Bible Study

Hey All,
So we had bible study last night. There were 3 guys and a family that came. It is a temptation to compare studies and say "Well, ONLY 5 amigos are here tonight" but instead I need to praise the Lord for every man (or lady) who comes. Even if "just" one person came but heard the Gospel, it's worth it. The Lord is blessing study right now. We've gone through some changes that are hard but good. God was not taken by surprise. He knows exactly when, where, and how things should happen. Praise to Him for being omniscient! (Ok, I sound like a pastor's kid. Omniscient means all knowing :P) I would appreciate your prayers for this study. Please pray that God will grow it and ungrow (is that a word?) it as He sees fit and that we will be obedient to His leading.

In other news, I'm beginning to think this language school is just a crazy dream I had and that I really didn't send in my application and check or anything. Again I must remind myself that God's timing isn't mine. Why is it that we as humans think that things have to happen when WE want them to? God is so much better and knows all things and is able to see the whole picture. We can see only snapshots of the real deal. Please be praying that I will have patience. Necesito obtener mucho mas paciencia que yo tengo ahora :P I've been studying Spanish alot and one of mis amigos that I hadn't talked to for awhile said he was surprised at how much Spanish I can understand now so that's encouraging.

Since I promised a picture with every post I decided to do one of my mom Sydney Dee Case. And yes, I'm going to brag about her, too. It's ok I'm pretty sure 'cause she's my mom! She is an amazing mom to me and my three siblings. Mom has instilled in us since the time we were babies the love for reading, imaginary games, stars, fireflies, and most importantly,a love and appreciation for our Lord Jesus Christ. She and I are very alike in our temperaments. We both hate to show emotion. Well, it's not that we HATE it, we just don't all the time. My mom got saved in June 2002 after having been married to a pastor for years but had never made that decision to trust Christ as her Savior. My siblings and I were pretty young at the time but we all saw a difference in her. She never cried before she got saved and after she did, she definitely was given a heart of flesh (Ezequiel 36:26). I remember one time in church soon after she got saved, we were singing "Power of Your Love" and I remember looking back at Mom and tears were streaming down her face. That surprised me because Mom NEVER cried! But the Lord has given her a more tender heart and I'm so thankful for her. (Mom loves this picture of her and me because we look so much alike. Our profiles are virtually the same.) I'm not saying my mom is perfect because she's not. And my relationship with her is not perfect but I love her dearly and wouldn't trade her in for all the other mamas in the world! Thank you Jesus for giving me my mom. We were talking the other day about Mother's Day. Her mom died this past October so she doesn't have a mom anymore. It just made me appreciate her more. Anyhoo, I'm rambling now but I just want to get the point across that my mom rocks! I love her incredibly much but need to figure out ways to show it to her more...

Have an amazingly blessed night all you people. God bless you mucho much this day and night and the next day and night and ect. Cuidate!

Musings...

Hey All,
This week has been one full of deep thinking and soul searching. Scary, huh! I've had so much on my mind and it's not fun but it's necessary. Circumstances in life seem to get me down and that is not good. My joy should not be dependent on the circumstances around me. I think of the passage in Matthew 14:22-33 where Jesus is walking on water and Peter decides to get out of the boat and follow Him. Peter did fine until he took his eyes off his Lord and looked at the waves around him. He reminds me of me. So often, this week especially, I take my eyes off of Jesus and start to "sink" because I look instead at my circumstances. I covet your prayers for me. My faith is so lacking in everything. You would think I would learn my lesson after Papua New Guinea, but I haven't. Even this week I was "complaining" to God that things weren't happening that I can see in the way of language school. It's like I'm on a plateau of sorts right now but God sees the whole picture. I need to be faithful in the little, every day things and He will make things happen in His time, not mine.

I thought I would post some pictures of PNG for you all to see. I went there this summer for 5 weeks with New Tribes Mission on their Interface program. It is an intense bible/language/culture course. I was blessed by it and hope you enjoy the pictures. Precious memories for sure!

Me with a banana spider on my head. Why, I'm not exactly sure. Sorry if this grosses anyone out. I have absolutely no fear of spiders. Snakes are a totally different story!

Flying to West Britain Island for a side trip. My missionary friends live there and it was such a blessing to be able to visit them. The view from the 12-seater plane was breathtaking!

A glorious view not marred by paved roads and electric poles. The quietness is loud if that's even possible. One thing I miss about that place is the uncrowded feeling. But I'm so thankful to live here in the States!

With some precious sisters in Christ all the way on the other side of the world. What a privilege to worship with them and share a potluck meal, PNG style after the service Sunday.

Finally, how I looked when I got home from my trip which consisted of 6 connecting flights, and a 14 hour time change. It was August 9, 2009 for 48 hours. I was indeed very jet lagged when I got home to the welcoming arms of my family. It was SO good to be home! My brother even bought me roses. Aww...

Hope you enjoyed these pictures. So many amazing memories from that trip. And the travel bug definitely bit me! Now I just want to go anywhere and everywhere in the world and see all the sights and meet all the people. Ok, so I dream big! =) May God grant you all an amazing night. Dios te bendiga!

Trials

Hey All,
I'm not gonna lie, this week has stunk for sure! So many things seem to be going wrong all at once and I cannot do anything about it. I hate feeling so helpless, like my world is spinning out of control. Why do bad things happen in bunches? I know all things work for good but still! It stinks to be stuck in the middle of this yuckiness. Please be praying for my family and me during this difficult time.

It looks like I might be able to make a trip to Brownsville, TX this summer to visit the school I want to attend and also make a quick trip to Mexico maybe. I'm SO excited!!! Things with the language school are still at a stand still at the moment. I have yet to hear back from them but God's timing is perfect!


Here are a few pictures of my friend Jacquie and me. She came over and spent the night Sunday and we had a blast. We got the camera and made silly faces, ate fortune cookies, popcorn, and 8 day old brownies (don't worry, we're perfectly fine!) and danced to loud music until Mom made us be quiet. Ah, the joys of being a teenager! Although I'm thinkin' even when I'm not anymore, I'll still do stuff like this! All in all, it was an amazing night. We made memories that I will treasure forever!

In other news, I have been learning more and more Spanish. Today I tried to knock out the future tense. I already know present, imperfect, and preterit and need to know future. So many times I wanna say stuff but can't because I don't know it. Hopefully I'll be able to retain things. Another fun thing about this 501 verb book is that it has Spanish proverbs! One of my favorites is: "Comer para vivir y no vivir para comer" (Eat to live and not live to eat!) Don't know why that strikes me as funny but it does :P

I found a verse in Malachi that I used to comfort someone this week. It's Malachi 4:2 and says "To you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves." I love how it says 'with healing in His wings'. Such a descriptive phrase!

Anyway, I hope you all are having a blessed night. Thanks for listening to the random ramblings of a crazy gringa. Dios te bendiga mucho hoy! Cuidate hermanos.

They're Here!!!

Hey All!

As the title suggests, my dictionary and 501 Spanish verb books came yesterday after 2 long weeks of waiting for them. I'm SO excited! The 501 book will be very useful I think because it has 501 verbs, their meanings, and the conjugations plus common usage forms too. These books are going to be well worth the money I think in the long run! I already learned a new phrase from the dictionary: Vaya ocurrencia which the dictionary says means "what a ridiculous idea!" Yeah, that's gonna come in handy fo shizzle! :P I praise the Lord that He provided these for me!

Bible study was last night. There weren't as many people as usual due to several circumstances but the Lord knows what is right for this study. He is in control! Even if just one man came and heard the Gospel, it would be worth it.

Here's a picture of the Coyote Medina family. At least, I think that's what the boys' name is. I don't have a complete grasp on the name thing yet in Mexico. Jose and Elizabeth are dear people. They have four boys who I've already written about but it doesn't hurt to write about them again! From the left is Elizabeth, Dominic is 6, Antonio is in the back and is 8, Cesar is 10, Jose and Jason is 2. They come to our church and really enjoy it. I love this family. Thank God I have the opportunity to know them. Dios te bendiga hoy!

Las Estrellas

Hey All!

It's been a few days since my last post. Lo siento. Not too much has been happening in the way of Mexico so I kinda put off writing on this. But I just got in from sitting on my porch swing looking at the stars. They are amazingly bright tonight! Made me think of PNG and star gazing there. I miss it alot! I saw two shooting stars. How cool is that!!! Laying out looking at the stars is one of my all time favorite activities. That is one thing I don't think I could live without being able to see.

I have been posting on here but have yet to include a picture of my dearest friend of all time, Gretchen Faithful Case. She has been my best friend since I was a little girl. She is a pure bred black labrador retriever although we never were able to teach her to retrieve! She will be 12 this November. I love her dearly. Gretchen was our family's first pet ever and is such a good dog. You might think it lame that I'm writing about my dog, but she is seriously one of my dearest friends!

Sorry that this post is so boring but I want to write at least once a week. I'm still waiting for my dictionary to come. It's been 1 1/2 weeks since I ordered it. About time for it to come! I want to start working on future tense in Spanish. It will help me greatly I think. Ok, that's it for now. Dios te bendiga mucho!

Decisions....

Hey All!

I've been doing alot of thinking and praying the past couple of days. Two opportunities have come up for my education. I am planning to go to Guadalajara this year to the Harvest Language Center. I'm not sure how long I'll be there. An 18 month LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) program close to my house. That starts in January 2011. So for right now, I'm confused about what direction to take. To go to Mexico for 3 1/2 months then come home for the nursing program or to go to Mexico for all 4 sessions (there are 4 total) then come home to start raising support for Bible school. Decisions, decisions, decisions... Please be praying that I will listen to the Lord's will and what He wants for my life. Not what I want.

These pictures are at the farm where my friends Bethany and Rudy work. I decided to visit them one Saturday and brought hot drinks for them and the other amigos working (Yeah, I know I'm a gem! :P)Bethany and Rudy got me all dressed up in farm clothes and I went to work. I also rode a heifer named Shredder. It was so much fun! Here's me before we got to work, posing for a picture. I borrowed one of Bethany's hats. I think some of the amigos couldn't take me seriously with that hat on. I can't imagine why... Then I met the cow that I was going to ride. She wasn't very cooperative at first but I wrangled her and wrestled her to the ground and hopped on her! ('K, not really...) But I did pet her and spoke loving words to her before getting on her. Bethany and Rudy herded her out by a gate and I quick jumped on. I have horses that I do this to all the time so no biggy! It is harder than you'd think when you have 30 pounds of extra clothes on. Ok, that may be a SLIGHT exaggeration but still, it was alot! After I got on Shredder, I kicked her to get her moving and Rudy freaked out. It was hysterical. He thought I was going to fall off or something. But I bareback ride my "wild" pony all the time so I can stay on pretty good as long as she doesn't buck. I did freak out a little when the bull decided to check out what we were up to. Anyone who lives in the country knows what bulls can do. Bethany assured me this one wouldn't hurt me. I wasn't totally convinced and kept looking to see where he was. But it was fine. I finally posed for a good picture to remember the afternoon by and jumped down. Cow riding is a blast! Although I do prefer to ride my muffins (horses) because they smell better and are more graceful. But if horses aren't available, cows will do just fine. I don't recommend hopping on a bull though. That could get messy... Thanks to Bethany and Rudy for a fun afternoon! I don't think farm life is for me but it's fun to visit once in awhile.

I hope you all have an amazing day! I was reading in Mark today for devotions about the father whose son had a mute demon. When Jesus asked if he believed He could heal his son, he said "Lord I believe. HELP MY UNBELIEF". May that be my prayer as I seek to do what the Lord wants. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask OR THINK. Dios te bendiga!

Happy March!

Hey All!

Happy March! I can feel spring in the air I think. Nothing really exciting has been happening for Mexico lately but I wanted to post anyway. I'm anxiously waiting for my dictionary to come. I looked at my friend's and it's amazing! So many words and phrases and how things work grammatically. It's a tremendous resource for sure! Right now, I only have a teeny dictionary that is somewhat helpful, but this one will be an amazing tool.

I haven't heard from the language school in Guadalajara yet. I mailed my application in about 3 weeks ago but the director said mail is slow in Mexico so I'm not worried. It's weird to think that at this time next year, I could be in Mexico. I don't think missing a NY winter would bother me too much! We'll see where the Lord has me a year from now.

As I promised, I am including pictures and a little story with every post to give it some jazz. One day, we brought our two horses down and Bethany, Jairo, and Kristy came and rode. We had a blast. Our horses were really good which is amazing! Here's Jairo and Jenny showing him how to hold the reins. He had ridden a little bit before but not for long and never trotting. He had alot of fun. My brother Danny and he did some wrangling too. This is Danny fixing Kristy's stir ups. She's riding Mack and Traveler is on the right. Our horses are so funny and fun! Bethany also rode but we didn't get any proof on camera. While we were waiting our turn for riding, my sisters and I showed Bethany and Jairo our tree fort. Katy climbed up in it and told Bethany and me to look up. I love these people. We have made many good memories together and Lord willing, will make many more! It's amazing to think how God works in our lives at just the right time to bring people together. I'm so thankful to the Lord for my friends. Family, too. Sometimes I just marvel at why the Lord has placed me where I am. Why was I not born in the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea? Why was I given wonderful godly parents who raised me using the Word? Why have I been given the opportunity to hear God's Word in my language from the time I was a newborn? It's so easy for me to get stuck on certain issues. The fact is, I am where I am, when I am for a purpose. God knows exactly what He has for me and I need to trust in Him for my future.

Thank you all for "listening" to the ramblings of a crazy gringa. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Look to the Lord! Oh-- I want to start including Scriptures, too. Here's one I just recently rediscovered from Psalm 34:8. "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; BLESSED is the man who TRUSTS IN HIM." Dios te bendiga!