Asking for the peace that passes all understanding...

Antonio just got off the phone. He spoke with Rebecca Morales. She and her husband Nelson are ABWE missionaries here in Mexico. Nelson and Rebecca returned this past week from a short furlough. On Sunday, they received a call from their son Pablo and his wife Sarita. Pablo pastors a church in Texas. The phone call brought the devastating news that Nelson and Rebecca's one year old granddaughter Sofia died suddenly on Sunday.

I ask you to go before the Throne of our Lord, asking for the peace that only He can give, to fill the hearts of Pablo, Sarita, Nelson, Rebecca and the rest of the Morales Fredes family.

I praise God that Nelson and Rebecca were able to spend some of their recent furlough time with their son Pablo and his family. May God comfort them with the special memories they made during that time!

Oh the difference a day makes!

Yesterday was turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and tooooo much more! English conversation and board games were the intellectual fare.
Today was tostadas de pata (pigs feet), tlalcoyos (too hard to describe other than it involves corn and beans and a lot of oil), broad bean soup with cactus in it and quesadillas. Spanish conversation and loteria(Mexican bingo) and dominoes were the selected activities of the day.
I think I am finally bi-tasteal! Both meals were delicious! I am definitely bi-linqual and truly enjoyed the games both days.
The point of this entry? I was so excited and waited with impatience for Thanksgiving only to find that an ordinary day like today was just as fun! Isn't God just too good to me!
I hope your "day after Thanksgiving" made you as thankful as mine did! If you took advantage of all the shopping deals, I hope you got a good deal on my Christmas present! Just kidding! Well not about the deals, but yes about the present. Unless you already bought it then PLEASE don't take it back! Okay I am getting flighty so I will say Buenas Noches!

Happy Thanksgiving! ¡Feliz Dia de Gracias!

For those of you who are Big Bird fans, Sorry but it was too funny to leave out! This year I will be eating turkey! I will be with a big group of missionaries! Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Since they do not celebrate it in Mexico, I have been a bit depressed for this holiday in past years.

I thank God for all of you and pray you have a special Thanksgiving day !

I had a real Mom's dayout!

Today was a Diana's morning and afternoon out! I went to a craft store that is sort of like Micheals in Michigan. I was there from 10:12 AM until 12:46 PM just walking, looking, dreaming and deciding that I really did not have the time to do half the crafts I was looking at. I went to find a craft for the upcoming Christmas Ladies Brunch. I found one! I will take a picture and post it when I get the example done.
Then I went to a three and one half hour lunch with a friend. NO we did not eat for three hours we just talked about anythng and everything. I got on the bus to go home too relaxed and talked out to care that the 4 mile trip home took 1 hour and 40 minutes!
When I finally got home everyone was in an uproar. "MOM WE CALLED YOU LIKE 10 TIMES! Oops! I had the cellphone on silence. Was there an emergency? Well no, this mom just never goes anywhere alone and muchless for more than 2 hours at a time. At least they are all old enough now that they did eat lunch! Actually now that I think about it they said they went out to lunch, without me! The next comment was, "Did you buy us anything?"
"I went to the craft store."
"You left at 9AM and its after 6PM! Mom that was like 8 hours?!"
"There was just too much to choose from and I did go to lunch too!"
"All that time AND.....you were right next to the new mall!"
Yup I am definitely on the otherside of the generation gap!

Anybody up there in Michigan, if you are the mall shopping type could you pass by for my teens the next time you go!?

"You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem..."

Our "Jerusalem" is an area near the church called Santa Elena. Yesterday, after a wonderful potluck meal, 15 adults and several children set out walking to an area we had not gone door-to-door yet! We handed out around 100 tracts and talked to several people. Please pray for everyone who received a tract.
So often we see evangelism as something missionaries do or as something you go away to do. Several people made comments about how many people actually live around the church. The observation was also made of how many of them seemed to not really care about spiritual things. Or how many don't even know what the religion they profess to believe in teaches.
Most when asked if they go to a church, replied "the catholic church on holidays or if I do something bad."
When asked "do you believe in God or Christ?", the typical answer was "Of course."
The logical question then was "What does that mean in your life?"
Answer- "Hey I'm catholic."
And?
"What religion are you trying to get me to change to?"
"Actually not a religion, I would say I just want you to hear what Jesus Christ has done in my life."
Some say "no thanks" and others listen but at the end say "Well I'm Catholic."
Please pray for our witness to be bold and steady. Life can get so busy and we can conform to once a month evangelism. Pray for each of the believers in the church here to be faithful in daily sharing their faith through words and testimony.

Here in Mexico, just like the rest of the world, there is evidence each day of how far man is from God. Yesterday Antonio preached from Judges. The last verse of the book was the topic of conversation at dinner.
"In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Judges 21:25
Carmen was baptised a couple of weeks ago. Her comment was.
"I am so glad that I can say Jesus is king of my life and with His help He always will be. For too long I was quite the queen doing what my heart wanted. But I was unhappy and now I am so happy! I can hardly wait to go hand out tracts. I want my neighbors to have the only true king on the throne of their lives!" Her comment has been coming to mind alot in the last 24 hours. I to be honest had to take myself off the throne in couple of areas of my life. Praise God for His faithfulness in completing the work He has begun in us!

If the walls could talk....

We've all heard the saying "if the walls could talk..." and usually cringe and say we will do better in the privacy of our own home. Last night as Antonio and I did our evening devotions, we were challenged instead to ponder if the walls of our house laugh. Included was the following poem.
LAUGHTER IN THE WALLS by Bob Benson
I pass a lot of houses on my way home. Some pretty, some expensive, some inviting.
But my heart always skips a beat when I turn down the road and see my house nestled against the hill.
I guess I'm especially proud of the house and the way it looks because I drew the plans myself. It started out large enough for us--I even had a study; two teenage boys now reside in there. And it had a guest room; my girl and nine dolls are permanent guests. It had a small room Peg had hoped would be her sewing room, the two boys swinging on the Dutch door have claimed this room as their own. So it really doesn't look right now as if I'm much of an architect. But it will get larger again.
One by one they will go away--to work, to college, to service, to their own houses. And then there will be room--a guest room, a study, and a sewing room--just for the two of us.
But it won't be empty. Every corner, every room, every nick in the coffee table will be crowded with memories. Memories of picnics, parties, Christmases, bedside vigils, summers, fires, winters, going barefoot, leaving for vacation, cats, conversations, black eyes, graduations, first dates, ball games, arguments, washing dishes, bicycles, dogs, boat rides, getting home from vacation, meals, rabbits, and a thousand other things that fill the lives of those who would raise five.
And Peg and I will sit quietly by the fire and listen to the laughter in the walls.

The couple who wrote the devotional went on to say, "when your children leave home, when there are no more lunches to pack, when retirement comes...What will you hear in your walls? Our prayer is that it will be laughter. God created laughter. May your lives reflect joy and laughter."
"And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD." Psalm 40:3
Suggestions by the authors were:
-Buy a joke book and read a few each day as a family.
-Tuck jokes on a little paper in your kids lunches or husbands briefcase.
-when you are done with the book pass it on to another family.
-Think back to times of laughter in your childhood. Make sure you share those memories with your children and friends.
-Remember the percentage of their lives that your children will spend living with you is small! Don't use all that time preaching and correcting. Teach them the joy of the Lord is our salvation.
So...here are the jokes I am going to tell tonight at the dinner table.

Knock, knock!
Who's there?
George Washington!
George Washington who?
George Washington who?!! Didn't you learn anything in history class?!!

Two bowling teams, one of all blondes and one of all brunettes, charter a double-decker bus for a weekend bowling tournament in Atlanta. The brunette team rides on the bottom of the bus. The blonde team rides on the top level. The brunette team down below is partying having a great time, when one of them realizes she doesn't hear anything from the blondes upstairs. She decides to get up and investigate. When the brunette reaches the top, she finds all the blondes frozen in fear, staring straight ahead at the road, and clutching the seats in front of them with white knuckles. The brunette asks, "What going on up here? We're having a great time downstairs!" One of the blondes looks up at her, swallows hard and says, "YEAH, BUT YOU'VE GOT A DRIVER!"

What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?
Nacho Cheese!

Hope your walls are laughing instead of talkin'!

The room and the Lord's table were standing room only

Did this one ever happen to you? The church is full to standing in the hallway outside and you are serving the Lord's supper and you don't have enough cups of grape juice poured! We counted on the 4 new people baptized last week but did not expect the other 13 people. Just a few monthes ago the church was half full and 9 saved and baptized people celebrated the Lord's Supper for the first time as a church. Today 26 saved and baptized people celebrated the Lord's Supper! Our hearts like the church were busting at the seams! How sweet to gather around to remember all our Lord Jesus Christ did for us. How exciting to sing and celebrate that our Lord Jesus Christ will come again soon!

Yesterday was the Ladies meeting at the church. God blessed us with three visitors. We were 21 women in all. We talked about what a transformed heart looks like in everyday life. When our time together ended, nobody wanted to go home! This morning, in the prayer time before the morning service, one of the ladies shared she had gone home and made a phone call to a niece she had been estranged from (in other words fighting with) for two years. Her words "God grabbed me by my stiff neck yesterday and I just knew that I would not sleep or have peace until I mended relations with her. I have all this time thought she was really bad and wrong. God showed me through the Bible study yesterday that even if she was, I was worse because I know better and my testimony was pushing her away from God. She accepted my phone call! Then she accepted my apology! Keep praying for her to come to church!" Isn't God just too awesome?! Just think for a little while how patient He is with us. Our challenge yesterday was to compare our lives with 4 short verses in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. I humbly challenge you to read them and come away ready for radical change in your life.