22.5.13

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated, I know. Sorry about that!

This past Sunday, we went to a get-together at the house of one of our viñeros, Oscar, whose parent’s hosted it (obvi). It was for the youth, including us. The best part about it was that all the food was home-made and endless. I can’t tell how you how fantastic it was to consume two plates of home-cooked deliciousness. We had chicken mole (a spicy chocolate sauce), rice, creamy fried peppers, and a bunch more. After we were all super full, we sat and sipped coffee and ate cake and laughed at dumb jokes and the little kids running around. It was really relaxing and a good connecting time.

            The Friday before this, right before youth group, I had sent an email cutting off a friendship with someone who’s been inscripted into my bones for the past seven years. There were a lot of reasons building up to this, but I finally did it, received an answer within ten minutes, and that was it; the end. It was heavy. Thirty minutes later, we started youth group by praying for each other’s needs in small groups, lifting up to God what was on our hearts, and then started worship. Not joking, the three songs that were played were all three of my favorite worship songs. This doesn’t sound like a huge deal, but to me, it was incredibly personal- like my God wanted to woo me, bless me, and provide for me; He wanted me all for Himself. Worship time lasted for an hour, and it was amazing to see the Spirit of God sweep down over all of us- people were kneeling on the floor, others filled to the top with joy praising the Lord, some praying for and ministering to others. I got lost inside the songs and really felt the desire of God to win my heart over. It’s something I’m started to learn- I can do nothing good, nothing of eternal value, apart from being lined up with God, completely sold out for Him.

            Okay, today ! We got to cook in the kitchen (the girls) from 8 till 2, but I got pulled out at 10 to help the teenage girls with cleaning the group house for the group that’s coming next week. Me and Karen had the girls’ side, so we swept, cleaned bathrooms, and mopped. I shared about how 8 out of the 10 people in our Viña got accepted for internships here (me included- wheee!), and what we’ll all be doing. I asked about her plans for the future, and she told me she likes it here and likes working with younger kids, but she has dreams of going to other places in her country, working at a church and just being used completely, in line with all the talents God has given her, adopting children and possibly working at another orphanage. It was inspiring to see how deeply she wants to be used and is willing to go to other places to expand even further the Kingdom of God.

Then at 1’oclock, me and Alisha went to the office to call our parents about getting our visa process started (Mexico just changed a ton of policies for that, so it’s a new procedure now, and more confusing at the moment). We talked with an intern who lives in Minnesota about all fundraising together, just bouncing ideas off each other, seeing what would work.

The teenage boys came back from the market after lunch, so while our boys washed dishes, we sat outside and talked with the kids and sorted the vegetables and fruit. Irvin (9 years old) asked me to help him sort a box of fruit (between ripe and too-old), and it was just a precious moment sitting on the cement with him, asking him whatever came to my mind, and joking a bit. I don’t see him smile as much as I used to, so it’s sweet to see that smile brim over his face once in a while. During this time, I also ate three mangos (everyone teases me about eating so much, but it’s just fruit!!), which was a bad call, since we had to run 7 kilometers at 5 o’clock (20 minutes later). Here’s the thing: apparently mangos pass straight through me. Wink wink hint hint. I left the bathroom at 4:55 still feeling unsure of my stomach situation and Fabian’s all like “we’re going to run and it’s going to take an hour.” Perfect, I’m thinking. So I’m trotting along with my back doors shut real tight, barely able to keep up with the others. Thank goodness I didn’t have any escapism issues, but i had stomach pain for almost the whole time and had to take constant walking breaks. I’M NOT A WIMP, I JUST ATE TOO MANY MANGOS, OKAY?!  Haha. Anyways, I learned my lesson from that one, to have self-control and learn to eat during times where lots of physical movement isn’t going to follow immediately. Note to self.