Mexico Part 4

It has been 11 days since we got back from Mexico and it seems like so long ago and far away. It is amazing that I live about 90 miles from Anna (pictures here with Annailee). We have so much and often think we need more and they have so little. Something to think about.

The second day of our trip our devotional was entitled "Crossing God's World, Rooted in God's Love." Our verses were John 15:4-5 "[Jesus said...] Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing."

The Thought for the day was: "Life is, first of all, not entirely about doing and giving. And contrary to the values of our culture, it is not only about productivity and success. Life is rooted in receiving. It is sustained because so much has been given to us." Our questions for the day were 1) "If 'life is rooted in receiving' what have you received lately that inspires you to remain rooted in Christ Jesus?" and 2) "What do you need to continually receive on this trip in order to be able to give and serve in fruitful ways?"

I asked Joshua these questions that morning after our breakfast of beans, potatoes, and eggs. He was thoughtful a minute and for the first question said, "The Ninja Turtle [I got at McDonald's] cause it was a copy of God's creation." In response to what he needed for the trip he said, "Somewhere to sleep; some time for fun and time to play with kids at the orphanage." I think that's it. We need to sleep -- renew our energy, but after that life is about having fun and playing. I think I get very caught up in being busy, getting things done, but maybe life should be more about gratefully receiving the "Ninja Turtles" that we get each day and then playing and having fun. I don't think it means that we stop working, but maybe we start playing at our work -- enjoying it each day and sharing it with someone else.

Hope you play with a new friend today,

Sheryl

Mexico Part 3

Before I share some thoughts on our trip to Mexico last week, I want to tell you about my morning. It was nothing exceptional, other than the fact that my family (all 3 of us) went out to walk, jog and run together. Jon is training for the Chicago Marathon (see link to the left for more info) and today decided to jog for 40 minutes. Joshua was going to ride his bike and then changed his mind to run with us. Well, I am at the walking/jogging stage, so Joshua ended up joining me after about 3 minutes of running with Jon. But as we started off down the bike trail, the smile on my face must have stretched from ear to ear as I watched Jon and Joshua jog off in front of me and I acknowledged the amazing gift of having my whole family together.

After we got back and Jon showered, the guys headed off on their monthly tradition of breakfast at Ruby's. They always try to use the coupon from our Ruby's calendar that provides something Free, with the purchase of something else. Their plan was to order the Cinnamon French Toast Combo Breakfast and thus earn a free Banana Split. Maybe not the most healthy breakfast in the world, but Hey! we all just had 40 minutes of exercise and they walked to Ruby's. :) So I have enjoyed a couple hours to myself at home.

While on our Mexico trip our team of 29 joined together each morning for a time of devotions, using a devotional created by our Pastor Tod Bolsinger and Global Mission Coordinator Sarah Killelea. I hope they don't mind if I share some of their thoughts here.

The first day was called "Leaving Home" and we read Ephesians 1:16b-20. At the time verses 19 and 20 didn't sink in as much as they do now that I look back. "I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead..." Paul was praying that the Ephesians would "begin to understand," probably because we will never be able to fully understand this amazing power that we have access to through the Holy Spirit. Looking back over the week, I can see how the Holy Spirit provided power for me 1) to work even though I was ill, 2) to trust Him to keep Joshua safe, 3) to stop working when I needed to rest. I have come to learn that what is hardest for me is to STOP when I need to. I think it takes a lot of strength and maturity to know when to stop and be still even when there is still work to be done.

One of the quotes from our devotional on day one was from Eugene Peterson, "One way to define the spiritual life is getting so tired and fed up with yourself you go on to something better, which is following Jesus." This continues to be true for me every day. I often think that I can do a better job of running my life than God can, but soon enough I get "tired and fed up" with myself and go back to following Jesus. What a blessing that he is always there when we turn back.

Well, this has turned into a fairly long blog, so I'll stop for now. The pictures are some random shots from our time in Mexico. The little girl is Annailee and we painted her house the first day. Joshua and Diego are being crazy for the camera. We painted Diego's front porch covering the second day. The kids at the orphanage loved Jon's hat and glasses as you can see from picture number 3.

Sheryl

Mexico Part 2

While in Mexico I was reminded of the things that I take for granted back at home.

* Here at home I take for granted that I can drive on roads that are asphalt or concrete, smooth and well drained. In Tijuana, other than the main road into town, the roads we drove on were dirt or mud with huge ruts. They were bumpy and treacherous when wet. Some went straight up or down steep hills with no guard rails to keep a vehicle from plunging over a cliff.

* At home I take for granted that my garbage will be picked up at least once a week and deposited somewhere where I don’t even have to look at it. In Tijuana, there is no garbage pick-up for the communities we visited. Garbage is strewn everywhere (see the background of the picture) and when it is collected it is burned so that there is a constant smell of burning trash. The haze from the fires just adds to the smog problem.

* At home I take for granted that the sewers drain away from my house and the waste is dealt with somewhere far from my nostrils. In Tijuana, the sewers often drain down the roads or in streams. We had one that ran through the center of the beautiful retreat center where we spent the week. We crossed it each time we headed to the dining hall for a meal – not too appetizing. A sewer-stream drained across the road (see above) that we drove over every day and we were so grateful that no one got stuck in the middle.

* I often take for granted the opportunity that I have to be a stay-at-home mom. We visited an orphanage in Tijuana where the children haven’t actually lost both of their parents. Most of the children have at least one parent, but that parent is unable to support his or her children. There are no food stamps or welfare programs and so the children are put in this orphanage. The parents visit, when they can. While we were there we saw a father trying to say good bye to this three children, the youngest about 2 years old. They were all in tears and the youngest was in full melt-down. At the time, the orphanage had about 25 children with maybe 4 adult supervisors. All of the children (from 1 year old to preteen) were desperate for attention and were not always able to communicate that need in appropriate ways. It was difficult to watch and this was the hardest experience for Joshua. He could not understand why the kids would hit him just to get a ball.

We have so much to be grateful for. There are other things that I learned from my experience, but those thoughts will need to wait till next time.

Sheryl

Mexico Part 1

It is Saturday afternoon -- we've been home for an entire day -- and I am still trying to catch up on mail, e-mail, laundry, etc. But I know many of you have been praying for us this week and I so I wanted to post something on my blog.

I was healthy enough to go on the trip, but I had a runny nose and cough for most of the trip. Fortunately Joshua was feeling fine and Jon wasn't too sick. We joined with 26 other people from our church ranging in age from 7 years to 50+ years. It was a great experience to work together with such an intergenerational group.

For now I think I'll just post some pictures of the three of us at work. I did keep a journal, so should be able to share more about the trip in days to come. Thank you for your prayers.




Sheryl

I've got the cold

Well, Jon is on the mend -- still has a runny nose and cough -- but not feeling too bad. I think Joshua just has bad allergies because he acts fine just coughs a lot in the mornings. But late last night I felt the beginnings of a sore throat and sure enough today I am feeling really lousy. Please pray for me tonight and tomorrow morning. We are not yet sure if we'll be able to go on the trip to Mexico or not. The decision will be made tomorrow by the team leaders.

We did have a nice Easter otherwise. We attended a cold, overcast "sunrise" service at 6:00 a.m. It was an awesome way to begin the day. Then we headed down to Escondido to my brother and sister-in-law's to be with my family for the afternoon and evening. We had a wonderful time together with good food, great conversation, games, a big puzzle, egg hunt and more food.

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Sheryl

New flooring in old house

Some of you know that our family moved from the city of Orange in Central Orange County to South Orange County in October 2002 due to Jon's continued activation by the Marine Corps. At the time three great single friends of ours (Roy, Brian and Lauri) agreed to rent our house in Orange. In February Brian moved out since he was getting married. We have used this time to do some work on his rooms and replace the flooring in his rooms as well as the kitchen, dining room, entry way and hall. There have been the typical complications -- orders not arriving when expected, etc. -- but today the laminate was put in and it looks beautiful. With the use of my cell phone, I was able to solve the carpeting problem by finding a different company to install the carpet on Saturday. It is such a relief and an answer to prayer to have the flooring completed this weekend. We have a young married couple (Tom and Zhanara) who are also friends of ours who will move in next weekend, so we wanted all of the flooring done by then.

Thank you to the many of you who have prayed. Please continue to remember Jon and Joshua's health and preparations for our mission trip to Mexico next week.

Sheryl

A Family Vacation

When Jon first arrived home in mid February we had 5 days together as a family. That was great, but Joshua was sick for part of that time and it didn't feel much like a vacation since we were home. This past weekend we had our first family vacation.

Joshua's school had half-days last week, so we left on Wednesday afternoon and headed to "The Ranch." That is the name of the former France Family Farm, now owned by my Uncle John and Aunt Cindy. We love to hang out there and hadn't visited since Jon's R&R last summer. This time we just stayed for the evening and Thursday morning. Then we continued north to Yosemite.

We had a nice, small condo in Yosemite West, a small development about 20 minutes outside of Yosemite Valley, near the turn off to Badger Pass (a ski resort). Joshua was thrilled that there was snow where we were staying and so we built a snow man, found a place to slide in the snow, got wet and cold. Friday we spent the day in Yosemite Valley. Our car had started making a clunking noise and so we dropped it off at the garage while we explored the valley on foot or via the shuttle buses. We walked up to the Lower Yosemite Falls, strolled the paths through the meadow, hiked up to the bridge below Vernal Falls and had a very enjoyable day together.

Saturday we went to Badger Pass for the first time and discovered that it was their final weekend of the season. There was still plenty of snow for us and so we had a lesson and went cross country skiing. Initially it was "the best day" of Joshua's life, but later on when we were trying to go down a slightly steep slope and he kept falling, it became "the worst day" of his life. Fortunately we ended with a long flat area and so Joshua's memories are mostly happy ones. He does have a bump on his head from a ski pole and bruises on his legs from falling on the skis, but such is life when you are learning to ski. Jon and I did pretty well for "old folks" who haven't cross country skied since college.

Next week we're off to Mexico for spring break, but I'll write more about that later.

Sheryl