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God’s Warmth in Chilly January

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I’m just stopping by to say hello and let you know what we’re up to these day! So first – hello! And second, here’s a visual hello from Shari and her boys:

Nathanael, Shari, and Jim

Actually, there are a few new photos in our Photo Gallery, if you would like to check them out.

So, yes, chilly January is here. I think we were pretty spoiled with temperatures last year, but winter has truly arrived in Mexico. And all of you up north can just be quiet about comparing temperatures – the truth is, I’m cold most of the time these days. Except today, when I brewed turkey soup on the stove all day, and made a dessert in the oven. It was a nice reprieve.

But seriously, this is the weather when a lot of houses are pretty cold around here, and that seems to lower your immunity, and people get sick. That can be bad, but of course these days there’s the added dimension that people feel they need to shut down their lives when that sniffle comes around, and so that means checking on people and sometimes shuffling around who is in charge of what on Sunday morning.

Tomorrow our church will take part in Biblical Sexuality Sermon Sunday (read more about that here). I’m actually not the main preacher. But by God’s providence, Rod was already preaching on a related theme. And I will address the topic earlier in our service, and we’ll be praying for our fellow believers in Canada, and other parts of the world, who are sharing God’s love and truth.

I’m excited that we’re getting back into Exodus next week, although I have to wait until the end of the month to preach myself. But I’ve already been preparing and I’ve got a fascinating text (Exodus 6).

Next week we’ll be continuing our leadership Bible studies, finishing the pastoral epistles. I think we’ve all learned a lot from the Apostle Paul (and most of all, the Holy Spirit!).

Nathanael is finishing up his semester next week, so that is certainly the end of a journey (and another one will begin the following Monday).

And I started my second Greek course this week. So that has meant a lot of study. A bonus is that I’m the only student in the class, no extra charge! 🙂

We’ve been excited about some past and future opportunities to share the gospel. So do pray for those who are hearing, that God’s Spirit would work in their lives and bring them to life.

And there are a lot of other things going on – every-day things, ministry things . . . even some online ministry at En la Biblia, and moving my Dad’s materials to the new WordWise blog.

Anyway, that’s just a little first-month-of-the-year update. Hope you’re all doing well!

Retro: The (lo-res) Family

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Both good memories and frustrating memories accompany this picture of the family.

We were at First Evangelical Free Church in Calgary (good memories), and we asked the pastor to take a few pictures for us, so that we could use them for a prayer card (still, so far so good).

He was kind enough to take a whole lot of pictures (I think it was with my phone), and we finally got some that were half decent (thanks, Barry!).

Later we discovered – yes, somehow we had the phone set to low resolution photos. And knowing how hard it was in those days to get a good family picture (not to mention any names), we weren’t about to go through the ordeal again.

We still used one of the photos for a little while, but let’s just say it wasn’t our greatest prayer card of all time.

I don’t think this is the actual picture we used, just one of many … so here it is, published for the first time ever, from 10 years ago today!

The Cottrills, November 2011

I hope you like the picture. If you want me to send you a hi-res version, tough luck!! 😀

Upcoming

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I haven’t stopped by for a while, and the common excuse is that things have been very busy. And it’s true!

Part of the reason is that we’re preparing for some big events. One of them is the 5th Anniversary of the Path of Life Bible Church Las Palmas! Pretty exciting!

Biblical Doctrine class promo poster
Biblical Doctrine Class Promo

Lord willing we’ll be celebrating on the 7th of November. We’re going to get out of Ixtapaluca and go to a park/ranch/forest out near our two famous volcanoes. We’ll have our Sunday service out there, some yummy food, some games, and who knows what. Which is why we still have work to do – to make sure we can get everyone there, make sure everyone is fed, make sure there are people to lead activities, and so on.

But most of all, we’ll be celebrating God’s faithfulness over the past 5 years!

Also very exciting is the fact that, Lord willing, Rod and Mayra Fry will be there! Our coworkers have been in the USA for over a year, so we’re looking forward to seeing them. And Rod will be speaking for our anniversary celebration.

I probably haven’t specifically mentioned that Nathanael had two of his wisdom teeth out. 🙂 Well, he did! He’s mostly recovered now, but we still have one dentist appointment yet to check things out.

Now he has a lot of catching up to do with school, so you could pray for him if you think of it.

Also coming up the day before the anniversary service is the last Bible Doctrine class of the semester. We’re ending on a light, non-controversial note, talking about the end-times. I’m sure that we’ll all agree that Jesus is coming back soon, and then they’ll hand out our diplomas, and we’ll be done.

pumpkin purée

I’m also getting ready for the next Biblical Anthropology study, which will be the week after the anniversary service. It will be especially relevant to current news, focusing on the environment. It’s the last topic (lesson #10), and then in December we’ll be pulling everything together in our last study.

As my friend Ezequiel mentioned once, it’s often been a surprise what we end up talking about, even when we know the topic beforehand. It’s a surprise to the teacher as well (well, I mean, as I prepare)! And it looks like this one is going to be no exception. I think we have a common bland evangelical response to environmentalism sometimes, and I’ve been learning a lot about what the Bible actually says. It’s all the more interesting because this follows 9 other studies, and a lot of other topics and issues seem to converge around this one. No doubt partly just because we’re covering it last.

But anyway, let’s just say I have special reason to keep my eyes on COP26. 🙂

And on the homefront, we’ve been gutting pumpkins to make purée. Buying canned pumpkin is a rarity here, so we buy pumpkins and freeze the purée to use all year long. But especially in December for pumpkin pies. Just sayin’. Anyway, Shari’s been doing most of the work on that, but Nathanael and I helped a bit and I roasted up some seeds on Monday. It is a lot of work, but it pays off all year in pies, cheesecake, muffins………

Anyway, there’s a little news for you.

Cell Phones and Chicken Feet

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For a variety of reasons, we have a lot of catching-up to do. I’m talking about personal, practical matters. For example, some van maintenance, and the regular emissions check that we have to do here in Mexico City. And Nathanael is finding school work a particular challenge.

Chicken feet

But there are also some medical issues that need to be dealt with, whether that means dealing with actual health issues, or regular check-ups.

And every once in a while, we’re reminded that we’re in Mexico, and not everything goes down the way it might in Canada. Of course, we’re used it it, but since you may not be, I sat down to write.

For example, I went to the doctor recently, and was prescribed the apparently obligatory 4 medications. But he also “prescribed” something that I have never had prescribed in Canada – a regular diet of chicken feet.

Actually, I think chicken feet are pretty good, if they’re cooked right. But I’ll let you try them for yourself and draw your own conclusions. But they are apparently excellent in protein, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats, good for the immune system, and good for your skin, joints, and blood pressure. So you might want to go and get some right away.

Shari had a different experience going to our dentist’s office the other day. She discovered that it wasn’t there. A helpful sign explained that the office had moved, and gave the regular office number.

An office number that has not worked for us in the past – but Shari tried again. Nope. So she tried the dentist’s cell phone number, which she happened to have.

The dental assistant answered, and explained that the new office -*crackle**—- * was located just *****pop— ***crackle-*** by the *—-popopcrack-* [disconnected]

So, Shari tried messaging, and the dentist or her assistant sent the location.

A short drive later, Shari discovered that the location was not exact – it seemed to point to a private gated street. No signs anywhere. Ummm….

Finally, someone from a nearby drycleaner’s came to her rescue (apparently there were regularly bewildered people standing out on the street for her to help). She pointed Shari to a big black door, which had a doorbell.

Shari tried the doorbell, and waited. And waited. Looked around. No sign anywhere. No indication that anything tooth-related was going on around here. She went back to the drycleaner’s. This is the place – right? Yup.

Finally someone came and let Shari in. This was a house similar to ours, apparently converted into a medical facility. It looked like there might be more than one office here, all sign-less of course. But she finally found someone dentist-related and got the business done that she needed to get done. Mission accomplished!

Anyway, we’ll be extra-busy over the next few weeks with some of these issues, and as always we appreciate your prayers, even if they’re for the “mundane” practical parts of life.

And yes, we do have some chicken feet in our freezer. If nothing else, they will add some of their nutrients to a delicious broth before you know it.

Visa Results

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Thanks to those of you who prayed for our trip and for Nathanael’s visa renewal this past week.

It was a stormy, rainy day when we set off for the immigration office, which made the roads a bit of an adventure. However, we were already in the city of Toluca – otherwise we would have been traversing Mexico City early in the morning, which would have been – well, perhaps a disaster.

But we arrived on time.

The immigration office is now a strange mix of strict security, and strict security due to COVID-19 restrictions. Usually, only one person would be allowed to enter the property. However, because I had to sign for Nathanael’s renewal, and because we had a lawyer, all three of us could enter – but poor Shari was left behind. (Well, maybe not so poor, as you’ll see…)

Except, that only got us onto the property. Next, only one person was allowed to enter the building, and that was our lawyer. So, for the next two or three hours, Nathanael and I were out in the cold (yes, it was cold – especially for Nathanael, who was only wearing a sweater). And for the first part, we were literally out in the rain, but thankfully it went to a drizzle and then stopped.

After the lawyer gave all the paperwork to the officials, we were all out in the cold (there were a whole bunch of nice, warm comfy seats inside, just — empty. Poor seats, with no one to sit in them…).

Did I mention that there was no bathroom that we could use – on the property or in the building? No worries. Just walk back to the front gate, and talk to the security guard. Explain that you’re just going to the bathroom (so that you don’t have to sign out, and then sign back in). Go across the muddy street, and through the big gate. Walk through the field, around the non-descript building. You’ll find a little hole-in-the-wall office in a back room. On the side of the office is an outhouse-quality bathroom (well, a flush toilet. But no sink or anything). After you’re done, you can pay someone in the office room about 30 cents for the use of the facilities.

Then, out of the little office, around the building through the field through the gate across the muddy street – hope the security guard remembers you – and back onto the property, where you still have to wait outside in the cold, because they’re not ready for you yet.

Finally, it was our turn. Everything is fancy electronic inside. No ink-pad for fingerprints, just an electronic pad (back in my day…..). Then this screen rooooooollls down from the ceiling behind you, and a picture is taken. Wait a couple of minutes – and your visa is ready right there. So all that part was actually a lot more efficient than it was in “my day”.

So thanks for your prayers! We had a safe (but precarious due to more rain) ride home, with a shiny new visa. Which can be turned into a permanent visa when Nathanael turns 18.

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