what a week!

Dear friends,
So many things have happened this week; I really don’t know where to start…So, to keep things simple, we will go chronologically. On Monday Nicolle and I played hooky. I have that day off from work at the church, and since Nicolle and I were short on sleep we decided to stay at home and relax. It was a well deserved break and greatly enjoyed. Tuesday was un-eventful, though I started finalizing my message for this Sunday. Wednesday was more of the same, to be honest; the real action didn’t start until Thursday. So, Thursday, THANKSGIVING! As I have mentioned in past updates, Nicolle and I were invited over to Dennis Poulette’s house for the celebration. It was so much fun! We were not the only people that got invited over, Dennis asked a few friends of his from Mexico to come over. They all seemed to really enjoy the food and talking about the tradition of Thanksgiving. Speaking of food, it was fantastic! Nicolle and I made deviled eggs and sweet potatoes (Thanks Michelle!), and Dennis and his wife made up a giant turkey, green beans, potatoes, gravy, homemade bread, corn and some scrumptious deserts: peanut butter pie (oh my goodness!), apple cake (wow!), and B.T.S.P. which was my favorite! It had crumbled nut crust, a layer of cream cheese, a layer of chocolate pudding, and a layer of freshly whipped cream (gaaaaaaaaaa!)! All in all, we had a fantastic time. Friday, I finished my preparations for my Sunday message and went home to try and relax. Well, Nicolle and I were in the middle of a movie when our landlady started banging on the door in a panic. It did not take us long to figure out what happened. Her 89 year old father who lives across the hall from us had passed away suddenly. She had gone upstairs to call a doctor and five minutes later, he was gone. His health had taken a sudden turn for the worse about three days earlier, but there is just no way to prepare for something like this. Well, this was a very late night for both of us. Being a leader in the church I was expected to attend to the family and help comfort them. And Nicolle did not get much sleep because most of all the family came from all over Mexico (and one or two from America) so the house was very very loud. At 2:30am we gave up and called my PRIME mentor/supervisor Dennis Poulette (a very good friend) and he and his wife were willing to take us into their home. We got way more sleep on their couches then we would have at our apartment, even with the 8:30 wake up call by 3 year old Nathan doing his impersonation of Jimmy Hendrix! We spent most of Saturday just hanging out with the Poulettes, decorating their Christmas tree, and relaxing. We finished off the night with pizza and coke with them and went home around 10:00 wondering where our day went. All of the sudden it was Sunday morning, and I was feeling slightly less then prepared for my message. After breakfast, and a calming time of prayer, I jotted down some notes and left for church dressed to kill! When I arrived I spent a few minutes getting my props prepared, and talking to Huberto about the skits that we were going to do (oh yes, we had a lot of fun. I had Huberto marry one of our volunteers and an older student in the youth group, and he impersonated Moses!). It was around this time that I discovered that the bulletin insert that I had made was not printed! Really, I was not too surprised; I am used to little setbacks and things getting overlooked. It turned out to not be a problem because my lovely, darling, serving, loving, wonderful wife went back the apartment to get my computer so I could print the handouts. Even though I had trouble with my Spanish, and got lost once, it went pretty well. The people seemed to understand what I was saying, and laughed and said amen at all the right times, so I am calling it a success. Leave it to the Holy Spirit to overcome my busted Spanish. Haha!
I believe we have entered into a transitional period of our time here. As of today, Nicolle is finished with her classes, and as of yesterday, I have completed all projected responsibilities at church. I am hoping that I will get to help with the planning of the next year, or get to teach for the youth group again, otherwise, I will have nothing to do for the next 14 days! We need time to get ready and packed, but not that long! Well, to all the guys out there, thanks for reading, and keep your stick on the ice.

Please pray: that we would be productive and useful to the church in our remaining days; praises for Nicolle’s classes and her having finished her finals with flying colors; that I would have an impact on the kids in the church and the colonia that would move them closer to God.
—Shalom.