Choose Joy

Ecclesiastes 3  

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—

2 A time to give birth and a time to die;

A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

3 A time to kill and a time to heal;

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

4 A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;

A time to be silent and a time to speak.

8 A time to love and a time to hate;

A time for war and a time for peace.

9 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? 10 I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

 From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+3&version=NASB>

This blog entry is kind of all over the board, but when you read it, I think you will understand why.  

There is a time for everything. I realized the truth of those words in the past few weeks. The Lord has been so good.  There is much to be thankful for, and much to praise God for.  We were tooling along, making gradual changes to our diet and exercising (more about that later), and planning our Florida vacation.  I went to work as normal on Monday, Tom got up early and started working in his home office.  At about 2, I received a text from Tom telling me to come home. NOW.  I arrived to find him on the bathroom floor.  He had been throwing up for an hour. I called 911 and he was taken to Tucson Medical Center.  After some delay he was admitted, in part because his heart rate kept dropping and he was severely dehydrated.  Multiple CT scans, x-rays, lots of blood work and almost being sent home twice, the doctor decided to go ahead with an already ordered - and nearly cancelled - MRI.  He was surprised that the results came back positive for not one, not two, but six strokes. There were six areas in his brain that had cell loss, confirming stroke, not TIAs.  One more test was performed to try to determine where the strokes originated, a test call a trans-esophageal echocardiogram.  That test is similar to an endoscopy, but instead of going into the stomach, the doctor looks at the heart.  The test showed that he has a small hole in between the two chambers of his heart.   We were sent home with an aspirin regime and cholesterol medication, with follow-ups with our primary care physician and the cardiologist. No physical therapy was necessary, because he hasn’t had any residual effects, aside from vertigo.  This is a major praise – with that many stroke areas, the fact that he has no residuals was a relief. Even the neurologist said he dodged a cannonball. 

When we went to the cardiologist yesterday (June 30), we were told that the hole is small, and at this point they are not overly concerned with it. However, if he has another stroke, then the possibility of open heart surgery is strongly indicated. That is the scary news.  In the meantime, he will be going in to TMC soon to have a loop devise implanted in his chest. This loop will constantly monitor and record his heart function, letting the doctor know if he has a-fibrillations, which is another likely cause of the strokes.

But the Lord has been so good throughout this entire ordeal. Pastor Ron is doing a series on Philippians, and his topic for the past few weeks has been Joy in Adversity.  Nothing like a medical emergency to test whether I’m applying the messages or not!  I’ve been really thinking what it means to Choose Joy.  Throughout this ordeal, I’ve been reminded that joy is a choice, and that God is in control. That has brought me an enormous amount of peace.  God is in control, I’m not, and our lives are truly in His hands.  We saw that every time we turned around.  And the fact that Tom has no major residual effects is such a blessing.  I have to say, praying with your boss about your husband's health is not something that is possible when you are working in the secular world, that's a HUGE PLUS to working at a church!   

We had been looking at houses with an eye towards downsizing.  Now that Tom has had the strokes, and there is a very real risk that he could again, downsizing into a one-story house has become a priority.  So, Saturday found us at a sales office for a new development here in Tucson.  We had already looked at the houses once before, and knew we liked the model, but wanted to see it again.  After talking with the sales agent, we returned on Sunday and signed paperwork to build.  Scary, but exciting thought!  Now comes all the paperwork and sorting this house in preparation for moving!

Last Summer - at my heaviest

On a more personal side, in April I decided my weight was out of control. It was time to get serious about my health.  Seeing the doctor and getting put on new blood pressure meds was just what I needed to kick start losing weight.  I tried Spark People and My Fitness Pal, but both of them were just too cumbersome, so I returned to Weight Watchers.  This time, I'm following the Simply Filling plan.  I had been having stomach issues every time I ate pizza and pasta, so I made the decision to cut all simple carbs - pasta, bread, white rice, pizza (boo!).  Immediately, without even trying, I dropped 8 pounds.  Great! A good way to begin!

Then I added in cardio.  We have the oversized space hog sitting in the family room, and it was time to put it to use.  Oh, what is it? It's an elliptical. I started out slow, couldn't go much longer than 15 minutes.  But I pushed on. Then I decided to get on my bike again.  I again started out slow - 7 miles in about 55 minutes.  Weekly bike rides, sometimes both Friday and Saturday, and my strength and stamina have improved.

25 pounds later, and still going down!

So where am I now?  I've lost 25 pounds. I can do 35 minutes on the elliptical, with my heart rate averaging about 132. I have ridden 18 miles, in 90 minutes.  I'm down almost a full size. My clothes are baggy and I don't dare wear pants without a belt, or else! 

I'm cooking differently, experimenting with different recipes, different seasonings.  For example, tonight we had lean pork chops marinated in teriyaki sauce with garlic and ginger, sweet potatoes, and Asian green beans - green beans, shallots, garlic, and soy sauce.  It was delish!   I'm not depriving myself of much - I have dark chocolate at least once a day and ice cream bars on occasion.  My drink of choice lately is water with a sprig of mint and a slice of lime.  I'll also have water infused with orange, lemon and lime slices. 

Mornings are usually oatmeal with blueberries, nectarines, or apples.  If I work out in the morning, then I'll have an egg, light English muffin and a piece of ham. (All of that is zero points, under the Simply Filling plan!) It's working!  My goal is 150, so I'm roughly 1/3 of the way there.   

The Lord has been good, so good.  I am blessed beyond measure, and I know that whatever He has in store, He will give me the grace to see me – and Tom – through.   I CHOOSE JOY.

Last Full Day in Tepic

Brenda sharing the Gospel

This village can only be reached by boat and hiking. But - see the red roofed building in the lower left?  That is the church. AND they have an AWANA program!

David, Jasson and Clif

Pre Flight Inspection

Yesterday was incredible.  David wanted to take the ladies up in the plane to survey the land see the remote villages that have heard the Gospel. We woke to beautifully clear skies, that turned into fog the closer we got to the airport.  But, as the guys were doing the pre-flight inspection and cleaning out the airplane, God burned off the fog and after instructions about the seat belt and headphones, we were able to take off. 

Erik cleaning the plane

What a beautiful country!  So very green and tropical!  David showed us a village that is reachable only by boat and hiking in. However, God is so good! The village has a number of believers, a church, and an AWANA program! 

We flew over a beautiful lake that stretches 50 miles.  It is a major source of food for the Huichol people.  The ride was wonderful, the mountains are beautiful and we had a great time.  Chris even got to fly for a few minutes, as she had the co-pilot seat. 

When we landed, we went to breakfast at a great little restaurant.  Since those who had wrestled with Montezuma were hungry but still not quite 100%, breakfast for most of them was fairly light, eggs and coffee. Oh, and the coffee was wonderful!  It has this wonderful subtle taste of chocolate!  It's not at all like a mocha, but so much better!

Our Flight Attendant - who forgot the coffee and pretzels!

Becky and Mike, from Casa de Ninos

We then headed over to Casa de Ninos, where we met Becky and Mike, a couple from Missouri, who work with the children.  Becky has a library every Monday, and we spent time with the books we brought reading to and being read to by the children. 

They currently have 13 children, ranging in age from young elementary school up to 20.  We were asked not to show individual pictures of them, but I can share the group picture.

It was back to the room to shower and post tons of pictures to Facebook before heading to the Hunttings for dinner with their family and the pastor of the church, Pastor Martin, his lovely wife Eren, and two sons Jonathan (almost 20) and David (17).  The young men are incredible - Jonathan is very interested in videography; he runs the media for the church, using Easy Worship, a program I am familiar with as we use it in one of our rooms at church.  The things he could do with it rival Pro Presenter :)  I believe he also plans the worship service.  He spent quite a bit of time talking with me about work related things, and then switched to talking to Tom about IBM and the opportunities there.  (All with the help of our wonderful interpreter/hostess/new dear friend, Debbie Mellberg.) 

David is a gifted teacher and accomplished violinist.  He gave the lesson at the Huichol village, and again in AWANA Saturday night.  When asked to share, he indicated his passion was for the children - to see them come to the Lord. 

I was very impressed with both of these young men.  Before they shared what they were doing in their lives, they spoke so highly about their parents, the life they saw lived out daily in their parents' lives.  The love for the Lord first of all, for their family, for the Huichol people is so evident in all their lives.  (Lord, please change me and give me the passion they have!) 

In March, during the week between Palm Sunday and Easter, the church, Pastor Martin, Eren, and Debbie put on a camp for the Huichol people.  They expect to have up to 100 teens.  They shared some major prayer requests for this outreach - first, as they write the curriculum. Debbie, Eren and Pastor Martin will write it, then have it translated into Huichol.  The Huichol pastors who work with them will then teach it.  There is a financial cost of about $30 per person. Because the Huichols are so poverty stricken, funding is difficult.  They provide scholarships, but still the need is great.  Pray for the hearts of the people to be prepared to receive the Gospel.

Today, we are going out for brunch, then heading to Puerto Vallarta.  David and Olivia are going to go with us, and we will be celebrating David's birthday.  We head home on Friday.  

Huichol Villages and AWANA - Day 4

The team - along with the Hunttings. Clif was flying, but Kari, Sean, Haley and Kylie came to the village with us.

Hola!

Yesterday morning we went to the Huichol village.  Debbie Mellberg (our host, who has been in country for nearly 40 years) shared their history with us.  This particular village is mostly Christians who had been relocated by the government several years ago.  Many of them came under persecution by family when they accepted Christ.  They are painfully poor, but spiritually rich, and you could see it.  The women do not speak Spanish, only Huichol, but most of the men do speak Spanish.  When Debbie was explaining the Gospel bracelets to them, and had them recite John 3:16, nearly all of the older children and most of the adults recited it.   

Debbie Mellberg, Chris and

The village is up the mountain, about 45 minutes from Dave and Olivia's - think about as far as Mt. Lemmon.  But to get there, we had to stop about five city blocks or so further down the mountain and go the rest of the way by foot, on an unpaved red clay road.  It had rained, and started raining while we were up there, so you can imagine the fun we had slipping and sliding our way down the hill back to the vans when we finished!  

Walking down the mountain after the rain.

They loved the games!

Debbie explained the Gospel bracelet and had the children raise their hands once they had their bracelets on.

Awana flag ceremony

Group time

When we got back home, we had lunch of leftover tamales, and rested a bit, then it was time for AWANA.  Their AWANA program gets 48 children consistently each week.  You could have picked it up and taken it to just about any other AWANA program - the same pledges to the flag (Mexican, of course), the same games, the same group time, the same council time!  It was wonderful seeing all those children huddled in groups with their leaders (they have 30! leaders, most of whom grew up in their 20 year old AWANA program!) working on their verses.  

When AWANA was over, we went back to Dave and Olivia's for dinner, and a rousing game of King and Pauper :)  

Today is church, lunch out and then to the park and cemetery to experience some more of the Tepic culture.  

Some prayer requests, in addition to those mentioned above for Jasson and Clif - Tom P, Brenda and Tom K, and Chris have all been hit with Montezuma's Revenge.  Please pray that it passes quickly and doesn't linger around, and for protection for the rest of us.  

Short update after church.  It was wonderful to fellowship with other believers even when we don't have a common language.  I knew all but one of the songs.  The pastor preached from Colossians 4:7-18, and while I couldn't understand what he said, with the slides (in Easy Worship, which I immediately recognized from my job!) I was able to follow along and get the basic message.  Erik gave a short testimony and sent greetings from El Camio, thanking the congregation for their gracious welcome.  We came back to the house to find Tom K up, and sort of functional.  Chris and Brenda both are up, but they still don't feel very well, so prayers are most definitely appreciated! 

Missionary Kids and other things - Day 3 in Tepic

At the  mall. 

Friday was a great day. It rained most of the day, and the mountains were socked in with fog for most of the day.  That meant that Clif and Jasson could not fly, and our plans changed as well.

A great bunch of kids! So much fun!

When we got up, Debbie had baked banana bread and made coffee, which we enjoyed before we headed to breakfast at Dave and Olivia's.  After breakfast, I spent some time  updating the blog while Chris and Brenda made cupcakes.  The guys, in the meantime, were busy trying to figure out why we could smell gas.  While we were gone, Dave had left the house closed up, and when we returned the odor was even stronger than before. It wasn't until the end of the day, when they pulled the tank out, that they discovered there was a good sized crack in the very bottom on the back.  Thank the Lord that Tom P discovered where the leak was and it could be dealt. And we mostly thank the Lord that it was discovered before something horrible happened.

Kylie and me

We met the Hunttings at Pizza Hut for lunch, where they turned over the kiddos to us.  Each of us was assigned one child, my assignment was 8 year old Kylie Huntting.  We decided that we were going to have an alphabet scavenger hunt, taking pictures of the things we found in order.  Kylie had a ball running around with my phone snapping pictures here and there.  There was a sort of science, environmental type display set up with pictures of several animals that Kylie took pictures of. We stopped at Starbucks (where the clerk spoke perfect English), and went to the toy store (again, a clerk with perfect English, who, it turns out, grew up in Mesa!) where I bought Kylie a small digi-bird.  I think she had a good time :)

When we gathered back in the food court, we heard everyone's stories about their adventures in picture taking.  Erik and Sean were told not to take pictures, as were Tom K and Noah.. But the rest of us had no problems.  I think it was just one of the guards who wanted to be difficult.  The pet store had a large parrot or macaw who kept people entertained.  While Chris and Haley were there, the parrot decided that he wanted some of Haley's Starbucks, and proceeded to help himself to her straw! 

Back at Hunttings for dinner. The guys were watching the World Series in the man-cave.  :)

Dinner was back at the Hunttings house - marinated grilled steak, wonderful guacamole and salsa, beans, and tres-leche cake that was to die for.  Clif made some coffee that was incredible.  We then heard their testimony and prayer requests and spent time praying for this precious family. The major prayer requests besides favorable weather for flying were for their children. They have the older kids - Sean (15), Haley (12) and Kylie (8).  They asked specifically for prayer for homeschooling, but also for good, Godly friends for the kids.

Today we are going out to the village, and then helping with Awana this afternoon.

More to come….. 

Thursday's Adventure

Editorial note  -- some of these pictures should go with the post from earlier this morning.  We don't necessarily have the best computer connections here, so I am doing what I can! 

After a wonderful lunch of chicken tostadas and fresh fruit, we took off for some adventures.  When the harvest in the mountains is not good, Dave and the other missionaries purchase rice and beans, so Dave took us to the market area.  We drove past piles of cocoanuts, pineapples, tomatoes by the kilo, cucumbers by the kilo, cases of cilantro.  After stopping off for dessert (ice cream!) we headed to another part of the town so Dave could get some tools that they need.  While he and the guys were looking for the tools, the ladies went into a bead shop. Oh my. The incredible artwork these ladies do with tiny seed beads!  It's a shop we are going to return to when we have more pesos! 

Erik and Dave finally found the wheel barrow, but, as you can see by the picture, it's a "Mexican wheel barrow" - no wheel!  Actually, the wheel is in the box inside the body that Tom and Erik are carrying.

David buying rice and beans for the Huichol villages

Raising the windsock

From there we went to the home of Dave and Olivia's co-laborers - Jasson and Kim Farmer.  There we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of pozole (a soup with chicken and hominy - need to find the recipe for it!) and whole grain corn tostadas. They have four children - Kaleb, Noah, Micah, Katie Sue, and one sweet little pooch - Nacho.  They home school their children, and discovered that Kaleb has pretty significant dyslexia.  They asked specifically for prayer for that; it is a challenge to figure out just the right way to teach him and encourage him.  I know that from personal experience, but I also know that the Lord can and will be with them and encourage them every step of the way. 

Jasson talked about their journey and one thing that really impressed  me what when he said that they were really struggling with where the Lord wanted them.  After talking to their home church  elder board, they took several different turns, but found the church was totally behind them. They just reminded us of the importance of home churches.

Carrie and Cliff Huntting were there also, along with their children.  We found out that they are both MKs from Indonesia, and it is likely that their parents know or at least know of Arny Humble.  We will hear more of their story tonight.

The team - Hunttings on the left, Farmers on the right.

Jasson and Cliff shared a major ministry request.  In addition to safety while flying, they see a very real need of a helicopter.  Recently, they had a request to fly into a village to pick up a sick child, but could not get there, and sadly the child died.  Helicopters can land where there is no runway space for a plane, and in weather that a plane cannot fly in.  Cliff also mentioned flying another missionary, who looked down at villages they were flying over.  Those villages are unreachable by plane, and while they can be reached by land, it takes a very long time, time that could be more effectively used in sharing the Gospel.  Their project and major ministry request is for funding for a helicopter so they can meet these medical needs and further spread the Gospel to those who would otherwise be unable to hear it.

Tepic Adventures

Well, we made ​​it.   The flight was uneventful after we finally got in the air. The delay was really only about 10 minutes, while we waited for all the other jets to clear the runway.  Customs and Immigration were a breeze they were both empty and we whipped right through.    Dave and Olivia were waiting at the exit to pick us up .

Dave has an old van that used to belong to Mark Brians. Those from El Camino would know that name. It seats eight, but it was very tight, even though no one really noticed or complained.   The guys had fun trying to get all our luggage in; Dave had a roof top cover where we put some of the suitcases.   Watching three engineers and  a pilot strap it down ... :)

 We had dinner at a wonderful seafood restaurant! The huge portions of shrimp were delicious, and the pico de gallo was to die for; I need to make mine more like that from now on - less tomatoes, more onion, more cilantro, more lime.  They had an appetizer of a seafood soup with a meatball that was very good, as well.

Then we were finally on the road.   It took about four hours to get to Tepic, driving along the coast for the first hour or so, with glimpses of the ocean off and on.   We turned north into the mountains, and were greeted with beautiful views of the hills and valleys. It was a cloudy day, and I was in the back, so I did not get too many pictures of the drive. We passed through numerous villages that really do not look much different that Nogales. Stopped for gas and a potty break at an Oxxo station - think Stop and Go or 7/11 type store   Prices are surprisingly low; a 20 oz coke rough that would cost $ 1.75  in Arizona is $ .75 here.

The road, which is the only road between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, is a two lane, winding, well paved road.  They were working on part of it, so we did have one construction delay; other than that the drive was uneventful.   When we were within five miles of Tepic, we encountered an accident that stopped us for roughly 40 minutes. 

We arrived at Olivia's co-worker, Debby Mellberg's house.   It. Is. Beautiful.   Think colonial Mexican hacienda.   The yard is beautiful. As I sit out here on the porch writing this, there are birds chirping,  hummingbirds feeding, a light breeze blowing.   So very restful! 

Debby shared her story - we have something in common - she graduated from Southwestern, Matt's alma mater!  I really think that she needs to write down her story for others to read; certainly God's hand orchestrated things for them to begin their ministry to the Huichol people. 

Today's plans -. The men went with Dave to a village (flying!) to fix a runway and install a windsock.   We ladies are going to go to Olivia's for breakfast, go through the things we brought for Awana and begin assembling the goodie bags, and meet my friend from CHF, Mary Jo Hansen, for coffee.

Afternoon update:


The ladies spent the morning packing 80 goodie bags.  The things for the goodie bags were provided by Jan Coleman, Teri Wood, Dana Adams, and Jill Field.  We also put wordless book bracelets with explanatory tracts in Spanish, that were provided by El Camino Missions Fellowship.


The guys in the meantime flew out to a village where they dug holes, painted rocks, did runway maintenance, and installed a windsock.


We all met back at Dave and Olivia's for a wonderful lunch of chicken toastadas, fresh papaya, watermelon, and tomatoes.  The guys loved the "valentine" sauce, that apparently is available at Fry's, so I have a suspicion that we will be getting some of that.

More to come.......