Gather up...that nothing be lost

Have you missed us? :) It is hard to believe March is almost over! We are enjoying our nice spring temps of 90-95* each afternoon. When anyone complains, Daniel smiles and says, "It's March...these are the nice cool days." Those they are! It's given us all a bit of spring fever. While I'm in the mood to clean and organize everything and have all sorts of projects planned, the evenings right now seem to end up with everyone running around in the back yard, neighborhood children coming over to play and swing, water ballons, baseball games, and lots of laughter and fun. :)

We rejoice in seeing the ministry grow. I can't help but to think that in part the abundant work in the hearts of the people here is due to you who are praying. Each day is so full. Sunday, services and bus routes all day; Tuesday, Daniel is in Jesus Maria; Wednesday, visitation and prayer meeting; Thursday, meetings in Zaragoza; Saturday, soul winning/visitation, church cleaning, and youth meeting. Monday evenings, Daniel and I have been going together to visit someone in our church together. What a blessing it has been! I love watching my husband witness or counsel those who are seeking; I love being able to help in any way I can, and I do so enjoy being with the people.

As the ministry continues to grow, my love for the people here as well as my burden for their souls grows. What an answer to my prayers! I remember thinking when we first came to Mexico that it would be my children's home. This would be their culture and where they would have all their childhood memories. But I just couldn't imagine my heart being here as I did so miss "home" in the states.
How many times I went to the Lord asking Him to give me more of a love for the people here, to help me understand them, to help me to love being here. At the time I prayed, I simply couldn't imagine feeling that way, and I doubt I even had the faith that the Lord would change my heart. But what a gracious Heavenly Father He is for while I don't know exactly when or how it happened, but I feel so at home here now. And I love these dear people so much.
And just to see the Lord change my heart so, it encourages me to pray more knowing that He loves to answer prayers according to His will. The same Lord who healed the leper and made the blind see wants today to open the eyes of the people here to the truth. He wants wants to continue to change my heart in so many areas where I know I fall short! And how blessed it is to have the confidence to go bodly before His throne and ask for His grace.

Lately, I have had to really seek the Lord in keeping my focus and priorities where they need to be. Daniel is very good in wanting me to be home as much as possible. There are some areas in the ministry here in which he wants or needs me to be a part and then others which he leaves up to me.

Since coming back from the states after Eliseo's surgery, I began to feel a bit overwhelmed. It seemed like I was working so hard and so long yet not making definate progress in certain areas or worse yet, saw some areas slipping.

I can be like the ostrich with his head in the sand and if I think an area is beyond help, I can just ignore it. But thankfully, that doesn't happen to me for very long. I began praying about some areas that were burdening me-

*home school
*laundry
*clothing needs of the children
*involvment in the ministry
*training/discipline of the children
*emails/computer

After praying, I always feel better just having shared my burdens with the Lord. But it is rarely and "instant answer" that strikes me like lightening. But in the days and weeks that follow, I can undoubtedly see the Lord's work.

Benjamin was memorizing a verse in one of his school assignments a few weeks ago..."Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." John 6:12 After Jesus fed the crowd of over 5,000, He had His disciples gather up the bread that was left over and they gathered 12 baskets full. He surely didn't begin with much...just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. As the Lord made that little lunch sufficient to feed all who hungered, He too can make the time He gives me sufficient to fill each area of need He wants me to fill. I began to think of my time like those fragments of bread that remained after everyone had had their full. While I've always had a schedule I've followed during the day, I began to see several areas in which I had fragments of time that rather than gathering up to be used, I was simply wasting.

What was all the more special to me was that the disciples gathered up 12 baskets and the Lord has given me 12 children. The Lord reminded me of being faithful and diligent with what I have and simple trusting Him.

I have never been very good at sewing. I had a few lessons when I was young, but never learned enough to really make anything wearable. :) But a lady gave us a big box of fabric last year...beautiful fabric. And it has mostly sat under my sewing table. But as the girls have been growing so quickly and their dresses getting shorter and quite worn and simply not being able to find anything here that we would want them to wear, I asked the Lord to help me and I started sewing more.
I got a couple of simple jumper patterns and while I couldn't see a way to fit in a sewing time in our already full schedule, the Lord gave me so many ideas!

-I had the older children cut out already pinned pattern pieces when they finished school early
-I put my machine each morning at the kitchen table and sewed a little bit here and a bit there while I could when teaching...this worked great while quizzing them on their spelling lists or multiplication tables
-I got up 15 minutes early a few mornings just to sew a bit before breakfast

A month later, I've completed 3 jumpers for Beka and 3 for Susannah with one more in the works! They are by no means perfect, but they are wearable, fit them well, and most importantly, they are sooo happy to have them and think I'm the best seamstress in the world. :) Aahhh, ignorance can be bliss in some ways I suppose :)

I was getting simply all flustered and worried over our home schooling this year, too. I think I supposed that when the Lord put in into our hearts to home school our children that He must have not taken into consideration that He was going to give us 12 children in 12 years. At least the way I was fretting and doubting and worrying, I surely wasn't trusting the Lord nor standing strong in Him or courageously walking the path.

I thought of all the things that would help...none of which I had of course. But this didn't help my attitude nor help the children in their learning either.
Daniel always simply tells me, "Jaynee, do the best you can do each day. Be faithful, don't get discouraged or give up. The Lord just wants you to do what He has called you to do the best you can unto Him."

And how easy is that? Can I do my best each day? Of course! Asking the Lord for His strength, grace, and wisdom, I determined anew to faithfully do the best I could do each day. And you know, the Lord has blessed this past month so much! He's blessed the children's understanding in what I've been teaching them; He's blessed us with groweth in our character..both the children and mommy; He's blessed us will good progress in our subjects; and He's blessed me with so many new little ideas that helped some of the problem areas I had.

Oh, His yoke is easy and His burden is light and how often I forget that and take upon myself my own burden...expectations of others, my own rules or desires, and so many other thoughts that certainly do not come from my Lord.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Tomorrow, we have a group of 17 men/women/teens coming here from Ustick Baptist Church in Idaho. This church sent down a group 2 years ago right after Daniel's surgery. They painted the church building where we are currently meeting, and we are so excited to have them here again with us for about a week. Their youth pastor was Daniel and my youth pastor when we were muucchhh younger :).
The children are sooo excited; I gave them each a name or two from the group and they made them letters and have been praying for their special person(s) each day all month. Daniel and the boys are out preaching in Zaragoza right now; the girls, little ones and I stayed home tonight to work on packing lunches for Daniel and the group as they will have a 5 hour trip to our house from the airport.
Since this upcoming week is a vacation for the school's here, the group will be helping us have a VBS at our church for the children of the town.
Well, I'd better get back to cutting veggies and putting together our cleaning schedule for tomorrow. Daniel will leave early in the morning to pick up the team and the children and I will...clean! You always do when you know company is coming, right? :) We appreciate your prayers for this group from Idaho as well as for saftey for them and Daniel as they travel to and from the airport.