Welcome! Nuestra Casa Es Su Casa ...Our house is your house

A glimpse into the life of Daniel and Jaynee Lockwood and their 12 precious blessings. Thank you for visiting; we pray that what we share here may always bring glory to our wonderful God and Saviour. May you praise the Lord with us for the great things He has done and continues to do as we serve Him sharing the gospel here in the little town of Cuidad Insurgentes, BCS Mexico. He alone is good and faithful!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Thanksgiving Day and A Little Pilgrim BOY! :)




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Psalms 103:2- "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits"
In the words of our little ones, we had the "bestest" Thanksgiving Day ever! We pray you all had a very blessed time remembering the countless benefits of our wonderful God.
We really had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. I told the children after we got home from mid week prayer meeting then night before that they could stay up and help me roll our the cinnamon rolls for the morning. As I tucked them into bed, I told them they could sleep in a bit the next day too (of course hoping to catch a bit more sleep myself :) ). But the next morning, their excitement for the day ahead brought most of them hopping into our bed by 6 am. We had fun talking, cuddling, and snuggling together for a while. Finally, we all got going on morning chores, and met around the table for those home-made rolls and hot canela (a hot tea make with cinnamon sticks). We finished reading the book we'd started earlier in the month- "Stories of the Pilgrims" too.
Earlier that week, Daniel had hired a man to help us begin putting a fence around our house. We still needed to pay him for his labor, which made necessary a trip into the next town to go to the bank. Since we were going to be making the trip, we called our OB doctor to schedule a checkup for me and the little Lockwood growing inside me. We all cleaned up from breakfast, climbed into the van, and headed to town.
While the children sat in the waiting room, Daniel and I went in for my check-up. We were thankful that both mommy and baby are doing well and are happy to announce that this new little pilgrim (according to the doctor's interpretation of the u/s) will be a......
BOY! :) How excited and thankful we are to be expecting our 8th son. The girls were a bit disappointed as they are a bit out nubered, but as soon as I started talking about making the baby a blanket and finding some new blue sleepers, they were giggling and deciding who would dress the little guy first.
We came back home and while the little ones took their naps, the older ones helped mommy in the kitchen. We'd put the turkey in that morning and it was well on it's way to being done. Benjamin cut all the potatoes (25 of them), Rebekah worked on the vegetables, I made the stuffing, and the rest of the crew took turns shaking the cream to make butter for the biscuits. The afternoon before, the boys cut up peaches and apples and we baked a peach cobbler, apple pie, and a blueberry pie. Though we missed having pumpkin pie and yams, it was a bountiful feast we all enjoyed so much~ beans and rice and tortillas are great, but there is just something about mashed potatoes! :)
While I finished the meal, the children all stood at the counter and made turkeys with apples, raisins, marshmallows and toothpicks. Josiah said he made a porcuipine instead and Noah was basically eating his as fast as he was putting it together. They had a great time and after I snapped a few pictures of their creations, they enjoyed eating their special snack :)
As we sat down for our Thanksgiving meal, we all went around the table taking turns saying what we were thankful for this year. We have so much for which to bless the Lord and we just loved hearing the children share what they were thankful for too...it went on for quite some time...it was so precious.
There, of course, is no official Thanksgiving Day here in Mexico. In fact, just 2 days before Thanksgiving, the Mexican's had a big holiday...their Revolution Day. They had marching bands from all the schools and parties all day. A few cowboys stopped by our house and let our children have a ride on their horses. But I love reading our American history and about those faithful men and women~ their love for the Lord, their sacrifices for their families, their courage and bravery, their endurance and their gratefulness. Last year, I bought a simple book that gives a basic overview of Mexican history because I wanted the boys and I to learn about it. Oh, how very depressing and sad~ it is filled with greed and selfishness...such a contrast from ours. Even on their money, they have pictures of 'gods" and idols printed. Though they no longer worship those particular images, as a country, they are no closer to knowing the true God. It always burdens us more for their precious souls.
Thank you for your prayers for the lives here and for upholding our family before the throne of grace as well.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Special Sunday


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Due to an extra busy weekend last week, I was unable to update last Saturday~ sorry! Every day is so full, yet so blessed. Sunday, October 21st, we had a special service...our 3 oldest children wanted to follow the Lord in baptism and Daddy was so blessed to be able to baptize each on of them. We have taught each of our children (daily) the gospel, but never tried to coax them into trusting Christ as their Savior. We continually point them to the Savior...humbly teach them we all have sinful hearts, rejoice in God's grace and the gospel that covers our sin and the abundant mercy and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Our 3 oldest children have accepted God's gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and as parents who know their children, we've seen the fruit and work of the spirit in their lives. They began asking if they could get baptized, and as we prayed and talked with them, we saw their understanding of believer's baptism as well as their desire to follow the Lord's command in it.
In the post below, I've posted some pictures of the baptism part of the service.
After the baptism, a time of singing and the message from God's Word, we went outside and enjoyed a fellowship dinner of posole (a soup made with meat and corn) and bread. After we cleaned up, I drove some of the people back home while others stayed, sang hymns and roasted marshmallows around a bon fire.
For the past 6 months, we've been holding services in our home. We take out our dining room table each week, and set up chairs in the dining room and living room. As more people have begun to faithfully come each week, we have been running out of room to accomodate everyone. We were praying about what to do when the Lord opened up the door for us to use an old church building. An apostolic church in this town built a small building where they use to meet. About 3 or 4 years ago, the church had a split and disolved and the church building has been sitting vacant ever since. Daniel found the owner of the building and asked if we could possibly use it. They said yes! We are able to use the building RENT FREE (we just have to pay the light bill) until they need it again. It has homemade wooden benches inside and is simple yet perfect. We've met there last Sunday and Wednesday and will be over there again this afternoon to go soul winning and invite the people from that area to service tomorrow.
The Lord is so good. We've seen Him answer so many prayers these past few weeks, and we humbly rejoice in His gracious hand in our lives. Thank you for your prayers for us and the people here...the Lord truly hears and is working!

Pictures from Baptism




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The first picture- Timothy in the water with Daddy...everyone gathering around to sing a hymn.
Second Picture- Timothy (a bit nervous :-) ) getting ready to share his testimony.
Third Picture- Elijah getting ready to share is testimony.
Fourth Picture- Daddy praying with Rebekah