O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

Living in a new country always brings adventure into life. Therefore, I have decided to begin sharing some of them. I have wanted a cat for such a long period of time. Finally, I decided when I graduated from college that I would go to the pound and bring one home as a graduation present to myself. When I realized that I would move to Mérida to work at Blas Pascal I decided that it would be best to wait to buy a cat. Then, I married a man who is allergic to cats! Although Noah is allergic to cats, but still has a huge heart. We were on our nightly walk when suddenly we stopped because of a sound coming from behind a building. It was the sound of a baby kitten. Noah was determined to find it, and I was excited that I was going to get to bring it home! We stood staring at a grassy area full of trash looking for this baby kitten. Determined to have a cat I considered walking through the trash in hopes of finding it, but after seeing a rat and a possum crawling around I decided a...

One of the main questions that Noah and I receive most often is “What are your plans for next year?”. We can honestly say that we are not sure. We don’t know where we will be living or working. It all depends on where God opens the doors for us. Both of us want it to be known that we are looking for a job, but it is hard to actually apply when we live outside of the county. However, we are doing what is possible from afar. One part of this is how exciting it is! We can live anywhere and do anything! The other part is definitely terrifying because we aren’t sure if we will find work. Noah would love to work at a church and in one to two years attend seminary full time, and I would love to teach. These are great passions, but we constantly remind ourselves and each other that we must be open to whatever God will have us do upon our return to the States. When I began studying as an undergrad I KNEW without a doubt that I would become a dietician, but after two years I realized, with the...

Is it really almost December? I am having a hard time comprehending this because just yesterday we were in the month of August. Time has definitely flown by quickly. A cool breeze lingered in Merida last week, but I think that the hot days are quickly returning. A lot has happened since the last time that I have written, so I will write short updates. I promise to be better about writing in my blog. I hope that all of you will forgive me! An update letter was mailed out about a month ago. If you did not receive this letter and would like to be on my mailing list, please post a note to me below so that I can know! Noah and I have enjoyed over three months of being married. Being married is work, but it always ends up being so much fun. Each of us has our own tendencies that keep us learning and laughing a lot. Growing up my dad was definitely outnumbered by the females in the house, so I had a lot to learn about men once I became married! I am thankful to be able to work along wit...

I know that it has been a while since I wrote last. Please forgive me for that, but time has flown by so quickly with so many things happening. I left Merida two weeks ago in order to take classes in the States which will help me to teach foreign languages more effectively. Honestly, I was really nervous about returning to school because I have never really learned how to study. I have always been able to make A's and B's without having to put too much time into it. However, I wanted this to be different. I wanted to be sure to truly learn the information that was presented before me so that I can put it into practice in my classroom and in the school. In my first two weeks of classes I have learned how much I enjoy studying because I am learning something that is very important and applicable in my life. Outside of schoolwork, I don't have much free time, but it is always spent well and with people that I love. Last weekend I went fishing with my dad at a friend's lake...

I find it challenging every Sunday to understand the sermon in Spanish. It is difficult to understand a different language when the person is not directly speaking to you or if they say something out of context. The speed, accent, and tone of voice all affect my ability to understand. My favorite part about the worship services here is the singing. It took a bit of time to learn the words, the meaning of the words, and the notes to the song, but now I enjoy it so much! If for some reason I don't know the tune, I am able to simply listen to the words and praise God in this manner. And, of course, it is always cool to have a song to sing that I learned in English first, for example, "Open the Eyes of my Heart Lord". Because I am not able to worship in my first language weekly, I enjoy having sermons on cd. It is a bit after midnight and I have just finished listening to my pastor preach on Acts 6:1-7. I have a few sermons on cd by some "big name" preache...

Friday night the young adults from Shalom spent the night in Celestun, which is an hour and thirty minutes away from Merida. Ayve (my roommate) has an uncle who lives there. We packed our bags, grabbed our hammocks, and headed to the beach. You see, Mexicans usually don't bring sleeping bags and sheets with them when they go on a trip. There usually aren't beds in the houses, but there are always hooks for you to hang up a hammock. We spent our daytime on the beach. All of the group was huddled underneath the shade, while I was the gringa trying to get a tan. (They did tease me a bit, but it was all fun!) I really enjoyed getting to know the people of Shalom better and make new friends. One thing that I miss most from the states are my close friendships with women from the church. As my language improves, God is giving me more courage and opportunities to have closer friendships with the women in the church. Recently, a young woman's bible study has begun on Monday nights. ...

Dian, me, and Cynthia Yay! I FINALLY hit a pin! Alan and Dian me, Cynthia, Noah, Alan, Dian Cynthia and me

What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy him for ever. I learned that I am to glorify God with my life at a very early age, but I never understood the true meaning of it until my college years. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). So, as a much younger person, I was thinking that I must be a super good person in order to glorify God. If I do wrong, I would not glorify God whatsoever. In a sense, that is correct, and I still agree with the younger version of myself. However, I accomplished being “good” by going to church, Bible study, EE, and being a good student. People saw these things as being a good Christian, but I lacked heart. I lacked the relationship with God and the enjoyment of God. While living in Mexico, I have learned the enjoyment of rising in the morning (although some mornings are tougher than others). This is the time with God that comes undisturbed by schedule and occurrences....

During the last month, Ayve, my roommate, and I have moved to her late aunt’s house. Before we moved in, there was some work that had to be done on the house because it had not been lived in for almost two years. Everything went smoothly until we ran out of gas for the water heater. It seemed as if everything went down hill from there. Taking one cold shower was no big deal, but little did I realize that it would be the last shower in our house for awhile. We bought a new gas tank, but couldn’t understand why we had no cold water. The water supply had run dry! There were problems with the city’s water lines so there was nothing that we could do to fix it. After awhile it became frustrating. You don’t realize how vital something is in your life until it is taken away from you. Katrina changed many of your lives forever. It takes something as simple as water to say “Wake Up! You are forgetting from where this water comes!” God has blessed my life so much during the last 24 years, but I ...