonburg with a very diverse community and a growing Spanish-speaking population. The church we connected with there has a Hispanic outreach program and offers service projects to community members. With the support from our church, we started making plans to go. This will be the first trip our chuch is sponsoring for families to serve as families.

Then we found out we were pregnant. The baby will be about 6 weeks old, depending on the birthday. After six weeks, it is usually "safe" to go back to work, being there are no health problems. We feel that God is leading and these are the first steps in learning to serve as a family. We are going, instead of waiting till the time is right. When will that be?

Please pray for our family. As the time draws nearer, I am more anxious to go. Anxious as in nervous, serving with a newborn, and anxious as in excited, to see how God will work. Pray for how God will use this trip to prepare us for our future and how he is calling us.

"How Beautiful on the Mountain are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, Your God Reigns."

Isaiah 52:7

Not for Me!

Take a look at these beautiful flowers sitting on our kitchen table! Oh, but they're not for me. Nope, they were for my dear sweet Alisia. From the man in her life.



Alisia just had an end of the year spring concert for the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir she is participating in. This choir isn't just a fun little kid's choir. It goes in to basic music theory and is a very big deal. She's worked very hard, and had a great concert on Saturday and Sunday. Angel wanted to make sure he had these ready for when her concert was over. Her dad is THE man in her life....and that's how it should be.

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him"
Psalm 103:13