Lauren enjoying our incredible meal at "Cinco Panes" with the money this precious couple here gave us to treat ourselves. We were treated like queens. The story of how we got all these goodies is below. We are so blessed!
The end of our adventures: a delicious frosty white mocha taken in today with the Word of God and some peace and quiet. I hate to be so American, but I miss the coffee shop scene.
At least the girls riding in the seat had their seatbelts on... that's a start right? Don't judge me. If only you knew how hard it was to get these kids to sit still. These are 3 of the 4 kids I took with me to buy gifts for the upcoming "Christmas in the Streets". They all gave money for gifts (what money!?) so thet were able to go with me.
I love this of Flor. For whatever reason the girl starting laughing and couldn't stop. So. much. fun.
The girls with their treats. I hope its okay that we spend so much our budget rotting these kids teeth.
Gaby and Daniel... siblings. Gaby was incredibly giggly all day. Everything was a bit funnier for her.
With our goodies from shopping. The sun was a bit bright for their eyes.
Lsuren and I were sent on two separate errands at the same time one day this week and so we each took our own vanload. I ended up with 16 in my 15 passenger van and we went out to the worksite for the new boys´ home. We sang worship songs and I gave all that wanted a chance to drive. So hilarious.
Who is this guy? The girls took this picture when Lauren and I were inside the gas station buying goodies. I absolutely love this one.
Karla took this video while we were driving to the worksite. Mexico is beautiful at sunset.
Jasmin drives? She was FREAKING out! She kept getting down from my lap and saying she just couldn't do it. Hilarious.
Terrifying... why did I say this was okay?
Get ready Riley's! The crazier these kids are the more I laugh for Mark. Knowing you now (and I know that you only look at th
Bonfire... its officially fall.. except this fire has a pot of boiling potatoes in the middle of it.
Vote for the Dali Lama? I promise these are Bible-believing people.
Karla helped adjust Jaq's tummy.
this is so disturbing and hilarious to me. No one set her up for this one.
Mis abuelos= my grandparents. They both work at the house and have become my buddies. Really, they just like to tease me a lot. Like always.
Smile, Jesus loves you!
Miriam and Chuey
The girls running after dressing Lucia up. She loved it though she played like she didn´t.
My buddy Ana swinging
I'm feeling pensive allright...
... and oh me, this could take a while. Since all our fun company left I´ve had more time to think... more time alone in the car, no music in sight, and the result was an excessive amount of brain movement. I´m tired. I´ll confess that at times this whole blog thing has been a bit burdensome. We have little time off and I don´t really want to spend it typing. Well, now I more often look forward to it. I got an average of about 1.5 friends here, so you all are my outlet. How would I process without you!?! You guys want to meet Lauren in I in Florida next month for some debriefing? ...and thank you for all your notes and emails. I have gotten a bit teary lately over these. We write because you read. For you I am so thankful.
So thankful...
I´ve never really been on the receiving end of many miracles.... at least I never recognized it. As I mentioned before, I´ve been reading that book on the sovereignty of God and I have been so challenged in the way I perceive the works of my Lord. I mean I call Him sovereign but I don´t accredit Him for the things happening around me... not really the good nor the bad. I usually pray AFTER I make plans and pray He´ll bless the things I do. Here at Lily, they pray first and the Lord gives them ideas... often ridiculous and crazy ideas. And then He blesses them. It truly is amazing. I love how this job is challenging my faith, or my lack of.
I´ve been thinking a lot about money lately. The bling, bling. People hate to talk about money, especially when it challenges the way we spend it. I relate to this, but as it was pointed out to me recently, this is a subject that Christ addresses frequently. So, if my Lord speaks about it frequently, I should then listen. When this topic comes up I immediately think about all the wealthy people I know (I went to a private high school and always thought my family was borderline low class... ridiculous) and how they spend their money. I could waste a day in criticism of those around me. Oh, but if you knew my heart on this matter! It´s ridiculous how frivolous and wasteful I can be. OR I can be the opposite, obsessive and worrisome. I have nice things.. always bought on sale (thanks mom, for that obsessive compulsion), but way more than I need. The irony is that I have been unbelievably exposed to the poor, so its not that I spend out of ignorance. I have traveled much of the world, met people living in tents because of the destruction of the tsunami in Thailand, met generations of families that lost everything because of Hurricane Katrina, been begged for food in many a city, met people that have days that they don´t eat because there is nothing to eat, and so on... and now I´m living in an orphanage in Mexico, exposed in a very personal way to a group of very poor and abused people. Most of the girls in my room can fit everything they own (if they own anything) under their pillows. What am I doing with this knowledge? How should I be responding to this knowledge? Is it wrong for me to have nice things? How do I live in a culture, be in it but not of it, respond to the harsh realities of the world and live a Gospel-centered life? My young mind can´t grasp it all. Because I tend to have a more passionate and exaggerated outlook on life I can swing to an extreme with this very quickly. "Commit" my life to poverty and say I want to give it all, or amidst my helplessness, give up and live how I want to in response to whatever culture I´m in at the time. Just tonight Loty and I were doing Christmas shopping (hoping to buy all those silly trinkets asap) and wondering how we´ll live when we get home. How do we live simply and sacrificially without being ridiculous?
I want to be a giver. I know it always "feels better to give than to receive", but sometimes I really like to receive. I look forward to receiving Christmas presents. I hate this about myself.
Papá always says that our house is built on prayer and giving, and it is so true about this place. Golly, I see it now more than ever as we´re doing this big event called "Christmas in the Streets." On December 8, three days before Lauren and I leave, we´re giving out shoe boxes of gifts, a meal and a dang good time to some 3000 of the poorest children in the city. What?! I went today with four little ones and spent over $200 of the house´s money on "things for the poor". Hello! We´re poor! The kids and I were sitting at a red light just outside Chihuahua headed towards the giant market (Linda, your favorite place) when this woman walked up. I´ve seen her there before and she´s offered me the same old back-stratchers and little packets of some strange homemade mountain food. She´s always really cheerful, but there are approximately 75 million street vendors that all think their Mexico stickers, soaps, suction-cup flags, posicles, packets of food or BACK-SCRATCHERS are all a worthwhile purchase. Before I could reject what I thought was an inevitable offer, she was talking to the kids... and so smiley. She told me she had kids of her own and asked me if I did... of course not, but they always ask. Its sad really. Anyway, as she´s interacting with the kids (it was a looong light) she is continually responding with things like, "Thanks be to God" or "All glory to Christ." This is totally normal culturally, and I was only surprised by her references to Christ rather than general things about God. A minute later while saying "God bless you" she handed each of us 10 pesos... that´s almost 5 dollars. If you don´t know anything about poverty in Mexico, I´ll tell you this... street vendors that sell plastic back scratchers DON´T make a lot of money. I was so overwhelmed. The only reason I didn´t cry was because the kids think its weird and kinda freak out when people cry when they´re not bleeding or been recently punished. The kids spent the next seven minutes or so talking about how she was a Christian and that she sings at her church... she has helped orphans before and really loves kids. They are sure she´s going up to heaven one day and not "down to you know where". What did the kids do with the money she gave them? Well, we went on to our last store of the morning and they used money to buy things for the poor. I´m sure these orphan kids were quite the site for those standing in line with us. Daniel, after buying his gifts, looked up at me and said "I´m so happy". Maybe it is in fact better to give than receive... I just don´t give much.
On top of all this, Lauren and I were given 500 pesos, almost $50 to go out to eat because it seemed like we were having a rough week (and we totally were). The closest thing to eating out we do is the $1 hamburger joint or the burrito stand where I could buy 80 burritos for 500 pesos and still be able to buy 4 packs of gum. We live a glamorous life.
So, here´s what we did:
We went to downtown Chihuahua and did a little of that Christmas/tourist shopping (with our personal money). We were feeling a little hungry, so went into this local pizza place and spent about $6 on a personal pan pizza to split, tòpped with green peppers and cheese, and two bottles of water (they don´t give water from the tap). It was about 6 o´clock (way early to be eating in Mexico). We went back to this main strip of shopping and acitivity, stopping once at a bakery to admire their pastries... admiration turned into desire and we spent about $2 on a donut, eight quarter-sized treats, and one giant cookie with sprinkles and a strange dollop of jelly. We then began to walk quickly, hoping to stir hunger in us. We´d had big plans for a fancy meal and dessert later! Eventually we made our way to the best restaurant in town. The manager came to our table and explained the menú to us in english, welcoming us there. He was a real gem. The waiters spoke slowly so we always knew what was going on. We ate the best salad I´ve had in 4 months, loaded with fresh fruit and yumminess, and split a tasty panini with chips. We drank soda (I never do this in the States!) and our total for the two of us was still short of $20. What? How? We tipped big to make up for it, and we have plans of grabbing coffee and a dessert some time soon (we ended up going today.. Sunday). Point is, when did we get on this side of things? It's amazing. God has provided quite miraculously for the two of us since we´ve been here, but this was just way more than we could have asked for. SInce we can't seem to give back to all these people, we just worship. I have been so overwhelmed lately. I cry when I get an email. I was told today that someone is going to pay for me to go to Bay St. Louis when I get back to do some Katrina Relief work with my dad... I cried again. I am unworthy of these blessings of God but it is ultimately increasing my faith and causing me to praise Him.
I have more I'd love to say though I know you all have lives outside of our blog. You all are incredible for reading this... or just looking at the pics (Mark Riley totally confessed this while he was here... by the way, the American girls over at Libres por Amor couldn't say enough good about you and your interactions with the kids... stealing your crown's jewels one at a time. :) ha!)
Have a blessed week. We'll try to plan better next weekend so we can get more up here.
Peace be with you all,
Mary Ellen
5 comments:
Merm, come on. That pic of me IS weird. So why'd you put it up? Thanks, friend. No seriously, thanks for being my friend. -Loty
I just read the entry from yesterday. I was dressed and ready to go to the mall, which is 30 miles away at $3.27 a gallon. I looked at my list of "needs" and decided a lot of them were "wants" so I thought I'd skip the mall trip today and see if I can live without the things on my list. I struggle just as you do with the materialism culture that I sometimes find myself caught up in. I also went to Biloxi after the hurricane, and now have spent time at Lily and it changes the way you think and act for the most part. It is hard to determine where the fine line is between living beyond my means and giving beyond my means. God sure has to be busy keeping all of us in line doesn't he.
I hope this blog never goes away. It's like therapy! We love you both!
Rog and Luanne Fekken
re: "I like to be a receiver sometimes"....if there were no receivers there could be no givers. It is very hard to be a gracious receiver.
Reality: what have we got that we haven't been given? Not a thing. We deceive ourselves if we think we are strong, rich, wise enough to give on our own. We only give because we have received.
And you're right, this is a struggle. Part of it is because we compare ourselves among ourselves, and we're TOLD that's not wise. Instead of looking around, we need to be looking up. Our Heavenly Father WILL let us know what is ok, what isn't, when to give, and when to receive, when to rest,and when to work. It's hard to ask, hard to listen, hard to wait.
Thank you so very much for posting. We need you to keep reminding us of the people there at Lily.
this is your low class mama!!!!ha,ha You are figuring it out,girl, and so am I ..It is on going, the struggling with having and not having...what does God want us to do...Christmas stuff was out before Oct 31 here and the push to buy and spend everywhere. I know you did not ask but I will say it anyway...Christmas is YOU AND JOHN AND CLAY AND KIRSTEN AND ISAAC AND DADDY AND MY MOM AND ALL OF THE GREAT FAMILY I could keep naming. sitting around and going to movies and playing games and eating......that is why I can not tellyou what I want. I do not know, not even again for this year. just you guys being together, me and daddy there too!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love your blog and love you soooo much. Your writings are miraculous..mean so much to so many.
can't wait until we have the gang over and eating and luaghing and drinking milk shakes...so many have said they would be there, the Friday 14th??? is ggod date...
Love you soooooo much and 1000 kisses, Mamadomma
That guy next to the Coke machine is cool. Can you get me his autograph?
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