Apple pie!!!!!
Okay, so this trip has been filled with yummy food, I must confess. But when I went to El Paso last week to pick up a girl coming to intern and to do a lot of errands for Brother Dean, I couldn't resist picking up some stuff to make apple pie for the girls (along with some vanilla ice cream, of course). Sonia Edith and I made the pie and then Jordan (the above-mentioned intern) and Sonia helped me serve it up to the girls Friday night. Alex, Eliza, Brenda, Andrea, Valeria, Sonia E., Jordan and I had a wonderful time hanging in the visitors kitchen, despite the roaches. hehe.
I'm so grateful for the time the Lord has given me to spend with these sweet chicas! (And just fyi, if any of you ever want to feed Sonia Edith something filled with sugar... at 9 o clock at night... and you happen to be living with her.... beware. She will burst into seemingly unending energy about 15 minutes after eating the sweets. ; )

FRESAS CON CREMA.

This is perhaps one of my favorite Mexican treats. Brenda and Sonia and I were just sitting in our room placticando (chatting : ) Saturday night... and the conversation somehow turned to our favorite desserts. Brenda wanted cheesecake... I wanted apple pie with vanilla ice cream... and Sonia wanted anything with chocolate. hehe. Well, we went outside and Erick Zambrano was getting ready to drive into town to buy some salsa. So we went with him and stopped at 'La Michoacana' (the delicious ice cream store) and I bought the girls and I some fresas con crema. The strawberries come frozen and a little sweetened in these cartons, and the guy at the store just opens them up and puts this wonderful creme on top. So in Mexico, of course, the creme starts to melt and so do the strawberries and it ends up being this soupy, fruity, wonderful mess that you slurp up with your spoon. I wanted to say "Oh, sweet mercy!" haha. I restrained myself, however, but we all agreed that even though it wasn't our apple pie or cheesecake or chocolate, it was certainly a sufficient substitute for our sweet tooth! So anyways, just wanted to say praise the Lord for fresas con crema, and wonderful time spent with sweet friends, and I hope you all get to experience the delights of La Michoacana someday soon : )

Les quiero mucho!

Yesterday we had church service with the group that was here from Midland, TX. It was really great to worship the Lord in Spanish and in English! (Although I must admit I missed you all terribly when I thought about you all together, worshipping and hearing the Word preached and fellowshipping... and then celebrating the baptism of dear friends!!! I wish I could have been there) I went up and talked about the evidences of God's grace I had seen in Sonia's life this week- we are struggling with some of the same things and she has been very very encouraging, asking me what I have been learning and just being genuinely interested in my life. God is bearing much fruit in her.. allowing her to trust Him for all that her future holds and to be content with what He has for her right now... She's a huge example to me and I love her so much!

Sunday Ana, Alejandra and I drove into town to look for a newspaper- Alex has been waiting to hear if she has gotten into the University in Juarez (down here they just list the names in the newspaper-- how nerve-wracking!) So there weren't any newspapers left in Guadalupe and we had to drive to the next town over and we finally found one. Once we got back in the van, Alex was like "Ah! I don't want Coleman to see me cry if I don't get in... I don't want to open it I don't want to open it!" Ana was just laughing at her and we both were saying "If you don't open it we're going to!" So she finally opened it and had to search through the names and she finally came to the Castros--- guess what?? She was accepted!!!! YAY!!! So she has a few more steps to take for it to really be solid, but she will probably be starting to study nursing in January. How exciting! I was so grateful to be able to be there and be a part of the news : )

Today was the first day of school for the kids, so breakfast was at 6:30... my body did not want to get up that early, but it's a good start for next week's start of the crazy schedule I have this year. Although... I must admit that I went back to our room and slept for another hour after eating some wonderful pancakes by Hermana Paty.. hehe. My bed is so comfortable!!! ; )

Gotta run and pick up the kids from segundaria and preparatoria (middle school and high school). I'll post some more pictures later!

(The above pictures were from the drive to get the newspaper... and then Alejandra and Valeria being their normal loquita selves)

The many of faces of Yesenia, Soraya, and Iris : )

Here's some pics of me and the younger girls- Yesenia and Soraya, and Esmeralda and I matched.. hehe : ) Yesterday was a pretty relaxed day I just worked more in the office and then hung out last night outside with the kids.... I'll post some more pictures later- I have to go take Alejandra and Ana into town to get a newspaper or something. Voy a regresar. Love you guys!

I'm sitting here in the office now... Dean is back! He's already got some projects lined up for me starting tomorrow I think. Today I'll just keep working on the photo album stuff.

I don't have any pictures from yesterday, but I thought you might enjoy these from our walk to the cross.

Last night the older girls and I watched 'Orgullo y Prejuicio'. Yep! Pride and Prejudice in Spanish : ) It was really fun to hang out with them and just be girls... hehe.

We had some issues with insectos last night too- some sort of Mexican stink bug started crawling on Eliza during the movie and she got up and crushed it- bad idea. That thing smelled like burnt trash mixed with... hm I don't even know. bad stuff. Needless to say, it stunk up the whole room and we had to grab some Lysol so we could breathe to watch the rest of the movie. Later on there was a huge spider in the corner of the room above my bed. Killed that with some of Sonia's bug spray... and then another of the stink bugs crawled under the bed into my luggage.. ah!!!!!!!! Hmm bugs are fun.

Pues, I gotta go check the visitors dorms to make sure they're clean for the next group rolling in- the church from Midland TX : )

hasta luego!

Last night Sonia Edith and I took all the little girls for a walk up to the cross. This little one, Iris (pr. Eee-dees) walked with me the whole way up. She says she is 4, but she is just so little! We had to go a bit slower because her legs couldn't quite handle it : ) It was a beautiful night, not too hot, and the sunset was gorgeous, as always. The girls kept finding little flowers in the desert and picking them for us. Iris was cracking me up because she was holding her stuffed duck under one arm and my hand in the other, but she wanted to pick those flowers! She finally figured out that she'd have to let go to pick them.. hehe. It's a good break for my brain to talk with the younger ones, because their Spanish is easier to understand.. One of the little girls, Milani (who took a special liking to Jake while he was here, Sonia tells me) has a cute little speech impediment. She can't say her r's the right way... gracias becomes 'gdacias' and 'rambo' (jake's nickname here) is 'dliambo' : ) So cute! They always want to play, and I've had to take many breaks in my devotions in the morning when they come into the room asking me plenty of curious questions. Oh, that the Lord would plant seeds in their little hearts while they are here, and bring them into His kingdom!!!

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret..." Ps. 37:7

Yesterday I got to hang out with the girls again... Hmo Mateo and Hma Li took us all to the mall in Juarez to go see a movie. Unfortunately, the movie we wanted to see was already started, so we decided to try a different one.

That one, however, was full of cursing and other such things and we had to get up and leave. It was hard because the girls had spent their own hard-earned money on the tickets, so they had to submit to our decision and lose the money. Thankfully, the theater let us exchange the tickets for another movie, so Matt and Li took the girls to see it. Ana and I didn't really want to sit through another movie at this point, though, so we just walked around the mall together. It was really fun! She's a crazy chica. Here we are with our cafe : ) Oh yeah, and I touched a jaguar in the pet store!

On the drive up I was able to talk to Sonia (in English.. she's so good!) about some deeper stuff. It was really good and the Lord is beginning to answer my prayer that I would be a light to them and be able to encourage them in their walks. He is so faithful to answer our prayers! We ate at the Wendy's in the mall... I got a guacamole burger! haha... don't have those in the states!

Today Sonia and I slept in (I think i may have finally caught up on all the sleep I lost at the Clash ; ) and then she made us oatmeal since we missed breakfast. She's so sweet and is always thinking of ways to serve! This afternoon we're going to work on the photo album project... it could be very interesting- apparently there's hundreds and hundreds of pictures to sort through. And then tomorrow Hermano Dean returns and I'm sure he'll put me to work right away! It has been really nice, though, these past few days, to be relaxed and have fun with my queridas amigas.

Love you all!

Lo que el Senor promete, lo cumple.
Well, today has been a wonderful, tiring day. Starting from getting to the airport and thinking I would probably miss my flight (the line for security was all the way across the lobby) to driving up and feeling at home right away, the Lord has been faithful.

When I got to the El Paso airport, I was able to see the Richmond group that was leaving today and chat with my friend Nikki Jones for a bit at the Starbucks. I walked outside into the heat and proceeded to find the blue ranch van with the key under the mat. The Lord allowed me to find it quickly, but when I got there I realized Dean hadn't left me a map! I was a bit nervous at first, but the Lord was so gracious to lead my heart to trust that He would bring to my mind the right way to get here. I went to Walmart, drove through Fabens with no problem, and the border control let me past without a question. I did, however, have to drive across the skinniest bridge known to man with a line of cars/trucks coming the opposite direction on the other side. I had to pull in the sideview mirrors, but again the Lord was faithful to let me get across. I remembered the way here and drove the familiar roads up to the beautiful ranch : )

When I got out Tita came out of the kitchen and immediately I was bombarded with Spanish too fast for my poor brain : ) It's so fun to listen and learn and try to converse. It's coming back to me faster than I could have hoped. Her greeting made me feel at home right away and I am so grateful that everyone remembers me and they all seemed excited to see me. Sonia Edith opened up her room to me and has made me feel very at home already- I love spending time with her!

The rest of the day I just hung out with the girls in the dorm, had lunch with the kiddos (tostadas, yum!), took a little nap, had dinner (hot dogs... I think i might gain 10 pounds while I'm here. haha!) Tonight Brenda, Sonia Regalado, Sonia Edith, and Hma. Li and I walked up to the cross in the cool, mosquito-infested night. All the sights, feelings, and yes, even smells, are so familiar and wonderful to experience again. I sure have missed this place and these people!

Right now I'm just sitting out in the cool night with Ana beside me taking pictures of herself with my camera. We're listening to some Switchfoot : )

Here's some pictures of my day for ya'll to enjoy... Esmeralda being herself, me and Ana hangin out, one of the new little girls (we were having fun joking and singing together), and walking to the cross in twilight... If you would, be praying that I'll really be able to talk with the girls throughout this next two weeks and really draw them out about what's most important. Pray that the language barrier would be easily crossed and that the Lord would use me in their lives! I love and miss you all already... que tengan una buenisima noche!

"...they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not faint."