A note to myself :) and to anyone else who may feel the same

Thinking....being down gives one time to think...sometimes even reading makes me sick, but I can always pray and think.
I was thinking about the dedication for the founder's memorial we went to last week. There were several important leaders present, most of whom gave speeches. Overall, they all said the same thing and I've given much thought to what they said.
Our town didn't begin until 1955. The baja peninsula was a dry wasteland...a desert. As I understand, neither Mexico nor the USA wanted it for a while. Finally, the Mexican gov't dug one well that can still be seen in our town today. They told the people in the mainland that if they would just come out here and settle/work/develop the land, they would be given their own piece of property for free.
So in 1955, a handful of pioneers came here to begin a new life. What a difficult life it was! There was literally nothing here...just 1 well, lots of cactus, and the hot, dry, desert ground (and I imagine a large variety of snakes, scorpions, and spiders). For months, these pioneers slept under the cactus, ate the cactus, and drank from that well while they struggled day to day to establish a town and develop the land. They were miles away from their family and friends and had very lonely days.
Many of them did not stay...it was just too hard, so they went back home. Nobody blamed them...some wondered why they'd even gone in the first place. Our neighbor's father told us one day that his wife wanted so badly to return home. But he told her that he'd rather be poor, work hard, and have his own land than to work for somebody else and never have anything. So they stayed. Today, he owns 5 large, prosperous, well established ranches.
What made these pioneers stay when they didn't have to? Why did they endure and struggle for so long? It was hope. They didn't look at "today" but "tomorrow". They were building one small block at a time; they were taking steps each day toward a goal. They did not lose sight of that goal. And last week, we took time to remember those who came, stayed and established the town we have today.
I have had 4 children now born in his country...3 right here. The Lord who saw this small town start over 50 years ago, also knew that a boy would be born a few years later, would grow up, and then be called to come here and preach...preach the gospel of Jesus Christ so that the people here can live this life with hope.
It is so very hard here sometimes; we have struggled, we have been lonely, we have thought it is too much to bear, and we have had times of wanting to just go home. But we know the Lord brought us here and each day we see the faces of so many who have no hope as we do. And we press on. We look forward to the day the Lord brings a great harvest here! And in the meantime, we rejoice with joy unspeakable when we see a soul come to know the Savior! It makes it more than worth it.
Somedays (especially as of late) I'm so tired. I wake up and don't want to cook or clean or wash. There are so many little ones to teach, discipline, train, love, hug, talk to, listen to, and play with. And sometimes days are long and hard and I wonder~ Am I doing it right? Is it worth it all? Satan is so quick to cast doubt.
And then, the sweet Savior tells me to not look at the hardships of the day, but the hope of tomorrow. Not just the blessed hope of eternity in His presence, but the hope of promises in His precious Word in this life.
"Be not weary in well doing for ye shall reap if ye faint not"
"...your labor is not in vain in the Lord"
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it"

I look forward to the day that my children are all serving our Lord. I pray His grace in their lives that they would all come to know, love and serve Him with their all.
And the days come when the Lord lets me see the little things that show promise. The love between a brother and another...the prayers of the children as they are so sad for another who hurts or doesn't know Jesus...how proud I am when they surprise Mommy and "clean the whole house so she can nap a little". Little Abigail read an entire book to Nehemiah the other day because he wasn't feeling well...she just lay by him in his bed rubbing his back and reading for over an hour. And I thought of all the phonics lessons and time we spent sounding out words and I was just so happy.
Then I feel badly for ever being discouraged or doubting. The Lord is so loving and quick to forgive!
I write this as a reminder to myself of what the Lord taught me this week. And I pray it may be an encouragement to another as well who may be struggling on their way. May we always keep our eyes fixed on the Savior and the blessed hope.

Susannah's Birthday and Meeting the Governor

This post may contain lots of pictures :) Just cuz Susannah is so cute :)

Yesterday, Susannah turned 3 years old! One of the fun things of having a big family is that we get to celebrate somebody's birthday every few weeks! Susannah is a a true joy! Our girls bring so much "sunshine" to our home. Susannah is a talker just like her Daddy. I love it when she works along side me talking to me non stop about whatever comes to her little mind. She LOVES babies and received 3 dollies for her birthday...one from us, one from Grandma S. and another from Grandma L. What a happy little girl she was.

After Susannah's party, we went to town as the governor was coming in to do a dedication for a new monument honoring the founders of our town. After the ceremony, our family was able to meet him. He shook all the children's hands, talked with them, and then his photographer wanted to take our picture with him. What a good opportunity to teach the children to "honor the king" and talk about how the Lord ordains the people in authority and whether they be good or bad, we need to respect and honor them. We then talked about instances when one must "obey God rather than man".

After the evening was over, we began walking back to our car when Susannah, who was holding my hand, looked up and said, "Mommy, we need to get home! My babies are crying!" :)

Susannah's birthday breakfast...she chose pancakes and eggs. Mommy surprised her and added a few chocolate chips to the pancake batter :)

Her choice for her birthday supper...PIZZA! I was feeling pretty queasy so Timothy took over....he did a mighty fine job!
Susannah holding the present Grandma S. sent her in the mail
Our three sweet girls! And little Nehemiah always wanting to get in the pictures :)
Birthday Pizza!
Someone is getting very excited as it is now time to open her presents!

Other than a dolly, the one thing Susannah wanted was a sucker. Elijah bought her a mango chili covered sucker...her favorite!
How old are you Susannah? :)
A very special gift from Abigail!
A Bible in Spanish "so she can be just like her big brothers and sisters and help Daddy go witnessing" (quote from Abi). :)
Daddy reading Susannah's birthday card

Three dollars from Grandma....one for each year of age! Or as Susannah says, "Lots of money for Jesus and a new sucker :) "
Susannah with her new babies :)
Susannah's butterfly cake. We didn't have enough frosting to frost the sides, but she was very happy with it anyways :)
Meeting the State Governor

Still eating good :)

Just a little bit everyday! That’s my motto around here especially when I’m morning sick. Often, when I’m feeling so yucky, I’m tempted to skip anything that is not absolutely necessary to keep the household running. But with some slight modifications, I’ve been trying this time to stick to our normal schedule as best as I can. And you know, the house has continued to run smoothly....much more so than it did when I would just give up on any type of schedule until the nausea passed.
Since our room is the only cool room in the house and the heat makes me feel worse, we’ve moved many of our activities in here. Yesterday, during their project time, the girls worked at the foot of our bed while Benjamin brought the little keyboard in so I could give him a piano lesson. During the half hour we have scheduled for Home Ec. this week, the girls helped me cut out a new jumper pattern, pin the pieces to the material and today we finished cutting them out...all in my bed :) We aren't making as much progress as normal, but we are making progress...a little each day really adds up! School lessons are being taught in here, the little ones bring in their baskets of toys so they can play with mommy, and Eliseo is just the most laid back, adorable little thing who is content to hang out in bed with mommy all day with nothing but giggles and smiles.
While our bedroom seems to become somewhat of a disaster by mid day (since it’s the center of all activity now), it doesn’t take too long to clean as it isn’t that big and the rest of the house is cleaner than normal since we aren’t using it as much.
When I was pregnant with my first few children, corn flakes was one of our main suppers. Cooking anything with meat is so hard when I’m nauseous. But the past couple babies, the meals have been “just like Mommy’s” as the children have been getting older and love to cook! They help me cook each day normally and often will make a meal all on their own with my supervision. So now, I make the menu, make a grocery list, shop (or send Daniel if I’m really feeling badly), and then supervise. What a blessing all these little hands are!
Susannah turns 3 years old tomorrow!! She’s requested pancakes for breakfast and pizza for supper. And she wants a “white baby butterfly cake” :) I’ll post pictures of her party tomorrow. And tomorrow, the state governor is coming to our little town. He has been wanting to meet our family, so we’ll be heading down to the main road tomorrow evening to meet him. I need to make sure the boys all have their dress shirts ironed! Have a blessed day in Jesus.

Rebekah and Abigail working on their fleece quilt for a special friend. :)

Some serious potato peelin' and choppin'
What was my part in making this meal? I turned on the oven. put in and pulled out the fish and potatos, and told the children what wonderful chefs they were! Daddy was so proud...and hungry! :)
Last day as a 2 year old...they grow soooo fast.
A bee hive in our next door neighbor's tree...the children have loved watching this!

Answering a few questions about the Christmas Boxes

The age range we are aiming for is between 4 and 12 years of age. The Mexican children here do not have a lot and will love anything...as simple as it may be. A 4 year old and a 12 year old alike will enjoy crayons, a ball, a toy...anything :)

We receive our mail sent via the United States Postal Service. There is no UPS or Fed Ex where we live. :)

One dear lady commented that she took 3 boxes boxed up into one big box to the post office to send and the man told her that it was too large for the Mexican gov't to accept. So you may want to send the boxes separately.

Feel free to ask any other questions you have! Thank you to all who are participating!!!

Baby, Laundry, and more and more hear the gospel!!

I'm so thankful...thankful that I am soooo tired and getting sick...because all that means that a new little one is being formed by His loving Creator and each day brings us one day closer to holding him/her :)

The focus has been keeping the family fed, keeping the house somewhat clean :), working on school with the children, and keeping up with the laundry. That last one always is the hardest as the smell of dirty clothes or even the laundry soap always turns my stomach the wrong way when I'm expecting! (*See picture at the bottom of this post!) So if I don't update here as much these next couple of months, you'll understand why :)

I saw the doctor last week for an early check up and to get an idea of a due date. He told me I'm just over 7 weeks along now giving me a due date of May 9th. We saw little Lockwood #12 via u/s and ohhh was he/she a cutie! :) I thought that baby looks very feminine while Abigail said she thought he looks like a boy. Nehemiah ran around my room pointing to the picture saying "puppy, puppy", so he thinks it's a dog :)

I told Daniel that if we do have a boy, we should name him Justin. Then we can give him Other for a middle name.... Justin Other Lockwood :)

Yesterday, we had 64 children in Sunday School! Last week, they had hit their goal of 50 so we had a surprise pinata afterwards. Their next goal is to reach 100. I'm not sure what we will do after that as I think we won't fit in the building....a good problem to have though!

Daniel is in Jesus Maria right now with some of the boys and people from our church. I miss going, but I might have to sit it out for a few more weeks until my stomach settles a bit :) Last week, they had 4 new men come listen to the preaching! They even served our family burritos afterwards. :) I baked them some chocolate chip cookies a couple weeks ago and they keep asking for more, so I'll have the girls help me cook some I think next week.

Well, I need to help Rebekah finish cooking supper so we have it hot and ready for the "men folk" when they arrive home. Have a blessed week in Jesus!

Sunday School yesterday

Rebekah and Abigail and even Nehemiah helped me tackle the weekend's laundry so we can now sleep in our bed again :)

Odds and Ends:)

Every morning I wake up so happy and amazed that the Lord has chosen to bless us with another precious child! Each and every time we have found out we are expecting, we are truly surprised and genuinely as excited as we were when we found out we were expecting our first. Although knowing the ages and number of children we have, one might not believe this, but especially as we get older, we are very aware that one day will be the last time I know the joy of carrying a baby inside me. While we enjoy each day with each and every child we have, we always rejoice when the Lord gives us another!

Thank you so much for your prayers for our little boy/girl and I during this pregnancy. I printed up all the comments you all left for his/her baby book :) And yes, I do and love to take the time to make a baby book for each child! I have an easy system to keep them all updated and maybe I'll share that at another time.

To answer a few of the questions we've been asked in the comments/emails concerning this pregnancy:

*When are you due? I'm not exactly sure :) Because many of my pregnancies have been so close together, I sometimes am not exactly sure what my due date would be. The doctors here do an early u/s, and so I'll probably be given a "date" based on that. If I were to guess, I would think late April to early May ???

*Do you exclusively nurse your babies? Many have asked this due to the close ages of our children. And do you continue to nurse after you get pregnant.

Yes and no :) I have exclusively nursed most of my babies. Despite of trying everything from eating lots of oatmeal, drinking a lot, resting as much as I can ect..., I have never had what I would consider an over abundance of milk :) I've never been very successful at pumping. My first 4 were exclusively nursed and I got pregnant by the time they were 4 months old. Abigail (baby 5) was nursed exclusively for 2 months, but had a problem with her latch and so was supplemented while we worked on that. Nehemiah (our 10th) was nursed as often as I nursed all the others but with supplements also as he struggled so much with his breathing; the bottle gave him some ease of sucking and breathing at the same time along with some extra calories as he burned so much with his lung problems. Little Eliseo has had the most supplements of any of our children primarly due to the time when Daniel was so sick. But as Daniel always encourages, we just keep "plugging away" at it as I love nursing my babies! :)

After I conceive, my milk usually decreases over the course of the first few months.

To end, here are some pictures of the past few days :)

Sisters...all clean and sweet :) Both girls (and the boys too) have been so extra helpful to mommy since they found out about their new sibling :) They bring me flowers, treats, rub my hands or brush my hair which I love, and are so helpful to carry the heavy baskets of laundry or offer to do some of my chores. Abigail was so very helpful today and surprised me by cleaning the whole kitchen after lunch while I taught Beka. I asked her why she was so sweet, and she said, "Because you prayed with me yesterday and Jesus heard and is helping me :) "

September 16 we went to the parade of the Mexican Independence Day. All the children in the schools march. Here is our family with brother Macario walking down to the road to watch.
Here is Litzi, our neighbor, after the parade holding Eliseo
Here are Alma, Rebekah and Marisela; Alma and Mari are 2 sisters who've been going to church with us from the beginning. Alma has accepted the Lord as her Savior
Benjamin and Abigail wanted me to take a picture of what they made with play dough :)

Mommy helping to plant grass!!!
Benjamin helping to seed the grass! Muddy little ones in the background :)
A very pretty moth that Elijah found yesterday

Beans and Rice are Nice....

....and healthy, inexpensive, easy to make, and quite yummy too :)

Here are some recent questions from our readers:
Can you share your recipes for the rice and beans, even if you consider it "basic"?
Do you season the beans?
too was wondering how you prepare the beans and how you get little ones to eat it??!!
Personally, I have always loved beans and rice. Daniel loves beans though he isn’t too fond of rice...if I hide it in something, then he’ll eat it ;)
Timothy (our oldest) was 7 years old when we moved to Mexico and he and Elijah are the only two that really remember living in the USA. So our children have grown up eating what the people here eat...and beans and rice accompanies most every meal.
After working and playing hard, they always come to the table hungry, so I make lots of beans and rice!
I make the beans very simple:
*I sort the beans (so you don’t chomp onto a rock)
*I wash the beans and then soak them overnight
*I then put them in new water and bring them to a boil; after they boil, I turn down the heat and let them simmer for about 3 hours.
*When they are finished, I add salt and crushed garlic (because we all really like garlic :) ).
*We either eat them whole or I will re-fry them
Refried beans:
*Drain off most of the water from the cooked beans
*Melt some manteca in a pan (pig lard...I know it sounds gross, but makes them taste super yummy!)
*Add the beans to the manteca and smash them with a potato masher until they are to desired consistency
Refried beans can be eaten as a meal, a side, or in part of a dish (bean enchiladas, bean burritos, nachos, tacos ect...)

The rice they make here is so simple and so good! I have learned to cook here like they have taught me; they never “measure” anything...it’s all by sight and feel, so I’m not sure on exact measurements, but I would assume if you measured, the rice would be cooked with 2 to 1 water to rice.
This is how I make our rice:
*Pour some oil in a pan (I put a couple tablespoons or so for about 2 cups of rice)
*Add desired rice (I almost always add garlic too...you c an also add chopped onion or carrots or whatever you’d like too)
*Cook on high heat stirring continually until rice turns a nutty brown color...careful not to burn it...you might want to have your water on hand nearby to add quickly once the rice turns brown.
*Add the water (like I said, I would imagine it is 2 to 1... For a cup of rice add 2 cups water)
*Add some tomato sauce (I add about half a cup) and some salt or add a cube or two of tomato bullion
*Cover and let simmer until rice is tender

Tacos
Quesadillas with refried beans
Tostadas

Christmas Boxes!

Many of you have written us at some time or another wanting to know if you could help our family and the ministry here as we share the gospel.
This Christmas, we would like to reach out to the families of our town by giving their children a shoebox full of special treats. We will include a gospel tract and portion of God’s Word with each box. Our hope is that these gifts will not only bring happiness to each one that receives them, but that they will give us an opportunity to share with them where true joy come from...knowing the Savior Jesus Christ!
We did this a couple of years ago and it was a tremendous blessing to the people as we gave out over 240 boxes. We would love to be able to hand out 200 boxes this year as well.
I remember, as a child, putting together a shoebox to send to children for Christmas in another country as it was a ministry through our local church. What fun we all had saving our pennies and then (with some help from dad and mom) going to the store to pick out the perfect treats. We always prayed for the child who would be receiving our box, and only eternity will tell how those small gifts may have been used to soften a child’s heart towards Christ.
So this year, we would like to do this for the children of our town. We will pass out whatever boxes we receive and the more the better! And we would love to have your help! If this is something in which you would like to have a part, here are some guidelines:

*Boxes should be shoebox size (you could either send a real shoebox or send a plastic container with a lid that is approximately the same size; the advantage of the plastic container is that the child/family can use it for something later)
*Boxes should be sent to Daniel and Jaynee Lockwood at the field address on the bottom right side bar of this blog; please write “Christmas Shoebox” on the box somewhere as well
*We would like to have all the boxes ready to give out by the beginning of December. Since it takes at least 2 weeks for mail to arrive here, we ask that all boxes be mailed no later than November 15th.
*To make it easier in the distribution, we ask that the boxes contain items that can be used by either a boy or a girl (for example, no pink hair ribbons as a boy would not use those :) ).

Now for the fun part! Ideas of what to include in the boxes:

*Toys: a small stuffed animal, a ball, a yo-yo, whistle, picture book, a puzzle, a game, play dough, coloring book

*School Supplies: pencils, pencil box, crayons, felt markers, stickers, notebook, erasers, pencil sharpener

*Other: American Candy, scarf, a personal letter* or picture drawn for the child, comb or brush, toothbrush

Here are things to NOT include:
*Chocolate or any other food that could melt, make a mess or spoil
*Medicine
*Items that could easily break
*Books or music (other than a note book or coloring book)
*Anything liquid that could spill (bubbles, shampoo, ect...)
*Anything that could be dangerous for a small child (marbles, sharp items ect...)
*Clothing other than maybe a scarf or hat as you don’t know what size the child is that will receive your box

If you have any further questions, feel free to email us (email address at the very bottom of the right side bar). Of course, we plan on taking lots of pictures of the children opening their boxes and will post some on the blog. Wouldn’t it be fun to see a picture of a child opening the box that YOU sent? :)

*Spanish phrases that you could include in a personal note if you would like:

Dios le bendiga– God Bless you
Jesus te ama– Jesus loves you
Feliz Navidad– Merry Christmas
Dios te ama– God love you
Estoy orando por ti– I am praying for you
Con amor de - With love from

A message from Susannah

Hi Everyone! :) Wow...thank you for all the nice comments on the last post! Daddy and Mommy were sure blessed by them. I'm really happy today and I want to tell you why...

But first, wanna see my pretty blue eyes?

Keep looking...I forgot what I was going to say....

I'll put on my thinking face and think really hard and then I'll remember...

Oh yeah!...I remember why I'm so happy...I get to be a big sister again this coming spring! :)
Isn't that great?

Are they really cheaper by the dozen? What do you think? ;)

Psalms 127:3

Comments

I am sad to say that over the past couple of weeks, we have received a number of negative comments on our blog. These comments have been untrue and hurtful. While we do not mind if somebody doesn’t agree with something we do, we are saddened by the words that have been written. We don’t know if it is just one person leaving the comments (as they have been left anonymously) or more than one and because of this, we’ve had to enable comment moderation.

We enjoy sharing how the Lord is working in our lives and the lives of the people here. Though we are far from perfect, we love the Lord Jesus Christ and hope to be able to be a blessing and encouragement to others as so many have been to us. Many have asked us questions in regards to our family, the ministry, life in Mexico ect... And we hope to be able to continue to answer those. We also so enjoy all the encouraging comments that so many of you leave; it is often lonely here as we are far away from our family and friends. But we are so thankful the Lord has called us to serve Him here and has blessed us with so many precious little ones. He is so faithful and good!

The chickens

Sombody recently asked:

Where are the chickens that used to be under the trampoline? Did you eat them or did they wash away with the flood?

That’s a very good question...good observation! We moved the chickens to the trampoline during the time that Daniel was getting sick. Of course, we didn’t know how seriously ill he was that day when we moved them. At that point he was just tired and couldn’t eat much. The new chicken cage was all set up except for needing a door which Daniel was going to build when he felt better. We wired up a piece of cardboard in the mean time.
That next week they told Daniel that he probably had cancer and he had to go down to the hospital in La Paz. I was going back and forth between our home and the hospital (3 hours away) that week. When I was with Daniel, I would call to check on the children (who were being watched by some ladies in our church). Timothy would be all choked up because his chickens were disappearing one by one. The door had fallen apart and the dogs were eating them. The tool shed was locked so he couldn’t get tools to try to make a new door. I couldn’t help but laugh when he told me Butterscotch (our dog) would take 2 chickens from the pen each night and bring them to his dog house. He would eat one and cuddle all night with the other. I told him not to worry about it and we’d get him some new chickens later. We’ve been working on our yard this past week and were just talking about getting more chickens and a few other animals soon :)

Hot, sweaty, dirty but oh so fun :)

Yesterday, Daddy called an official work day. He had a big job to do and needed some workers. It was very hot and humid, but working with Daddy is the best! Plus, everyone is excited about the final result of this project....GRASS!!!

First we need to raise the ground level quite a bit since the back yard floods every time it rains. We had 4 big piles of dirt delivered this week and yesterday's job...move as much of it into the back yard as we could.

Let's get to work!

Susannah and Nehemiah helped compact the new dirt with their hands and feet :)

Working away!
This little guy wants to be just a hard worker just like his Daddy!
Abigail was one of the biggest dirt movers yesterday...good job Abi!
The little ones really put a dent in the pile by filling their dumpers again and again.
Stomping the ground to compact the new dirt

We found this amazing animal while working. We thought it was a worm at first, but then it felt and looked just like a snake...had a snake looking head, little eyes, and a forked tongue. But the amazing thing was...it had two front feet with 5 toes on each foot! I looked it up online and found it is called a Baja Worm Lizard.
We worked from about 9 am until 4 pm taking an 45 minute break for lunch. We moved 2 of the 4 piles!! :)
Elijah raking it flat
The boys showing off their blisters...I even got a few myself. The boys LOVE getting blisters on their hands...they like it even more when those blisters turn to calluses so their hands look "just like Daddy's" :) Many hands make light work...and how fun to work together! Today we will be working on the dirt again until Noon. Then Daniel will be working over at the church while the little ones nap and the older ones study. Tonight is family night...after supper, we're all going to the park to play :)