Proud to be an American
Happy July 4th everybody! Hope everyone is spending some time outdoors with friends, and stuffing their faces with cheeseburgers and junkfood while the aroma of sweaty boys and sunscreen wafts through the air...at least that's what we'll be doing.:) Our church is having a picnic/devo up at the building grounds this afternoon and the weather here is really beautiful for a summer day so it should be lots of fun. In honor of July 4th I thought I'd post some pictures of our "All-American" family that we had taken last month when Titus turned one. We copied the Best clan and did the black shirt/denim thing. (Although I couldn't find plain black shirts in kids sizes so the boys just wore their black shirts with graphics on them backwards. You can see it on Levi's shirts in one of the pictures but I like it because I figure it's pretty symbolic of our life... it's like at first glance we've got things organized and under control and a perfect handle on this chaotic phase of our life...until you start looking a little closer! But seriously who wants to have it completely together, that would be boring right?!?)
We just got back from a great Mexico Mission trip- it's one of my favorite summer activities. And even though it's such an expensive trip for our group because of the distance, I feel like it is so worth it for our kids because they see a glimpse of how big God really is and that he is not just the God of America who sits up in Heaven speaking English to the angels. :) I love worshiping and being with the Mexican christians because I feel like our bond with them is the perfect unity Jesus wants. But the ironic thing is I feel like that bond is a result of the English/Spanish communication barrier.... which kinda sounds confusing at first. What I mean is I feel like in America there is so much pettyness that comes between christians because we know so much about eachother including flaws and we are so quick to judge. But with the Mexican christians you don't know which member has a temper, or which member won't discipline their kids, or which members have liberal/conservative that conflict with yours. You just know that they procalim to be christians and love Jesus- and really that's enough.
Anyways- one last thing. I had a neat experience on the trip because when we were preparing to go I had been really praying that God would use me spcifically with the talents and gifts he had given me. I knew I would be used to help transport cinder blocks and cement with everyone else as we constructed a church building, but I really was hoping God would use me for the unique skill set I had- since physical strength/labor is not exactly my forte. On the last day, there was a christian brother who visited from one of the neighboring churches who was confined to a wheel chair becuase of rheumatoid arthritis. For about an hour and a half I got to talk with him and learn all about the disabled population in Mexico and how they are truly the "forgotten" there. It was really inspirational and I'm trying to make some contacts with people now to start collecting used wheel chairs to send to him that he can distrubute. It was just really a neat experience to have an in-your-face answered prayer. Anybody else ever had something like this happen before?
We just got back from a great Mexico Mission trip- it's one of my favorite summer activities. And even though it's such an expensive trip for our group because of the distance, I feel like it is so worth it for our kids because they see a glimpse of how big God really is and that he is not just the God of America who sits up in Heaven speaking English to the angels. :) I love worshiping and being with the Mexican christians because I feel like our bond with them is the perfect unity Jesus wants. But the ironic thing is I feel like that bond is a result of the English/Spanish communication barrier.... which kinda sounds confusing at first. What I mean is I feel like in America there is so much pettyness that comes between christians because we know so much about eachother including flaws and we are so quick to judge. But with the Mexican christians you don't know which member has a temper, or which member won't discipline their kids, or which members have liberal/conservative that conflict with yours. You just know that they procalim to be christians and love Jesus- and really that's enough.
Anyways- one last thing. I had a neat experience on the trip because when we were preparing to go I had been really praying that God would use me spcifically with the talents and gifts he had given me. I knew I would be used to help transport cinder blocks and cement with everyone else as we constructed a church building, but I really was hoping God would use me for the unique skill set I had- since physical strength/labor is not exactly my forte. On the last day, there was a christian brother who visited from one of the neighboring churches who was confined to a wheel chair becuase of rheumatoid arthritis. For about an hour and a half I got to talk with him and learn all about the disabled population in Mexico and how they are truly the "forgotten" there. It was really inspirational and I'm trying to make some contacts with people now to start collecting used wheel chairs to send to him that he can distrubute. It was just really a neat experience to have an in-your-face answered prayer. Anybody else ever had something like this happen before?
posted by Christina at
2:34 PM
5 Comments:
I love the pictures. We are so pathetic and have yet to have 1 year pictures made of KJ. Ah well. 12 months, 13 months, what is the difference?
I loved your reminder about things learned in Mexico. It is awesome when you get to see so plainly how God is answering a specific prayer. Thanks for sharing.
I thank God for using you in that way in Mexico. I think I should start an answered prayer list so that I can honestly answer your last question. It's not a good sign that I'm struggling to remember. But, anyways, it is encouraging to hear that you had faith enough to ask and that He did answer.
Sometimes ignorance is bliss (in regard to not understanding Christians in Mexico.) Maybe we expect to agree on every minute detail too much?
Love the photos. Cute, cute fam.
And ABL, KJ will look just as adorable at 13 months as he did at 12!
Precious, precious pictures!! I think we are going to do our same black shirts and jeans theme again this year! Man your boys are getting big!
About the answered prayer thing... we have recently been praying very specifically for coby and a situation with him and for God to give us a bold sign as to what to do... I ran into a friend of mine in Target (and we hadnt talked in over a year) and she randomly told me about her son who is now in 4th grade and some of the decisions she had made for him... it was exactly what we were going thru with Coby, and it was just random that she shared her situation with me. She told me how much she regretted not getting him some help sooner... that she knew he needed it in kindergarten but she didnt want to face facts (exactly what I am feeling)... it was such a bold answer to me to have a faithful christian mommy helping me to learn from her mistakes... it was so awesome to see how God works thru others... I love it when he makes it easy for us to see his answers! He is pretty awesome, isnt he?
Alright I'm proud you're are American too but let's get an update on the blogging... it's not like you are busy or anything:)
I second April... american, schmamerican... the family pics are great, but it is definately time for an update... your posts always make me laugh and sometime cry, and I sure could use a belly laugh or a good ol' cry!
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