A Tribute

How do you write a tribute about a person that shouldn't even be gone?  It has been nearly a month since the Lord took two precious people home to Heaven - Julie and Timothy Kurrle.  Since then I have been "wanting" to write a blog...."wanting" is not the right word.  Who "wants" to write about something like this?  I have been needing to write this blog.  I have been avoiding writing this blog.  I don't feel worthy to reflect on Julie's life as there are people who were so much closer to her than I.  I don't want to have to fully face all of my feelings and fears.  At this point, I am simply compelled to write this blog.

On April 18, Julie Kurrle, a precious friend, and her six year old son Timothy (my choice for Ruth's future husband since the day he was born!) were killed in a tragic car accident while serving as missionaries in Paraguay.  Norberto, husband to Julie and devoted father to Timmy, and their daughter, Anahi, survived the accident and are now fighting to find their way without the light and love of Julie and Timmy shining at their sides.

 

Norberto and Julie Kurrle with Anahi and Timmy

I am not even sure when Julie and I met, but by our senior year at Anderson University we became roommates, sharing a campus apartment with two other best buddies.  While Julie and I didn't move in exactly the same social circles at school, we had one passion that connected us until now, and for all of eternity...our passion for Jesus!

Julie shared my joy the day that Victor asked me to marry him....that day was Victor's birthday, November 11, 1997, so I had planned on making him a great Mexican meal to really impress the man whom I dreamed of marrying.  (That's a whole other blog post that I would also rather avoid writing...due to the embarrassment it would cause me.  Just think "crunchy rice." :-0)  I had also purchased some sparkling cider to make the birthday dinner extra special.  As dinner time approached, I opened the kitchen cupboard to get out the cider, but there was no cider!  Considering that I had gone grocery shopping at about 2:00 a.m. at Meijer's, I figured I had misplaced the cider.  However, after searching the car, my bedroom, every cupboard, etc., I gave up and forgot about the mystery.  Victor arrived and the evening ended much different than I had planned....with an engagement ring on my finger! 

After getting back to the apartment and telling "the girls" all the gushy details, Julie disappeared and came back with sparkling cider....my sparkling cider...the missing sparkling cider!  She, and the other girls, knew all about Victor's plan to propose, including his intentions to serve me sparkling cider (out on the dock over the pond in the park....oops!  that's another blog!).  So, when Julie realized that I had also purchased sparkling cider, she hid mine in the bottom of her dirty laundry bin!  Nope, I hadn't looked there!

Then, spring break our senior year the four of us roomies decided to take a road trip to the Grand Canyon!  OK, so it was over 24 hours of straight driving and we had only one week!  We took turns driving and drove straight through!  We saw the Grand Canyon and then visited another friend in Colorado, went rapeling, caving, snow-shoeing, slid backwards down a mountain road, just about missed Monument Valley National Park by driving through it at night (didn't even realize we would be driving through it, but we got too tired to keep driving, slept parked in a hotel parking lot and woke up in the morning to an incredible sunrise over a spectacular landscape ), had to sit on the trunk of the car to close it, used a snowbank for a cooler (duh, we went camping in March in the Grand Canyon- hadn't thought about that one either and just about froze that first night!), etc.  The most memorable part of the trip?  It soon became a tradition that anytime the four of us reached a goal, did something incredible or simply had just survived another crazy experience, one of us would break into the Doxology.  The other three would promptly stop whatever they were doing and join right in!  We sang the Doxology in the craziest places...the most memorable rendition was right on the edge of the Grand Canyon after having spent the entire day hiking to the lowest point you can reach and get back out in one day.

Julie - we're going to sing the Doxology again with an even more incredible view than the Grand Canyon!  Hold on, girl, I'll be there...in His time!

I hadn't seen Julie in years, but had become to marvel at how similar our lives had become.  I could identify so readily with many of her blog entries about the missionary life, Latin American culture, ministry, work teams, motherhood.  Then, when she and Norberto began the adoption process my heart just about burst!  I thanked the Lord over and over again for having given me friends so many years ago that, although things weren't clear at the time, it was now obvious that our hearts had beaten in synch for a long time!

This past year the Lord used Julie in an incredible way to change lives of people that she has never even met!  Julie had placed a link on their blog to Reece's Rainbow, reecesrainbow.org, an organization that promotes the adoption of children with Down Syndrome and other medical issues.  I came across that link late one night while Victor was gone on a crusade.  I'm not even sure why, but I then placed the same link on my Facebook page.  A few weeks later I got an email from another best friend....also a "Julie".  Julie (Lambers) Faulkner and I had been inseparable best friends in Junior High.  This is another friendship that leaves me awestruck at the way that God gave me friends at age 12 that, 24 years later, share the same passions, joys, tears, struggles and loves as I!  The Lord had used that link on my Facebook page to confirm Julie and Chris Faulkner's call to adopt a child with Down Syndrome...a link that had originally come from Julie Kurrle's blog.....it was the Julie/Julie/Julie connection from Paraguay to Mexico to Ohio!

Julie and Chris are now in the process of adopting Ryan...thanks to a simple link on Julie Kurrle's blog, Ryan's life will never be the same...never mind Julie and Chris', their girls', extended family and friends' lives!  You can follow their adventures on their blog:  goingafterone.blogspot.com.

Ryan

When I found out that Julie and Chris were hoping that Ryan's adoption would be final this summer and that Julie and Norberto would be in the U.S. this summer visiting supporting churches and individuals, I had this hair-brained dream of finding a way to get the three Julie's and Ryan together.  Well, we will still be together, someday, just not when I had wanted, but it will be for all of eternity!

The day Julie and Timmy went Home, I found out about the accident from one of our other roommates, my very best college friend, more like a sister, Janelle.  I just "happened" to jump on the computer real quick that afternoon to make some photocopies She told me life-stopping news.  Julie and Timmy were gone.  I couldn't fathom it.  I still can't fathom it.  We cried.  Then we cried.  Then we cried some more.  The next people I called were my parents. 

And then, I called the other Julie, Julie Faulkner.  Even though she never met Julie Kurrle, their lives will be linked forever and she needed to know that the woman God used in order to make her the blessed mother of Ryan was now in Jesus' arms!

During that phone call I came to a realization.  Julie and Chris know that Ryan, barring a miracle, will not live to adulthood due to his many medical difficulties.  Victor and I know that our Daniel, barring a miracle, will not live to adulthood due to his congenital heart and lung defects.

  Daniel and I

 I told Julie Faulkner on the phone, with tears running down my cheeks and my voice cracking:  "You know, Julie, I had dreamed of the three of us Julie's being together here on earth and enjoying each other's adopted kids.  But now Julie can take care of the three boys, Timmy, Ryan and Daniel, until we are all in Heaven together and the "Julie section" is complete!"

Oh, our human finite ways of trying to understand, grasp, imagine all of eternity with an indescribable God!  But, somehow, it helps!

Birthday Galore

This past Sunday was my 36th birthday!  According to my children I am now "old"....not sure what the magic of "36" is, but I am wondering what they will think when I turn 40!  Words cannot express all that I am feeling and thinking as just a few weeks ago the world lost two precious people, one of my very good friends from college, Julie Kurrle, and her 6 year old son Timmy, when they were killed in a car accident serving the Lord as missionaries in Paraguay.  (I have yet to blog about that, but I will.)  So, while Norberto and Anahi (her husband and daughter) are suffering such unexplainable and unfathomable pain, I am celebrating a super-blessed 36th birthday!  It's not fair!  Yet, I believe that I most honor the Lord by fully embracing the joyful moments, thanking Him for His incredible love, undeserved grace (duh, that's an oxymoron-it can't be grace if it is deserved) and faithfulness.  And, when horrific, painful moments come, I will most honor the Lord by fully embracing those moments, thanking Him for His incredible love, undeserved grace and faithfulness.

I woke up early Sunday morning and found the following arrows leading me to my office upstairs:

So, at 5:45 a.m., by myself in the hallway, I counted to three and opened my door....

Wow!  There were balloons and streamers all over the place, plus lots of signs with loving messages from my kids hung all over the walls and windows!  Of course, by then the tears were flowing freely!  Just as they were getting under control, I saw the mailbox.....

Angie had made a homemade mailbox out of cardboard, painted and decorated it and then had all of the kids write beautiful notes or draw pictures for me, put them in envelopes and in my mailbox!  It was stuffed full!  (I really enjoyed her creativity in sticking the mailbox in a vase so that it wouldn't tip over!)

So, devotions Sunday morning were love letters from my kids....I think the Lord understands!  It was incredible the way each of their personalities came out in their letters and notes!  They each touched me in such a special way, but one that particularly encouraged me was from Alejandro, the most recent addition to our family.  He is 12 years old and quite the handful at times, having never lived under loving authority, which most 12 years old don't particularly like anyway, and even less when structure, order and chores are totally new concepts (along with love, kindness and generosity, rather than revenge, self-defense and an "I'm out to get you" attitude towards the world in general).  In his rough handwriting and misspelled words that appear to be more like those of a seven year old, rather than a 12 year old, due to the fact that he had never gone regularly to school, he wrote:  "Thank you for accepting me because now you are my mom.  Thank you for accepting me because now we are a family."  I leaned back on the loveseat in my office and whispered out loud, with tears on my cheeks:  "He's got it!  He's got it!"  (This was particularly moving because we had just gotten through one heck of a week together...I will leave that part to your imagination!)

Guess what?  Jesus gave me a birthday present too!  I teach a women's Sunday School class at church every week to about 30 women.  It is one of the highlights of my week!  We are wrapping up a series on spiritual gifts and I had been waiting for a particular email from a pastor in Canada with some information that I wanted to include in this week's class.  After having given up hope that he would respond, on Friday morning I opened my email and there were the long-awaited and very-much-needed files!  Praise God!  Well, I didn't download them (blonde error #3657) because, if they are in my email, I can access them whenever, right?  Wrong!  We lost our internet connection on Friday afternoon for unexplainable reasons.  By Sunday morning after having done every trick in the book (unconnect modem, turn off computer, reset modem, unplug everything, turn it all back on, etc.), and after having reported the problem to the phone company....nothing!  I reset the modem AGAIN!  Nothing!  So, I sat down at the computer, opened Word and told the Lord: "OK, Lord, I am going to prepare the worksheet for the ladies with the blanks to fill in, even though I don't even know what goes in the blanks because the answers are trapped in my email.  On the way to church, we will stop by Office Max and I will download the files.  That will only give me 15 minutes to go over the material before we get to church.  Help me out here, Jesus.  You know I didn't get the info until Friday.  You know Victor and the team are gone on crusade, Rosa is sick and I am in charge of the entire Ranch, school, cooking, etc."  I felt total peace and started typing away on the ladies' worksheet.  About 10 minutes later, out of nowhere, I glanced down and my internet signal was back!  I started to cry (for the third time that morning) and actually said out loud:  "Thank you, Jesus, for my birthday gift.....our internet connection....just on time!"

I am full convinced, now more than ever, that when Jesus calls we are to simply obey and He will provide all that we need in order to fulfill that call...even when what we need is an internet connection!  (Albeit, He does provide according to His time frame which, in my opinion, is usually cutting it a bit close:-)

And, now, for the icing on the cake!  Victor and the team got back home at midnight Saturday night from a great Evangelistic Medical Mission Crusade to Michoacan.  So, we were all anxious to have some family time together!  Victor surprised me by taking the entire family out to eat at his and my favorite restaurant.  We hadn't eaten there as a family in over two years, so it was a very special outing!  There is nothing that I enjoy more than being with my family and few things fill me with more joy than to be in a public place and have 18 kids of just about 18 different shades of color calling out, "Mom!" and watching all the heads turn!  God is so good!  (Even in the bad times... God is so good, because He just is good...He is the definition of goodness!)

It's the Zaragoza version of "The Last Supper" painting!

Chocolate cake will always make me smile like this!

Adventures with Martha

Life happening has prevented me from writing about life happening!  And there is a lot of life happening with 18 kids around!  Gabriel, a family friend of ours and the person who produces our Fishers of Men promotional DVD's, was at the house the other day working on a new DVD.  I caught him kind of just standing there and gave him a quizzical look.  He responded:  "This place is just so real."  Yeah, that would be one way to describe Refuge Ranch...."real".  There are real successes, real failures, real hugs and real fights and, last week, even real accidents!

Last Friday one of the kids called me out of school because Martha was in her room crying and holding her head!  I went to see her and she just kept repeating, "My head hurts", but could give no explanation as to what had happened or even how she had gotten to her bedroom!

I went back downstairs and started asking around until one of the other kids informed me that the phone had rang and that, after several rings, Martha and Martita had both ran to answer it.  (Up to this day, I don't know who called!)  However, they collided on their way to the phone and Martha fell and hit her head on our cement floor!  Since she had gotten up right away and gone to her room, everybody around assumed that she was OK.  Well, a half an hour later she could not remember what had happened (although she knew who we were, the day, her own name, etc.).  Worst yet she would ask me, "Mom, why does my head hurt?"  I would explain what had happened and no more than a minute later she would ask the same question again!  This happened over and over in less than five minutes and I realized that she was not retaining any new information!  I thought:  "This could make school a little difficult!"

A few minutes later Victor pulled up from running errands.  After informing him of the latest happenings, we decided to take Martha to the nearest private hospital, about 25 minutes away, to have her checked out.  After x-rays that threw out any possibility of a skull fracture, and an IV for inflammation and pain, Martha seemed to perk up and we were released from the emergency room.  However, by the time we got home 30 minutes later, Martha was crying again and was still confused and unable to retain any new information.  So, we called Dr. Escamilla, our lead doctor on the Evangelistic Medical Mission Crusade volunteer team and a retired military doctor.  He, in turn, contacted a medical school friend of his who is a neurosurgeon.

Enter the next piece of the puzzle, "our" volcano, Popocatepetl, has been very active for the last two weeks and the level of alert has gone up one level.  (We call it "our" volcano because it dominates the eastern horizon at Refuge Ranch and is framed by all of our eastern windows.)  So, Victor did not feel comfortable leaving the rest of the kids at home with Adrian and Vero while he and I traveled nearly 3 hours to the north side of Mexico City to see the neurologist with Martha.  I didn't feel right about having Martha go to the doctor with Adrian and Vero, but without a parent.  The solution?  Victor stayed home with the kids and I went to the hospital with Adrian, Vero and Martha.

The Popo from a news photo.  This view is from the opposite side as Refuge Ranch.  Here you can see the crater, which is not visible from our side.

Martha in the hospital.

After a thorough external neurological exam, the doctor decided to admit Martha to the hospital for observation.  I was so glad that I had gone with her and felt much relieved that if her condition changed during the night there were people around to help out!  After more IV's and some rest, she seemed quite a bit better the next morning and was released around noon.  We finally got home around 6 p.m. to a volcano that had never exploded (thank the Lord!) and a family anxious to have Martha back!

 Both of us happy right before Martha was released from the hospital.

Today, Thursday, she finally seems back to normal...not sleeping so much, not forgetting things and having a good laugh every time the phone rings and we yell: "Martha, don't run to the phone!"  The Bible promises: "that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28) and this situation has proven no different.

When Martha first joined our family, she had a noticeable lack of strength and control over the right side of her body.  With exercises at home, given to us by an orthopedic physician, the condition has improved quite a bit.  However, when the neurologist examined her he, of course, noticed the deficiency on her right side.  So, he has asked us to have an electroencephalogram (EEG) done in the next few weeks for him to check out and see if he can determine what caused her condition and if anything can be done to improve her coordination and motor skills.

We are so thankful to now have a neurologist whom we can trust to dig into Martha's situation and see how we can more effectively help her to be all that God wants her to be!  We praise the Lord for His graceful protection and that her fall did not lead to anymore complications.  We continue to ask for your prayers as she could still experience effects from the fall for up to 6-10 weeks.

I have shared on other occasions about health care in Mexico:  the lack of its availability and quality.  Government hospitals are infamous for having a lack of equipment, lack of staff and for making people wait for hours, even in serious medical situations!  Therefore, our family uses private doctors and hospitals.  However, in order to be seen at a private hospital you have to walk in with money in cash, in hand.  In order for Martha to be seen at the second hospital, I had to lay out nearly $500 dollars upfront, just for her to be attended to!

The most feasible "health insurance" for our family is a separate bank account that we have set up as an emergency medical account, with the goal of having $1000 always in that account and available in the event of a medical emergency.  The day we went to the hospital with Martha, that account had only $365.00 dollars in it, due to past medical expenses.  Martha's medical care this past weekend totaled $675.00.

Therefore, I would like to share three immediate financial needs that our family and ministry has in the medical area:

• the additional $310.00 to cover Martha's medical expenses from this past weekend
• $1000.00 to replenish the emergency medical account in order to be prepared in the case of any type of medical emergency which would require cash to be available on-hand for our family or staff member to receive the needed medical attention
• six of our children need eyeglasses (with several more left to be examined this coming week).  The volunteer optometrist from the Evangelistic Medical Mission Crusades examines the kids and does not charge us for her services, but we need to pay for the glasses.  The cost for the six children who currently need glasses is a total of: $175.00 - a little less than $30.00 per child!

If the Lord leads you to give towards any of these needs, you may send your tax-deductible contribution to:

Fishers of Men

P.O. Box 352016

Toledo, OH 43635

Or you can choose to go directly to our website: fishersofmenmexico.org to donate directly on-line!

Speaking of the website:  it's gotten a makeover! So, click on over and check it out!

BONUS PICTURE:

Three year old David trying to push his loaded dump truck!

Storybook Lives

Our family loves to read and there are times when our life resembles some of the storylines that we have enjoyed!

"Would you, could you...read in a tub?  hanging from a tree?" 

This is one of my all time favorite pictures.  It is from2 006.  Diana, forever creative, hung an old washtub from a tree and sat in it with Josiah to read her little brother a book....two bookworms in a tree...well, almost! 

            The other day I was in school in the afternoon and Alejandro came in.  The following conversation ensued:

            Alejandro: Mom, do you have a band-aid?  (OK, so what Mother gives their kid a band-aid without investigating why they need a band-aid?)

            Me: Alejandro, who cut themselves?

            Alejandro:  Miguel

            Me: How did he cut himself?

            Alejandro:  On a nail.

            Me: Was the nail rusty?

            Alejandro: No

            Me: Bring me the nail.  (OK, so what Mother asks the kids to bring her the nail instead of the bleeding child?  Judging by Alejandro's demeanor I came to the conclusion that the bleeding was not life-threatening and we could first resolve the issue of the rusty/not rusty nail.)

            Alejandro: I can't.

            Me: Why not?

            Alejandro: The nail is attached to the board.

            Me: Then bring me the board.

            Alejandro: I can't.

            Me: Why not?

            Alejandro: The board is attached to the scooter.

            (OK, so this is the point at which this conversation began to remind me of the storyline of: “The House that Jack Built”...you know the one!  “This is the house that Jack built.  This is the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. This is the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built, etc..."  My little ones love that book because I always read the last four or five pages, which are the last run through of the entire list of “this is the whatever that did whatever of the whatever that whatever the house that Jack built” in just one breath, which means that I end up reading really fast and agitated to get done without fainting!  OK, back to our version of “This is the Cut that Miguel Made”.)

            Me:  Then bring me the scooter (laughing out loud.)  No, please just go bring me Miguel.  (My motherly instinct finally kicked in and I remembered the issue here was not the nail, but my son's bleeding finger.)

            Alejandro:  I can't. 

            Me: (thinking to myself) He can't bring me Miguel?  OK, so he couldn't bring me the nail because it was attached to the board.  He couldn't bring me the board because it was attached to the scooter.  He couldn't bring me the scooter because it is too big.  Now he can't bring me Miguel?  Why not?  (out loud)  Please tell me that Miguel is not attached to the nail that is attached to the board that is attached to the scooter that you can't bring me!?

            Alejandro: No (I don't even remember now the explanation that he gave me as to why he couldn't bring me Miguel!)

            Me: Alejandro, go to the downstairs bathroom.  Under the changing table is a clear plastic box with a  pink lid.  There are band-aids inside.  Tell Miguel to wash his finger with water and soap and put on a band-aid.

            Then, I turned my attention back to Diana and her Word Building homework.

 "Would you, could you...read in the living room with a whole bunch of kids, including little ones playing round about?"

This is back from 2009 (I think) when we homeschooled in the house.  This is our read-aloud time...the Narnia series! 

            Earlier that morning (I think!) we had had another storybook morning.  Victor and Angie were still gone on crusade, the ninth day, and Diana and Martita had done excellent jobs of helping me with the cooking and even a good deal of the cleaning.  This morning Martita was in the big kitchen reheating leftovers sent to us by the youth group on Sunday, but they weren't going to be enough.  We needed to make some additional scrambled eggs with chorizo (a Mexican sausage).  The only person available and capable of such a task was Diana.  The problem was she had already gotten three of the little ones ready that morning (while I had been on the phone with my mom) and had worked a ton all week helping out.  But, I had no other choice than to ask for her help....again!  So, I approached Diana:

            Me: Would you, could you, (this is the point where “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss came to mind) would you, could you make scrambled eggs and chorizo...in a train, with a goat, in a boat, in our kitchen for your siblings?

            Diana: (laughing) Yes, Mom, I will make scrambled eggs and chorizo.

            Whew!  Dilemma solved and breakfast made!

 "Would you, could you...read in a hammock?"  

            So, you see, we truly do live a storybook life....just probably not the storybook you first had in mind, is it?

            There is a storybook that we do desire to live out each and everyday and that is the story of the Bible!  It is a story of redemption, of restoration, of hope, of love, of salvation.  It is a story on which we depend...for our own salvation and for the wisdom to work restoration, love and hope into the lives of our children.  At the same time, our own story is being written and it is a story like none other, just as your story is like none other.  However, my greatest peace and rest is in the fact that I personally know the Author of our story: (“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  Psalm 139:16) and He has promised me that our story has a happy ending (my favorite kind!): (“For I know the plans (the storyline) I have for you, “ declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11)

            Our prayer is that our life, our children's lives and the ministry that the Lord has given us, serves as a letter, (“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.  You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the  Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”  2 Corinthians 3:2-3), as a story, that gives testimony to the world of the one and only true Word.....Jesus Christ! (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  John 1:1)

            Let's get to writing some stories....the story of each of our lives, with Christ as the Author and the world as the audience!  I can guarantee you that the end is the best part!

"Would you, could you....read at bedtime?"

"Would you, could you....read outside?"

This is our read-aloud time during our homeschool day now.  If it is nice out, but not too warm in the sun, we love to read outside!  Here we were reading "Mrs.Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" in Spanish. 

 "Would you, could you...read at naptime?"

OK, so after looking for "reading" pictures I realized that maybe I am the one who likes to read and everybody else just gets dragged into this!  In general, when our children first join our family they have had few reading experiences and generally don't like to read.  I thank the Lord that it is becoming more and more common to find them stowed away with a book and, lately, writing their own stories!  (Is there such a thing as "adoptive genetics"?  Or maybe the same reading/writing bug that has bitten their Grandpa and Mom has now bitten them!) One of my hopes and prayers is that they each fall in love with the written word, but, even more so, that the fall in love with the Living Word!

Sometimes It Just Can't Get Any Better

It is 12:30 a.m. Mexico time (2:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time)...not my usual hour to write a blog, but some things just have to be said when they have to be said!

I just got done saying goodnight (good morning?) to six of the most precious young ladies on the face of the earth: Diana, Martita, Lolis, Martha, Fatima and Joce, who, by the grace of God, just happen to be my daughters!  We just finished watching a good romantic comedy.  You know, the kind with the great happy ending (that really makes you miss your husband when he is out of town!).  We laughed, ate lots of ice cream, 3 liters of Coca Cola and two bags of chips.  See what I mean when I say that "sometimes it just can't get any better"?

In all seriousness, tonight was our now near traditional "girls movie night when Dad is on crusade".  However, in order to not instill jealousy into the others who don't fit into the adolescent/teen girl bracket, I have extended the tradition this weekend.  Earlier this evening it was the seven youngest, plus Alejandro, and I watching a family friendly dog movie.  Tomorrow night it will be my other three middle boys (a movie with enough violence to make them happy and not enough violence to offend Mom:-)...good luck finding one like that!  So, you see, there are perks to having 18 kids...I get ice cream, pop and chips three times this weekend!  (Somebody please warn my bathroom scale before I step on it Monday morning!)

The two people missing in all of this chip-eating, soda-guzzling, giggling, movie mania?  Victor, the earthly love of my life, and Angie, our eldest!  They are both on one of Fishers of Men's longest crusades of the year (nine days) to the garbage dumps in the city of Puerto Vallarta and then on up into the mountains of the state of Jalisco to some remote and very needy villages.    See what I mean when I say that "sometimes it just can't get any better"?

What could be better than knowing that you are living out the purpose for which you were created in your mother's womb? What could be better than enjoying movie, laughter, fun and food with your kids?  What could be better than knowing that your husband and eldest daughter are sacrificially carrying the love of Jesus Christ in tangible ways to people desperate for hope and healing?

WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN KNOWING JESUS CHRIST?

"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith."  Philippians 3:7-9

"Preach it, Paul!" (The Apostle Paul, that is!)

I am so thankful that nearly each day this last week there was an additional staff member/volunteer here to help us out while Victor is gone:  Nayeli is a young woman who comes three times a week to do laundry...she is quiet and many times we don't even notice her as she goes about her tasks!  However I do notice she has been here, once she has left, when I go to get the little boys dressed the next day and find their little underwear, socks, t-shirts and pants all neatly folded in their drawers and hung in their closet!  You may have never thought about it, but doing laundry for Jesus is a beautiful ministry!  And what a blessing to our lives!

Mireya is a local homeschooling mom who began coming to the Ranch three times a week in order for us to help her teenage son with his English.  Shen then offered her volunteer services in exchange.  Well, she gives much more than she receives!  She now handles all of our first grade Spanish students (Carolina, Ruth and Bernabe...and now Ana and Berenice have joined the class!) three mornings a week and helps out with the older kids on those afternoons. 

But, tomorrow and Sunday it's just me and the 17 (remember, Angie is on crusade with Victor).  What  a huge privilege, honor and joy!

Remember I opened by saying that some things just need to be said when they need to be said?  I needed to write this blog right now because by 3 p.m. tomorrow afternoon when the Saturday chores are not nearly as far along as I would like (happens every week!), when the bickering is at a daily high, when three of the older girls leave for liturgical dance practice, thereby reducing the number of hands available for the unfinished chores, when I can't figure out what to make for supper while getting Saturday baths and showers started, I will need to reread tonight's blog to remember that while "sometimes it just can't get any better", there are many times when it could truly be a whole lot better!  Like earlier this week when we were right on schedule (mind you it was only 8:15 a.m.), when the hot water hose under the sink began to spew all over the kitchen.  Five or so kids quickly grabbed all available brooms and tried to sweep the water out the door as quickly as it was pouring onto the floor; while I sent three of the boys up the hill to turn off the main water hose that feeds our house from the water tank; while I called Cirino (our mason and farmhand) to quickly come to our aid (while Daniel began to explore the quickly forming puddles in the kitchen thinking that this being able to splash in puddles inside the house was a pretty cool thing)!  I'm not sure exactly how the math works in all of this, but while that situation really only took about 30-45 minutes to control and remedy, it seriously set me back an entire morning.  Oh yeah, then I had to give out medicine to at least nine of the kids suffering from a cold (another 2012 crusade tradition: the kids get sick while Dad is gone), which took about an hour and then....well, I really don't know what then, all I know is that we finished breakfast, flooded the kitchen, gave out medicine and then it was, well, time to make lunch!  It was one of the "many times that anything would be better" (otherwise known as: "the many times it just can't get any worse"), which makes it all more important to remember the few "sometimes when it just can't get any better".

So, to help along the "sometimes it just can't get any better" cause of the night, here are a few more snapshots from this week.

I was in school and had just handed 7 year old Caleb a math test.  He took it over to the testing table and sat down.  A few seconds later I glanced over at him, my heart jumped into my throat and my eyes immediately teared up.  There he was, my precious 7 year old Caleb, with his little blond head bowed, his gentle eyes closed and his hands folded in his lap, praying before he started his test!  Praise Jesus!  Thank you, Jesus! May Caleb forever seek Your wisdom and help that way!

I was quickly going back and forth from the warehouse/kitchen/dining room, where we prepare and eat lunch and supper, and our house, getting dishes and ingredients for the next meal to be prepared, when my ears were greeted with a beautiful sound.  Ruth and Carolina, both 6 years old, were singing praises at the top of their lungs while seated underneath the treehouse-in-process.  They had the play guitar, their baby dolls and an audience of One.  Add to that the late afternoon sun and the smell of dry leaves and the entire scene was heavenly!  (We are in the middle of dry season here and it feels like an unseasonably warm late September back in southeast Michigan where I grew up...must of the leaves have fallen off the trees, just brown, no bright colors, so now they crinkle under our feet and send off that musty aroma warmed by a late afternoon sun....just delicious!)

 Ruth and her dolly

Carolina singing praises

Finally, Ana, oh our little Ana (five years old).  I was in my office finishing up devotions the other morning when Victor called for his daily "good morning" call while on crusade.  I picked up the phone in the office and Ana picked up the phone downstairs.  She heard Victor and I talking and then asked:  "Mommy, why are you in the office and not down here?"  "Well, Ana, I was finishing up my devotions when Daddy called."  Up to that point, I had not realized that the other little ones, at least David and Daniel, were also awake and in the living room.  I then hear Ana yell, both through the phone and reverburating through the house, "Hey, kids, come and say hi to Mom!  She's on the phone!"  No matter that I was also simply upstairs in the office, nor did it matter that I was the parent with them 24/7 for these nine days and that the one they really needed to say "hi" to on the phone was Daddy!  The rest of them must have figured it out because nobody came to the phone to say hi to Mommy!

Here Ana is helping chop up tomatoes 

for one of the meals this week.

One of the things that the kids enjoy when Victor and most of our staff are gone on crusades is that I have to do the cooking...although I do very little cooking and a whole lot of instructing as the kids are great about pitching in!  Diana made a mean spaghetti dinner with garlic bread tonight and Martita took the initiative to make homemade jello for everybody...and not just any jello (different flavors, different colors, some two-toned, some milk-based and some water-based!).  

Cooking with your kids....sometimes it just can't get any better!

 

Then there is our three year old virtuoso piano player, David!  (Actually, he simply loves "playing along" with pre-recorded Demo songs!)  He might not be a virtouso piano player... yet, (the kid has a ton of musical interest and talent) but he does do a pretty convincing acting job!

I am praying that the  Lord will bless you with some "Sometimes It Just Can't Get Any Better" moments soon!

Blessings Beyond Measure

If there were a type of barometer or thermometer to measure one's blessings, ours certainly would have blown out its top!

• We know, love and serve a living God who has provided eternal salvation through the death and resurrection of His One and Only Son Jesus Christ and who has stamped our lives with GRACE!
• Not a day goes by that our Heavenly Father does not provide for all of our needs!
• God has called us to serve Him not because we are capable but because He is, well, God! ("Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God." 2 Corinthians 3:5)
• He has given us family (our marriage, 18 incredibly beautiful and marvelous children, extended family), a wonderful local church, faithful friends and....YOU!
• He has showered upon us the amazing opportunity to see lives transformed on a daily basis (albeit a slow transformation at times:-) and individuals come into the light of knowing Jesus Christ

 However, there are times that those blessings become more tangible than others.  The last two weeks for our family was one of those "tangible blessing" times because we had the opportunity to hug, play with and talk to some of those blessings!  Huh?!  Let me explain!

This year my parents (Julie's parents) will be celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary!  There are not words enough, even if you combine the English and Spanish languages, to express my gratitude to God, and to them, for those years!  The older I become (my kids would say that I am old already, I continue to believe I am young!) the more I realize the impact on my life of the solid foundation that my parents provided for my brother and I, not only in our faith in God, but by providing a home where that faith was lived out in a real way everyday.  I cannot describe the richness of the gift for my own children now of having not only parents, but grandparents committed to life-long marriage and, not just marriage, but life-long love, after every single one of them (other than our three biological children) have come from broken homes.  (Broken is not a strong enough adjective to describe their past family situations!)  Dad and Mom/Grandpa and Grandma, through their marriage, their love and the incredible way they love all of their grandchildren (adopted and biological) has enriched and strengthened our family and ministry in ways, once again, beyond measure!

As any mother knows, she is never happier than when all of her children are together!  In our family, that only includes my brother and I, but even with only two of us in the mix times together have been few and far between!  In fact, the last time that our entire family was together was 5 years ago!  God, in His incredible mercy and love, gave the good gifts (Matthew 7:11; James 1:17) to make it possible for my parents to provide our family (the Zaragoza family) and my brother's family with an all-expense-paid vacation to Zihuatanejo, Guerrero so that we could all be together to celebrate their anniversary!

We returned this past Saturday from an incredible time together - the 20 Zaragozas, my parents and my brother with his wife and two kids!  Therefore, we got to hug, play with and talk to some of the richest blessings in our life....family!  ("God sets the lonely in families."  Psalm 68:6)


I could write and write and write about all we experienced, the ways in which God met us, and the renewed spirit with which we have returned to Refuge Ranch and the ministry at hand, but my prayer is that the following pictures would serve as conduits straight to your heart of the love, mercy, joy, and Living Water that was poured into our hearts during these days.  To God be the glory!

 The ENTIRE family!  Praise God!

 Cozy Cousin Time!

 

 Two of our boys basking in time with their uncle!  (They have never had an uncle before!)

  

Victor and I and nine of the kids (9 of the youngest) on an early morning crab hunt!

If you have ever been to Refuge Ranch you will know that one of your biggest challenges will be trying to get a picture of Fidel's face (he hates getting his picture taken)!  An even bigger challenge is trying to get a picture of Fidel's face smiling!  (Culturally people in Mexico are taught not to smile for pictures.)  But, praise the Lord, we have found a way to get a smiling picture of Fidel!  Take him Deep Sea Fishing!  My brother blessed Victor and several of our kids with a 1/2 day fishing trip!  Incredible!

Fun in the pool!

Cousins playing together!  It is the picture of the old Sandy Patti song:  "Love in Any Language".  My brother did a great job prepping his son with some basic Spanish, but, besides that, playing cars can be done in any language, any culture and any country.  It is not "culture specific", it's just a boy thing!

What a precious gift...time with my Dad (and, of course my Mom...who is taking the picture!)..and my kids!  (Oh, and don't forget the cup of Starbucks coffee!  Dad continues to put his best foot forward in getting me to stop drinking the "instant stuff" and switch to "true coffee." :-)

Victor and I with a few of the kids enjoying time building with the sand on the beach.

Thank you, Jesus, thank you Dad and Mom and thank you, Grandma Claassen!