Balance and Belonging

Have I shared with you all how much I LOVE the food here??!?! Everything I have been served, I have loved. Muy muy rico, is a phrase that comes often from my lips. I am finally getting to the point where I feel somewhat comfortable down here. I have a sense of balance in my life and a place where I belong. This is not to say that God is not still stretching me and placing obstacles in my way. Many people have told me how impressed they are at how much Spanish I am understanding. I can usually understand what people say to me in Spanish, but actually responding to them is the difficult part. It is so hard to find the right word to use. I know this is common, though, because that is exactly how Sean and Lisa are.

I am getting excited about all the Christmas festivities at the church and within the community. We are planning outreaches to some orphanages, hospitals, the Tarahumara community, and the city center. Christmas events and community volunteering, what could be better!?!?!?

I have started meeting with Lisa, who is the pastor's wife, once a week. We are going through a study on spiritual gifts. I have enjoyed our time together of discovering knew things from Scripture. Spiritual gifts is something she is very passionate about, and something that I had not thought about too much. We are looking at examples from Scripture and investigating the strengths and weaknesses of each gift. This week, we did our study at Denny's! They even had menus in English, although we still had to order in Spanish. HA!

Soledad Light Shine has gotten easier since I first started helping them. Only the children who are sponsored are allowed to attend the program, but the other children have stopped coming and trying to participate. It was so sad to see so many kids who want to be in the program but are unable to be. We finally have name tags for all of the children which really helps. We are working on Christmas songs and a skit to present to their parents in December. I have enjoyed learning the Spanish version of Jingle Bells :-)

CAMPANA POR DOQUIER

RESUENAN SIN CESAR,

PROCLAMAN CON PLACER

QUE HOY ES NAVIDAD

LOS NIÑOS CON CANCIÓN

LA GRATA NUEVA DAN

DE ESTE DÍA DE AMOR

Y BUENA VOLUNTAD.

NAVIDAD, NAVIDAD,

HOY ES NAVIDAD,

ES UN DÍA DE ALEGRÍA

Y FELICIDAD

NAVIDAD, NAVIDAD,

HOY ES NAVIDAD,

ES UN DÍA DE ALEGRÍA

Y FELICIDAD

EL NIÑO DE BELÉN

NOS TRAE LA SALVACIÓN

CON JUBILO SIN PAR

SE ENTONA LA CANCIÓN:

YO TE AMO, MI SEÑOR,

TUS GLORIAS CANTARÉ,

EN ESTE DÍA TAN FELIZ

ME REGOCIJARÉ.