"The Lord is my Shepherd"

Recently, the Lord has been teaching me a very important lesson and has actually given me a "visual" to help me remember the lesson.

Frequently I find myself awake from about 2:30am - 4 or 5 am.  During this time my thoughts tend to spiral out of control.  One particular night I was very worried and preoccupied with all the concerns of my life and those of my family.  I was thinking about all the "what ifs...."  As time marched on, I was reminded of the passage in John 10:1-18 where Jesus talks about how he is the Good Shepherd.  Something triggered my memory about a sermon on this passage, where the Pastor talked about when Shepherds would guard their flocks at night they would find a place for the sheep to rest which was protected and then the Shepherd themselves would lay across the opening and act as the gate, protecting the sheep from predators.

That was the "visual" I believe the Lord gave to me, that He desires to be my Shepherd and as long as I am in the pen He is able to protect me, but whenever I jump out of the pen I open myself up to harm.

So now when I have my two hour "sessions" in the middle of the night this is what my thought process looks like.  When I am "in" the pen, I am praying, quoting scripture, singing hymns or praise songs.  However, just as quick my thoughts will spiral straight to worry, the oughta, gotta, shoulda's of life and I will realize I have jumped "out" of the pen.  So back and forth I go in and out of the pen. God, in His generosity has given me the choice to be either place, but He desires for me to be in the pen where only He can protect me and care for me.  This is a process as I learn to spend more time "in" the pen rather than "out".

"The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep."  John 10:2

Psalm 132 ~Paraphrased by Mary Scholl

Psalm 132 ~ Paraphrased by Mary Scholl

Savior, you have an account

of all the hardships in my life.

When I first called you Redeemer

my journey was committed to you.

Some days the way is clear and on others, 

I search for you.

On the days of uncertainty,

there is no rest for my soul.

I pursue you Lord in my

every waking breath.

Then, through the scriptures

you speak to me.

Your Spirit comforts my heart

through your word.

You draw me to a new place,

teaching me with wisdom.

Thank you Savior, for my

imparted righteousness.

With confidence I draw near

to your throne of grace.

"The Good, The Bad and the Ugly"

Photo taken after Easter Sunrise

The road was wet from the heavy rainfall.  I was probably driving faster than I should have been, but I had just delivered our beloved family dog of 14 years to the vet to be put down due to cancer which had ravaged her body.  All I remember is one moment I was driving along and then the next the truck was being lifted up and then started spinning, and spinning, and spinning.  I put my arms up over my head and braced for the impact sure to come.  An orange tree is what finally brought the truck to a stop, I later learned the truck had literally severed the tree from its trunk.  The thing I remember the most was the thundering silence that followed after the crash.  I sat there.  Was I dead?  No.  Anything broken?  No.  Blood?  No.  And then as fast as I could I opened the door and ran to get away from the truck, after all as an 18 year old girl, for all I knew the truck could blow up at any minute. Isn't that what always happens in the movies?  

I describe this experience of mine, to help you understand how Howard and I are feeling upon our return to California.  Literally, our lives have been picked up and feel as if we have been spinning with all the changes that have occurred.  We had a moment last week, where we had arrived to an appointment early, Howard shut off the car and we sat there for a while and let the quiet fall over us.  After a few minutes, we started talking and assessing about how our transition was going.  "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"  I'll spare you most of the details but suffice it to say it has not looked anything like we thought it would. We also hadn't quite realized how well we had learned in Ecuador the lesson of adaptation.  If Plan A doesn't work out, fine let's go with Plan B  and sometimes we get all the way to Plan Z!  "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" moments, they have been balanced with the sweet realization we know we are exactly where God wants us to be, but most of all we see His perfect timing in all our lives.  

Mary's Dad 

Planting flowers with the kids and grandkids

Easter Sunrise Service on the Kimbler Ranch
(Nicole's husband's family)

Boot Camp Graduation

Nicole and Bridget were able to celebrate Jonathan's Graduation with us at the Great Lakes Naval Base.

Proud Parents!

"The Sisters"

Jonathan's Division #130.  A total number of 10 divisions graduated with 853 graduating.

So Happy!!!

...and Cold!!!

We celebrated at Jonathan's favorite resturant

One Fine Day in Mindo

A tradition that we have at El Refugio is that when people head for home they get one last wish. Over the years this has taken the form of one intern zip lining in the dark and another seeing how long he could ride a bull.   Howard's and mine was to take our whole staff to Mindo, (the cloud forrest) for the day.  On the Friday that Danielle was visiting, we all piled in a rented van and off we went.  We truly had such a great time, with everyone game to try anything.  At one point, I think the absurdity of Howie driving the van with me in front and a van full of Ecuadorians hit us, (normally it is the reverse).  Such a fun, fun day.  Howard, Danielle and I were talking, hands down it was probably one of the best days we spent in Ecuador.   Here are just a few photos from that wonderful day....

Everyone in the van heading to Mindo for the day.

First stop, the cable car ride with the ladies first...

...then the men.

Exploring the different waterfalls...

Howie, Holger, Aurelio, Pedro and Enrique

Danielita, Nathaly and Diana

Group shot by the waterfall...

...and on the bridge :)

Aurelio and a new style of earrings

We made photo books of the last seven years and gave them to everyone at lunch.

Danielita gave the girls their own bibles with their names on them.

Pedro taming a butterfly.

Visiting the chocolate factory (who knew they had one in Mindo!)

Sampling all kinds of good chocolate and also some not so good :)

The whole group at the butterfly farm.
Holger, Enrique, Diana, Pedro, Nathaly, Anita, Howie, Danielita, Piedad, Aurelio, Angelica and myself.

All those lasts :(

Last English Class

Last lunch with Dany and Katy

Last Bible Study

Last "pancitos and cola"

Last outing with the ladies of El Refugio

"Freedom"

Aaron and Christine Passomore will be joining Youth World as Team Leaders in June.  
Recently, he shared the following with our team...

A couple of weeks ago I was headed to my last teen boys’ retreat in the Juvenile Hall in Tijuana.  As we were undergoing our pat down and security search in order to enter, I watched a very interesting scenario.  A young boy named Eduardo was led out of the cells and given a change of clothes.   After he changed to street clothes he was quickly ushered past us as we waited to enter the main courtyard.  We as a staff knew him and were excited to see his time to leave had finally come after three long years.

What happened next was what I found so interesting.  The guards took him to the steel sliding door, slid it open, he walked through, and they slid it shut behind him.  There was nobody there to meet him, no fanfare, and in his mind really no direction for him to go.  So he took two steps away from the gate and then he turned and looked longingly back through the bars that now separated us.  Instead of a look of excitement or freedom, he looked lost and fearful.

This really struck me as odd!  Here he was, free after three years, only to find him-self imprisoned in his freedom.  He had no clue where to go because he was stuck in what was his past.  I think that many times we find ourselves imprisoned in our own freedom.  Why is that?  We stand staring back through the bars when we should just embrace the freedom God has given us. 

We need to look forward to what God has for us.   I know this is not a new idea, but young Eduardo reminded me of that basic part of salvation.  God has given us freedom and we need to live in it fully.  As we live and serve the Lord may we live looking away from the bars and not staring back through them.  

What have we been doing you ask?

Howie gave a brief fire safety training.    Part of the time was teaching what type of fire extinguisher to use, depending on the type of fire.  He then demonstrated how to use the fire extinguishers.  Each person was given an opportunity to use the fire extinguishers to see how it would work in the event they would need to use one.

Howie and I gave a Kitchen food Safety training to our cooks.   Mainly,  foodborne illness prevention was taught.

I found  video online that demonstrated "what NOT to do".
I loved watching their reactions.

Nathaly, Dona Piedad, Karina, Angelica, myself, Anita and Howie.
All passed with flying colors :)

"Sunrise Sunset"

Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember growing older
When did they?

We are delighted to announce

the engagement of our daughter

Danielle Jean

to

Christopher Jordon Dickie

A wedding is planned for

September 13, 2014

at

North Fresno Church

(Mennonite Brethren)

HER Operations Christmas Party

Our entire Operations Staff with families.

Howard and I prepared a tradition North American "Turkey Dinner"
which our staff had requested.

For fun we had cookie decorating,
Pictured here are Angelica on the right with her three kids,
Vladamir, Kenard and Rebekah.

Our good friend Suzy, organized all the cookie decorating stuff.
I thought it was very creative, she use a muffin tin to put all the things they
could use to decorate their cookies.  Thanks Suzy and Pinterest! 

Even Pedro, our oldest staff member decorated cookies :)

At the end of the party, everyone piled in the camp truck and headed for home.

December Festivities

We had many celebrations during the month of December.  To kick off the Christmas season we hosted a Christmas cookie baking day with some of the ladies here at Refugio.  This year the Ecuadorian ladies really enjoyed learning how to make "cut-out" cookies.  As with last year we each brought a couple of recipes to share (which means translating), then we made the recipe.  I think the most enjoyable part  for the ladies though, was being able to take the Christmas cookies home to share with their families.  As with tradition, at lunch we stopped and enjoyed Howie's delicious BBQ burgers and fries.  For those of you who know me well, I am not a huge fan of the kitchen, so I tend to float and clean pans as they are used and needed for more recipes.  I also love just listening to all the talking and laughing that goes on as they learn new things and experience "The Joys of Baking"!

Nathaly and I stirring the fudge.

Katy, Nathaly, Diana, Erica, Kari, myself, Anita, Piedad, Angelica and Suzy.

Learning how to make Christmas cut out cookies.

Feliz Navidad!