Life as we now know it...

October 7th - Written by Rose

As I sit down to write, I realize just how long it’s been since I last posted something on the blog – September 10th – nearly a month.  Wow – time goes by quicky; even in Mexico 😉. 

Life seems to have found a rhythm and routine – something my personality thrives on.  Kids wake around 7:45, we do breakfast, devotions and verses, and then we head to the shop on our yard to begin homeschooling around 8:30.  Nathan usually arrives home from his bus route and morning school routine around 10:30 and continues to work from home for the remainder of the morning (this seems to work best as there’s no extra space or internet at the school).  We have lunch together as a family, and then one or two of the children go along with him for the afternoon to help out with his Physical Education classes at school. This gives them an opportunity to connect with the Tarahumara children, get in some of their own physical activity time, and also help out serving wherever they are needed.  On Tuesdays after school, I teach two of the Tarahumara teachers English.  I also prepare lunch for the students at school once a week – usually on Wednesdays.    On Mondays, Jace plays basketball at one of the local private schools and the girls do gymnastics twice a week for an hour at a gym just two minutes from our place.  The kids usually get to go for horse riding lessons once a week at Pollyanna’s place (Amanda and Amelia’s youngest sister).  These activities are definitely the highlights of their week.  The remainder of our free time is spent either together as a family, connecting with friends and family back home or working on new relationships with friends in Mexico.  The weather continues to be so beautiful – usually reaching highs around 30 degrees Celsius, but cooling off to about 7 degrees for night.  God has given us so much peace about being here and we don’t take that for granted.  We know it is the answer to many prayers – thank-you!!!!

The last twelve days have been especially busy as we did our best to continue on with our routines, while still trying to soak up as much love and time with my parents as we possibly could!  How good it was to have them here!  The tears ran down our faces upon their arrival and I think it was truly only in that moment, that we realized how much we had missed them and their hugs – hugs that only a mom/dad/grandma/grandpa can give. 

During these last twelve days, my brother Wes (from Seminole), together with his wife, Lisa, and three of their children, were also here for a weekend visit. It was such a joy to fill our small home and shop with people. For the first time during our time here in Mexico, we sat in our living room with someone to visit with.  We had “family gatherings”, ate so many good meals and desserts together, and received so much love, words of encouragement, and gifts from them and family back home.  We felt unbelievably blessed, loved and so, so grateful! 

Yet somewhere between knowing how blessed we are and wanting to give thanks over and over again, I found myself struggling and having hard conversations with our children today – conversations I knew were meant as much for me as for them, as we longed to keep those we love around us longer.  It was a heavy day.  A day we all felt the weight of our decision to serve here in Mexico and a day in which we were confronted again with the challenge of self-denial. I’m ashamed to admit, but even amidst all of our blessings and feelings of gratefulness, it amazes me how quickly my own desires can rise to the surface, and I focus on them rather than on what I have already received.  Matthew 16:24 came to mind. "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”.  I found myself quoting Galatians 2:20 to our kids with my/their names in the verse – “Rose is crucified with Christ. It is no longer Rose who lives but Christ who lives in her.  The life Rose now lives in the flesh, she lives by faith in the son of God who loves her and gave himself up for her.”  As I found myself challenging our children with these verses, and realizing how far I myself fall short of these verses, I thanked God for the opportunity of this challenge – we are learning, even if it’s ever so slowly, that anything and everything you deny yourself, for the sake of Christ, is worth it.  

So…we press on.  Tomorrow, Lord willing, is another day.  There is so much work to do here for His Kingdom, and we are already beginning to realize how quickly the time is passing.

Please pray for our children as they struggle through these next few days, fall back into our routines, and as we all learn more fully to rely on the God who loves us and gave Himself up for us.  It’s Him we serve!