Happenings: Snow!

 Snow? In Mexico?! Yep! It's rare, but it happened once when I was there. It started snowing at about 10pm, and we played in it until around 2am because it wouldn't last long. 

When you live in a warm climate (and you therefore don't have snow gear), 

you get creative when the cold comes: 

a blanket is a good coat around Abigail, and a shirt becomes a hat for Timothy.

Benjamin collecting clean snow for snow-ice-cream made with Mexican vanilla--so yummy

My cold muddy toes don't know what to think! It's supposed to be warm! :)

A snowman we all built

And Benjo (the next morning) with his snowman 

which he put in the freezer on a plate to keep for a while :)

Outside, the snow isn't staying . . . .

A maguey, or agave, plant. 

Some of my friends would get "agua miel" ("honey water") from these 

to drink or to boil down to a syrup.

Thoughts: Belief

Belief leads to action.

Believing lies and disbelieving God (the Truth - John 14:6) keeps us from right action and guides us to wrong action. 

Hebrews 11:31 commends the faith of Rahab who "perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace." It is interesting to note that the Greek word for "that believed not" implies disobedience as well as lack of faith. This idea is reinforced by other translations of the verse, such as NASB which simply says "those who were disobedient," or a Spanish version which calls them literally "the disobedient ones."

Haven't you found this connection between sin and disbelief to be true in your own life as well? I certainly have. Generally when I sin, it's simply because I'm not believing God's statements like "...the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal. 6:8). I "lose heart in doing good" because I'm not really convinced that "in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary" (Gal. 6:9). Instead of trusting that God "is a Rewarder of those who seek Him" (Heb. 11:6) and taking God's Word for it that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23), I rather think that my disobedience is worthwhile. So I sin.

Faith/belief is seriously important, because it protects us from the deadly choice to disobey. So how do we get more faith? "...Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17).

Let's dig into the Word and harvest that life-giving faith. And let's follow God's warning and encouragement in Hebrews 3:12-13. "Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God, but encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'Today,' so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."

Belief leads to action. Let's believe the Truth. 


(For more truth on this subject, consider the following passages. Numbers 20:12; Psalm 78:22, 30-32; Psalm 106:21-24; John 3:18; John 8:24; Hebrews 11:26; Psalm 58:11; Proverbs 11:18; Hebrews 11:1-12:4. Especially Numbers 14:11; Revelation 21:8; Hebrews 3:18-19; Hebrews 4:2,6.)

Happenings: Conferences Update

Thank you all for praying for the Conferences! 

God worked, and lives were changed!

Happenings: Conferences!

Tomorrow we will leave on a four-week trip to Pachuca, Guadalajara, Cuernavaca - and then San Antonio, TX - to work with home school conferences! Mr. and Mrs. Richardson have been making these conferences happen for many years, so they are quite experienced - but if ya'll want to pray, that would be good because, "unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it..." (Psalm 127:1a).

"God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us
- Selah -
that Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations."
Psalm 167:1-2

What I See: The View

Where I'm living may be geographically the most beautiful place that I have ever seen; sometimes it's so amazing that it seems like a dream.
I took the last three pictures from my bedroom window: that's how close the beauty is to me. The other three were up the road a bit.
My God is an absolutely amazing Artist.

Happenings: Valentine’s Day Tea

For Valentine’s Day (“Dia de Amor”), Mrs. Richardson, Anna, and I made a tea party, a “Merienda,” for some of the ladies in the church. My friend Lupita is the one with the baby, and her little girl, Dayana (who is hiding behind the baby's blanket in the group picture), is her daughter whom I teach English. I don’t know why they all look so grumpy in that picture; they really aren’t!

It turned out to be such a good day, especially because one lady brought three guests who weren’t saved, and Mrs. Richardson was able to do a Bible lesson on God’s love, including a good discussion on the Gospel. These three ladies aren’t in the picture, because they had to leave early – but not before they had heard the Gospel and, very interested, asked questions about it! Praise our wonderful God!

Happenings: Easter!

"But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
"...Reconciliation...."
Romans 5:8, 11

May God bless you with personal, complete, ongoing reconciliation with Himself.
Happy Easter!