Saturday Morning Work

I was just thinking how normally, I have about 100 things that need to be done any given weekend. And this weekend, I have a list of about 30 more things since we are having a special service tomorrow and leaving on a trip.

Blogging definitely is not one of those 130 things :)

But I know many of you are praying for our church here, and when I take pictures, I love to share :).

So as we all worked, I snapped a few shots of our morning.

Hna. Victoria cleaning out back

Hna. Meche and Hna. Tola cleaning the back room

Armando and Jorge gathering garbage that had blown into the field next to the church

Ivan getting ready to mow the grass/weeds :)

My weed-eating man :)

Brother Ramon scrapping off old paint

Brother Juaquin doing the same

Carla entertaining Susannah and Samuel

Armando told me he is very strong...don't you all agree? :)

Nehemiah found some garbage too :)

Carla getting ready for an early piano lesson since we are leaving tomorrow

Rogelio painting

Ramon touching up the building

This was the boys favorite job...burning the cut weeds and such :)

Abi washing the windows

And after a few minutes of taking pictures, I wondered where Eliseo had wandered off to...

I found him :-)

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of our morning.

May you have a blessed weekend! And may we encourage you to work for the Lord serving in your church in whatever way you can! What a blessing and encouragement to pastors to have their people serving! And what joy there is in serving Jesus!!

Serve the Lord with Gladness!! Psalms 100:2

Did you guess?

While you all had some great guesses, one of you hit the nail on the head! :-)

Josiah is cleaning the mini blinds...

Rebekah has become great friends with the broom....

The shoes are all nice and shiny....

The car seats have been stripped, washed, wiped down...
The side of the house has been weeded...
And even the lot next to us has been completely cleaned...

Timothy and Elijah have been out doing yard jobs too.

What's all this about Little Mr. Samuel?

Barb guessed it right! We are taking a trip to the states and the children are doing lots of extra chores to earn some spending money!

A few months ago, we realized that my driver's license is expiring in June and we also would need to smog/register our van. Since both Daniel and I would need to cross the border to take care of those things, the children come too :-)

Driving 18 hours through the desert just to go to the DMV wouldn't be that exciting. But Daddy decided that it would be a bit more bearable if we went to the zoo while we were up north!

We took the oldest 6 went to a zoo when they were little before we moved to Mexico, but they don't remember much and the others have never gone. They have been counting down the days for...well, I remember Noah asking me once, "Is 84 days a long time?". :-)

They are sooooo excited!

Why did we choose the zoo? Well, really, it was all Noah's idea. :) He's in Kindergarten and one day we were working on his papers and there were all sorts of zoo animals on the page. He was asking me all about them and he said, "I really want to go to a zoo someday." I told Daddy (you know how Daddies love to give surprises to their children) and he had me do some research.

While many places that charge an admission fee are not financially friendly for a family our size, the LA zoo has a family pass that is reasonable.

So I've been hearing "zoo" planning for weeks now!

And the best part of all is Aunt Julee (my sister) and Uncle Elias (her husband) are driving down to meet us! My boys can't wait to play soccer with Uncle Elias and my girls can't wait to have Aunt Julee do their hair. We love them and miss them so much!

And, this past week, we just found out my Aunt and Uncle, whom Daniel and the children have never met before, are flying down to see us too!

It will be a quick trip, but so much to look forward to!

We'll be having a big Super Sunday this weekend where we combine the morning and evening services with a fellowship meal afterwards. I'll be feeding all the children during the second service...I'm thinking Nachos! And then, after we take everyone back home and clean up, we'll start heading north.

We appreciate your prayers for safety as we travel. Oh, before I forget, I want to share a praise! Daniel was working on the van getting it ready for the trip north. We have had a vibration now for a while and so he and a mechanic were trying to find out from where it was coming. While looking for the problem, they found a couple other problems...big ones! We had some worn tie rod ends. Apparently that is what ties your tires together, and if it were to break, you would lose complete control of your vehicle/steering. So we were so thankful to find that and be able to get it repaired. They still hadn't found the cause of the vibration, and yesterday, they were looking over the van again, and found that 2 nuts were missing from 2 of the bolts that hold down the transmission. So we are very thankful for that vibration...not sure what is causing it yet...but the Lord used it to help us find some big things.

I need to get back to work:

*Working on sewing a couple jumpers and some culottes for the girls before we leave

*Making lots of refried beans to put in zip lock backs to take in the ice chest for quick burritos on the road (we have a little propane stove so we can cook :) )

*Packing, packing, packing

*Haircuts for the boys

*Preparing for my children's class Sunday

*Trying to think of something else these eager workers can clean! :)

Oh, and another prayer request...Hna. Leticia is due to have her baby in early June. Knowing how slowly those last days of pregnancy can pass, I hope she doesn't have to wait much longer...although I sure hope we are back in time! I know their family appreciates so much those of you who are praying for them.

Thou art near, O Lord; and all thy commandments are truth. Psalms 119:151

Jobs Wanted!

*If the Matlach or Kavakos family reads this, could you please email us... lockwoods2mexico@juno.com . Thank you!

Pulling weeds......

Matching socks.....

Washing doors....

and windows...

cleaning anything they can...

And all done during their free time...eagerly asking me for more and more jobs.

Yes, a very ambitious bunch they are this week.

And they are very excited too.

Any guesses why?

Oh Happy Day!

Guess who's back in full baby action????

What was the first thing he did with this new found freedom?

Got lots of hugs and kisses and cuddles from everyone...

And then a nice, llloooonnnngggg, warm, bubbly bath...scrubbed head to toe by Daddy and Mommy!

We are getting ready to do something special...something the children have been counting down to for months...but more about that later :-)

I thought this was cute~

Daniel and I have been playing piano together since we were 15...that's almost 22 years now!

I'm teaching 5 of my children as well as a young girl (Alondra) and a young lady (Lupita, Julia's daughter) to play. I'm sooo thankful my mom was so patient with me all the years she taught me! Our family loves to sing together and play together. Make a joyful Lord unto the Lord!

Morning Breakfast helpers! :)

Monday, we went out to San Carlos, a port town, where some of the people from our church have been working all month killing clam. They pack up some blankets, clothes, dishes and a little stove and stay over there until clam season is over. They make 3-4 times as much a day killing clam as they do working in the fields. Since they haven't been able to attend church during this time, we've gone out there to them...singing, a message from God's Word, and wonderful fellowship!

Just a quick update...praising the Lord for so much today! I was thinking of the many wonderful things He's done! He is ever watchful, loving, and so faithful!

Home Sick

Daniel's brother Samuel just got married this past weekend. He's the brother who came down to serve in the ministry here for several months. I was super excited to see pictures from the wedding. They were beautiful of course. And then I got to see the faces of some of the people whom I love the most in this world...my brothers and sisters in laws, my neices and nephews...and I kept going back and forth between smiling and crying. If Daniel were home and saw me, he would say, "You are such a woman!" :-)
Sometimes I miss everyone soooooo much! I love the people here; I can't begin to write down how thankful I am to have been able to be a small part of seeing a church here spring up where Satan before had complete control; what my heart feels to see those dear brothers and sisters in Christ learning, growing, and being changed by the Lord I cannot express; I am so thankful to be married to a man who is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ and is willing to give his all to bring that glorious hope to those who have none.
I know this is where God has called us and there is really no other place I would rather be than in the this. And it feels more and more like home to me. What was before brought so much fear and uncertainty is sweetly familiar to me now.
But sometimes I miss our home so much...I miss our family. I miss our friends in the states. I miss being there for their birthdays, weddings, or any other holiday.
I miss stopping by a sister in laws house for the afternoon to visit and watch our children play. I miss being able to go to a store and buy the children some school supplies or new socks. And while so much of that is good as I love living simply and God is always so good to supply our every need, sometimes I just miss home. I sometimes feel that life goes on without us up north and it feels lonely and I just miss it. I miss taking the children to a grassy park to play or camping with our family or taking the children fishing. Tonight, I miss my homeland.
Sigh...and then I feel badly for feeling this way (again, I see my husbands smile and hear him saying, "Women!" :) ).
So while sometimes my heart is home sick, I do what I tell the children to do when their heart hurts. Tell it to Jesus. Know He loves us so much and understands like no other. He never leaves us!
Today is Benjamin's 10th birthday! Daniel and some of the children went out to San Carlos with some others from our church to see Brother Juan, but they are planning on being back later tonight, so we'll have cake and celebrate! You will never guess what he wanted for his b'day...a turtle. And I was sooo happy that they still had some at vet clinic. It is really the cutest little thing! And with the little bowl and food we bought, the total cost was only $15! He loves to eat! He'll fit in great here! And apparently, in 5 years, they get to be about the size of a pancake. Benjamin is very creative...he already named this little pet...his name is "Ben". Wonder if a turtle can learn its name and if both he and my Ben will come running when I call. :-)

Sweep Dreams

Okay, where and how does that boy sleep? I know that those are some of his most prized possessions...his kite, his Battleship game, his Bible, his backpack, his brooms...yes, he owns his own brooms as he and his brother have been doing yard jobs around town in their free time . What concerns me is that they are saving up to buy some more tools to further their business...and I am not sure how he'll fare sleeping with a rake, clippers, and a hoe.

Saturdays use to be our big cleaning day. My big children were especially helpful with the many chores we need to get done each weekend as we are so busy with school and other responsibilities during the week.

But my big children are not only big helps at home, they are also very useful in the work of the ministry here. Saturday has become for the older ones a day of bus routes, visitation, soul winning, church projects, etc... So we had a few things that were not getting done as I need to sit down and rework some of the chores.

So Saturday, I told the younger ones that they were my big helpers for the day. I started with just 2 of them...Eliseo and Nehemiah...as all the others were at the church. Samuel was here, but he doesn't do much yet being in his cast and all. :-)

I thought we'd start in the boys room as I knew their sheets and bedding needed to be washed and I am excited each time I get to use my new clothes line. And it was then I decided to make a new rule...no sleeping with brooms!

The boys were actually quite helpful in helping me strip the beds! We had fun! And while Nehemiah looks like he's crying, that's just his "camera" face...whenever I take a picture, he tries to imitate me :)



The middle boys got home a couple hours later and I had Isaiah pull down all my plants and give them a bath.

They look so nice and green now!

Our home church made us this quilt a few years back. Each time I see it, I remember their love, support and prayers as I know they put in so much time and love in making it for us. It has all of our names on it...I think Josiah was the baby at the time, so with 5 more children born since then, it would really be big!!!

And since this is just such a random post just (I'm waiting for Daniel to get home from teaching :) ), I thought I'd share these pictures. Our oldest 8 had to get passports last month as their old ones had expired. They wouldn't let them smile for the pictures and I just think they look so funny! I don't think I've ever seen them all this serious!

So, back to cleaning...I had made a big lunch for when Daniel, some of the youth from church and our older children got home, so I put Eliseo on dishes :) Beka had gotten home by then, so she helped. By the time they were done, they'd had a bath themselves!

I had the boys start organizing their desks while I cleaned the dining room and returned the now washed plants to their proper spots.

And by the early evening, we had clean beds with no brooms! The older boys came home for lunch and afterwards I had them do a bit of organizing/cleaning in their room :)

Well, that was Saturday. Sunday was wonderful! Every 6 weeks or so, I have a "store" for the children in my class. They earn coupons each class (attendance, bringing their Bibles, doing their homework sheet, saying their verse, answering questions, listening well and behaving, bringing a friend etc...) and they get to spend them at the "store". A couple of dear sisters have sent us some boxes in the mail with little treats, prizes, toys, games etc... and the children are so excited each time they come to class and see it's the week for the store to be set up.

Each time I teach them, no matter what Bible passage I'm sharing about, I always give them the gospel and let them know how they can accept Jesus as their Saviour. Many of them have told me that they have done just that and while I have several children who struggle a bit to sit still :), I have several others who listen so intently each week. It is so exciting to see them learning and growing!

And to end, a couple pictures from today...I was doing afternoon reading on the couch with Josiah. I told Abi and Beka that when I was through it would be time to help straighten up the house a bit before they played. Shortly after I said that, Abi and Isaiah came in with a robot who they said would take care of everything...cooking, cleaning, washing. The only problem was that he couldn't reach the stove or the sink.
And after supper, I was washing the dishes, looked out the window and thought once again how very happy I am! :)