My Soul Waits for the Lord

Oct. 23rd was 1 year that Tania came to the home here and into our care. She came as a sickly little girl who was HIV positive. She was allergic to dairy and had a lot of respiratory problems. Today she is HIV negative, is on raw cow’s milk and is a very active, healthy toddler. Praise God for his mercy on her life and His healing for her body! She is changing so much right now and we all enjoy her antics!

Our family is looking forward to going to Indiana in 2 weeks for Jeremy’s wedding and for a time of rest and refreshment. At the same time I feel so sad when I think of leaving Tania here. I know she won’t understand why we’ve left her and that we plan to return.  She was upset when she saw Regina’s suitcases the day she left. The rest of that evening she was just sad and wanted to be held. Such a mixture of emotions!

We had another adoption appointment on Tuesday. Right now they sound very positive but they say it will still be a long process. So many unknowns. So many details to just give to God because we can’t do anything about them. Last week Darin gave us a copy of a writing entitled “Learning to wait on the Lord”. It was a good reminder to us that this is in God’s time and He has a plan for our lives, a purpose to every delay.

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning."

"WAIT" (Author Unknown)

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried: Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied. I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate, and the Master who gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"Wait?" You say, wait!," my indignant reply. "Lord, I need answers, I need to know why! Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard? By faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I can relate hangs in the balance, and You tell me to wait? I'm needing a 'yes' a go-ahead sign, or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"And Lord, You promised that if we believe we need but to ask, and we shall receive. Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry: I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate, as my Master replied once again, "You must wait." So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut, and grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting… for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine, and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign. I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun. I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

"All you ask me I could give, and pleased you would be. You would have what you want – but, you wouldn't know Me. You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint: You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair: You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there; you'd not know the joy of resting in Me when darkness and silence were all you can see.

"You'd never experience that fullness of love, as the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove; you'd know that I live and I save… (for a start), but you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of My comfort late into the night. The faith that I give when you walk without sight. The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked of an infinite God.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee, what it means that 'My grace is sufficient for Thee.' Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true. But, Oh, the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see that the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me. And though oft' may My answers seem terribly late. My most precious answer of all is still, 'wait.'"

And so we wait…

More of October….

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Strong and steady, always enthusiastic? What a challenge!!

Two weeks ago I started an update but was interrupted and then it never got finished. I’ll try again and see if I can backtrack that far. Laura left the evening of the 12th. She was our floater so there were loose ends to be attached to someone. We passed around her jobs and it’s been working well. It’s such a blessing to have willing workers that pitch in to help, even when it means tiring days and sacrificing personal comfort!

Then, Regina and Marcela left on the 15th, flying out of Los Angeles. Regina really enjoyed the adventure of international travel, seeing another country and most of all, spending time with Gina Miller and her family. The wedding was Oct. 23 at 6:00 a..m. The girls flew back then on the 24th but didn’t get here until 4:00 Sun. morning. I only got to talk to Gina once for a little more than 3 minutes the whole 9 days she was gone. So it was very good to have her back and hear all about the trip. We really missed our Gina!

Also, on the 24th Gideon left for a vacation at home and in Costa Rica. Darin is taking care of Gid’s 6 boys while he is gone. It’s quite a switch to deal with boys and their issues versus fixing things and going after supplies!

A special thanks to all of you that dug into your sewing supplies, or that bought new supplies and shared with us here! It really does help us to be able to go to the supply boxes and have items here to use rather than wait until someone can go to town or we can order things through the mail. And to have the tools to use as well makes the job so much easier. God bless you for helping!

God is so good and has sent us some more help again now. Yesterday Bethany Klassen came from Canada to work here as floater. I think God lets us have those times of less to make us more thankful when He gives us more. Heidi plans to leave on Sat. for Costa Rica and will be gone until Nov. 21st so Bethany’s arrival is definitely on time!

Blessings to you all!

Count it all joy…

Another week, another chance to serve the Lord!

What an awesome privilege!

Our last week was one of variety. Friday, Oct 2nd, we had an adoption related appointment with the psychologist  in Tijuana. This time it was with our children so we all went. Then for supper we were invited to Gordon’s and we had a relaxing evening of fellowship with them.

Saturday was Brent’s 12th birthday so Lorne took the boys to town to do some ‘guy’ shopping while Regina and I stayed here to get ready for the company that was coming. The board of directors came Saturday afternoon. We had meetings with them in the evening, but the children waited on us and that night we had a birthday party for Brent. Darin missed the party because he had to make a hospital run. Alfredo, a 6 yr old, was vomiting blood and seemed pretty sick so they took him in. The Dr. gave him a shot to stop the vomiting and some other meds and they came home again about 1 in the morning.

Tuesday Brent & I went to Tecate to get the mail and then pick up a few other things. Brent had gotten some money for his birthday and really wanted a hamster, so we went to the secondhand stores and he found a good cage with supplies for a good price. Then we went on to the pet shop and bought the much wished for critter.

Wednesday was tree planting day. Phil brought an auger to dig holes and they were in business. That is, until the auger teeth wore down and wouldn’t dig anymore. But, they got 30 some trees planted anyway and hopefully this week will have it fixed to do more.

Thursday Lorne needed to take some children to Tijuana so we decided that the boys and I would go get the groceries. Well, our vehicle situation here is pathetic and the only option we had was to take the blue van, which is an adventure in itself. Darin had the battery charger on it until we were ready to go and Nevin took the jumpers along. When we went to leave Nevin told me I need to put it in neutral and rev the motor to get it to stay running. Umm… Certainly! I can do this. So off we roared, chuckling as we went! We made it about 5 minutes down the road when something popped as if I had hit something. We decided it must have just been a rock and on we rumbled. Not much further, there was an awful grinding noise from the front right wheel. Nevin got out and couldn’t see anything, so we went a little more. Oh dear, it just sounded too bad to go further! Check the phone. No, no service here. Well, God had it all under control! We were just a small field across from Phil’s house, so Brent & Dustin ran over to see if Phil could come to help us. He came and after just a bit of looking he found that the spring had broken and was grinding against the rim. OK. He went back and got his truck, jacked the van up, and took the broken pieces out. Now we could come back home if we drove very slowly. When we got back, I talked to Greivin at the school and he said we should just take his vehicle since the truck (which had gone to Tecate) should be back by the time he wants to go home. So, an hour and a half after we left the first time, we were off again. But, we were so thankful that God was in charge of the details as it could have been so much more difficult! God is good!

Saturday we were all invited to visit a ranch across the mountain south of us. All of us here at the home went, along with Phil’s, Greivin’s, and Gordon with some of their children. It was around 25 miles but took us 1 1/2 hrs to get there. The road back there made our road seem like a fairly nice road. (it isn’t) It was a beautiful place to spend the day! They are very nice people who seemed to really enjoy the children and our fellowship. They had a picnic area where we grilled hot dogs and ate our lunch. There were lots of trees. Beautiful, big, oak trees! Shade. So quiet and peaceful it was. I heard different comments about it not seeming as if we were in MX. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Please pray for healing for my back. On Friday afternoon I had a sharp pain in my lower back and have been living on pain pills and even with those I’m not getting total relief. It affects my legs and makes it hard to move around, while here that’s not really such an optional thing.

As well, pray for us these next 2 weeks. Laura leaves for home Mon. night. Wed. Greivin’s leave which means that one of the Mom’s will need to teach school. Then on Thurs. night Regina and Marcela leave for Costa Rica for Regina Miller’s wedding. There go our cooks, and cleaning people. We had thought that our new floater was going to be here by now, but that hasn’t worked for her yet.  I told Lorne, Nevin, Darin and Gid that I guess the guys will need to help cook. God has a plan and I’m trusting that He will give us the strength to do what needs to be done or send us some help.

A quote I read this week that was right on time for me is “Trials are never wasted, nor does God ever give them to the wrong person.” God bless you all this week!

Continue to pray….

Just a quick update on Rocio. We thank God that she has decided she wants to stay here at this time. God is working in her heart and we need to continue to pray for her that she could completely surrender to Him and His plan for her life. We serve an awesome God who is able to do far above what we can ever accomplish, so we continue to commit her to Him. Thanks for your prayers!