Good, Bad, and Coming Up…

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged.  Actually, I’ve hardly posted anything since the beginning from the month except for the story of our time at the border and the automatic "tweet" posts (that show what I tweeted over the past week).

But it’s been busy, and it’s only going to get busier over the next few weeks.

Actually, I recorded a podcast, and then the computer crashed so I couldn’t upload it.  So you never heard it.

A lot has happened even since then!

Let me give you a quick summary of the last few days.  Shari has been sick (like, sick in bed) this week.  She’s starting to feel better, but is trying to be careful so she can fully recover (a challenge, as you can imagine!).

So I’ve been helping out more at home, and actually I’ve had more than the normal health struggles myself.

The computer situation?  Well, that was a challenge too.  We were able to get a replacement for the time being, and we’re still trying to fix the old machine.

So this week has been a challenge.  We thank you for your prayers and encouragement.  Some friends also came over today and were a tremendous encouragement, so we’re thankful for them too – both friends near and far!

Good, bad, and coming up….

Now, let me share a bit of what I intended to share in the podcast.  First, some good news.

We were able to get a keyboard (electronic piano) while we were in the USA for the new church.  It’s a gift from those of you that support us – thank you!  It’s basically the same as the one the other church had.

I’m struck as I read through the Psalms about how often the writer just seems to be trying to think of every instrument he can – I’m going to praise the Lord with this one… and THAT one… and another — all of them!  Let’s just PRAISE THE LORD!!

It’s wonderful to praise God with music, and with a variety of instruments.  So the keyboard brings that added dimension to our worship in song, and will provide other opportunities as well.

So that machine is safely in the building where we meet, and I’ve even been able to play it in a service!

Now, some bad news.  Well, humanly speaking, anyway.

There was a house, that we thought was in an ideal location, that we had thought of buying as a church, as a place to meet.  It was for sale … but it’s been sold.  And not to us.

Meeting is a challenge here because the houses are so small.  Mexicans love to bring friends and family to events – but houses quickly fill up.  For special events, a lot of people rent tents and spill out into the street, but that doesn’t work so well if you have to do it every week.

The place we’re meeting in now is rented, and it gets pretty packed (praise the Lord!).  But being rented, we can’t knock out walls or add on.

So we would appreciate your prayers about what to do.  There are places for sale, and there’s land for sale – but these things take money.  We also have a short term issue – the building is already pretty full, and we’ll be welcoming some teams and interns from outside the country in the summer.  Could be fun!  😉

God knows!  That’s why I say it’s bad news humanly speaking.  I have a sneaking suspicion that God has a plan.

Upcoming?  Well, tomorrow is Children’s Day here in Mexico.  There are special events at both Hannah and Nathanael’s schools.  (And, I bet, enough sugar candy to last a few months…)

On Saturday, our community centre in Jesús María will be hosting a Children’s Day event, with piñatas, puppets, games, cake… it could be a pretty big event!

It’s going to be a lot of work, before (setting up a stage, sound system, games, etc) during (running games, etc), and after (taking everything down, moving it, cleaning up).

The event itself starts around 11am our time.

There’s lots more coming up – we have a (CAM) team meeting on Monday in Mexico City, Hannah and Nathanael have the first three days of the week off, then it’s Mother’s Day events at the schools (and they’re a BIG DEAL, let me tell you).

And then… well, listen.  I’ve kept you long enough.  I’ll try to keep you up to date as the time goes by.  But May is PACKED (as May always is for us) – may God be glorified (and may we not get too grumpy)!