Day 4 - Long Day

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Tuesday, June 18, 2013 - I'm happy to say our amigo, Benny, did show up with fresh tortillas for the family this morning and of course we enjoyed buying some of his tourist items too. No time to haggle too much though - we were off to the Center by 9am. Mark had Geoff and the kids jump right into the garden and harvest corn, chop down stalks and plant new seeds. I worked with Eneida and the children that showed up that morning for a Bible lesson. Mark and Karen's 19th wedding anniversary is today, too. Not much extra time for the missionaries to celebrate though. Meetings, people to serve, classes and activities to manage - nonstop needs - WOW!

We worked all morning and came in for the message. Andres shared in Spanish and by then I was already tired from getting up too early, the heat, and managing our own kids plus the kids at the center - I can't even tell you what he preached on. Lo Siento! The kids had fun playing a never-ending game of Uno with some of the neighborhood kids. We served lunch again and helped clean up. But by the time our Bible lesson started with the children, Pearl was crying, Mary's stomach was hurting and our family was done. God knew we would need the blessing of taking home a beautiful dinner that day - made for us by Irma and friends, cooks at the Center. Gracias a Dios!

I started gathering children's family information that morning too - in hopes that we could have a Pen Pal exchange between Spokane families and San Rafael families. We'll see if that takes off or not. We appreciate your prayers with this possibility - thank you!

Please also pray for the Pet Rescue work Mark and Karen have started here. Anytime I've been to Mexico I've always thought there needs to be a Veterinarian missions group to help spay and neuter all the loose dogs and cats around the streets. (There probably is - the need is just so great.) Well, Mark and Karen are loving on a lot of the San Rafael unwanted animals and trying to get them adopted in the states - how cool is that? As you can imagine - that's an extra expense of pet food, pet carriers and kennels, and added work for the staff and volunteers, but it's so vital! Thanks for praying for all of God's creatures!

We came home to the condo exhausted but full of God's love and a delicious dinner to enjoy. Even though we were plenty tired we had to take advantage of being at the ocean. The tide was extra way out and tons of locals were out there gathering something. When we got out there we saw they were collecting little tiny squids - crazy. And there were hermit crabs EVERYWHERE! Pearl enjoyed collecting hermit crabs and moving them from one little pool to the next. While the big kids enjoyed the surf and waves. We met a family from Mesa, AZ who said they were on Jet Skis earlier today and dolphins were swimming right under them! WOW! They were way bigger than the SkiDoos, they said! I guess the dolphins think the jet skis are their water toys!

I'm learning that salsa does go with every meal! Geoff's in heaven. All of us are enjoying the fresh tortillas and my clothes are starting to shrink. 😊 After our fantastic dinner the kids played and played in the sand until we couldn't see anymore because of the dark. We finished reading Colossians 1, sang, and went to bed! Buenas Noches!

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Photos

Benny & the boys
Selling his wares and fresh tortillas