This Season

This fall has been challenging for multiple reasons.  The most obvious - first trimester symptoms!  Ahhh... please tell me I'm almost done!  This pregnancy has been different and worse than my first. For the most part, I was sick only in the mornings with Elli, but this time it's been morning, noon, evening, and even in the middle of the night.  You know how women say that you forget how bad labor and delivery are, even to the point of wanting another child?  Well, I'm hoping the same is true for this trimester, because I have honestly wondered if I want to go through this again.  Adoption seems like a really good option right now.  

Changing jobs in September has also brought some stress to the past few months as well.  My responsibilities with the youth are fairly similar, in fact, they have even lightened since we don't have a Sunday School hour yet.  However, because I'm technically the only paid employee of our baby church, I'm helping out in other ministries as well, especially the children's ministry.  The children's church program really needed to get started, and in the absence of a leader, I've stepped in temporarily to lead it.  I love kids, I do.  But I am not cut out to be an elementary teacher.  I do not have that gift of keeping the attention of a group of four to eleven year olds.  I have new respect and appreciation for teachers.  I am feeling very stretched by this new role!

The final, and perhaps most challenging change this season has brought is the early signs of Elli turning two.  There have been tantrums, the has been some sass, there has been some outright defiance.  :)  Up until this point, Elli has been a relatively easy baby.  Of course there have been hard seasons, but nothing like this.  And I know it's only the beginning!

So, as I've been processing all of these changes, the Lord has been convicting me of where I go for guidance: my own wisdom, my parents, books, peer advice, Google... you name it.  I look for answers everywhere except where I'm sure to find them - in the Lord!  Not that it's wrong to call my mom when Elli is throwing a massive fit, or to read a book about potty training, or even to Google ideas for engaging second graders.  But my first source... my first response should always always always be to bring it before the Lord!

I love the Charles Spurgeon paraphrase the ladies at GirlTalk blog shared a few weeks ago:  "Prayer is the unfailing resource of the anxious mother.. Prayer will succeed where all else fails."  Great reminder and something I am trying to put into practice on a daily basis.

The Promised Wordy Post

Summer was busy and crazy and fun and over already.  How did that happen?  Of course, if I didn't have a calendar, I would still think it's the middle of summer, but that's south Texas for y'all.  :) Nonetheless, I have done a little decorating and lit the pumpkin spice candle!  Mmmm...

I really can't believe September is over halfway over already.  I haven't written much about what's been going on with my job/our church lately, because it was a sensitive issue and we weren't sure what God was calling us to.  Long story short - our church went through a rather public split in June over theological issues.  I don't really want to get into all the details (believe me, I've heard/discussed/read about them enough for now), but Daniel and I knew we were going to be leaving Christ Church, we just weren't sure when and where we were leaving to.  Originally, we were planning on staying well into this first semester to help transition the youth group to a new school year, but after much discussion and prayer with the staff, we came to a mutual decision that it was best for there to be a clean break.  The whole process was wearying... people were trying to be helpful, but I couldn't help but feel some pressure from both sides, and I hated hated hated breaking some of the kids hearts.  Our last Sunday was the last week in August, and much as it hurt to leave those kids, I was (and am) relieved to have the decision behind us and the freedom to move on.

We are excited about our new journey with the new church.  I was officially hired a few weeks ago to work with the youth and assist with the website.  Most of the kids who have joined the new congregation I know and love, so I'm looking forward to continuing those relationships.  The church is still nameless, so I feel akward when people ask me where I work, but hopefully soon I'll have a good answer!

Our fall schedule is starting to take shape, and I'm hopeful we'll fall into a routine soon.  Elli began Mother's Day Out last week, so that gives me a few days a week to meet girls for lunch and get other work done.  I still need to upload the pics from my camera of her first day, but I'll post them soon!  We also began our BSF study for the year, and I'm already very excited about the study of Isaiah.  Last week Elli learned that God's Word is true!  What a great way to start the year!

Mexico

I am home!  The missions trip was a great experience, and I saw the Lord answer so many prayers in and through it.  I loved getting to know our kids (and some parents) at a deeper level, I felt peace about being away from Daniel and Elli (although by Friday I was reeeaaally ready to be with them again!), and there were several instances where God provided the right words (both in terms of the language barrier and in conversations with some of our students).

I'm not really finished processing what happened and what God was teaching me.  Honestly, the trip was very different from what I thought, and the orphanage left several of us sensing a dark spirit lurking there, so I've had some difficulty putting it all together.

For now, here are some pictures and info from each day of the week.  Warning - long post ahead.

The girl's dorm where we stayed had a concrete roof with steps up to it.  Since my internal alarm clock was set to "early" (thank you, Elli),  I spent every morning up here, watching the sun rise over the mountains and spending time in the Word and prayer.

 (these two pictures were taken at 180 degrees from each other, so you can see we were surrounded by beauty and majesty!)

 Tita, Mary Margaret and I enjoying a cool morning on the roof.

Tuesday
While the older men drove into town to pick up water bottles and paint supplies, the rest of us did our first VBS with the kids.  Maddie (in the upper right corner) is fluent in Spanish, so she was our go-to interpreter.

 The craft that day was decorating frames with their picture.  These were a big hit!

 Wednesday
The kids were all at school this day, so we traveled to an indigenous people group where a missions church had just been planted a year before.  They still spoke an ancient Mayan dialect and wore traditional outfits.  We shared communion with them and then enjoyed their cooking.  Best coffee and corn tortillas I've ever had!

 Then we traveled to San Cristobal, which is the cultural center of Chiapas. We saw a few old churches and shopped at a local market.  I'll get some pictures of Elli in some dresses I bought for her.

After San Cristobal, we drove to Canyon del Sumidero and took a boat ride on the river.  This was stunningly beautiful, and we got to see crocodiles and monkeys!

 

 Maddie, Claire, Tita, and Mary Margaret

Yes, we were this close!

 See those tiny black blobs... spider monkeys.  Yes, I know it's hard to tell, and you'll just have to take my word for it!

Thursday
While the guys painted one of their dorms, the girls did another VBS with the kids.  I was so proud of my students, because they came up with their own little skit about the parable of the seeds and acted it out in Spanish!  Then we helped the kids decorate their own seed pot and plant a seed.

Later that afternoon we tye-dyed t-shirts.  This was the favorite activity by far!  Everyone, old and young, wanted their own t-shirt, and the girl's house mom even brought down a pile of her kids shirts and onesies to dye!

Friday

Our last day we did another VBS about prayer in the morning.  All of the kids loved decorating the foam hands and crosses.

We finished off the week with an elaborate scavenger hunt, which was so much fun for everyone involved! 

Okay, if you even got this far, I'm sure you're quite tired of this post by now, so I will end now.  Plus I'm out of pictures.  :)

Missions Trip

On Monday, I am leaving with twenty others to serve at Hogar Infantil, an orphanage in Mexico.

The orphanage is about a forty-five minute drive from Tuxtla Guiterrez, the capitol city of Chiapas, Mexico.  Because the children are still in school at this time, we will be doing manual labor in the mornings, and then in the afternoons we will be leading a VBS.  I am really looking forward to it, although suffering some misgivings about leaving Elli.  Daniel's mom is coming to watch her, so I know she'll be well taken care of... I just don't know how I feel about being away from her for so long!  I've definitely been soaking up the snuggles this week.

If you think of us, pray for our ministry, health and safety.  

(And pray that I would have peace while away from my family!)

VBS

And that is the reason, my friends, that I have not blogged in over a week.  I have been leading music at our church's vbs this week, and even though it's only three hours in the mornings, you would think I'd been there for eight.  I have desperately wanted a nap every single afternoon! (In all honesty, this is only partly due to vbs, but also partly due to completely giving up caffeine this week.  On July 5 I'm leaving for a missions trip to Mexico, and even though I am assured they have coffee in Mexico, I'm a little high maintenance about my coffee, and I'd just rather be completely off of it while I'm there.)

Last week and weekend I was a complete wreck about leading the music... I know, I'm a complete pansy.  I was freaking out much more about leading worship for 120 four to ten-year-olds than for 130 adults the Sunday before (more on that in a later post!).  My personality just doesn't really scream kindergarden teacher, you know?  Anyway, despite my nerves, the week was a blast.  

Elli spent the week with the two and three-year-olds, and had the time of her life!  Every morning she wanted to "wok-wok" all by herself to the classroom, and as soon as she walked through the doorway she turned around, waved and said, "bye-bye."  My little extrovert.  Never happier than in a crowd. They made several crafts throughout the week (only one of which survived the trip home), and today she brought home this t-shirt and hat she'd been working on all week.  She loves to point to the handprints and hear me say "hand."