Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter Week, 2011

          What a special time of year this is, as we celebrate the Lamb of God, the Risen Christ, and meditate on the price He paid for our salvation. My hope is that each and every one of my readers would know the joy of the freedom He has bought for us and for which we labor here.



Happily, we got to enjoy some family fun together this week and see God's faithfulness in caring for us. The fellowship with the congregation was special as we shared a traditional dinner after the Wednesday study on Passover.  We were challenged by some personal struggles as well as issues in the church. Even with all the thrilling and heart-stopping moments, I felt surrounded by the prayers of my brothers and sisters and ask that you continue to intercede.


In answer to prayer, we received a financial blessing last week locally that enabled us to pay the gas bill as well as the balance of the phone/internet bill. This week's income should be sufficient for our daily needs, and hopefully for part of the rent due on the first. I really appreciate everyone's prayers in these matters. 

Praise the Lord that a friend Chuy visited twice recently showed up on Sunday. Even though he's been out of fellowship for a very long time,  I'm sure the Lord is going to bring healing, restoration and freedom to him. One member, a taxi-driver, brought another family to the Easter service.  They came up to speak with Chuy afterwards and shared their experiences of spiritual abuse and expressed their appreciation of Chuy's clear presentation of the Word. Oh, that we could be part of establishing them in Truth!

On Tuesday we took advantage of the free entrance to a local fair for children. (The video will have to make up for my missing camera.) We tried to have as much fun together as possible despite our lack of spending money.  The girls we very excited to pet the ducklings and rabbits, and we all got a thrill going down the three-story slide! We enjoyed peanut butter sandwiches, fruit and melted pop-sicles at the car before heading back in to see the lights by night. Splish, splash Saturday: thanks to some coupons, we took a niece to the pool on Saturday. Grace learned how to dive bellyflop and splash everyone around her during our five-our "vacation". That evening Chuy's family enjoyed birthday cake for my sister-in-law. The girls have a great time playing with their cousins and the other neighborhood children. It doesn't hurt any that Tia Jenny sells candy, chips and soda!
Capirotada, Mexican bread pudding

This Wednesday the church enjoyed some of the traditional lent foods. Different ones contributed capirotada, pipian (made with gound pumpkin seeds and chiles), nopales (cactus in red chile sauce), navy beans, lentils and chickpeas. I love seeing the house full of people sharing life together, but if I could have someone to help get things ready, we could concentrate more on home school.

Arbol de Vida has had some difficult situations with the worship team that became apparent in recent months. The lead singer we were "borrowing" from another congregation left, due to his marital situation. We've tried to see him and call him, but to no avail. A similar story can be told of the drummer, only he actually confirmed the rumours of adultery. What a blow! Our team consists of three girls who sing, two with their fathers playing the guitar and piano behind them.

With gratitude to those who remember us before our heavenly Father, I'll share some prayer requests. We need wisdom and direction for raising our three daughters and for growing our nearly 16-year old marriage.  Join us in praying that God's Presence would be manifest both in our personal lives as in the church meetings. We desire that as we come together, each one would know we've been with Him. On Sunday as we were getting ready to go, we were made keenly aware of the clothing the girls are lacking. I feel bad for Chuy that he has to preach with a missing crown on one of his front teeth. His father's apparent senility and the wretched lies he speaks about my mother-in-law are also a trial to him. In addition to May's rent, our most urgent need is for a swamp cooler for the bedrooms/schoolroom. The heat often makes it nearly impossible to study or to sleep, especially in the girls brick oven bedroom. Praise God that He has a plan and an answer for each of these requests!

Thanks for sharing the adventure with us, because I know you are on your own eventful journey. May you be blessed knowing "Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi", the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

1 comment:

  1. Save me a dish of capirotada, please.....

    ReplyDelete