Friday night we took the team to Destiny House, and several of our LifeNet kids showed up too.  We had a really good time, just hanging out and then watching a little bit of SWAG (the show that Earlyn and Jonathan are on).

I enjoyed chatting with the ladies.  I love how God brings me new friends through missions teams...I just loved every moment I had with these ladies.

Saturday was full of them hanging swings in another park and going door to door to pray for people.

Sunday, we once again had a full crowd.  And the worship was so amazing as some of the kids from the team also ministered.  God's presence was definitely there and we were so blessed by it.

This sweetie was so excited that his shirt matched "pastor lee's"...so I took their picture.  All the little kids love Lee, of course.

The team ministered in children's church and I got rave reviews from the kids...they had so much fun learning about Jesus.  And the boys acted out David and Goliath in such a fun way that I was captivated as well.

The team came to our house for lunch.  The ladies and I made sandwiches, watermelon, etc.  It was a lot of fun.  Then we rested for a little while...which was good, because the rest of our day was very exhausting...

We headed to Maya Mopan.  We broke up into three groups and walked to gather children...and the children came...so many of them...it was so awesome.

Little Maria showing me she can climb a tree.  She is one of our LifeNetters..always a big smile.  

We broke out facepaint, soccer balls and balloon animals and had quite a time with the kids...they were so patient as we tried to keep up.

Jesse gathered a crowd as he blew up the HUGE beach ball...the kids loved it so much, it finally went kaput after about 45 minutes....

I was so impressed with this team...the way they served and served, with a smile...

So many beautiful, happy children...at least 50, but I honestly think much more...

Then we gathered them all to do the story of David and Goliath again...it was so much fun.

Erika had a fun ride on the way out.

And this is such a happy post of what a great time we  had with the kids and at church this morning...but as we left, we were reminded once again...that for some of these kids...life is tough.  There were a few drunk men...one of them not being very nice to one of the little girls who had just been with us.  It broke our hearts...and I left thinking, here we had all this fun with these kids, her being one of them and then she has to go home to that...so what good was what we did?  But then following that thought, I thought about the families that we are impacting, the families that are changing their ways and being discipled.  I told one of the men at church this morning, who got saved right before our Life Advance, how proud I was of him...he is so faithful each week to church.  And his wife has to translate the whole service for him.  God is using us.  And though we still see so much sadness when we go back to the village, we also see a lot of happiness at what God is doing in these beginning families...and then they are reaching out to their village.

for real, 58 people at NetGroup last night!!!

last night we had a team from North Carolina come and minister to our kids...they did a great job, sharing testimonies that I knew our kids in NetGroup could really relate to...

this pic is before we had all the rest of the kids come in...the entire floorspace ended up being covered.

one of the ladies from the team just kept saying this is so cool...you are so blessed to get to experience this.

you know what?  i am.

im taking a group of about 7 girls through the Life Manual during the small group time.  and i love hearing their feedback.  its becoming one of my favorite parts of ministry here...i love these girls and we are only on week 3 out of 12.  i will be sad to not see them for the next 4 weeks, but they gave me prayer requests last night that i can continue to pray for them even though not seeing them.

also, i am thankful for our home.  i think last night, as my home was full of ministry going on, kids hearts being touched and changed, i just felt especially thankful that our living room is large enough to cram in so many people.

tonight our team is heading to destiny house (YWAM) and hoping some of our regular kids come and hang out...praying for just some healthy, hanging out kind of fellowship:)

Its been quite a day already...

Wow, what a day it has been so far.

Woke up and went to get some routine bloodwork done and stopped by the feed store, so we can leave plenty of food for our animals while we are in the states.

Came home and one of the Mayan families brought us a huge lunch.  Baked Chicken, a huge pot of rice and beans and a pineapple upside down cake.  What a delicious blessing.  They constantly are giving to us.

Meanwhile, Lee was welcoming our newest team in from North Carolina.

I snapped a quick picture of Delores and her daughter, and as they were leaving, two people parked across the street and started taking pictures of our house.  At first, I was like, what are they doing?  But then, she came and introduced herself.  She had spoken to Lee on the phone about bringing Beth Moore Bible studies to the local church here.  So, I hugged Delores again and welcomed in our next visitor.

The couple stayed and visited, asked about LifeNet, for a while.  Then I heard Lee coming in.  But he was in a crazy hurry and had one guy from the team with him.  I introduced everyone, but Lee was just picking up something and leaving.  Then everybody left and I was supposed to take the kids to go meet with the team at Morencos.  They had already eaten, but we were just going to meet the team.  I made myself a quick bowl of beans and rice and checked my facebook.

One of my friends, had a sick baby, and two older kids and needed someone to PLEASE bring them some food.  Noone had responded and although I was busy, I felt I was the one.  I am not telling this to glorify myself...just to say we should never be "too busy" to help someone.  So, I loaded the kids and we stopped and picked up some easy to prepare food and dropped it off.  I prayed over the baby and mom.  Because that is the important stuff in life...and we were blessed...so we can bless others.

We met the team, enjoyed some cold juice, and headed back home.  The lady's facebook status said she was thankful for the angel who brought her food and prayed for her baby.  I did not solve her problems.  She already knows and loves Jesus.  But I was Jesus' hands to her.  He clearly told me to answer her call for help.

I say all this to say...Don't get too busy with your agenda...boxing God in.  Be open and willing.  There is always a lot you can do, but sometimes it is the littlest things that He really needs us to do most:)

Pickles, Pickles, I love pickles

So, pickles are hard to find here and are kind of pricey.  I had this thought...how about making my own?

It has not been as easy as I thought it would be tracking down the proper spices.  But finally, we found them at Spanish Lookout yesterday.

This morning, I found all the skinny, bumpy cucumbers I could carry (along with my other regular market finds) and now I have 4 quarts and 4 pints of Bread and Butter pickles that will cure while we are in the states and be ready to try when we get home.  So excited, for sure.

Been working on it all day but so excited...just wish we didn't have to wait to try them:)

Just some pictures...

Daddy making an important call on Erika's cell phone before church:)

had an errand to run in Spanish Lookout so we took some friends and enjoyed some pizza...

Look at that banana split...but they were out of cherries:(

and yay!!!!  Been wanting to make pickles, but couldn't find spices here in Belmopan.  Those wonderful Mennonites had all the right ones though.  So happy.  I will update later on how it all went...

Thank you...

Thank you...sometimes in this world, we never ever hear these words...

I just got a really cool phone call from someone that I recently discipled (well, its actually an ongoing process).  With tears in her voice, she shared with me how she led someone else to the Lord, just now.  The first time she had ever done that.  She was so excited, and crying and excited...and then, thanked me for pouring into her life.  For giving her the confidence that she can lead people to Jesus and disciple them too.

When you pour into someone, and then they pour out, it is the greatest joy you can have.

And that is why God has sent us to Belize:)

Preparing

A lot of people are shocked when they hear we have been here for 18 months and not left:)  But to establish something takes time.  If you are always gone, it won't just happen.  God has established something good here in Belmopan.  And this is just the beginning.  And we know that amazing leaders have been raised up to keep things going while we are gone:)  He has also established in our hearts that this is our home right now.  Staying here for so long has helped that.

But now, my focus has been on a very quick trip to the states.  So much to do, in such a little amount of time.  We all need new clothes and just general stock up on everything.  Will definitely need to ship some things back.  We have planned all our doctors appointments and just praying none of that changes.  Plus visits with friends, family and churches...all takes a lot of time.  Literally, every day, we have something scheduled.  It is exciting, but a little overwhelming too.

Tori has been begging to get her hair permanently straightened.  She has not cut her hair in over a year...and it is so long.  I took before and after pictures.   It broke my heart a little for her to get rid of her gorgeous curly hair.  But like me, she will need to grow older to truly appreciate the natural hair God gave her:)

When I picked her back up, she truly was gorgeous and looked so much older.  We even got her brows done for the first time.  So, now, she is ready to go see all her friends in the states:)  And she will just have to "touch up" with the straightener each day, rather than spending hours straightening it:)

The weather has been nice here this week, with rain really cooling things down.  That is the best part about the rain.  And it is amazing how much more energy to get things done...that I have when it is cooler.  This morning, I woke up and got dinner in the crockpot, made a double batch of banana muffins and cut up a watermelon...and cleaned up from all that before 8 am.  I'm feeling a little tired now, though.  This morning, Erika has a friend over to play, always a treat for her.  And later, we are continue our carshopping.  We are trying to get an older SUV to replace my Toyota.  We need something with more trunk space so that we can load up the sound equipment after church on Sundays.  And we just need a little newer, and higher up vehicle.  The roads and speedbumps are hard in our little car, although we are thankful that it has been so dependable these last 18 months.

Well, have a great weekend:)