A few pictures.....

What does rain bring?

I have not seen so many crickets and stink bugs as I have here.  It's gross when you think about it.  In the evenings while walking back to the camper, I often hear a crunch from under my feet. lol  We just received word that in Hermosillo has been closing schools because of a cricket epidemic!  It reminds me of one of the plagues in Moses' time.  I can hardly imagine how bad it needs to get in order to cancel school. I know Cole and Mason would love it!!  I guess crickets is one of the things that goes along with rain.  It is so green around us, it doesn't at all look like a desert land.  The mountains are green with plant life, and it's hard to spot the town signs printed on the mountain sides with the lush plant life.  I must say that I am happy for the cows and horses.  Speaking of horses, today was a first for me to see horses grazing on the golf course greens.  I guess that's one way to keep the grass low.  :)

We have been trying to keep a consist schedule so we can accomplish some of our goals this year.  It's going pretty well.  Some days are better than others.  I do find that it's usually my schedule that is thrown out the window when either the boys or Brian's falls behind.  So I am constantly reviewing the schedules to see if I am piling on too much for them.  Or even just re-scheduling it so that it flows better. 

I am sure missing my dear sisters in Christ from back home.  I've been attending a women's Bible study the last couple of weeks, and I just miss you all!!  Even having friendships that are established.  Right now, the only girl that I interact with regularly is Leah. lol  There are just males at the mission center.  Any other females are either in Fatima, and which there is the language that keeps the relationship surface deep.  Then there are the women in San Carlos from church,  and I'm just trying to get to know who is who, and what is what.  Just trying to find good friendship for me.    (Titus 2:3-5)  In time!!  I am sure thankful for great leadership in P.Rich and Karen.  Isn't it awesome when you have a godly couple in your life that lays it out as it is.  No sugar coating nothing.  

There has been some major yard clean up in the last week, and with that we've met some of our "neighbors"!  Although it was short lived for them when we met them.  As some of you would have seen on Brian's facebook account, there was a whip snake and a rather large scorpion.  Apparently the snake whips you with it's tail.  Also the scorpion was the length of my hand.  eeewww!!  They can climb walls!!!  Sorry, they just creep me out.  Then with all this rain, I've been so close to stepping on quarter size toads.  They are kinda cute, and watching them try to eat a moth the size of their own body.  Kinda funny, but just the thought of stepping on one is gross.  Also the fact that they can get to be as big as melon.  They are huge here!  I'm going to try and get pictures and post them.  I've been having trouble with uploading them.  But it'll all be fixed now!!  

God bless you!!!  We miss you and look forward to how God is going to send our way with the church team. :)

Clarissa

Leah, me and the heat

Caring for Leah has been an adjustment to was the norm back home. My biggest concerns are dehydration and heat exposure.  First off, I am so thankful for the access we have to the A/C at the mission center.  With the A/C going in our camper, it would get up to 30-32C in the heat of the day.  Leah did well in the temps, but she also did nurse more than she would have in cooler temps.  So for me, I need to make sure that I'm taking in enough water for the both of us, and then some.  I had wondered if her night feedings would be more frequent, but they haven't.  Leah has taken an interest in food as we've sat down for meals.  She complains if she isn't sitting with us during our meal.   

Leah loves her water!  She's experienced her first shower in Mexico, and she like it.  I'd say that she like bathes more.  We only have access to showers, so I've been trying to figure out how I can give her a bath.  I am thankful for my friend Karen, she gave me a container that is going to work well for bathes.  Even mason is excited. Lol. 

With Leah being a blankie baby, I am so glad that I had found cotton musslin blankets at Target before we had left for mexico.  Single flannel blankets are too warm right now, so the musslin blankets are in constant use.  There are still times where they are even too hot.  I try to keep her exposure to the heat to a minimum, and everyone we encounter have been very accommodating.  I can say that we look forward to when it's cooler.  The little bit of time that Leah is outside, she sure enjoys it.  So come winter, she will be able to be outside all she wants!  


God bless,
Clarissa

One week down.... :)

I'm not sure how I can best explain what it's like to adjust to living differently for a number of times over the last full year.  Even though we've lived here for months before, we have been re-adjusting to what life will be like for us over the next year.  Even then, I know that in a few months time, life will be different then it is now.  Now, the mission center is really quiet.  Soon it will be full of people daily.  Looking even closer at our daily life,  we are needing discipline on our schedule that we need to keep!  It's pretty easy to let things slide, as life just tends to happen.  I need to make sure that Cole gets his schooling done both for the Mexican school, as well as for Canada.  On top of that, Cole doesn't like school!  (I should  clarify, it's the work that he'd rather not do).    A few things that have been a great hand up is that we are able to have help with his Spanish homework.  For the his school, just having your homework done for the next day gives you extra marks.

Leah is growing so fast!  Her hands are grasping what she wants to get a hold of, and she's loving her exersaucer.  She is now rolling over, and she rolls over every chance she gets.  Since we have no easy access to a bath tub, Leah has been joining us for her showers.  We are happy to say that she likes them, even though the water isn't really warm. (the water is air temperature).  Today I filled a larger plastic container so that she could sit and enjoy the water for a change.  I'm hoping to take her and the boys to the pool this week, so we can enjoy the heat without all the sticky sweat.

Brian has been busy getting everything  lined up  for the next year.  He's been searching for a Spanish teacher who is around right now to give him a jump start on his lessons.  He currently has his office at Jax Snax for his studies.  Which I'm a little envious of. :).

The kids program has been doing well.  There are new faces in the kitchen and the program has now settled with a core group of kids.  There is about 60 that make this core.  Absalon has been leading the singing, but he has been working on getting a kids worship team together.  He has asked Cole if he would be apart of this group.  Cole is super pumped, he has missed playing his guitar.  We will see how this will unfold.

God bless, and we miss you!
Clarissa

Our travel home

Eight days we drove to reach home in San Carlos, Mexico. I was pleasantly surprised how well we all traveled. (Leah especially.). We first headed to Montana to have a quick visit at the Art & Brenda's home. It was a wonderful surprise to be able to have a chat with Ittzy and Juan as well. We packed our camping gear so we could freely take our time on our way down. We stopped at a KOA'S, and I highly recommend it to anyone. Even if you stay in one of their cabins. I love that almost ever KOA has a pool.
We stopped at the Lava hot springs to check out their natural hot spring hot tubs and also enjoyed their Olympic size pool with slides. When we drove by this pool excitedly exclaimed " this is my favoritest place I've never seen!!.....well kiss my girlfriend!! ?what?! He seems to come up with some odd liners lol. Also they have a train that goes by every 2 hours that blows its whistle at night. ( one of the joys of camping!) We were very ready to make it to Mexico after this. Mason had asked everyday "is this Mexico?" Brian and I were ready to say yes to this daily question. Needless to say, our last 3 days we pushed a little harder.
Sunday when we crossed the border, we were greeted at the visa office with 3 of the popular things Mexico has to offer. Squeegee men, someone else trying to sell us their goods, and another asking for money for their family member that has cancer. Also while going through Hermosillo, a nice reminder of one of their traffic laws. How to make a left turn at the light. ( you turn from the lane second to the left.) But none the less we made it home by 5:30. We managed to get a little settled and make it to the Sunday evening service in Fatima. It doesn't feel like we had left. (besides the mission center being so very quiet). So my day today as been solely nesting in our home. Brian even commented that we could fit 5 in our camper. :)

Hello Family & Friends

Well our time here in Manitoba is quickly coming to an end. We have determined that our departure date will be on August 12. We are very excited to get back down to Mexico and back to somewhat of a normal life again. As we prepare we ask that you please pray that God would provide the remaining amount of support that is needed. We are a bit further away from the mark than I would like to be. Having said that we have also seen God pull off some small miracles so there is no doubt in our mind that we are on the right track. He will provide it in His time, its just time for me to be patient.
We thank you for remembering us in your prayers and ask that you pray for our financials, for our family as we finish up odds and ends and also for us and our families as the time to say good by is just around the corner.

Hope you all have a great weekend!
God Bless
Brian

Why are we surprised?!!

We have to share how God has recently blessed us.  For the last couple of months, Brian and I have been thinking how helpful a trailer would be.  (I have to admit that it has been more Brian than me.)  Brian's goal for the summer was to save enough money to purchase a trailer to pull behind the truck.  Especially with people asking what we have room for to bring back to Mexico.  This is how Brian's day went this last Tuesday.....

 I spent time on Monday visiting and speaking with folks intending to discuss our support level. Each time I had the opportunity to bring up the topic, I found it difficult to go there. I just didn't have peace to bring it up. So I went to bed that night discouraged. Our departure deadline is quickly approaching and our support level was at a stand still. My goal for Monday was to make some good connections and progress with our support but came home empty handed and discouraged. After somewhat of a discouraging day on Monday I found myself hesitant as to how I was gong to plan my day on Tuesday. I had nothing major planned, just breakfast with a friend. Little did I know God had plans for Tuesday that I never saw coming.

I responded to an email that I received over the weekend from I gentleman that I had never met. In the email he asked me if I would mind meeting him sometime during the week to discuss our mission and ministry. I called him up after breakfast and we decided to meet that morning. Although he was a total stranger to me it turned out that he attends our home church. We got to know each other over coffee and it turned out that he and his wife were interested in supporting us with a monthly contribution. Whoohooo! In his words, it wasn't a large contribution but it was the amount that he and his wife felt lead to contribute. I genuinely thanked him and told him that his contribution was perfect. Our coffee meeting continued and as we were about to pack it in he asked me about our travel arrangements and  vehicle. "Do you have enough space to move to Mexico with your family in your pick up?" I went on to tell him that space was a concern as we have acquired more belongings since Leah arrived in the family. On top of that, people had been offering clothing and supplies to donate to the people in Mexico and if we had room they would love to send them along. I have had to turn people down as space was an issue. We got on the topic of towing a trailer to Mexico and I shared with him that my intent was to purchase one if our budget allowed. We talked about prices and quotes that I had received and then he looked at me and said, "Go to PJ Trailers and pick one out!" What!!!!!! Yeah, go pick out the one you want, the color you like and tell the boys at PJ that I will stop by this afternoon with a cheque. Words cannot explain how it feels when God answers your prayers in such a huge way! Long story short, we went to the dealership together to pick out a trailer. As we looked at trailers we look at all the options and ended up picking out a 12' tandem axle enclosed cargo trailer. White in color.

The guys at PJ were really great to deal with. My new friend explained the situation and they happily gave him a deduction on the purchase price of the trailer. On top of that, the manager asked if it would be okay if PJ Trailers would make a $1000.00 donations to our support fund? What???? I was totally shocked! What could I say? 

During our coffee that morning my new friend made a statement that really stuck out to me. He said "Brian, I can't do what you do, its not my calling. But the Lord has given me other strengths and I have to use them the best I can. It's my roll in this ministry to support you". This is so true. None of us have the same purpose or calling. Some are called to missions, some called to business, farming, parenting etc. God has a plan for all of us and its our responsibility to figure out what that is. As Missionaries to Mexico, we play only a roll in this ministry. Each one of our financial and prayer supporters also play a roll we need each other to make the ministry happen. We need each other and together we are called the body of Christ. It has been an absolute privilege to serve in our roll and although it has been a humbling experience we have seen God work in so many cool ways through so many people that have a desire to serve the Lord and help make a difference in a person's life. Our journey has been exciting! Anyone who says that being a Christian is boring has no idea what it really means. What an awesome experience!