A Photoless Update

Well, it's been a couple weeks since my last post and I somehow don't have a single picture to share! I guess we've been busy! 

It's just starting to cool down here in the evenings and the summer rains are over. CVV classes are being conducted online. Tomorrow and Thursday all of us CVE staff have our yearly "civil protection" training. "Civil Protection" is a government branch that oversees fire safety and other safety measures. Training consists of power points and videos about fire safety, first aid, search and rescue, and evacuation. We also practice using a fire extinguisher, bandaging wounds, rescuing people, and evacuating the building a time or two.

This Friday is CVE's yearly group photo shoot and I'm in charge of ordering pizzas for a pizza supper afterward. Kayla Bahler and TJ Sutton were here as summer staff and stayed to help support in a few different houses while staff members were traveling. The pizza dinner will also be a farewell party for them as they plan to travel home soon. 

I am planning a trip to Illinois, November 24th through December 8th! It has been a year and a half since my last trip, so I am very excited to see everyone and catch up. I'm also very excited to meet my baby nephew who is due to be born the beginning of November. I'm not sure which dates I will be in the Peoria area and which I will be in the Forrest/Fairbury area, but hopefully I will get to see a few of you!

The plans aren't set for sure, but Lord willing, Miguel's mom, Lola, and maybe one of his brothers are planning to visit in the next couple weeks. So we are looking forward to that as well. 

Here's a little poem I wrote in October 2010!

The Moon, a Reflection

This evening the moon was shining bright.

The minister mentioned of its light,

“The moon possesses no light of its own

But only reflects the light of the sun.”

May we like the moon as God’s elect,

The Son’s glory always reflect,

In dwelt by His Spirit, may we shine His light

Across the world in this dark night.

As always, we appreciate your prayers and support!

Two years of Love

 

Miguel and I were blessed with a little weekend getaway to San Carlos this year. This was our view from the patio of the place we rented.

I was also blessed by my sweet hubby driving all the way there and back.

I just got to relax and enjoy the ride! :)

Friday evening we took a little walk to explore the beach. There were rocky parts and sandy parts. I liked that...a little bit of both! Here we are standing on the rocks. Our house was up on the bank over a little cliff.

On Saturday, we spent most of the day at the beach and walked down it to the area in the photo above. You might be able to see a cave in the center of the photo. Anyways...the sea was very calm and we swam/walked out to where that cave was and there were lots of rocks with sea urchins and green plants. The rocks dropped off in front of the cave and there were lots of yellow and black fish. We even saw a few blue fish. It was an exciting discovery!

In the late afternoon we drove out to the "lookout." Here are a few views!

It's the first time we've been to San Carlos over a weekend and there were definitely more people. There was a fruit stand by the lookout so we got a big glass. It had coconut, pineapple, mango, cantaloupe, watermelon, and cucumber. Then we added lime juice, chili powder and chamoy! A Mexican dream!

The lady we rented from lent us her grill and we had some steak tacos Saturday evening.

Sunday we traveled back home.

So thankful for such a nice little trip!

    Have any of you heard of Sara Hagerty’s new book, Adore? I am enjoying it. The message of the book is to use our “middle minutes” (little times in the day) to adore God. The second half of the book has chapters that guide you in adoring God, focusing on His different characteristics. 

    Right now I am in the chapter of Adoring God as “My Strength.” I don’t always do well at really taking the time to let the verses sink in. At first glance, my verse today was so familiar and yet as I pondered it, it came to life in new ways! Maybe the thoughts that came to me can inspire you as they inspired me!

“The Lord is my Strength and Song, and is become my Salvation.” Psalm 118:14

Adoration:

Lord, You are my Strength! Through You, we do what we feel is impossible, what would be impossible without Your Strength. 

And as we see what You do in Your strength, what You do in us, we are amazed. You become our Song. You become our Joy. And "the joy of the Lord is our Strength.”

And so as You give us Joy, your Strength is multiplied in us. And as we cycle through strength and song, through joy that becomes strength and strength that gives joy, we are saved. We are saved from fear, hopelessness, complacency, and besetting sins. 

I adore You for being my Strength and Song and for becoming my Salvation!

Welcome to September

Well, it's been a month since Expo and I hardly have any photos.

But it's been nice to have some more down time after a busy summer. 

According to the Federal government, Sonora is in yellow now of the green-yellow-orange-red stoplight method they've been using to categorize states according to the number of COVID cases. So it appears we may be headed in the direction of normality. At this point, I still wear a mask at work in the kitchen, we still have to wear masks in stores, and the border is still closed to non-essential travel with the next date of review being September 20th. Hopefully, this time they'll say it can open up!

Since I sprained my ankle about 4 weeks ago, I haven't been able to play sports, so I've been taking more time to write which has been nice. Also, a couple months ago I started learning German on the app DuoLingo. (Can't remember if I mentioned it before.) I really enjoy languages, so it has been a fun challenge. I've been at it for 78 days to be exact and haven't missed a day.

Any of you out there speak German?! Because I might need people to practice with. 

Ich heisse Laura. Mein Mann heisst Miguel. Wir haben keine Katze, sondern einen Hund. Er heisst Balto. Ich komme aus Mexico. Ich habe zwei Schwestern und vier Brüder. Sie kommen aus Illinois. Ich schreibe und kuche gerne. Was magst du?

So you might wonder, why learn German? What would I use it for? Well, for me it's mostly just for fun...and maybe a stepping stone to learning more languages in the future.

Had some fun on Saturday trying to stack all of our 1 peso coins! It was quite a feat.

Miguel was much more talented at it! ;)

Sunday we had our first in-person church service since March. So excited to go!

They had it on the patio behind Carnisimo.

Also I had a few errands to run in town this morning and felt a nudge to go see if I could find Mani near his house. I was so excited to see his sister outside and after parking got to chat with them both for a bit. He is doing his school online and is in 5th grade now. It's hard for me to believe. Anyways...if you think of it, say some prayers for him. Sometimes it surprises me how these kids still have a hold on my heart! 

Tomorrow will be mine and Miguel's 2nd anniversary! This weekend we plan to head to San Carlos for a couple days. So I'm looking forward to that and maybe I'll have more photos for the next post.