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!
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Saturday, January 30, 2010
He lets me know He hears
Yesterday afternoon, I walked off an airplane and heard a whistle. There waiting behind a chain link fence in the airport parking lot were Daniel and the 11 children all of whom I missed sooo much! I went through customs, and an airport attendent who knew me grabbed my bags for me and said, "Let's go...you've got a few people waiting for you! :)" And a moment later, all the hugs, kisses and tears of joy! It's soooo good to be home!
I have much to share but think I have about a week of house cleaning to do (not complaining...they did great on school and the meals :)...besides, if everything went perfectly, I wouldn't feel needed! :) ). I do have to write this one BIG praise as I don't want to forget!
How many of you were praying for our trip home? The Lord answered! In fact, it was almost too good to be true!
First, the Lord provided almost exactly the money I needed to pick up a few needs for the children and check in my bags. My brother in law Joel, aka "the master packer", got all my things into a suitcase (after I broke the zipper on the first suitcase trying to stuff everything in myself) and while it was over the weight limit, I was able to check everything in! So I went to board the plane with just a diaper bag and Eliseo in a little umbrella stroller. Sooo much easier!
The first flight, he slept for half of it. While he napped, I began to visit with the girl next to me. She was a young lady who worked in LA and LOVED children. She was sooo helpful handing me whatever I needed (blanket, bottle etc..) and Eliseo, who has been sooo shy, really liked her too! He even sat on her lap for a bit looking out the airplane window which kept him happy the remainder of the trip!
My second flight, right before we boarded, Eliseo started crying. I knelt down and prayed with him...prayed for our safety, prayed for safety for Daniel and the children now traveling to the airport to pick us up, and prayed the Lord would calm Eliseo and we'd have a good flight home.
We boarded, he fussed a bit, the airplane began to taxi to the runway, and by the time we took off, he was asleep...and he stayed asleep the entire flight! And would you know that the entire airplane was full that flight except for one seat...the one next to us! So I was able to stretch him out a bit and had such a comfortable trip home. It seemed to be too good to be true! What a difference from my first trip!
And I KNOW that it was the Lord's gracious loving care! How sweet it is to know He cares for even the things that really are so small! And how I can't stop thinking of how good He is and thanking Him!
Oh, it's wonderful to be home. Thank you so much for praying!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Let's see :)
After having his happy juice and getting ready to be carried into surgery
Little Eliseo with the big blue eyes :)
Eliseo's surgery went just wonderfully! We got to the hospital at 6 am and were home by noon. He had a bit of a time coming out of the anesthesia, but other than being very tired and a bit more fussy than usual, he did great once we got home.
And his eyes are so straight! It looks so different to me and honestly, I even kind of miss his sweet cross eyed look, but we are just so happy that all went so well, and I am looking forward to seeing the doctor tomorrow to "see" how everything "looks". :) Today, the whites of the corners of his eyes are all red and he has some red tears, but is acting like nothing ever happened.
I don't have internet at the house where I'm staying, and so I couldn't update yesterday. But know we appreciate all your prayers for us so much. I wasn't a bit nervous until we actually got into his room and they gave him the "happy juice", but my father in law put his hands on him and prayed over him and what a peace there is to give our every care to the One who cares like none other and how wonderful to have Him fill our hearts with the peace only He can give.
Pray for our trip home Friday. Thank you again for all your suggestions! At least now I can say that he just had eye surgery...maybe I'll get more sympathy? :) Lord willing, Friday afternoon, I'll be right back where I belong :)
Monday, January 25, 2010
Only me??
(Disclaimer: In case you have noticed and increased amount of typos lately...I blame it on the keyboard :) ).
Awww...this is much more like it! I'm sitting here on the couch, typing, Eliseo playing trucks, my niece brushing my hair, my 3 yo nephew hanging from my hair, a baby watching me on the next couch over, and my sister in law home schooling her older ones in the dining room...feels like home :)
Thank you for your understanding sympathy, empathy, and for laughing or crying with me :) I feel so much better after reading all your comments and I am definitely going to take an umbrella stroller with me...as well as check everything I don't absolutely need with me on the plane. I'm a bit more nervous about the actual flight part as Eliseo will have had his surgery and I'm imagining him possibly being a bit fussier than normal. I'm considering buying a package of earplugs to give out for free to my fellow passengers. At least, Lord willing, by 2:50 pm Friday afternoon, it will be all over and I'll be home!
Eliseo has his pre-op appt. this afternoon with the doctor. I have a list of questions ready to ask him about the surgery, recovery, etc...
We appreciate your prayers so much. Surgery will be tomorrow morning and I'll be sure to let you all know how everything goes.
Since everyone seems to appreciate the predicaments I manage to get myself into, do you want to hear another one? This happened Friday afternoon.
My sister in law's parents so graciously loaned me a car while I'm here. They gave me a key to the car, but it didn't have a key chain...it was just a single key that worked for both the ignition and door. I had left my keys with Daniel as I had no need for them here. I was being so very careful with that single car key being sure to immediately put it into a special designated pocket in my purse so I wouldn't lose it.
Last week, I went to visit my sister who lives about 4 1/2 hours south of Redding. While there, I had stopped by a Walmart to pick up a couple of things. When I pulled the key out of the ignition, it slipped out of my hands and fell between the two front seat where the parking break was. I could see the key, but it had fallen too far back to reach it. I thought if I could just get the key forward a bit more, I might be able to fit my fingers in that opening and grab it.
So I went into the store and bought a package of wire hangers, untwisted one of them and proceeded to try to use it to bring the key forward a bit. The problem was I couldn't work with the hanger and see what I was doing at the same time. I had to look, then try to feel the key, and then look again to see how I was doing.
Suddenly, I no longer felt or heard the key. I went to look and now no longer saw the key. It was completely gone!
I didn't have a cell phone and had no idea what to do. So I have learned that the first thing I need to do is pray and to know God hears and to expect an answer. I felt like crying again...or laughing...I did both. Eliseo was due for a nap so he joined in the cries. Again, I was really, really, really missing my husband...although I could picture him giving me that look he always does and laughing at me like he does when I manage to get myself in situations like this...which happens quite often I'm afraid.
I got out of the car, looked around, and saw a group of 4 men big men chatting a few cars over. They looked like they might be able to help???? I dried my eyes, walked over to them with Eliseo and explained what had happened. They went over to my car to take a look. One of them ran over to his car and grabbed a few tools. They began removing the parking break cover and some other things. Eventually they had part of the passenger seat railing taken off.
After about 30 minutes, one of them said, "Okay, I think we can finally get it, but I'm going to need to place a small cut in the carpet." I told them to go ahead and about 45 minutes later, they were able to retrieve the key! I somehow managed to push the key way under the carpet between the parking break and passenger seat. They were not sure how I even managed to do that...neither was I...although I am not surprised.
They put everything back together for me, I thanked them and offered to give them at least a little something for their trouble. They wouldn't take anything and said it would just be what they would want someone to do for their wives.
I told Deb's dad what I did to his car...he was so sweet and said that with almost 200,000 miles on it, it was expected to have some wear and tear. I called and told Daniel...and he laughed and I could imagine exactly what his face looked like as he thought, "Only my wife!" :)
Friday, January 22, 2010
Laugh or Cry
Eliseo and I arrived in the USA safely late Tuesday night. I was sooo glad when we finally landed in Redding. That was one tough trip! You may think that since I’m home all day long with 12 children, traveling with just 1 would be a breeze. When I walked through the airport doors and saw Daniel’s mom and my sister in law Deborah waiting for me, I was about as relieved as when after a long labor, they place the new baby in my arms. I said to Deborah, “That was about the most difficult thing I’ve ever done!”
Do you want to hear about it? Promise me you won’t laugh. Well, actually, you can laugh. When I think back on that trip I #1 thank the Lord He helped me through it and that I arrived safely, #2 I sometimes laugh, and #3 I sometime cry thinking that I have to repeat the process in about a week. Hopefully I’ve learned a few things from my first trip that will help make the next one easier. And if you have any pointers, feel free to share.
We left the house Tuesday morning a couple hours after breakfast. I spent the morning packing. I was determined to make everything fit in my carry on luggage as you have to pay now to check in baggage; I was very happy when I finally got the zipper on my mini suitcase zipped tight.
When Daniel’s brother Samuel came back the week before, he’d accidentally brought back with him some new parts for another brother’s boat. That brother asked if I’d bring them back with me when I flew. One of the parts was a fuel line...it was a long hose with some rubber thing attached to it. I had to take it out of the plastic packaging to make it fit in my bag but my wise hubby thought to include the paperwork just in case it raised some red flags with homeland security.
We got to the airport early, checked in and since we had an hour before I needed to board, Daniel treated us all to a farewell lunch. We got back to the airport, kissed and hugged everyone, and got in line at the gate. At this point, Eliseo realized that his 11 siblings were gone and instead he was surrounded by strangers. Eliseo can walk or at least easily stand by my side and hold my hand. I was counting on him to do just that from time to time. But he was clinging to my neck so hard and would cry if I even attempted to put him down.
So I had my carry on suit case packed to the max, my big diaper bag, my purse, and my laptop/paperwork bag...and Eliseo who happens to be one of our bigger children for his age and was seemingly gaining weight by the minute.
Since anytime our family goes anywhere together, no matter how quiet we try to be, we seem to draw attention to ourselves. We all walk in a line as to not “block traffic” and when people see a line of children that doesn’t seem to end, they either gasp, stare, smile, whisper, and always begin to count.
And since the children had dropped me off at the gate, I was now “known” by my fellow passengers (mostly all Americans) and when I finally managed to get my shoes and coat back on (hard to do with an almost 2 year old clinging to your neck) and my bags strapped back together so I could begin the long walk out to the plane, one of them took pity on me and carried all my bags.
Since we flew out at 3 pm and Eliseo had not had a nap that day, I was counting on him sleeping...which he did...for about 30 minutes. He woke up, didn’t know where he was and began to cry. There is an unwritten rule in an airplane...at least I felt there was at that moment...especially and airplane filled with mostly wealthy retired people returning from visiting their vacation homes...the rule is: Babies are cute and fine until they begin to cry and in the event they do cry, they are allotted 10 seconds of such behavior and then must be silent.
I had anticipated some fussing, so I quickly grabbed his juice and a bag of treats I’d packed. He settled down and when he’s finished his snack was content to play with the little fold down table tray for a while. He began to get fussy again so I took him to the bathroom...no, I didn’t have to use it, but it was the only place to walk with him and he was happy and calm then. We sat back down and we played puppet with the air plane “in case of sickness” bag. But suddenly, Eliseo began to cry again...really loud. Nothing would console him. He was perfectly happy one minute and then suddenly began to cry. My only consolation was that another younger couple behind me had a little girl who sometimes cried louder than he did. I soon found out the reason behind his cry. I should have kept Mr. bag puppet out as Eliseo’s not so little snack he’d eaten came right back up. Most of it made it into my hand. I grabbed the receiving blanket out of the diaper bag and cleaned us up. At least he was happy again. I’m not sure how happy everyone else was though.
We finally landed and as the okay was given for everyone to get up and gather their things, Eliseo again, seeing all these strangers stand up around him, began to wail. The man behind me said, “Oh, he’s just doing what the rest of us feel like doing but are too old to do.” I thought that was nice; although I’m sure we were part of the reason everyone felt like wailing too.
I picked up my purse, diaper bag, and lap top bag and managed to get off the plane. All larger carry-on items were waiting on a cart at the bottom of the stairs. I dropped all my other bags, grabbed the suitcase, and then tried to get everything strapped back together so I could carry it to the shuttle that was waiting. Again, someone took pity upon me and helped me carry everything into the bus.
At that point I thought that spending some money to check in my bags would have been money well spent.
The Los Angeles airport is huge. You have to walk...a lot. We first had to get down to the lower floor to go through customs. I’m sure there must have been an elevator, but I didn’t think to ask and began to descend the 40+ stairs. The wheels on the bottoms of your suitcase do not work well on stairs. I then began to really miss my husband who could have easily carried Eliseo and twice the baggage that I was trying to carry. My arms felt like spaghetti noodles and we had so far to go still.
Everyone around me seemed to know perfectly well what they were doing. I was totally lost. I finally found someone who could direct me where to go to catch my next flight. We had to walk outside quite a ways; Eliseo was happy to be outside and even let me put him down and we began walking over to the next building. Once we go inside, I was told to go to the second floor to get my boarding pass. This time, I found the elevator! Boarding pass in hand, I was directed to my gate on the 3rd floor. I went back to the elevator; the doors began to close and I saw Eliseo reach for them. My heart sunk, I said, “Oh no!”, but it was too late. They closed right on his fingers! I immediately pressed the open door button, but nothing. I pressed the help button...nothing. Eliseo was screaming, I was crying, and finally, after about 10-15 seconds, the doors opened up. Nobody was by the elevator, so I got out, sat down on my suitcase and comforted my little guy and prayed. His fingers were swollen, and the skin was dented. He calmed down, and thankfully, he was able to move them fine and seemed to be recovering from the ordeal.
Again, I was lost. Since I had taken the elevator instead of the stairs or escalator, I came out at a different point. I could see the lines of people below me waiting to go through security to get to their gates, but I didn’t see how to get to them. I just followed the walk way until some people started running toward me waving their arms saying, “NO!” I explained my situation and they said, well, you can’t get to the gate lines from the elevator. I asked them if I had to go back down the elevator and take the stairs ??? They seemed to not know what to say to that question, so they told me to wait, went and talked to some people, and then said, “Follow me”. They led me right to the front of the line. Thank you, Lord!
I finally managed again to get my coat off, shoes off, watch off, Eliseo’s coat off, his shoes off, and all of my bags up on the belt to get scanned...all while holding Eliseo who was not about to be put down at that point. I walked through waiting for my bags. I got our shoes and coats, but no bags. Finally I see them all looking at that fuel line through the x-ray machines. They then pulled all my bags to the side and while they were searching through them, a lady came up to me and said, “I need to do a body search on you.” Off to the side we went. I will say, she was very polite and discreet...I guess as much as you can be doing what you have to do in that situation. I was finally determined to be safe and allowed to head to our gate. I looked at the time...4 more hours till our next flight. Now I was REALLY wishing that I had checked in all my bags. You are not allowed to leave any bags, whatsoever, unattended. So wherever we went, our bags had to go too.
By then, I really needed to use the restroom and Eliseo needed a diaper change. I never realized how very timid Eliseo is. He’s fine at home and around our friends, neighbors, and church. He’s not so fine around hundreds of strangers at an airport. And he’s definitely more comfortable around strangers who talk to him in Spanish than in English.
I toted everything into the restroom, and I won’t tell you how Eliseo unlocked our door at a very inopportune time and tried to crawl under the next stall over. It was a very long 4 hours. There was a Burger King, but I didn’t know how I could possibly carry Eliseo, all our luggage, and a tray of food over to a table, so we went to the little snack store and bought a power bar and some trail mix to share. A man who had been on our first flight gave me all his pesos he had left over :) and another man must have thought we looked thirsty and bought us some bottled water.
Thirty minutes before we had to board, Eliseo fell asleep. They called those with small children to board first and have you ever noticed how once a child falls asleep they are extra heavy to carry? A man helped me carry my bags to the plane. I finally managed to get to my seat, store my things, and keep Eliseo asleep...only, it wasn’t my seat. I looked at the wrong boarding pass, so again, move everything and get reseated. I was so happy Eliseo was still asleep; my arm was hurting so badly from holding him, but I dared not move for fear of awaking him.
We took off, all was well, and then we hit turbulence. And Eliseo awoke. And cried. And he did this off and on the entire flight. And I was so tired and so sore and felt so badly as everyone around me was trying to rest as it was late. It was a long flight...and I was so happy when it was over...and so were the other 100 people on board. I was so weak from holding Eliseo I couldn’t even stand up. A man helped me up, two others carried my things and I said I was so sorry and appreciated their patience with us. They were so kind and said, “Oh, it’s been a long day.” That it was! So what do you think? Laugh or cry?? :)
Next time, I’m checking in my ALL my luggage.
Do you want to hear about it? Promise me you won’t laugh. Well, actually, you can laugh. When I think back on that trip I #1 thank the Lord He helped me through it and that I arrived safely, #2 I sometimes laugh, and #3 I sometime cry thinking that I have to repeat the process in about a week. Hopefully I’ve learned a few things from my first trip that will help make the next one easier. And if you have any pointers, feel free to share.
We left the house Tuesday morning a couple hours after breakfast. I spent the morning packing. I was determined to make everything fit in my carry on luggage as you have to pay now to check in baggage; I was very happy when I finally got the zipper on my mini suitcase zipped tight.
When Daniel’s brother Samuel came back the week before, he’d accidentally brought back with him some new parts for another brother’s boat. That brother asked if I’d bring them back with me when I flew. One of the parts was a fuel line...it was a long hose with some rubber thing attached to it. I had to take it out of the plastic packaging to make it fit in my bag but my wise hubby thought to include the paperwork just in case it raised some red flags with homeland security.
We got to the airport early, checked in and since we had an hour before I needed to board, Daniel treated us all to a farewell lunch. We got back to the airport, kissed and hugged everyone, and got in line at the gate. At this point, Eliseo realized that his 11 siblings were gone and instead he was surrounded by strangers. Eliseo can walk or at least easily stand by my side and hold my hand. I was counting on him to do just that from time to time. But he was clinging to my neck so hard and would cry if I even attempted to put him down.
So I had my carry on suit case packed to the max, my big diaper bag, my purse, and my laptop/paperwork bag...and Eliseo who happens to be one of our bigger children for his age and was seemingly gaining weight by the minute.
Since anytime our family goes anywhere together, no matter how quiet we try to be, we seem to draw attention to ourselves. We all walk in a line as to not “block traffic” and when people see a line of children that doesn’t seem to end, they either gasp, stare, smile, whisper, and always begin to count.
And since the children had dropped me off at the gate, I was now “known” by my fellow passengers (mostly all Americans) and when I finally managed to get my shoes and coat back on (hard to do with an almost 2 year old clinging to your neck) and my bags strapped back together so I could begin the long walk out to the plane, one of them took pity on me and carried all my bags.
Since we flew out at 3 pm and Eliseo had not had a nap that day, I was counting on him sleeping...which he did...for about 30 minutes. He woke up, didn’t know where he was and began to cry. There is an unwritten rule in an airplane...at least I felt there was at that moment...especially and airplane filled with mostly wealthy retired people returning from visiting their vacation homes...the rule is: Babies are cute and fine until they begin to cry and in the event they do cry, they are allotted 10 seconds of such behavior and then must be silent.
I had anticipated some fussing, so I quickly grabbed his juice and a bag of treats I’d packed. He settled down and when he’s finished his snack was content to play with the little fold down table tray for a while. He began to get fussy again so I took him to the bathroom...no, I didn’t have to use it, but it was the only place to walk with him and he was happy and calm then. We sat back down and we played puppet with the air plane “in case of sickness” bag. But suddenly, Eliseo began to cry again...really loud. Nothing would console him. He was perfectly happy one minute and then suddenly began to cry. My only consolation was that another younger couple behind me had a little girl who sometimes cried louder than he did. I soon found out the reason behind his cry. I should have kept Mr. bag puppet out as Eliseo’s not so little snack he’d eaten came right back up. Most of it made it into my hand. I grabbed the receiving blanket out of the diaper bag and cleaned us up. At least he was happy again. I’m not sure how happy everyone else was though.
We finally landed and as the okay was given for everyone to get up and gather their things, Eliseo again, seeing all these strangers stand up around him, began to wail. The man behind me said, “Oh, he’s just doing what the rest of us feel like doing but are too old to do.” I thought that was nice; although I’m sure we were part of the reason everyone felt like wailing too.
I picked up my purse, diaper bag, and lap top bag and managed to get off the plane. All larger carry-on items were waiting on a cart at the bottom of the stairs. I dropped all my other bags, grabbed the suitcase, and then tried to get everything strapped back together so I could carry it to the shuttle that was waiting. Again, someone took pity upon me and helped me carry everything into the bus.
At that point I thought that spending some money to check in my bags would have been money well spent.
The Los Angeles airport is huge. You have to walk...a lot. We first had to get down to the lower floor to go through customs. I’m sure there must have been an elevator, but I didn’t think to ask and began to descend the 40+ stairs. The wheels on the bottoms of your suitcase do not work well on stairs. I then began to really miss my husband who could have easily carried Eliseo and twice the baggage that I was trying to carry. My arms felt like spaghetti noodles and we had so far to go still.
Everyone around me seemed to know perfectly well what they were doing. I was totally lost. I finally found someone who could direct me where to go to catch my next flight. We had to walk outside quite a ways; Eliseo was happy to be outside and even let me put him down and we began walking over to the next building. Once we go inside, I was told to go to the second floor to get my boarding pass. This time, I found the elevator! Boarding pass in hand, I was directed to my gate on the 3rd floor. I went back to the elevator; the doors began to close and I saw Eliseo reach for them. My heart sunk, I said, “Oh no!”, but it was too late. They closed right on his fingers! I immediately pressed the open door button, but nothing. I pressed the help button...nothing. Eliseo was screaming, I was crying, and finally, after about 10-15 seconds, the doors opened up. Nobody was by the elevator, so I got out, sat down on my suitcase and comforted my little guy and prayed. His fingers were swollen, and the skin was dented. He calmed down, and thankfully, he was able to move them fine and seemed to be recovering from the ordeal.
Again, I was lost. Since I had taken the elevator instead of the stairs or escalator, I came out at a different point. I could see the lines of people below me waiting to go through security to get to their gates, but I didn’t see how to get to them. I just followed the walk way until some people started running toward me waving their arms saying, “NO!” I explained my situation and they said, well, you can’t get to the gate lines from the elevator. I asked them if I had to go back down the elevator and take the stairs ??? They seemed to not know what to say to that question, so they told me to wait, went and talked to some people, and then said, “Follow me”. They led me right to the front of the line. Thank you, Lord!
I finally managed again to get my coat off, shoes off, watch off, Eliseo’s coat off, his shoes off, and all of my bags up on the belt to get scanned...all while holding Eliseo who was not about to be put down at that point. I walked through waiting for my bags. I got our shoes and coats, but no bags. Finally I see them all looking at that fuel line through the x-ray machines. They then pulled all my bags to the side and while they were searching through them, a lady came up to me and said, “I need to do a body search on you.” Off to the side we went. I will say, she was very polite and discreet...I guess as much as you can be doing what you have to do in that situation. I was finally determined to be safe and allowed to head to our gate. I looked at the time...4 more hours till our next flight. Now I was REALLY wishing that I had checked in all my bags. You are not allowed to leave any bags, whatsoever, unattended. So wherever we went, our bags had to go too.
By then, I really needed to use the restroom and Eliseo needed a diaper change. I never realized how very timid Eliseo is. He’s fine at home and around our friends, neighbors, and church. He’s not so fine around hundreds of strangers at an airport. And he’s definitely more comfortable around strangers who talk to him in Spanish than in English.
I toted everything into the restroom, and I won’t tell you how Eliseo unlocked our door at a very inopportune time and tried to crawl under the next stall over. It was a very long 4 hours. There was a Burger King, but I didn’t know how I could possibly carry Eliseo, all our luggage, and a tray of food over to a table, so we went to the little snack store and bought a power bar and some trail mix to share. A man who had been on our first flight gave me all his pesos he had left over :) and another man must have thought we looked thirsty and bought us some bottled water.
Thirty minutes before we had to board, Eliseo fell asleep. They called those with small children to board first and have you ever noticed how once a child falls asleep they are extra heavy to carry? A man helped me carry my bags to the plane. I finally managed to get to my seat, store my things, and keep Eliseo asleep...only, it wasn’t my seat. I looked at the wrong boarding pass, so again, move everything and get reseated. I was so happy Eliseo was still asleep; my arm was hurting so badly from holding him, but I dared not move for fear of awaking him.
We took off, all was well, and then we hit turbulence. And Eliseo awoke. And cried. And he did this off and on the entire flight. And I was so tired and so sore and felt so badly as everyone around me was trying to rest as it was late. It was a long flight...and I was so happy when it was over...and so were the other 100 people on board. I was so weak from holding Eliseo I couldn’t even stand up. A man helped me up, two others carried my things and I said I was so sorry and appreciated their patience with us. They were so kind and said, “Oh, it’s been a long day.” That it was! So what do you think? Laugh or cry?? :)
Next time, I’m checking in my ALL my luggage.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Random thoughts
Tomorrow I'll be flying to the USA with little Eliseo. The house is clean (is it hard for anyone else to leave home with the house not clean...I know it's so silly especially since people will be living in it while I'm gone but I just wanted it to be nice before I go), recipe cards made up, chores and school work assigned, and a wish list written up of little treats to bring home. I spent the night playing with the children; we made up and recorded a song that kept me laughing so hard my side still aches. :) I still need to pack, but that won't take long as I'm only going to fly out with a carry on. They are now charging per bag that you check in so between a carry on, purse and diaper bag, I think we'll do just fine. This year, a friend of our family got us set up with a phone that works via the internet; we even have a USA phone number, so I'll be able to call Daniel and the children often.
Thank you so much for praying. I'm praying especially that the Lord will give me the opportunity to share Him with someone as I travel. I'll keep you all updated from up north.
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I want to again thank those of you who are praying for our church here. We had a sweet weekend serving together. Several of the ladies came to help me clean; Alma, my girls, and some of our Sunday school girls went soul winning with me; our church purchased a large bus as we are working new route areas; Daniel's brother returned from visiting home for Christmas and brought back several new hymn books.
What a blessing the hymn books are! A couple years ago, we were able to order a small handful of them, but as our church has grown, there has never been close to enough for everyone. Of all the Spanish hymn books we've seen, this was our favorite, but while several hymn books make a small version with words only (no written music) for a cheaper price, this one doesn't.
When Daniel called a couple of months ago inquiring about purchasing a few more, the lady told him that they'd had a misprint on a entire lot of them and the last 11 of the 630+ songs did not have the correct music. These were being offered at only $5 a book! The lady said that the publisher's mistake has turned out to be a big blessing for many missionaries. :)
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Daniel just got home from counseling a couple, so good bye computer :) I'll leave with a few pictures from this weekend.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Give=Joy
The past few days I've been doing some planning. The last time I was away from my children was when I was in the hospital on bedrest during Samuel's pregnancy. And everyone survived. But survival was about it. :) We were away from home, living out of suitcases, and the goal of each day at the time was to have everyone clothed, fed, and some clean clothes/dishes ready for the next day.
What a difference it makes to be home. The children know the schedule, and through the years of them working along beside me, between the older ones, they can do most of what I do.
While I won't be home to formally "teach", I want them to continue to learn. I'm putting together daily assignment sheets...writing assignments, reading, math worksheets, art projects, etc...to keep them busy during their desk time each day.
Tonight, we talked about meals. I asked the oldest 3 to name for me what dishes they could prepare 100% on their own from shopping to serving to clean up.
French toast, Eggs and potatoes, Oatmeal and toast, Breakfast burritos, Ceral and milk
Ham or grilled chees sandwiches, Bean and Cheese Burritos, Cup of Noodles with bread
Beef stew and bread, Spaghetti and green beans, Tacos, Shepherds Pie, Baked Potatos
I think Daddy will be well fed while I'm gone.
Then we talked about my chores. Hna. Meche will be doing the ironing and helping with laundry. And they took the rest of my schedule and planned out who would make our bed, dress and change Samuel, mop, clean my bathroom, and file the papers.
While I know they will miss me as much as I will miss them, they are almost giddy with excitement over their responsibilites over the next couple of weeks.
And I'm so happy for them. It will be a time for them to give of themselves and it is more blessed to give than receive.
How true that is!
I have felt sooo happy the past few weeks. Why?
Because I got some things in my life right with the Lord. And I wake up each morning ready to serve the Lord by serving my family from dawn to as late as they need me and I'm just almost bubbling with joy.
As the children are growing and our family is working more and more together, I've had more time lately. I asked Daniel what I could do with that time; how I could help him more.
And he gave me my own route area to work for Sundays. Timothy and Elijah have had thier own routes for about a year. Some of the other young people in the church have been working other areas as well. So Alma (age 16) and I, my 3 daughters and little Samuel get dropped off each Saturday at 10 am to our area of town. We go door to door for about an hour and a half inviting people to church, passing out tracts, and sharing the gospel as often as we can. Sunday morning, we go back to their homes and tell them the bus is coming by to pick them up in a little bit and to get ready. Seven new children we invited came last week! And I was so happy!
He who has been forgiven much loveth much. That is so true. The Lord has forgiven me and I how much I love Him. Oh, I know it is not as much as I should, but to think that every little hardship or inconvinience that comes along each day is a grand opportunity to show love to my Lord gives sweetness to what was before bitter.
While the boys and I worked on lunch today, Beka kept the little ones busy with "school". She was so patient and kind; so fun and yet determined for them to learn; so quick to heap on praise for each of their accomplishments. She was so happy! She wasn't off playing or doing anything for herself right then. She was giving. Giving her time, attention, and love to the young ones, and allowing the older ones to get their jobs done eaiser. And everyone was so happy.
No, it's not always like this. We all mess up...a lot! But more and more, we are learning to be quick to forgive, slow to anger, and praise the Lord, we can start again afresh the instant our heart repents.
One of the sweetest times I have with my children is when I have to discipline them. The more consisitent I am, the less I have to do it. But foolishness is bound up in their little hearts, and when the times come that it needs to be driven out, afterwards, I hold them, sit them on my lap or next to me, pray with them, tell them how much the Lord and I love them, and then remind them of one of my favorite verses~ Lamentations 3:22-23...the Lord's mercies and compassions are new every morning. The sin's been taken care of and we have a clean slate. And how happy they are afterwards.
Oh, how I will miss these smiles. How I will miss their Daddy. But I think they will do much more than just survive this time.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Do you see what eye see?
You know, it's hard to get a picture of Eliseo when he's not smiling. I finally caught him off guard, called his name, and was able to get the camera to "click" before he grinned at me. When he smiles, his eyes are so squinty it's hard to see them.
Since birth, one or both of Eliseo's eyes are continually pointed towards his nose. While we were in the USA for Samuel's birth, we were able to take Eliseo to see an eye doctor. Glasses did not work and we were told he needed a surgery to correct his vision, perferably before the age of 2.
We looked into having the surgery done here, but they do not do it in our state in Mexico. We would have to go to the mainland to have it done. We checked into having it in the USA, but found out as he is so young, it has to be done in the OR in a hospital. Assuming it would be considered under "vision", we didn't think Samaritan's Ministries would be able to cover it.
We were praying about what to do and after talking with the doctors and Samaritan's, we found out they do cover it as it is not a vision but medical surgery he needs.
What an unexpected answer to our prayers! So next week, Eliseo and I will be flying north and on January 26th, he will be having surgery on both of his eyes at the same hospital where little Samuel was born last year.
I'll be away from home a total of 10 days. For as thankful and excited as I am for Eliseo to Lord willing be able to see better, I think I'm equally homesick. I love to travel WITH my husband and children...I don't love it so much by myself. I will miss them so much...especially this little guy.
Samuel will be 10 months old tomorrow. He's got 2 bottom teeth, loves to grab anything and everything, has yet to sit up by himself, scoot or crawl, but oh if only you could hear him laugh. He loves to be in his walker, is just starting to eat something other than milk, and has just gotten to the point where he wants mommy! He'll go to anyone, but if he sees me, he'll reach out and try to do a nose dive towards my arms. :)
Oh, I have so much I so often want to share. The Lord is just so good; how good it is to grow in Him. How wonderful to have Him change our hearts! But I'm tired...again :) I get that way around 10 pm. It's really a wonderful feeling. Days full of work, school, play and lots of sweet fellowship...talking with my children, Daniel and I sharing our hearts with each other, sharing from God's Word with someone most every day who comes to our home or across our path...so much thirst. Jesus is the living water!
Thank you for praying...I cannot say that enough. God is so faithful and good!
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
All emails have been sent! :)
Sunset over our town tonight
Thank you to all who re-sent me your email in regards to praying for someone in our church here.
It's a bit past my bedtime, but tonight I go to bed so very content as I just sent out the last email. How wonderful to think how many prayers are being offered on behalf of the new believers here or for those who still need to come to the Savior.
If you sent me your email and you didn't hear from me, please let me know and I'll be sure to send you a name(s)/picture sheet. (A couple of you left me comments wanting to pray for someone, but didn't include your email...send it to me and I'll email you :)).
I'm so tired but so happy! We had a wonderful service tonight...smaller group than normal but so sweet. Afterwards, we sat around for almost an hour fellowshiping, eating coffee and cookies, and talking about the Lord and His Word. For those who are praying for Hno. Juan and his family, they love to talk about the Lord. They soak up His Word like a sponge.
A dear family in Alaska sent us a big box of shoes; we shared those with the children who came tonight. How excited they were!
Oh, the Lord is just so good and faithful...so just, merciful, loving and wonderful!
How I thank Him for His continual work in my heart.
It's a bit past my bedtime, but tonight I go to bed so very content as I just sent out the last email. How wonderful to think how many prayers are being offered on behalf of the new believers here or for those who still need to come to the Savior.
If you sent me your email and you didn't hear from me, please let me know and I'll be sure to send you a name(s)/picture sheet. (A couple of you left me comments wanting to pray for someone, but didn't include your email...send it to me and I'll email you :)).
I'm so tired but so happy! We had a wonderful service tonight...smaller group than normal but so sweet. Afterwards, we sat around for almost an hour fellowshiping, eating coffee and cookies, and talking about the Lord and His Word. For those who are praying for Hno. Juan and his family, they love to talk about the Lord. They soak up His Word like a sponge.
A dear family in Alaska sent us a big box of shoes; we shared those with the children who came tonight. How excited they were!
Oh, the Lord is just so good and faithful...so just, merciful, loving and wonderful!
How I thank Him for His continual work in my heart.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
All who have asked to be prayer partners...Please Read!!
As I sat down today to check our email, my heart sank. I don't know much about computers...just enough to send/receive email, download our pictures, do our prayer letters and blog. But somehow some "error" happened and we lost all the emails in our inbox. We had to redownload our email account and everything is blank.
My first thought was, "Oh, all the emails from those who want to pray for our people here!" Daniel was much calmer (of course :) ), and said, "Well, it's not surprising. We know Satan does not want people praying. This area has been his 'turf' for many years and it's never been an easy battle. Don't give up; just write and ask those who wrote before if they'll email again"
So, I have a favor to ask you...Would those of you who emailed us about praying for a brother/sister in Christ here please send us another email? I know how valuable your time is and I'm sure it's difficult for many of you to have much time on the computer. Maybe some of you could find your original message in your "sent message" folder and just resend it.
Those of you who sent me all your information/email address in a comment don't need to do anything as I still have all those :)
I'm so sorry and wish I knew how to get our emails back. I'll be checking into it as I have time, but have hopes about as great as my computer skills...not much :)
But I really want to send you all the names/info of the person for which you will be praying this week. I have most of the sheets prepared to email. I just need your email addresses and preferences (if you wanted a man/woman/boy/girl/family).
Well, looking on the bright side, as I saw my empty inbox today, I guess this is the first time I've been "caught up" on my emails in months :) Which reminds me, if you emailed me recently and haven't heard back, you might want to resend that too.
Thank you for your help!
My first thought was, "Oh, all the emails from those who want to pray for our people here!" Daniel was much calmer (of course :) ), and said, "Well, it's not surprising. We know Satan does not want people praying. This area has been his 'turf' for many years and it's never been an easy battle. Don't give up; just write and ask those who wrote before if they'll email again"
So, I have a favor to ask you...Would those of you who emailed us about praying for a brother/sister in Christ here please send us another email? I know how valuable your time is and I'm sure it's difficult for many of you to have much time on the computer. Maybe some of you could find your original message in your "sent message" folder and just resend it.
Those of you who sent me all your information/email address in a comment don't need to do anything as I still have all those :)
I'm so sorry and wish I knew how to get our emails back. I'll be checking into it as I have time, but have hopes about as great as my computer skills...not much :)
But I really want to send you all the names/info of the person for which you will be praying this week. I have most of the sheets prepared to email. I just need your email addresses and preferences (if you wanted a man/woman/boy/girl/family).
Well, looking on the bright side, as I saw my empty inbox today, I guess this is the first time I've been "caught up" on my emails in months :) Which reminds me, if you emailed me recently and haven't heard back, you might want to resend that too.
Thank you for your help!
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