Watermelon Contest and Joy Camp

The weekend of July 4th, I organized a watermelon carving competition. Below are the entries.

3rd place

2nd place

1st place

The watermelons I purchased for the contest.

More goodies from our garden.

I have the opportunity to sew with some kids for their expo projects which is always fun. 

The Expo will be CVE only this year because of COVID-19. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

I've been enjoying my second year as a buddy at our annual Joy Camp! There are two groups, older girls and younger kids. 

Joy Camp is a fun, relationship-focused, brain-training camp. We focus on building joy. The definition of joy is, "Someone is glad to be with me!" Which becomes extremely powerful when we feel that someone is still glad to be with us even when we experience the negative emotions of shame, anger, disgust, sadness, hopelessness and fear. Think about it? How many of the issues in this world are caused because we don't know how to recover from those emotions, how to respond to them, or how to act appropriately in the midst of them. And most importantly when we experience joy (someone glad to be with us) in those emotions, it becomes real to us that Jesus is glad to be with us in those emotions!

A few key aspects...the three rules are 1. Stick together, 2. No Hurts, and 3. Have Fun. There is structure (rules and a posted schedule) and flexibility (kids can use their words to ask for what they need and compromises are allowed). There is a big focus on appreciation and gratitude. There are activities to get kids excited and hyper and then activities to help them calm down. (A much needed exercise for most.) There are activities that train their brains to synchronize with the people around them, to give and receive care, to negotiate their needs, and to identify when there relational circuits are switched off. A lot of time is spent talking about the way our brains work and our emotions. 

Perhaps you can already tell, but these are the things I am passionate about! The concepts I have learned about the brain and relationships have changed my world in wonderful ways and I long to pass that on to other people!

With Selah in the younger group

With Lucy and Marissa in the older group

Thanks as always for your love and support!

A couple poems that relate to joy...

Love of my Life

Love of my life, watch over me.

Hold me and mold me more like Thee.

Teach me forgiveness, mercy, too.

And strengthen me Jesus, yea, all the way through

Joy of my life, sing in my heart,

Praises and blessings for who Thou art.

Lift my voice higher each day I live.

Thou givest me more than I ever can give.

Hope of my life, I come to Thee,

Asking that Thou my anchor be.

Tempest and waves may threaten sore,

Yet expectant and clinging I’ll watch for the shore.

I Rejoice

Oh, I rejoice and praise Thee, Father

Mighty Ruler; King of kings

The burden presses; I feel weary,

Yet my heart thanksgiving sings.

Though I know not what the morrow 

Holds nor know the way ahead,

I know my Father knows each sorrow;

He will lead as He has led.

At every Milestone we grieve and heal again...

Today, 10 years ago, my father passed away. He was 41 years old.

He had battled a Glioblastoma brain tumor for 18 months. I am forever thankful that our whole family was together by his side as He went to be with Jesus. 

I am thankful for a loving father who was present in my life for 15 years, something that so many have never experienced.

I am thankful for my mom who gave us a wonderful example of trusting in and clinging to God even through the hardest times in life.

I am thankful that by God's grace and with our mother's love, all my siblings continue to pursue Jesus and healing.

This year, my dad's first grandson will be born. (Congrats Mitch and Emily!)

At every milestone we ask ourselves what Dad would say if he were here, or what it would be like...at every milestone we grieve a little more and heal a little more...

I share a poem with you today that I wrote just before my mom remarried five years ago.

The Now that Slips Away

A quaint, white house and big red barn,

It seems like yesterday

That climbing up the cherry tree

I watched my sister play.

The sun and rain, our flooded creek,

Waking from dreams at dawn,

The days of carefree, childish play

That now have gone.

Adobe brick and stucco walls

Saguaros towering tall

The mountains rising from the brush

Across the border wall.

The two, sweet years in Mexico

Seemed then a lifetime long

But looking back, a puff of smoke,

An era, gone.

Have five years truly passed me by

Since Father’s face I’ve seen?

It once was “now” that is the past

When I was but a teen.

When folding laundry late one night,

I asked myself how soon

I’d know the reality of death.

Late day of June.

Now driving north to see a friend.

Now coming home again.

Now packing up for a new place.

Now unpacking therein.

In one “now” I am planning it.

The next, the curtain’s drawn.

I find each “now” hardly arrives

Before it’s gone.

A thousand years in Jesus’ sight

Are but a stroke of time

Upon eternity’s great clock

Whose hands e’er upward climb.

A nighttime watch, with sleepy eyes,

Each blink, a year has past

So soon the quiet, waiting ends

With day at last. 

We look forward to that eternal day when the tears will be wiped from our eyes and we will be together with Jesus forever!

Frozen Pizzas and Cucumber Water

Well, it's almost July and quarantine has somewhat morphed into non-quarantine with MANY restrictions. However to back track just a little...

Several weeks ago, Arika and I spent the morning making homemade frozen pizzas. We designed a brand called "Quarantined Chefs!" As you can see, we enjoyed ourselves a lot.

An extra bonus is that the pizzas turned out amazing. So tasty!

Like I said quarantine has morphed. By this I mean that we are able to get out and do more things, mostly as a CVE community. We've started playing volleyball and softball and have a singing every Sunday morning. 

Also, Todd and Zoe Stoller put on an Escape room in Zoe's science classroom. It exceeded my expectations in creativity, challenge, and just the unexpected. José, Scott, Miguel, and I managed to find the "coronavirus vaccine" and the key to escape with fourteen minutes to spare!

When I say quarantine has morphed into non-quarantine with lots of restrictions it mostly refers to the workplace. In an effort to boost the economy, the government has encouraged businesses to reopen, but put many restrictions in place. Some of our local staff has returned to work and in the kitchen that has brought a flood of new restrictions. Taking temperatures upon arrival and departure, bleach and water saturated cloths at the doorways to wipe feet on, masks at all times, rules relating to food deliveries... It's starting to feel a little more normal now that we are a couple weeks in, but at first it was overwhelming!

Also in relation to COVID-19, there have been a lot more cases in Arizona and as a result our summer volunteers were placed in a 10-day quarantine upon arrival. I am disappointed to not spend a lot of time with them yet, but thankful I can be part of welcoming them by providing them with produce, ingredients and delivering meals while they use the church kitchen/dining room as their quarantine kitchen. We appreciate your prayers for them as they quarantine. There date to enter the general CVE community is set for July 5th as long as no one has symptoms. 

COVID-19 has felt a little closer to home lately as we had a dear woman who attended church pass away who may or may not have had it. She originally went to the hospital for liver issues, but by the time she passed away she was suspected of possibly having the virus. Bertha, our cook, who just recently began working again received word that her nephew who lives in Phoenix had a positive test for coronavirus. Also, two of our other employee's and one of their spouse's has had colds/fevers in the last couple weeks which could have been the virus. 

So as overwhelming and frustrating as the restrictions are, we continue to try to follow them. Thank you for all of your prayers as we maneuver through this time and I especially ask for prayers for the Magdalena community!

Our garden has continued to be a rewarding pastime. Mostly a pastime for Miguel, but rewarding for both of us! Above you can see a watermelon just beginning to grow. Miguel showed me some more pictures the other day and they are now larger than a softball. 

Watering the garden and our first sweet corn harvest!!

Sweet corn harvest on the table along with some home-grown cucumbers.

With an abundance of cucumbers, I've made cucumber water several times. 

Cucumber water is a Mexican thing and below I'll give you an approximate recipe. On a side note, Mexicans also make tamarind water, melon water, strawberry water, watermelon water, etc. The popular ones in a certain region depend on what fruit grows in abundance there.  At restaurants, they offer lemonade, Jamaica and sometimes other fruit waters as "Fresh waters." If you ask for water, they may ask, "Natural water?" to make sure you mean plain water. 

Cucumber Water (Agua de Pepino)

Peel and cut one cucumber into chunks and drop in blender. Cut one key lime in half and squeeze juice into blender. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and 3 TBSP of sugar. Blend on high for 1 min. Strain. Chill. Enjoy!

These measurements are a guess, so you may need to add less or more water (also depending on the size of the cucumber). And you can add sugar to taste. The final product is quite refreshing!

I had my final Nurture Group session with the teenage girls last Wednesday. We had a pool party out by the tree house where a dunk tank has been left. The treehouse serves as kind of a deck. It was just what we needed, lots of laughter and goofiness. Although I don't have photos from our pool party, I'll share a photo of our pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game from several weeks ago.

Since moving to Matamoros street, I've been shopping frequently at a grocery store just a block away. Last week I was asked to make purchases for the family of the woman who passed away. After making the purchases, I was dividing the cost amongst those who had pitched in and realized the teller had not charged me for the tortillas I bought. I returned to the store to pay for the tortillas and a couple hours later took a closer look at the outrageously expensive $25 dollar coffee creamer, only to realize they had charged me for 6 coffee creamers. (Instead of 6 packages of tortillas!) So back to the store I went (good thing it is only a block away) and thankfully the same teller was there and was able to refund me for the coffee creamer mistake. Several days later, I stopped to purchase bread in the morning on my way to work and promptly forgot two bags of bread at the checkout. Returning about 10 hours later, I was thankful to find the bread still waiting for me! So I guess we all make mistakes and this is just helping me get to know the grocery store employees a little quicker!

After four-five months out of service, the ice machine in the CVE kitchen is up and running. This I believe is worthy of praise! Thankful to maintenance, the refrigeration guys who took it to their shop, and most of all to God for giving us ice again! The photo above is bags of ice I filled and put in the freezer for people to grab (so as not to have so much traffic at the ice machine - sanitation efforts.)

Thanks for following along with me! Just a little poem to close out!

Wind in the Treetops

Wind in the treetops whistling to me,

How many voices God’s given to thee.

Soar up to heaven and bring me back word

Of all the glories of which I have heard.

Sunrays of morning, sunset of night,

Radiance and splendor now dazzle my sight.

Shine up to heaven my dear ones to show

How I am longing their homeland to know.

Love so unending, silent, yet sure,

In all about me God’s charity pure,

Up there in heaven much more I shall feel

Of all thy sweetness, each heartache to heal.

A New Home on Matamoros Street

So I have big news... Miguel and I moved across town to Matamoros Street last week. We are living in the area of town called San Felipe and are about 10 minutes drive from CVE now instead of 15-20 minutes. 

The move happened quickly. (A little too quickly if you ask my over-analyzing mind which likes lots of time to process and make decisions.) :) We saw the house on a Facebook page with houses for rent. It had only been posted for an hour or so when we called the owner and went to see it. The entire time we were there, he was getting calls about the house, so we knew we would have to make a fast decision if we wanted to rent it. The house was well taken care of and a good price for the size, conditions, and location. So we decided to move!

Here is a photo of our new home on Matamoros Street. 

It is about the same size inside as our previous house, but we are excited for the extra outdoor space and so is Balto!

The front yard. 

I was able to transplant the bugambilias we planted for my birthday, but I don't have a picture of the yard since the transplant. The plants you see in the photo are another bugambilia the owners planted and a rose bush.

On the left side of the house there is a gated space for the water heater, gas tank, and potentially a wash machine.

This is stepping through the front door into the living room and...

turning to the left into the kitchen. I am so excited about my kitchen as it is three times the size of the one I had before and has so much cupboard space!

This is looking from the kitchen back into the living room. We are thankful for two mini splits, one in the living room and one in our bedroom which will provide air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter.

Looking down the hallway to the back door.

The bathroom, first door on the left.

Our bedroom on the right.

The guest bedroom on the left.

And a small bathroom connected to the guest bedroom which interestingly doesn't have a sink. We'll have to see what we come up with for that! :) 

To the right of the house there is a rolling gate and the cars can drive in and park on the cement. We are thankful for the secure fence all around so Balto can run free.

There is a nice space behind the house as well. And we are thankful for a solid roof over our heads. There have been a few rains in the last week (maybe an early start of the Monsoon season?), and no drips! :)

Here are a few pictures of our house after the move.

And so we said goodbye to our little house on Mision San Diego. 

It will always hold so many wonderful memories!

As I contemplated the move, I realized that what I will miss the most is my neighbors and the neighborhood.

One of our neighbors has a granddaughter who goes to Colegio Verdad y Vida school at CVE and had offered to rent us a house he was fixing up. I went to tell him that we had found a different house closer to CVE and as we chatted I said, "I'm just sad I'm going to lose you as neighbors!" He reminded me that I'm not losing my old neighbors and I'll actually have the opportunity to meet more people. It was really a helpful thought for me. Instead of thinking of all the people from my neighborhood I won't see all the time anymore, I can be excited to meet more people from Magdalena. The more places I live and the more people I meet, the more people I will have a connection with!

Our old neighborhood has a soccer field where I would go on walks and as I thought about how I was going to miss walking there, I started to ponder all the routes I've walked to process and pray ever since I was a pre-teen.

• When I was 10-12 years old living here in Magdalena, I would walk through the brush at the back of the CVE property singing and praying and thinking. When I first understood that I needed to give my life to Christ, that is where I knelt and prayed, by the horse stable on one of my rambles.
• After moving back to Illinois, I would walk around the pond on our property or sometimes down the road to the creek. That route heard about my dad's battle with cancer, all of my teenage struggles, and about my decision to go to Mexico for the summer when I was 19!
• After moving back to CVE, I had a route down the paths around and through the fields and cow pastures. This route I took intentionally when I was overwhelmed with the stresses of parenting. I walked it in the view of the Big Mountain (see post "How I love this Place!" April 13, 2018) as I wrestled with the decision of marriage!
• The soccer field by our first house on Mision San Diego with it's big mulberry tree has been that place for me for the last year and a half. It's heard about the joys and struggles of my first year of marriage and has been my place to get outside on weekends during quarantine.

At first glance, it's just a big dusty lot. But it has a view of the mountains,...

the back of a hotel ;), the back of a factory ;), and hidden in the left corner of this picture is the big mulberry tree I mentioned.

As I think about all this, I just wonder, "Where will be the next place I find to walk and talk with God?" And I feel excited!

So finally, a little poem to brighten your day and a note of thanks for listening to my ponderings!

Held by His Hand

Heaven is close tonight.

Blessings are clear.

Jesus is first enthroned.

Love conquers fear.

Hope is in quickening flight.

Selfishness dies.

Tears come with fervent prayer,

Pleadings and sighs,

Knowing that I am naught,

And He is all,

Honored, unworthy to be,

Chosen and called.

Wishing for life to pause,

But God has a plan.

What He reveals must be lived

Held by His hand.

Written November 2014