Friendships

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man (or woman) with a heart must be in want of a friend. How awesome is it that God created us for relationship? Relationship with Him, relationship with each other. We've been enjoying building relationships with people in our new community. Our fellow classmates are a group of unique, creative, God-loving people from the U.S and Canada. We love going through this sometimes painful, often rewarding process with them. Sometimes it feels so random that we're all in this place together but we know it's not random. God orchestrates our lives and our circumstances. No detail is out of His grasp. What a crazy, amazing thought.

Each day we learn more and more Spanish. This opens the door of communication and we can actually have conversations with Mexicans now. The conversations are still broken and rudimentary, but we're able to go beyond phrases like, "How old are you?" "How many siblings do you have?" "What's your name?" Just this week we have been learning how to speak in past tenses. I didn't say "past tense" because, as it turns out, there are 14 tenses in Spanish. That's a hard concept to wrap my brain around.

We attend the church across the street from our house. Many of the songs are familiar to us. The sermon is still over our heads but we are able to pick out more and more words each week. We've been holding a low-key Bible study at our house on Friday evenings. It's been encouraging and refreshing for us to fellowship in our own language. Which is a wonderful reminder about why we are here. To be able to share the Lord and our lives with people in their own language is such a powerful thing. It's powerful for us to read the Word in English just as it is powerful for Spanish-speakers to read it in Spanish. Please pray that the Lord will give us the aptitude to learn this language and learn it well.

From Cacalote

Saturday, August 31, 2013

We arrived safely in Cacalotepec (or Catalote, as the locals call it) on Sunday, August 25^th. After 3 long layovers, 2 cancelled flights, and my (Brianna) birthday spent napping on the Mexico City airport floor, we were very glad to arrive. Our little two-room house is indeed rustic but we have been working to make it feel like home. Our bathroom and shower are in a building outside so just yesterday we made a little brick path to it. There are plenty of bugs in our house but so far nothing too terrifying. However, the mosquitoes enjoy feasting on our sweet, American flesh.

We put our gas stove/oven outside on the porch in an attempt to keep our house a little cooler while we cook. I’ve always wanted an outdoor kitchen so this is a dream come true. We do have a little fridge and are so thankful for this. It even has a tiny freezer with one ice cube tray! It’s the little things in life…

Cacalote is about four by six blocks. Yet it has 3 or 4 little stores, a produce stand, and a taco restaurant. The beach is less than a mile away and we can hear the waves as we fall asleep. It feels like we are in the middle of nowhere but there are several larger towns nearby.

It has been such a joy to meet so many wonderful people in the last week. The locals are extremely friendly and gracious with us as we stumble through the few Spanish phrases we know. There are 16 other students who will be studying Spanish with us and around 200 students at the connected Bible college. We are very excited to start classes on Monday!

There is such a peace that comes with being where God has called you to be. And the wonderful thing is that wherever we are in life, He has something for us. Whatever our circumstances (good or bad), our geographic location, our financial situation, He wants to work in and through us. In yesterday’s tidbit from “My Utmost for His Highest,” Oswald Chambers touched on this. It was a good reminder of where our focus should be. It shouldn’t be “how useful am I here?” He said, “It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him.” So whether we are in Mexico or Medford, if our eyes are fixed upon Jesus, He will take care of the rest.