Pentecost Mission Trip: Day 5

Another Day Filled with Blessings

Tuesday morning began like all the other mornings---the wake up bell, the gathering bell, breakfast, prayer bell---AWESOME like always!  After prayer, we were once again divided into work groups and home visit groups.  Travis and the boys continued on the roofing project.  They had run out of materials the previous day and were all anxious to get back and make some progress. 

The girls and I were put on a painting team.  I was a little disappointed because I had wanted to do more home visits like the day before.  (And because I LOATHE painting!)  I was ready to sit and visit with all the wonderful ladies that the missionaries had talked about visiting.  But I knew that we had come on this trip to work, so we ran upstairs and put on our work clothes and grabbed our water bottles and sunscreen.

We arrived at the hot pink house that needed to be painted baby blue and realized that we would definitely need more paint then what we had brought.  We got started right away, and I forgot about how much I hated to paint. 

It's amazing how fast paint dries in the dry dessert compared to the hot humid climate of Louisiana. We were able to get the whole house painted with two coats in just a couple of hours.

One of the beautiful parts of a work project is getting to know your team.  Painting side by side these wonderful people was such a blessing to me.  We shared our stories with each other, offered prayers for each other, and encouraged each other.  We became instant friends as we shared our testimonies and the shade of the "Charlie Brown" tree.

Our awesome crew (minus Luis our AWESOME leader)

The best part of the work project was when the lady and her little boy came out of the house to see the finished project, and we all joined hands and prayed with them.  It was so refreshing to see their smiles and grateful faces.  It felt so good to be able to help someone that I forgot all about being hot and tired.  I smiled with an overflowing heart all the way back to the Mission House.

After lunch, we had a long break and decided to join a group that was heading up the mountain.  I really didn't want to climb a mountain, but I couldn't let Travis take all four kids up the mountain alone.  I would have been a nervous wreck worrying about them.  So, we all climbed back in the suburban and headed to a nearby mountain.

It doesn't look quite so tall in this picture, but it was!

We followed our leader Luis along a little dirt path that winded up the hill towards the mountain.  When we got to the base of the mountain, he pointed out the easier but longer way up versus the shorter more difficult way.  Of course, we chose the easier path up the side of the mountain while many of the young people chose the harder route, although, later some of them ended up on our less steep path.

Isaac and Olivia had no problems and practically ran up the mountain.  Emily, my cautious child, stayed near me.  After about half way up, I decided that I couldn't go anymore (which is what I had said about a quarter of the way up also).  I sat down on a boulder and told Travis that I would catch them on their way back down later.  I sat and looked out at the beautiful landscape that God had created.  It was so awesome to see his handiwork.

Then I looked up to see how far the rest of the group was.  Many, including our oldest and youngest, were already near the top.   Next, I spotted the most awesome sight ever---my husband leading Philip up the mountain step by step.  (For those that don't know, Philip is legally blind.)  I watched as Travis guided every step, telling him exactly where to place his foot and hand, and sometimes bending down to point to the exact place. 

Once again, an overwhelming emotion filled my heart and soul and tears welled up in my eyes.  This sight gave me the determination that I needed to get up and continue on.   I gathered up my backpack and headed up.  I eventually caught up with them and was able to see and hear the struggles these two faced with every step.  It's hard climbing a mountain alone, but even harder when you are weighed down with an extra person.  I could see the exhaustion on Travis's face.

Then I looked at Philip.  It broke my heart to think of how hard this must be for him.  He was totally dependent on someone else.  He couldn't see where he was going; he didn't know how much farther he had left.  He had also touched a catus, and very fine hairlike needles were stuck in his hands.  I could see the pain in his eyes even through his dark glasses.  I asked him if he wanted to stop here with me and just wait for the others to come back down.  He quickly answered, "No. I want to go to the top."

Travis grabbed hold of him once again, and they continued their slow and steady pace up the hill.   Emily and I passed them up, so that we could give them a little "heads up" of what was ahead.  By now, most of the group was at the top waiting for us.   The higher we got the more steep the path seemed to be and the harder it was for me to breathe.  But each time I stopped to rest, I turned around to witness the determination of these two, and I pressed on.

Finally, we all made it to the top of the mountain.  I sat next to Philip as tears streamed down his face.  I'm not sure if the tears were from the pain of the cacti needles in his hands, from pure exhaustion, or from the joy completing the journey, but those tears brought me to tears.  He may never know how much he helped me get to the top of that mountain or how much his determination helped me grow that day.

As I sat next to him trying to pluck the very fine, hairlike needles from his hand, I look over and see my husband resting at the top of the mountain.

The tears began to cloud my vision once again.  (I warned you that I cried a lot on this trip!)  This was the wonderful man that God sent to me almost 19 years ago to be my rock, to be the leader of our family, to stick by our side no matter how difficult the path gets.  This man truly amazes and inspires me each and every day of my life.  I don't know what I did to have such a patient, kind, loving man as Travis.  He is a wonderful example for me and for our children.  I guess it's another testament to God's loving mercy; He gives us way more than we deserve.

After listening to some awesome guitar playing on the mountaintop, we began our way back down.  It wasn't as strenuous going down, but was still a difficult task.  And here they are arm and arm again coming down, one step at a time down the loose, rocky path.

We arrived back at the Mission House with FIVE WHOLE minutes to clean up and change for our rancho visit.   When we arrived at the rancho, I felt sick.  I was physically drained from the mountain climb, so I sat in the chapel alone while the others went out to invite the people.  I began to feel much better when I noticed the chapel had begun to fill up.  We had been told that a group of Jehovah's Witnesses had moved into this rancho and had been trying to weaken the people's faith, so we were very blessed to have a full house that evening. 

I was even more blessed to hear the testimony of my husband.  Yes, that night was his turn to tell how God had worked in his life.  We hadn't discussed what he would say at all, so I was clueless.  If you know my husband, he NEVER shares publicly.  It's hard for him to share with me, so I was curious about what he would say to this room full of Mexican women.  But I wasn't worried because I had already witnessed the Holy Spirit move in him that week and have him step out of his comfort zone to do amazing things.

He began by "buttering" up the women by telling them how lucky he was to give his very first testimony to a room full of beautiful ladies.  Then he shared with the people one of the roughest times of our life, Olivia's Journey (youngest daughter's journey that included 21 surgeries from birth to 3 years old), and how God brought many good things from that experience.  This was the second time today that that man made me cry tears of joy.  I thanked God once again for blessing me with such a wonderful husband.

That night was "Ladies' Night" not only did we get to shower, but we got to share at evening prayer.  I don't like to share in person.  (I much rather write than speak out loud, and let people decide if they want to hear what I have to say or not.  I also like to be able to backspace my words as needed.)  But I felt the Holy Spirit move me to stand and share about my tremendously blessed day from the awesome friendships I made while painting to the inspiration on the mountain to my husband's testimony at the rancho.  Yes, I cried through it all again.

After sharing, we learned that others had been blessed by Travis and Philip's struggle up the mountain.  Someone related it to our Heavenly Father being by our side through every step of our journey in life, guiding our every step, our every move, and holding our hand through the most difficult paths and never letting go.  How blessed we are to have a Father like that!

Day 6

Pentecost Mission Trip: Day 4

First Full Day of Missionary Work

I loved waking up to the sound of the bell!  It's strange, I know.  I was probably the only one that loved it.  I'm weird like that!  But the bell ringing throughout the day called us to community which was my absolute favorite part of the trip.  I loved gathering and singing praises first thing in the morning before breakfast with our awesome group.  Our leader always made getting up and going a blast.  He usually combined some type of "get moving" praise song where we had to run around the courtyard, jump, or skip while we sang.  It reminded me of the PreK classrooms at OLI and Mrs. Eileen.

After all that singing and dancing, you forgot that you had been tired and were ready to face whatever God had planned for the day.  Monday was "guy's day" which meant they got to shower, lead prayer, and share.  It was so awesome listening to the men, young and old, share a bible passage, lead prayer, or just share how awesome God was.  After morning prayer, we were given our assignments.

Travis and the two boys were put on a roofing project.  The girls and I were assigned to "Home Visits."  I quickly slathered the boys with sunscreen and double-checked that their water bottles had been filled with the good filtered water and sent them out with hugs and kisses (only one hugged and kissed me back, the other two were thoroughly embarassed).

Here's Travis up on the roof waiting for a bucket of dirt.

The boys working on the planks that would be sent up.

The girls and I helped sort food and clothes that we would be handing out during the week's home visits and rancho visits.  We made several grocery bags containing basic staples that we would bring to some of the homebound elderly woman of General Cepeda.  Then we sorted all the clothes and shoes by gender and by size.  Then we made garbage bags containing a variety of items.  We made sure each bag contained some men's, some women's, some girl's, some boy's, and some baby's clothing and shoes.  These bags would be brought to the ranchos in the evenings.

After all was sorted and bags, we piled into the vans and headed out to visit an elderly lady that had become family to most of the FMC missionaries.  We had divided into two separate groups, but neither leader wanted to miss this visit, so we all stayed together for this particular home visit.  Once we arrived, I knew why no one wanted to miss this lady.

She greeted us all at the door with hugs, kisses, and the most heartwarming smile.  We all gathered in her living room and listened intently as she told the story of her courtship to her husband which consisted of four years of secret letters and no face to face contact.  I felt like I was back in my great-grandma's living room listening to her stories of when she was a girl.  After having to cut her short because of time, we sang a few songs with her and then prayed with her.  My heart melted as the tears filled up her eyes as we began to leave.  She was so lonely.  She did not want us to leave.  The feeling was mutual---no one in our group was ready to go either.

Olivia and I must have hugged and kissed her a hundred times before we finally got out the door.  The next lady on our list was not home.  We went around the back of her house to the neighboring lady who was in a wheelchair because of an amputated leg.  She informed us that the woman in the front had been taken to Saltillo to the hospital the week before.  The kids played on the floor with this lady's kitten as we tried to talk with her.  She wasn't as outgoing as the first lady.  She had so much pain in her eyes.  When we asked to pray with her, her prayers were for her children that she had not seen or heard from in a very long time.  My heart broke for her. 

After that visit, we returned back to the Mission House for lunch.  Once again, the bell sounded, and we gathered to sing and bless the food together.  The food was delicious and once again we stuffed ourselves, so we decided to take a little stroll around the town to walk off some of those tortillas!  As we rounded the corner, we heard lots of commotion---lots of shouting (in Spanish, of course, so we had no clue what was going on) and then a very familiar sound reached our ears---hoof steps.   Yep, we came all the way to Mexico to witness a horse parade.  Travis and the kids felt right at home.

After the parade passed by, we found a little store that sold ice cold Coca-Cola, no Dr. Pepper though, but the Cokes were cold and refreshing.  We also found out that most of the vendors sale GIANT bags of cheese puffs!  This is definitely the size we need for our homeschool picnics and gatherings.

Later in the afternoon, we gathered back at the Mission House at the sound of the bell to practice our Spanish praise songs and head out to the ranchos again.  The rancho we visited this evening was a little bit "nicer" than the one the previous night.  I hate to use that word because they were all so amazing, but this one had its own little schoolhouse including a basketball court and outdoor stage.

When we arrived, we found that the chapel was already full.  The women of the rancho were there praying a rosary.  They had been praying a daily rosary all throughout the month of May in honor of the Blessed Mother.  It was so refreshing to see and hear.  We once again rang the bell to let the others know we were there, and then we headed out to knock on doors to personally invite the people to join us for prayer.  We returned and rang the bell again.

We began by singing some of our Spanish songs which we were getting fairly good at by now.  Then one of the missionaries gave a teaching.  Then some of the people from our group gave testimonies about how God had worked in their lives.  We were very fortunate to have some of the Mexican missionaries from General Cepeda with us.  They gave their testimony about how they had been helping FMC for many years and had just been trained to become full-time missionaries.  It was really awesome to hear their story of how God had used missionaries to touch their hearts.

After the sharing, we prayed over those wanting prayers and then began to lay out the things that we had brought for them.  As the ladies sorted through the clothes, the girls were able to pass out some of the scapulars and rosaries that we had brought with us to the children that were there.  This little girl stole our hearts with her smile.

We hugged and kissed all the people good-bye.  It was so hard to leave these people even though we could not communicate with them with words, each one was able to touch our heart and soul.  We were so blessed by the faith of these people and the deep sense of love and gratitude we witnessed in their eyes.


When we got back to the Mission House, we had some free time before dinner.  We decided to head out to the Famous Cement Slide.  Yes, cement---very smooth and sealed cement.  The kids had a blast.  This instantly became the free time hangout of all the kids---big and small!

Sidney, Luis, and Dana (3 amazing FMC missionaries) and some of the kiddos

 That night after dinner and prayer, I crawled into bed exhausted, dirty, and smelly (guy's shower day), but I didn't even think twice about it.  I slept so peacefully thinking about all the wonderful people I had been blessed to meet that day.  God is awesome!

Day 5

Pentecost Mission Trip: Day 3

Pentecost Sunday

Sunday morning we slept in a little after such a long drive.  The bell rang at 8:30 to gather for breakfast.  We first gathered in the prayer room for the blessing which began with singing.  It was awesome to wake up and start the day off praising God and giving thanks in song.  Joy overwhelmed me once again as I looked around the room and smiled.  The tears began to well up again.  This group was amazing!

After a quick breakfast of cereal and milk, we gathered back in the prayer room where we read the Sunday readings and gospel in English before walking across the park to the church for Mass.

The church was absolutely beautiful.  Some of the Mexican children came around and passed out "mini-missals" for us to follow along.  I love the fact that the Mass is the same in any language.  Without knowing any Spanish, I knew exactly what was going on all throughout the Mass even though I didn't actually know Spanish.

Emily had passed out at the beginning of the Mass, so after Mass we went straight back to the Mission House while some of the others walked around the town.  We fed her and let her rest for awhile.  When she felt better we headed out for our first home visit with Sidney, FMC's Cajun Missionary, to deliver one of the wheelchairs we had collected and brought with us.  The kids and I laughed as we watched Travis and Sidney try to put the "legs" on the wheelchair without bothering with the instruction manual.

Mmmmm... maybe like this???

Eventually, they figured it out, and the lady was able to sit in it for the first time.  The look on her face and on the face of her daughter who was her caretaker was priceless.  There are no words to describe the joy I felt seeing their faces.  We do not speak any Spanish, and Sidney is just learning, so we did not understand very much of what they were saying as they spoke to us, but we didn't need to know the language to know how grateful these women were.  We knew it in our hearts.  I could feel it in my soul.

Our family (minus Isaac) with the lady and her daughter

We decided to walk back over a little footbridge to the Mission House.  This was the bridge that the young lady would now be able to wheel her mother over to get to town.  My heart continued to grow with joy as we walked the path that the elderly lady would now get to take once again.

When we arrived back at the Mission House, the lunch bell rang.  We gathered for prayer and then sat down to another delicious Mexican feast including homemade tortillas and freshly made salsa!  After lunch, we gathered back in the prayer room (It has an official name, but I can't remember it.) to be prepared for our first evening of "rancho visits." We practiced a few Spanish songs and then split up into groups.  I was asked to give my testimony that night.  I panicked a little not knowing what kind of a "testimony" to give, but then surprisingly I didn't worry about it much on the trip to the rancho.

The trip itself was an adventure to remember.  Our leader was given some vague directions and got a little lost. We ended up riding in circles on an extremely bumpy road in the middle of a private field until the road ended where two Mexican ranchers stood waiting to find out why we were "joy" riding in their field.  Thank goodness our leader looked Mexican, and his first language had been Spanish.  He was able to explain our situation and ask for directions.  The unhappy farmers gave him directions off their property and to the rancho, and we were off again.We arrived at the rancho a little late, but we gotten to know each other and had bonded during our "joyride".  We were now ready to preach and teach together as a team.

The first thing you do upon arrival at the rancho is ring the chapel bell.  The kids took turns ringing the bell for a solid minute.

After ringing the bell, we went out to knock on the doors of the homes to personally invite the people to join us for prayer.  We practiced the words several times.  "Somos misioneros Catolics. Les invitamos a la capilla por oracion." But we ended up letting the Spanish speaking missionaries do the talking this first time.  We were very disappointed to find many of the houses empty and abandoned and to hear that many had to move away because of the poor conditions here.  We were worried that no one would show up.  We gathered back at the chapel and rang the bell once more, and then waited for the people to show up.

We had been told not to worry because we were on "Mexican time" which meant that people do not rush to anything.  They finish what they are doing and come when they are ready.  We were told that everything usually begins later than planned in Mexico.  So what do you do while you wait for the people?  Play on the playground!

Finally, a few ladies started to come up the road, so we headed back to the chapel to ring the bell one final time.  The inside of the chapel was so simple yet so beautiful. 

We greeted each of the women that came with a handshake and a kiss on the check and then began singing some of the songs we had practiced at the Mission House.  No, we hadn't learned them all that quickly.  We had GIANT cheat sheets.

I had no idea what I was actually singing, but I can assure you that I have never been so moved by the Holy Spirit as I was at that moment singing in a foreign language in a foreign country with strangers.  It was so powerful to see and feel the faith of these women.  Next, one of the FMC missionaries gave a teaching on the Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. 

Dana is an awesome person that I quickly grew to love and admire!

Then it was testimony time.  Three of us were going to give testimonies that evening.  I had volunteered to go last, of course.  It was very difficult to speak to a group of women that did not understand what you are saying.  I had to keep stopping to wait for Luis to translate.  Each time I stopped, I lost my train of thought.  If you know me, when I get going (or when I'm nervous) I speak fast and talk with my hands especially if it's something I'm passionate about.  It was very hard for me to slow down and keep still, but I managed to talk about how I learned to "Let Go, and Let God."

I shared about how being the oldest of four and the only girl, I always felt the need to be in charge and take care of others.  I told about how that need to control and "fix" things followed me into adulthood, into my marriage, into my job, into raising kids, etc.  I talked about how I had finally learned that I can't control what others do, how they think, or how they act.  I shared how once I began to let go of all the situations I couldn't "fix" and let God handle things, everything seemed to work better and life became less stressful for me.  I shared how it was then that my life began to take a different path---a much better path for me and for my family.

Next, we invited the ladies to share.  One lady that was visiting someone at this rancho got up to share with us.  She told us that each time she visited this particular rancho something was going on at the chapel---either missionaries showed up for a prayer service or there was a communion service.  She then told the ladies how lucky they were to have the missionaries come to pray and worship with them.  Then she thanked us for the sacrifices we had made to be there.

Afterwards, our leader invited the people to come up to be prayed over.  All of the women began to come forward.  (It's very rare for men to show up.  Please pray for the men.)  We were broken up into two groups.  Luis would come to each group and translate what the women were asking and then the group would pray over them.  Our family was put into a group by ourselves.  I panicked a little.  We had never led prayers over people.  We had participated in Laying of the Hands before, but were never the ones doing the prayers aloud.  What if we did it wrong?  But there wasn't anytime to think.  The first lady was there counting on us to pray over her.

Luis told us what she desired and left.  All six of us laid our hands on this beautiful lady and then the Holy Spirit took over.  The most beautiful prayers poured out of my husband's mouth.  It moved me to tears once again.  (Yes, I cried a lot on this trip.)  Then he looked over at me and nodded for me to pray.  Once again, the Spirit moved in me as the prayers just rolled out my mouth without a second thought.  One after another the ladies came to be prayed over and each time the prayer became more beautiful as our kids began to join in.

The girls then joined another missionary group as a small girl asked for prayers for a stomach pain.  I later found out that my girls jumped right in and led prayers over this sweet girl.

Emily, the little girl that asked for prayers, her friend, & Olivia

Once everyone had been prayed with, the ladies began to leave and make their way back to their homes.  But these little girls hung around hugging all of us especially our girls.  No one was really ready to leave.  There was only one thing that we could do that everyone would understand.....PLAY!

We all headed back to the playground to swing, see-saw, climb on the monkey bars, slide, and GIGGLE.  I have never heard so much giggling in my life.  Smiling and giggling is the same in any language.  We all returned to the mission house a little late, but so full, so blessed, and so genuinely happy. 

Day 4

Pentecost Mission Trip: Day 2

The Mission House

After about 20+ hours in the car, we finally arrive in General Cepeda, Mexico at the Mission House.

We were greeted by the Alvarez Family.  They showed us to our room on which they had hung a very cute little welcome sign for us.

We had been assigned to the newest addition to the mission house-a small "apartment" with two bedrooms, a kitchen sink, and private bathroom.  It was perfect for our family.  It was the room Travis had hoped and prayed for after seeing pictures of the mission house ahead of time.  We had wanted to be altogether in one room.  Thank you, Lord, for small blessings to make us more comfortable.

We unpacked our things and then headed down stairs to look around the rest of the house. 

The large dining room (tables along both sides)

The smaller dining room

The part of the kitchen

The room that we gather in for meetings and prayer

The courtyard in the center of the house

After touring the house, the bell rang for lunch/supper.  We gathered in the prayer room for the blessing and then sat down for our first official meal in Mexico.  It smelled delicious!  FMC hires some of the Mexican missionaries to cook for us the entire week.  We were treated all week to homemade tortillos and authentic Mexican cuisine.  (No Taco Bell!)  I could have lived on the homemade salsa all by itself!

Later, the bell sounded again for evening prayer.  As we began to sing praises, I became so overwhelmed with emotion.  I thought back on all the obstacles we had to overcome for this trip---the discernment process, worried family/friends, fundraising projects, the passport fiasco, the long drive, etc.  I realized that it was all worth it to be "here in this house, with these people, praising God at this moment."  I knew that we had been put to the test and that we had passed.  This was our reward.  I knew that the week would only get better.  I just didn't know how good it would get!

Finally, it was time for bed.  We climbed the stairs to our very hot room and opened the small windows to let some cooler air in.  The girls and I took our first missionary style shower (water on, get wet, water off, soap up, water on, rinse off, water off) as quickly as we could.  The boys would have to wait for theirs.  It wasn't "men's day" yet.   We all crawled into our beds and fell asleep listening to the sounds of Mexican singing and dancing in the streets.  It was so awesome!

  

Day 3

Pentecost Mission Trip: Day 1

The 20+ Hour Drive...

Friday should have been a very chaotic day, but it really wasn't.  I am a pro at last minute packing!  The only trouble we had was trying to fit the car top carrier on our new luggage racks.  Travis finally got it secured and loaded, and we took off east to meet the rest of the group.  About a mile down the road the straps that secured the carrier began flapping against the car creating a most annoying sound.  After about 30 minutes of the irritating noise, we decide to pull over to "strap down the straps."   A friend that lives in that area happened to turn onto the road behind us and stopped to help us and get the kids all rowdy!   (Stop #1)

Our next stop was for gas so that we would have a full tank when we began our journey. (Stop #2)  Then we had to stop and feed the kids.  (Stop #3)  We finally arrive at Our Lady of the Bayou to join the group.  After an hour or so of trying to fit 42 people's luggage in and on top of five vehicles plus the items we collected to bring to the people in Mexico, we prayed together and then loaded up.  Our next stop (#4) was 15 minutes down the road to gas up the other vehicles.  We stopped (#5) 15 minutes later to pick up a few missionaries at a church in Lafayette.  After five stops, we were finally officially on our way as we drove west bound on I-10. An hour later, we passed our road and laughed about being right back where we had begun three hours earlier. 

Albert, an FMC missionary from Poland, rode with us and kept the kids entertained with his sound effects and his funny accent.  After things settled down a little, we decided to say our evening rosary and offer it up for our trip.  Just before we began, Albert received a call that his friend's aunt had died. We offered it up for her soul and her family as well as our trip.  Shortly after we finished praying, just as Albert and the kids had fallen asleep, we stopped for a bathroom break (#6).

Albert found Moon Pies at the gas station which according to him is the perfect food and the number one reason he loves Louisiana.  We returned to the car and listened to him describe how "heavenly" they tasted.  The kids and Albert fell back asleep.  We stopped a few more times for bathroom breaks, gas, and to change drivers during the night (7-10??? I lost count.).  Our last stop before the border and morning was in San Antonio to pick up another young man that was going to join our group.

Around 7:00 am, we reached Laredo, TX where we were going to cross the border.  We stopped for breakfast and then had a "border crossing briefing"in the McDonald's playland. Our group of 42 then prayed together in the playland for a safe border crossing.  As we piled back into the cars, we lost Albert but gained a Spanish speaking young missionary to help with any translating we would need on the rest of our trip.  She instantly became loved by all of our family!

We had been asked to pray for "all green lights".  I had no idea what that meant, but I prayed for them anyway.  As we approached the border, I realized that we literally wanted all green lights.  As we kept closer to the border, I watched the stop lights as each car approached.  Cars that had green lights drove across the border with ease.  Cars that received the red lights had to pull over and be searched.  Not a big deal for us except that it would add to our already long trip.  I quickly repeated a prayer for "all green lights" a million times as we slowly inched our way up to the stop lights.  The first two vehicles in our caravan received red lights.  Then it was our turn. Yep, red light.

The first two vehicles were sent to one line to be searched and were quickly sent on their way.  We were motioned to a different line.  The line that had the "thorough searcher".  The car in front of us was packed just as much if not more than we were, and the guard was taking everything out.  We realized that we were going to be here forever!  I started to pray more fervently as the others in our group were all driving away.  At that moment, the guard in the other lane (the fast one) saw that we were still waiting, so he came over to search our vehicle.  As he opened the back of the car, things began to fall out.  Actually, several bags of toilet paper fell out!  He quickly shoved the stuff back in, closed the door, and sent us on the way. 

We later found out that 4 of the 5 vehicles had received red lights, but that the one that received the green light followed us all into the search line because he didn't know where to go! Praise God that all of us had been searched and waved through very quickly.    The next stop was the Visa building.  We parked and entered and saw very long lines.  According to the missionaries, it was more crowded then usual.  We then remembered it was Memorial Weekend.  We got in the long line expecting to be there for hours, but the long lines turned out to be very beneficial for us.  Due to the number of people, the officials were working very quickly.  The lined moved fairly fast.  They scanned our passports and issued our Visas very quickly without questioning all the minors that had traveled with us without their parents.  We didn't have to try to explain anything to them. 

All 42 of us went through the lines and were checked in and out and exchanged our money within about two hours.  The longest part was checking in our personal vehicles, but we were soon back in the cars and on the road again.  There were several more checkpoints along the highway, but we were waved through them all without any stopping.  We stopped to grab some lunch snacks, and we changed drivers.  Travis napped while I drove for a little while.  But we soon began getting into the mountains.  I had never driven in them before, so at the next bathroom stop, I had to wake up him from his comfortable sleeping position to drive. :-)

This was the first time any of us (our family) had seen mountains, so we oo'ed and ah'ed for awhile.  Poor Alyse, our missionary translator, was probably so tired of hearing, "Wow, look at that mountain!" over and over.  After awhile, our kids did too and went back to napping and watching movies.  Travis and I continued to watch as the landscape changed from dry dessert to dry desserts with gorgeous mountains.  It was so beautiful.  The small "villages" around the base of the mountains made it more beautiful.  I fell in love with the scenery.  Little did I know, by the end of the week, I would love more than just the view.

Click here to read about Day 2.

I Never Want to See Another Cookie

We are now in the final days before our very first mission trip.  My to-do list is getting longer and longer by the minute.  Each time I check one thing off, I seem to add two more things to the bottom of the list.  With all the things I still need to do or take care of, I haven't been able to sleep at night. 

Since I couldn't sleep and baking was on my to-do list, I got up at 5:30 am yesterday and began baking for our FMC Pentecost Mission Trip.  I thought I'd get it all done early in the day, so that I could tackle some of the other things on my list. (Did not happen.)  I started by baking blueberry muffins for my family's breakfast, so that no one would interrupt my baking.  I made my coffee and said my rosary in peace while everyone was sleeping.  Soon, the smells of goodies baking escaped the kitchen and entered the bedrooms (and noses) of the kids.  One by one they came, ate, and stayed to help for a moment or two.  Then one by one the left me alone.

I cranked up my new missionary CD---The Ananias Project on my computer.   What better way to bake for a mission trip bake sale, then while listening to the songs and sounds from missions!  So, I sang, and I baked and baked and baked and baked and....  I baked numerous kinds of cookies, several cakes, different kinds of brownies, and other yummy desserts.

One of the girls periodically came to check on me and lend a hand.  During one of her visits, she watched in shock as I scraped every bit of the cake batter into the pan, not leaving any behind, and then rinsed the bowl in the sink BEFORE licking it.  (It doesn't matter what kind of dough or batter it is, I ALWAYS leave batter and then lick the bowl.)  Later in the day, one of the boys came in and witnessed the same thing.  He to wanted to know what was wrong with me as he snatched the bowl just before the faucet water hit it.  He stared at me with his "Are you crazy?" look as he tried to lick the scraped bowl.

That's when I realized that I never wanted to see another cookie or cake again!  So, I began baking homemade breads to sell.  I baked various kinds of breads until 10:00 pm Saturday night.  Luckily, my mother-in-law was in town and took care of feeding us real food for lunch and supper.  This morning we loaded up the car and headed to the bake sale.  After staring at three tables full of cookies and cakes this morning, it was confirmed--I NEVER WANT TO SEE ANOTHER COOKIE OR CAKE AGAIN!

And guess what I was asked to cut and serve to the kids at youth group tonight? A COOKIE CAKE!

That's What Moms Are For

I love the Spring.  I was the teacher that hated teaching in April and May, not because of all the craziness that comes with the end of the school year, but because of the beautiful weather outside.  I'd much rather have school in the summer and winter and be off in the Springtime when you can actually enjoy the outdoors.

Being a religion and reading teacher, I came up with all kinds of outdoor lessons and activities.  We'd grab our books and head outside to read the week's story.  Or grab our rosaries and head outside to pray.  All while enjoying God's beautiful sunshine!  Now that we are homeschooling, we can simply cancel school on beautiful days!  I'd much rather spend the day outside gardening or just sitting on the back patio watching the kids play and listening to the birds.  In a few weeks, we can spend those extremely hot Louisiana days of summer doing schoolwork inside in the air-conditioning.

Yesterday was one of those days that we spent outside.  Our oldest mowed the grass.  I trimmed.  We cleaned and washed off the carport and patios.  Then our oldest daughter and I headed to weed the garden that had been neglected due to all of our mission trip planning and fundraising.  As we worked alongside each other hoeing and pulling weeds, she screamed every two minutes.  Yes, screamed literally every two minutes.  She is deathly afraid of flying insects.  And rightly so.  She's the one that ALWAYS gets stung or bitten!  No matter where we are stinging or biting insects always find her. 

So, I had two choices:  I could send her in and put her on baby duty like she begged me to do and enjoy my peaceful Spring day, or I could make her remain with me and help her overcome her fear.  It was a hard choice especially after she nearly busted my eardrums several times and ran me over trying to escape a bug.  But I chose the more difficult task knowing that she really wanted to garden with me.  So, I became the "worst mom ever" as I demanded that she remain with me pulling weeds.

I'm pretty sure that all the flying insects in the state of Louisiana came to our garden that afternoon.  She cried.  She screamed.  She ran up and down in between the rows.  It was pitiful and yet a little hilarious.  It was like a scene from a movie.   I tried to make her to understand that they chase her when she runs away and that they would leave her alone if she remained calm.  Finally, as something buzzed our way, I grabbed her arm and held her in place.  She squirmed and cried, but I held her firmly in place.  Thankfully, the bug flew off, and she began to "see" what I was talking about.

Several long hours later (probably just an half hour or two, but it seemed like hours), we were sitting under the tree resting in the shade, sipping our water.  I told her how much I enjoyed our gardening together AFTER she stopped screaming.  She shook her head her slowly and replied, "Yeah, but I'm screamin' on the inside!"  We laughed and then got back to work.  I watched as she froze, held her breath, and then smiled at me as the bugs flew away each time.

On our next break under the tree, she sincerely thanked me for helping her to overcome her fear of flying bugs.  I smiled and told her, "That's what Moms are for."

16 Years Ago...

Sixteen years ago, there were two kids who thought they were in love.  

They had "googly" eyes for one another.  They had a plan. 

They were going to be married forever...................for better or worse.

Today, the two kids are one.
They are more in love than they ever thought possible.

They still have "googly" eyes for each other.
They still have the same plan with a few added revisions. 

And they will be married forever......For Better or Worse.

"Our" First Grownup Talk

Here's the talk "we" (as in me and my husband) were suppose to give last night to the Serra Club about "our" vocation.  I use the word "we" lightly because one of "us" didn't make it to the meeting on time.  He was working late, and his text message said, "I love you!  You will do fine.  I'll be there with you in spirit."  I'm sure last night was the first time he actually drove the speed limit and took his time coming home from work.  (But I still love him!)  So, here's "our" first official talk that "I" gave last night without passing out, throwing up, or dying....

When "we" were first asked to give a talk at the Serra Club, we had no idea what it was.  I was caught by surprise before Easter Mass, and I agreed thinking we were going to speak to a small bible study group about our upcoming trip.  Later, I learned what the Serra Club was and just how many people we would have to speak in front of.  My stomach sank!  I can speak in front of a room full of kids all day long, but “grown-ups” make me a nervous.  But I knew that God was calling us to do this.  He’s been preparing us for a while now for something big, so here "we" are following His lead.  So, here's "our" vocation story....

We had always agreed that our Catholic faith was important and that we needed to make sure our kids knew it.   We quickly became involved with the Youth Group when we moved back to Jennings in 1998 when he finished his Air Force duty.  We felt that that was what we were called to do--to make sure these teenagers were given opportunities to grow in their faith that we didn’t have when we were growing up.  We thought we could help keep them from making the mistakes we had made as teenagers.  This was a lot harder than we thought.  Teenagers don’t listen very well!

 In 2000, we had our first son.  And we were called to a new vocation called parenthood.  It was then that we began to fully understand the importance of our faith.  We were now completely “in-charge” of getting this kid to Heaven.  We began to look at life through “new” eyes.  Things that we weren’t concerned about suddenly came into focus.  The world around us looked more dangerous now that we had this child sent from God.   We knew we were going to need a lot more help from God if we were going to be held accountable for returning this child back to Heaven.  Our prayer life began to change even more so as God blessed us with two daughters in the next three years.   Yes, three babies in three years.  The last one needed lots of special medical attention and that brought us to our knees often. We didn't know it at the time, but this helped our spiritual growth tremendously.  God can always turn the trials into blessings.

We continued trying to follow Christ’s call as best we could as parents in our home, in youth ministry in our parish, and for me as teacher at the Catholic school.   The more we tried to teach others, the more we learned.  The better example we tried to set, the better Christians we ourselves became.  Through our vocation as parents, youth leaders, and teachers, we were drawn closer to Christ and as we grew closer to Him, we realized how much we still needed to grow.  But the one vocation that we had forgotten about over those few years was our vocation to each other as husband and wife.  We were so busy tending to trying to “save” all the kids in our life (our own kids, the youth group kids, my students) that we had neglected our vocation to each other.   Our marriage wasn’t failing or in trouble, just neglected and in much need of some spiritual growth.

This was a huge turning point in our lives.  We began to concentrate more on our marriage.  We attended the Lenten Date night put on by the Diocese.  Through our weekly dates, we realized how much we had “missed” each other in the craziness of life.  We vowed to concentrate on “us” more and getting each other to Heaven and would just pray that the rest would fall in behind us.  Later, we attended a Faith Renewal weekend together---an adult “retreat” with speakers whose message was for us, not the teenagers we were always chaperoning on retreats.  Our weekend together was just that---a spiritual renewal of our marriage vocation.  We slowly began to pray more together as a couple not just as a family.  Our life began to change; our kids began to change; our faith began to change; we began to change---for the better!

We learned that when you put your vocations in the proper order, everything works much better.   We have also learned that when God blesses you the way he has been blessing us that He expects you to bless others, which has recently led us to a new vocation---mission work.  We have always been missionaries---people who bring the good news to others.  In the past, the others have been the youth in our lives.   Since our renewed vocation to married life, he has been calling us to be missionaries in a different way.  He has been sending various random opportunities to both of us as individuals and as a couple to help other married couples in their vocation.   So, for awhile we thought that was our new calling.  We had even planned on signing up for this Couples Cruise Retreat that the Diocese is having later this year.  We were going to try to get better “trained” for what WE thought we were being called to do.  We even saved up some money for it.

But after months of discernment about what God wanted, He has led us to something totally unexpected, but something He had been preparing our whole family for.  At the end of May, we will be heading to Mexico, but not on a couple’s cruise and not alone without the kids!   We will be heading to Mexico with all four kids and other families for a 10-day mission trip.  We had always thought about it, but never thought we could actually do it.  But if He wants it, He will show you the way. 

I recently read a quote from St. Gianna Molla that sums of vocation perfectly to me.  When asked, "What is a vocation?" she answered,

“It is a gift from God, so it comes from God. If it is a gift from God, our concern must be to know God's will. We must enter that path: if God wants, when God wants, how God wants. Never force the door."

It’s hard to know what God wants.  It’s even harder to do what He wants when He wants.  It’s much easier to do the things we want when we want.  We’ve learned that if it’s easy, it must not be from Him.  He is constantly calling us out of our comfort zone---constantly challenging us.  But we’ve also learned that each time we accept the challenge, the reward is much greater than we ever imagined.

This is the point where "our" talk ended and also the moment that I see my husband's truck pull up and park in front of the building.  Perfect timing for him!!!  Of course, he came in, and I gave him a hard time about his timing as did some in the crowd when they told him it was his turn and heresponded, "Ditto.  Whatever she said."  And that's why I love him, he always makes me smile!