The Best Thanksgiving Ever

It turned out to be, literally, my best Thanksgiving ever, in part because it was the Thanksgiving that wasn't going to be!

Thanksgiving, if you have never given it any thought, is strictly a U.S. holiday. After all, it celebrates God's provision and faithfulness in the lives of the first Pilgrims to our nation and the way in which He met their needs through the Indians' generosity in teaching local agricultural techniques. Therefore, no other nation in the world celebrates Thanksgiving. It is a day that goes by totally unperceived by anybody else in the world, other than United Statesens! (I know that is a new word, but that is what we are called in Spanish and it makes more sense than "Americans" because there are a lot more people in North and South American than just us!)

Ever since we moved to Mexico our Thanksgiving experiences have been varied. There were several years in which we did nothing. The prospect of preparing a huge dinner by myself full of food that my family is not used to and doesn't always like in order to share a tradition that nobody fully understood or appreciated was not my idea of fun! One year my mom was here, so we worked together on the meal and even made the kids wear Indian headresses and Pilgrim bonnets after we taught them the Thanksgiving story. Can I just say that the picture from that Thanksgiving dinner was of some of the grumpiest little Pilgrims and Indians that I have ever seen? Two years ago, U.S. staff member Ashleigh was here at Refuge Ranch, so I had a bit more help to prepare dinner and help to rally the family around eating weird foods for a holiday they did not grow up celebrating. Last year, the Marshall family had only lived in Mexico for about a month, but we celebrated Thanksgiving with enough food for an army and spent the entire day before cooking in preparation for the big meal.

The big question this year was: Will there be Thanksgiving at Refuge Ranch? Victor kept asking (I think he was worried about the grocery bill). The kids really didn't care, they just wanted to know if there was Thanksgiving to know when we were going to go get the Christmas tree. Becky, a Mexican crusade volunteer who lived in the U.S. for over 10 years, would call and ask because she has joined us for Thanksgiving on other occasions, since she also appreciates the day due to her time in the U.S. My answer? NO!

Victor would be arriving from crusade on Thanksgiving day. I was here at the ranch with only two staff members, both Mexican, and the thought of cooking the entire meal was daunting, especially after barely surviving recent daily life with so many in the family ill. However, the biggest reason for not wanting to celebrate Thanksgiving was not a physical reason, but emotional.

I didn't want to have to face my kids' indifference!

Our adopted children, before coming to our home, had rarely, or ever, celebrated anything, whether that be birthdays, Christmas, vacations, etc. While these celebrations are part of our life as a family, such celebrations are greeted with varying responses. Some children join in wholeheartedly. For others, celebrating now just reminds them of all the times they should have celebrated before and never had the opportunity to do so. So, celebrations are like pouring salt in an open wound. (These celebrations help cleanse the wound, much like salt does, but the process is painful for all involved.) Others simply don't know how to react to so much joy and celebration, so indifference and setting themselves apart is the easiest way to go!

With Victor gone on crusade and no other U.S. staff, I did not have the emotional energy to try and make everybody experience Thanksgiving. Well, Wednesday afternoon, our staff member Ana pulled me aside and asked me if I was OK. That was all it took for the tears to flow!

I explained how Thanksgiving was probably my favorite holiday because of its purpose - thanking God! I reminisced what Thanksgiving was like as a child - the most beautiful church service of the year and spending time at home with my parents and brother. Simple, yet beautiful. I shared how my parents were probably driving to church right then and that my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece (who I still have not met in person) would be at my parents house the next day. I tried to communicate the restlessness inside me: I would not want to be in the U.S. because that would mean not being with my husband and children - my most precious treasures on the face of the earth. There is no where else I want to be besides Refuge Ranch, but that doesn't mean that there aren't times where I don't miss something that is happening back at my childhood home; or miss the simplicity of what I know others are celebrating, without all the complexities of having 12 children who aren't all related, who come from different backgrounds, nearly half of whom are going through puberty, etc. Besides all that, Thanksgiving is another "thing" that sets me apart from people here, a people I so desperately want to be a part of. My children, besides being adopted, have a Mom who looks different from everybody else, including them, who screws up her Spanish every once in a while and has a different perspective on life than many. While I do my best to diminish those differences, and the Lord has nearly erased them, there are times when those differences seem glaring - like on Thanksgiving!

So, after supper on Wednesday, Ana says to me: "I am going to meet with the girls and teach them how to use the new disinfecting wet ones." (We had bought some of those Clorox disinfecting wet ones to help keep down on germs spreading.) I thought to myself: "How complicated can using wet ones be?" But, I decided not to inquire further. About 10 minutes later, all of my girls came into the living room, along with Renata and Erika (staff daughters) and they all started hugging me. Now, as a mom, when your children simply come up and hug you what is your first reaction? "Ok, what did you do?!" I thought: "Wow, that was some moving Clorox wet-one session!" Then they asked me to sit down on the couch. Now I was getting really worried!

Then, Ana began to share how she and Magda had talked together and had then talked with the girls about how important Thanksgiving was to me and, together, they had all decided that they wanted to help me celebrate Thanksgiving - from the bottom of their hearts and with all their willingness! That was all it took to make the tears flow again! Folks, I don't think I have ever felt so deeply loved by my children and staff EVER! For my kids to willingingly celebrate a holiday, and then to celebrate a holiday that isn't "theirs", to go through tons of work to eat food they don't even really like - all because they love me and want me to be happy and loved - wow, wow, wow! I am crying again as I write this! I have been crying for joy for the last three days and am going to be dehydrated soon!

It was 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday and we had NO groceries for a Thanksgiving meal. As for the menu - no problem! It would be the same as all the years growing up: turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, Grandma Blom's cherry jello, Grandma Blom's corn casserole, Grandma Blom's pecan pie (wow, if it weren't for Grandma Blom we couldn't have Thanksgiving dinner!), and sweet potato casserole (something I have added as an adult to our menu). So, we went grocery shopping! Mind you, the closest Wal Mart is 30 minutes away and we took all the kids with us (except Diana, who stayed home with Magda and Angie who was on crusade with Victor). We got back home at 10:30 p.m. loaded with two turkeys and lots of aluminum baking pans!

Yesterday was incredible! From 8 a.m. until dinner at 4 p.m. the kids worked like I have never seen them work before. Diana, Erika, Lolis and Martha made eight batches of jello and corn casserole (multiply the menu by 5). Fidel and Jocelin made the pie crust. Martita made the pie filling and finished making 7 pecan pies! (She could go into business they were so delicious!) Josiah and Renata made the dinner rolls, 48 of them. Magda made the mashed potatoes and hot fruit punch (a Mexican favorite of mine). Ana made the sweet potato casserole. I made the turkeys. Why did I make the turkeys? Because all you do is put them in the special little turkey bag, put them in the oven and leave them alone! The more I stay out of the kitchen, the better for everybody! I am a much better supervisor than cook. (Besides I had to taste test everything first because I was the only one who knew what everything was supposed to taste like! Come on, somebody had to do the job!) Caleb and Ruth weren't feeling well, so they spent most of the day in bed. (Caleb is fighting a cold and Ruth is getting stronger everyday - an upcoming blog will tell you more about that!) I had the idea for a Thanksgiving tree, so Ana made a big felt tree for the wall of the warehouse/dining room (my craft talent parallels my cooking abilities) and, during dinner, we wrote down our gratitudes on colored paper leaves and taped them to the tree. (I will post a picture later of our Gratitude Tree.) So, Caleb, Ruth and Ana helped cut out leaves.

The Jello and Corn crew: Diana, Lolis, Erika and Martha (not pictured)

The Roll Crew: Josiah and Renata

The Pie Crust Crew: Fidel and Jocelin

Martita making the best pecan pies ever!
(As a Mom, no matter how the would have turned out they would have been the best pecan pies ever because my daughter made them with all her love.)

Little Ana cutting out leaves for the Gratitude Tree.

Big Ana making the Gratitude Tree.

Daniel, on the other hand, made a huge discovery yesterday. He came running into the house, pulled on my sleeve and asked me to go outside with him. We have a small picket fence and gate around a flower garden on one side/front of the house. He had figured out how to unlatch the gate and swing on it! He spent the longest time swinging on that little gate and dying laughing! It was great! One of his sisters scolded him, but I let him keep swinging for many reasons: 1) I don't know how much longer Daniel will be around to swing on a gate. A broken gate can be fixed, his broken heart may not be able to be fixed. So, let his broken heart enjoy a gate, even if the gate breaks. (This same logic does not apply to teeth brushing, picking up toys and other non-negotiables!) 2) He was so overjoyed at his discovery I couldn't dampen that joy with a "no." 3) I remember swinging on the gate at Grandpa and Grandma's farm and it filled my heart with joy, wonder and awe to remember being a little blondie, visiting the farm in Minnesota, never imagining the day that I would be all grown up, watching my adopted son, a little brownie, swing on a gate in Mexico! I mean, is God crazy or what? Watching something as simple as swinging on a gate come full circle was more an act of worship and awe at God's ways and I didn't want to interrupt such a holy moment!

Back to Thanksgiving: I called Victor as he and the team travelled back home from Veracruz yesterday and told him we were going to have Thanksgiving! He had planned on dropping off some of the team members closer to Mexico City, but we asked him to bring them all on out to the Ranch - including Becky! At 3:30 the kids were all bathed and looking handsome, when the team arrived and were invited to sit down to their first ever Thanksgiving meal. I shared the story about Thanksgiving and then the even more touching story of how yesterday's meal was really a love offering from my children (more tears!). More than 35 of us sat down to the most wonderful Thanksgiving meal ever!

As a teenager, I had always wanted to invite people over for Thanksgiving, people who had no place to go. But, as a pastor's daughter, after Dad had given and given and given, he needed home to be a peaceful and quiet place...and he was right. But, good thing that I grew up in a peaceful and quiet home because those would not be two words used to describe our home now!

This Thanksgiving was a dream come true:

• in Mexico where I was always meant to live and be
• with the 12 most wonderful children on the face of this earth
• Victor arrived from doing the work God has called him/us to do despite all he had been and done in his life before Christ
• sharing the table with wonderful staff and volunteers
• having Thanksgiving dinner with over 35 people present!
• best of all - my kids all had genuine smiles on their faces while they ate food they aren't used to for a holiday they hadn't known while growing up - all because they love their Mommy with the love of Christ!
  

The food was excellent, the fellowship was sweet, our Gratitude Tree is full of colorful fall leaves and my heart doesn't fit in my chest. Thank you, Jesus!

Harvest Time!

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:36-38

"Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." John 4:35

It has been harvest time around here lately in so many ways! First of all, it is fall and is literally, in the physical sense of the word, harvest time! Here in Mexico harvest is done the old-fashioned way by putting cornstalks in cornshocks (is that the right word?) - tepee-like structures. There is nothing more beautiful than a bright blue fall sky and a field full of cornshocks - wow!

I have experienced several other types of harvests in the last week. A little over a week ago I attended and helped lead a women's retreat for our church - Mujer de Gracia (Woman of Grace). This began as a women's retreat for ladies from our church, but the Lord exploded it into something so much bigger! Over 140 women attended the retreat, which was held in Acapulco, Guerrero!

All of the women praising the Lord on the beach during devotions Sunday morning!

There are truly not words to describe all that the Lord did that weekend! I had read the verses that I printed above throughout my whole life. But, up to now, my experience with spiritual harvests had included a whole lot of hard work and perseverance. If I have learned anything from my Dad, a pastor, it has been perseverance as he has stayed at the same church for over 35 years, faithfully serving during ups and downs, times of great growth, slow growth and no growth; getting up every morning at 5 a.m. to diligently follow his call to write and then receive reject letter after reject letter from publishing houses. My ministry experience has been much the same - sharing the Gospel with individuals numerous times until they finally accept the Lord, then walking with them as they slowly grow in the Lord, tripping as they go.

However, this women's retreat was a new experience in harvesting for the Lord! It was as if the Holy Spirit had been working on these ladies' hearts for years and they were just waiting for somebody to come along and pick the fruit! And pick fruit we did! Over 25 ladies accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior FOR THE FIRST TIME and 8 of them were baptized in the Pacific Ocean during our devotions on Sunday morning!

Victor and Daniel Caceres baptizing together.

The eight women that were baptized praying after their baptism.

Many of the ladies who made decisions for Christ had heard the Gospel before, on numerous occasions, from family members and friends, but had had hard and callous hearts towards the Lord. Several didn't even want to go to the retreat, but did so because it was a cheap vacation in Acapulco. Others went on the retreat with the intention of going to bars and dance halls while in Acapulco! But, did they ever get the surprise of their lives when the Holy Spirit moved in their hearts and they ended up accepting Jesus Christ! The women were so hungry for love, God's love! It was sheer joy to dish up hugs, encouragement and God's healing Word in abundance!

Me giving morning devotions to the women on the beach! Now that was fun!

The women truly were "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd". Many come from abusive childhoods and are now married to abusive and alcoholic men. One woman came after her husband just left her for another man! Another woman's husband just left her for another woman, while her two sons are homosexuals - one was just married and is a transvestite and the other is in prison. Another told me about accompanying her husband to the table dance bar in desperation that he would accept and love her!

However, its was incredible to watch the transformation that took place in their lives, hearts and faces in only 4 days! They left the retreat with Jesus as their shepherd - no longer lost and wandering, but full of purpose, direction, hope, joy, peace and love! Praise the Lord!

The retreat also gave me the opportunity to harvest several other kinds of harvests! One was with my own children. Adrian, Vero and Ana (three staff members) stayed at home with the kids and....the kids did great! When I have left on other occasions, that has not always been the case, but I felt like the fact that things went smoothly at home was a harvest of having sown love and security into our children's lives over the years, as well as having sown the vision to love the children in our staff's lives.

I was actually the fruit of the third type of harvest. Our main conference speaker at the retreat was Martelisa Caceres. She and her husband Daniel worked for the Indiana State Baptist Convention when Victor and I were pastoring in Logansport, IN (from 1997-2003). Daniel was Victor's supervisor, but came to be like Victor's father. Both Daniel and Martelisa came to Acapulco last week and Victor and I were able to spend some time with them. I told them that all that the Lord was doing in the women's retreat was also a harvest of the time and effort that they had invested in our lives by mentoring, teaching and loving us when we were in Indiana. It was an honor to have them present and witness the way the Lord used Victor and I through the retreat.

Martelisa and Daniel Caceres with Victor and myself

This same type of harvest applies to my own parents. Had it not been for the years and years that they faithfully planted the seeds of God's word, His purposes and plans, and true love in my heart and life as a little girl, I would not be the woman that I am today. Not to even mention the fact that they continue to plant seeds of encouragement in my life on nearly a daily basis, along with consistent and fervent prayer, that I can be a faithful servant of the Lord - like they have been and are!

Finally, the last harvest that I witnessed was a precious gift from God just for me! There are times in our lives when the Lord truly pampers us - not as spoiled children, but as faithful servants. After leaving Logansport over 7 years ago to follow God's call on our lives to come to Mexico, I doubted I would ever have women friends like I had in Logansport. We live over an hour from our church here in Mexico and the simple fact of raising 12 children and coordinating a ministry takes up most of my time! However, in the planning and preparation for this retreat God has blessed me with three wonderful women - all very unique and in different places with the Lord, but who love me dearly and whom I have grown to love - FRIENDS! Yeah! The Lord also blessed me with showers of encouragement from the many ladies who attended the retreat. This year has been a very difficult year emotionally, and their words of love and encouragement were truly a balm from Heaven, a salve for my soul and I cannot thank my Heavenly Father enough for such a special, undeserved and precious gift from Him!

So, run, go and find the harvest! It truly is waiting - just for you!

"220 Power at Refuge Ranch" by Ashleigh

For those of you who are newer to the blog let me kntroduce myself. My name is Ashleigh Weis. I lived at Refuge Ranch for over two years and returned to the states this past spring. Since then I have been working on different fundraisers in the attempt of helping raise the $16,000 needed for 220 power at Refuge Ranch. I talked to Julie about posting on the blog my most recent idea in order to better spread the word and she thought it was a good idea! :)

In the last couple of months I have created a Refuge Ranch cookbook. This fundraiser is specifically for 220 power as I stated before. There is a HUGE need for 220 power at the Ranch. Everyday life is weighed down because there isn’t sufficient power to operate efficiently. Laundry is done almost by hand for over 25 people. They have the laundry room ready to use but they do not have the power to run the washing machines they need. They also have a computer for the children to use for school but at this time they can’t turn it on because the power isn’t consistent enough to keep it on. Another big project at the Ranch is the need for a well but they wouldn’t be able to pump the water from the well unless they have 220 power!

So with that in mind let me tell you a little bit more about the cookbook. The majority of the recipes are authentic Mexican cuisine from Rosa’s gift in cooking. A few American recipes that were well loved at the Ranch are also in the cookbook. There is just about 50 recipes total and I am selling them for $15 (plus S&H for those I have to mail individually). (There are some pictures below of the cookbook to give you an idea on what it looks like.) Some of the recipes include (but are not limited to):

- Arroz con Leche (Rice Milk)

- Granola

- Chicken in Poblano Cream Sauce

- Empanadas (Fried Bread Pockets)

- Tacos

- Tostadas

- Rosa’s Chicken Burgers

- Guacamole

- Apple Carrot Salad

- Zucchini in Cream

So, for those of you who have been to Mexico and know what an amazing cook Rosa is you know what a great opportunity this is. For those of you who have friends and family who love to cook or love authentic Mexican food this is the perfect Christmas present! If anyone would like to buy a cookbook (or a few) please send a check made out to me to my home address which is:

Ashleigh Weis

530 Gish Rd.

Rittman, OH 44270

Please include your name and home address so I can mail the cookbook back to you when the order comes in. Each cookbook is $15 and I am asking for $2.50 for the shipping of one book and a $1 shipping for each additional book. Please note: I will be making the final order on Monday, November 15th. I need to at least know your check is in the mail by then and how many cookbooks you want. If you have any questions feel free to email me at hearhim21@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Ashleigh

PS - If you live near Norma Humphrey, Emy Bridge, Debbie Firebaugh, Corrine Sattler, or Diann Claassen see them about your order because they will all be collecting orders for me at their churches. (That way you wouldn’t need to pay the shipping cost.)

Front Cover

Two Page Spread

Recipes

God at Work...by Lucy

Leslie brushing teeth after a cleaning

Isabel checking eyes

Amelia and Rosa clowning around

Erika showering the kids with confetti

Becky and Mark pray

Someone reading one of the books we pass out to the kids

Lisa taking a blood pressure reading

"Hold me!"

Haircuts in hot weather

Joanna using her creativity on a different kind of canvas!

Aaron and Mark make the kids laugh

Josiah in the train that Mark and Adrian built,
and Rosa and many others finished the night before we left on crusade!

Leonel praying with a woman accepting Christ as Savior

Children are hungry for the good news about Jesus

Gisela checking a patient

Ana cutting hair, lots of it!

Some of our first patients

We just returned from an EMMC to Guerrero on Sunday. We are still processing the things that we experienced on this crusade. Watching God at work is always a joy to watch, and taking pictures to share with others that same joy, is priceless. I couldn't wait to load the photos on the computer to share with all of you. This crusade was different from the first one we went on together as a family in February. Victor sent us to nice homes where we slept in "luxury" the first time (Break us in gently, I think!). This time we slept in a room we shared with cockroaches. After turning the lights off the first night, within 5 minutes, I had cockroaches in my hair. We slept with the lights on the rest of the nights in that room! I kept praying, "Okay, God. What are you trying to teach me through this?" I knew we could tell Victor, and he would probably move us if we wished, but I knew the people we were staying with were giving us the best they could. It was a sacrifice for them to allow us to stay in that room of their home. They owned a little store and gave us a big bottle of water the first night to help us out. The last day they let the kids take a couple of Cokes. They drove us back and forth to the church every day. They sacrificed for us to do what God called us to do there. Now I know that if I had to do that again, I could. I wonder where Victor will put us next time? God was at work!

We have changed since we went on our last crusade. Watching Aaron and Joanna interact with the people we met was amazing. Aaron was walking around "high-fiving" all the kids and goofing around with the staff. Joanna was helping the doctors get patients from one place to another, answering questions, interpreting for those of us who still can't speak the language! She was awesome! Holding the hand of an elderly woman to make sure she didn't fall, or holding a baby while his mama got some medical attention. God was at work!

Aaron, Joanna, and Mark all did clowning for the children's activities. I was going to, but then who would have taken all the pictures of the clowns? I decided to stick with what I do best! Plus I could see the makeup melting off their faces! Joanna interpreted for Emy and then they all did a skit that made the kids laugh. Mission accomplished! God was at work!

We did things we never imagined we would be doing on this crusade. We might think, "How can God use me on a crusade? I'm not a doctor, or dentist, or optometrist, or hair stylist, or evangelist, or I don't speak the language." So what? All God needs is a willing heart! He will use us to bring glory to His name if we let Him. It's so amazing to watch Him work through my family and wonder where He will take us someday to continue bringing the good news of Christ to a hurting world. God is at work!

After all the hard work, and a road so bumpy I thought I might be sick, we also experienced God's blessings so greatly we were overwhelmed. Victor had planned for us to sleep on the beach one night in between crusade locations. A woman at the first church found out about it, and told him we could stay at her place by the ocean. She rents this home to Americans on vacation. Never in our wildest dreams, would we have ever thought God would bless us like He did while we were there. We stayed in nice rooms with a pool nearby and the ocean just a short walk from the house. It was all so beautiful! The sunset was gorgeous, and we had a baptism for Ana, who had come on her first crusade. We were just overwhelmed. At one point, watching the sun set, Mark said, "I don't deserve this," and He was right. We don't. But God loves us anyway! And He is at work!

"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; They will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness." Psalm 145:3-7

Enjoying God's blessings

Ana's baptism

Flying over the waves

Butterflies and Blessings

GOD AT WORK!

On Loan from the Lord: Part Three

Welcome to the third, and final edition, of "On Loan from the Lord." I hope you have enjoyed, as much as I have, this time of catching up on the Zaragoza kids and a few of the highlights of what God has been doing in each of their lives.

Lolis working on her laundry

Lolis, 13 years old, has been with our family for a little over 10 months now and as her life ever changed! One of the biggest changes, and one that has been noticed even more so in that last several months, is her level of responsibility! The older girls must all do their own laundry and each have a day assigned in which they have priority for the washing machine. We used to have to be after Lolis time and time again to do her laundry. Then, once it was washed we would have to be after her time and time again to not leave the wet clothes in the basket, but actually hang them out on the line! Then, we would have to be after her time and time again to take her clothes OFF the clothesline. Then, we would have to be after her time and time again to fold her laundry and put it away! Now all we have to do is remind her to fold it and put it away every once in awhile, but that is that last step in the process. Praise the Lord that she has learned the other steps!

The other place that her responsibility has really shown through, and a tremendous change in attitude, has been in school! Our homeschool curriculum is very self-driven. The students set their own daily work goals, then must meet those goals, check their own homework and set new goals for the next day. When Lolis first arrived, I would help set goals, but she wouldn't meet them; she would mark goals as done when she had never finished them; she would check her homework sloppily and mark wrong answers as correct. On a daily basis, after checking all of her books myself, I would have to call her back to school for another entire hour's worth of work just finishing or re-doing what she claimed to have already done! It was quite a battle and led to many angry faces and bad attitudes.

Praise the Lord that those days are gone! She sets her own goals, realistic yet not easy goals; and I still go over her books at the end of the day to make sure she is on track, but I rarely have to call her back up to school to make any corrections. I NEVER find an error on a page that she has checked and, if I do have to call her up to school, it is for a missed accent or two on some free exercise whose answers aren't in the key. When I call her up she comes up with a good attitude, laughs at her mistakes, corrects them and leaves whistling! Praise the Lord! One of the biggest signs or symbols of this change has been her cursive handwriting. When she arrived last year she couldn't write in cursive at all. Well, now, Lolis has the best cursive handwriting of all of our students! She writes slowly and meticulously. I praise her handwriting on almost a daily basis. Others will have great handwriting on a day that they felt like truly doing their best, but Lolis' handwriting is consistently gorgeous! To me, her change in handwriting: from not knowing how to write in cursive to having, consistently, the best handwriting in school, is an outward symbol of the incredible inner change that the Lord has worked in her life in the last 10 months.

A copy of Lolis' homework from last week! (When she knew I was going to put this on the blog, she got all sheepish and red and said: "Aw, Mom!" However, at the same time she didn't protest a whole lot because she truly loves all the positive praise and attention.)

Jocelin-8 years old

Jocelin's mother, Pati (Victor's sister), passed away a little over a year ago now and Joce is doing very well! She has really shown a greater and more genuine joy in the last several months. She talks about her mom much more than she used to and in normal, everyday conversation, which is a very good thing. When something reminds her of her mom she will pipe in with: "Mom would do ..." or "Mom always liked...."

One of the biggest changes recently has been Joce's incredible willingness to serve and help. When Pati was alive it was a constant battle to get Joce to do her own chores, much less help with anything extra. After Pati's passing, we continued to battle for a time with the chores issue, but that gradually improved. Well, the improvement just continued and, now, it is rare that I have to go look for Joce to do her chores (except on Saturdays, which continue to be a challenge.) Now, not only does she do her chores, but she offers to help out, a lot! She really loves helping Rosa in the kitchen. This may even be slightly therapeutic, as Pati was our cook and even looked a little bit like Rosa. Joce will come up to me several times throughout the day and ask if there is anything I need. She will help make chocolate milk for the little ones before bedtime, will sweep the house once again, will help me carry my many bags on Sunday morning when we go to church, etc. The other night we had a girls' movie night, which Joce doesn't always get invited to, depending on the movie we are going to watch. However, this night I included her and boy was she excited! She "pretended" to go to bed so that the little kids wouldn't suspect anything out of the ordinary and complain about not getting to stay up and eat ice cream, too. Then, when it was time to pull out the ice cream, whipped topping, chocolate syrup, chips and pop, Joce began to play waitress. She was serving everybody's ice cream, pouring all the pop - before the rest of the girls had even come down to the kitchen. I was thinking: "They might want to pick their own flavors of pop and put their own toppings on their ice cream." I didn't quench her willing service and, sure enough, I got to drink the extra glass of pop because she had picked the wrong flavor for somebody. Oh well, that is not too high of a price to pay :-) to be able to watch Joce willingly work and serve!

Diana - 15 years old

Diana and Angie, biological sisters, have been a part of our family the longest of any of our adopted children. Josiah was about to turn 3 years old when they arrived and Caleb was born two weeks after they came. So, it has been nearly 7 years now! My does time fly!

The Lord has blessed Diana with mountains of talent and tons of brains! She is one of those students who doesn't have to study much, gets really nervous about tests and aces them all! She plays piano and violin and has an incredible ear for music. (In fact, I have to make sure that I don't play a song for her because she will just play it by ear, rather than reading the music!) She is a very creative writer and wrote an incredible short story several weeks ago and even composed a song this past week. Diana is a natural born leader who you very rarely see alone- there is always somebody tagging along behind her (Diana is always the one out in front!). She is the comic of the family and regularly makes us laugh! (Like the time she was taking a shower and says to me: "Mom, hand me the shampoo, would you?" I am thinking: "I just gave the little ones a bath and the shampoo was right there!" As she sensed my hesitation she says: "There is a bottle of shampoo here, but it says that it is for dry hair and mine is wet already!" (I died laughing. For the other blondes out there: the shampoo was designed for dry hair that needed to have special treatment to rehydrate.)

Logic is not Diana's strongpoint. Several nights ago, at about 9 p.m., I heard her and several of the other girls making a lot of racket outside. I was trying to put the little ones down and the girls know they cannot be outside after dark. So, I went downstairs to reprimand them. As I am coming down the stairs, I see Diana leaned over the kitchen sink with a plastic container in the left hand and her red sweatshirt bunched up in her right hand. She looks into the container, obviously not finding what she was looking for, and so she gently shakes out her sweatshirt over the sink. Something dark, small and quick jumps out of the sweatshirt, runs across the counter and down under the counter! We all scream and jump and I yell: "What was that?" I seriously thought it was a tarantula! No, it was a mouse! A mouse! In my house! I HATE MICE! (and all the kids know that very well!)

"Why in the world did you bring a mouse into my house?" I inquired of the three guilty adolescents. Here was their explanation: They had gone to the basement of the main house to get something and ran across this mouse in the schoolroom. Diana caught it in her sweatshirt. One of the girls wanted to see the mouse better so they put it in the plastic container and covered it with Diana's sweatshirt. They then proceeded to come into the house in order to look at the mouse in better lighting. But, when they get to the sink and look into the container, there was no mouse! It had gotten into Diana's sweatshirt, which she then shook out, prompting the mouse to jump down and seek shelter....in our kitchen!

Diana asked if I was mad!? I truly was not mad - I was in utter shock and disbelief that three adolescents would even consider bringing a mouse into the house! Then again, as we discussed the situation we discovered that they hadn't considered what they were doing...they just did it! Thus, the definition of adolescent - act before thinking! Diana's developing adult side did kick in, after seeing my reaction, and she diligently set mouse traps until she caught the little sucker several days later. (She also caught a second mouse that it seems was invited into our home by the first mouse who was brought in so kindly by my daughters!)

Diana has a huge heart for Africa and dreams of being a missionary there, possibly a gynecologist! There is a saying that what you do to your parents comes back around to you through your children. Well, I left the country to follow God's missionary call on my life - but it looks like my daughter may leave the continent! At least I can look to my mom for advice on how to handle having a daughter who lives far away...and maybe I will get to retire in Africa!

Martita

Martita, 15 years old, is Lolis' older biological sister. While Lolis has been with us less than a year, Martita has been with us for nearly three years now! I think that I am most proud of Martita for all of the work that she has done, and allowed the Lord to do, in restoring her heart, her emotions and her ability to be loved and love others. This has been a very difficult process for Martita, but she has been very conscious of the process and makes a very conscious effort to help the process along by rejecting old habits, mindsets , attitudes, reactions and actions. As opposed to Diana, school is not easy for Martita, but she works very hard. Math is especially difficult, as well as English.

However, the dreams that the Lord has planted in Martita's heart are huge and I know they will come true because Martita is pretty stubborn! She wants to major in social work (hmmm, I wonder where she got that from! My degree is in social work.) and would like to counsel kids who have lived through traumatic experiences. She has some experience herself in that department! She is especially attracted to the idea of working in Afghanistan with children who have survived war situations. So, on my way to see Diana in Africa, I will have to stopover in Afghanistan. Depending on the political situation, that trip may be slightly more difficult with my blonde hair, light complexion and U.S. citizenship. I tease Martita that she will have to leave Afghanistan and we can rendezvous somewhere in Europe to see each other!

The other day we were talking about her dreams and goals and how frustrating it is to be so far behind in school (she is still finishing elementary school because her biological dad did not send her to school regularly). She then said: "I am going to finish college and I can't wait to see my biological dad's face the day I graduate because he always told me I was stupid and couldn't study!" Now THAT is motivation!

A closing gift: Here is our latest (almost a year old) and, in my option, best family picture ever!

Back: Jocelin (8), Fidel (9), Josiah (9), Lolis (13), Martita (15), Angie (17)
Middle: Julie, Victor, Caleb (6)
Front: Diana (15), Daniel (3), Ruth (4), Ana (4), Martha (12)

(These are the kids' current ages, not their ages at the time the picture was taken last December.)

May the Lord richly bless each and everyone of you,
our brothers and sisters in Christ,
and fellow laborers in His harvest!

On Loan from the Lord: Part Two

Here are more stories about the children that the Lord has loaned us to be a part of the Zaragoza family, both biological and adopted, they are all His!

Angie leading devotions with several of her younger siblings.

Angie, our eldest daughter, who is 17 years old, has begun an activity the last several weeks that has truly left me marveling at the Lord's work in her heart over these last 6 years she has been a part of our family. She has begun evening devotions several times a week with several of her younger siblings: Jocelin, Caleb and Ruth. Once a week, our three oldest daughters have youth group with the Marshall Family. Well, Ruth has been asking to have a "Little People's Group", so Angie has started one! They get together, in my office or in Angie's room, and Angie has Jocelin and Caleb read several Bible verses. They are both learning how to read and now enjoy participating in family devotions, also. Four year old Ruth "follows along" in her Bible! Part of their devotional activities include reading a chapter out of a book that highlights different countries from around the world in order to pray about them. The book tells about the country, shares testimonies from that place and prayer requests. I couldn't believe it when I heard Ruth say to me the other night: "We prayed for Afghanistan tonight."!

Last week, there was an evening in which Angie's homework was taking much longer than usual and she was unable to have her devotions with the kids. Both Caleb and Ruth began to cry! Wow! How many pastors could say that their church members cry when a Bible study is cancelled?!

For me, what really impacts me are several aspects of this: 1) Angie spends A LOT of time in school everyday (roughly 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. with breaks for meals) as she is trying to do two school years in one in order to get caught up (she didn't start formal school until she was 11 years old!). 2) Therefore, her evening hours are when she has to practice piano, prep her Sunday School class for Sunday and when she could have a few minutes to relax by herself, but she uses that time to lead devotions with her younger siblings! 3) There is no way that I would have tried to get my younger brother to do devotions with me when I was 17! (Granted, he was 15 when I was 17, maybe THAT was the problem! :-)

We are proud of all that the Lord has done,
is doing and will continue to do in and through Angie's life!

Ruth "reading" her Bible during devotions with Angie.

One of Ruth's outstanding characteristics is her spiritual knowledge and faith. (Maybe the fact that she shares a bedroom with Angie has something to do with this!) She knows her Bible stories like a little four year old theologian. Each evening, as I read her children's Bible to her, I can never get all the way through the Bible story without her interrupting to add some fact that wasn't included in the children's version of the telling; to inform me as to what happened before or after that particular story; or to apply the principles learned from that story to real life ("So, that means, we should....")

The kids take turns praying for meals and after devotions. Whenever it is Ruth's turn she ALWAYS prays: "Heal Danny's heart more." What is interesting is that she used to just pray: "Heal Danny's heart." Two or three months ago she added the "more" at the end. Does she have the faith and the belief that God has already begun to heal his heart and it just needs to be healed a bit more? I don't doubt it! Why do I think that? If you recall, when we first got the call about Daniel and were ready to go to Veracruz to pick him up, we got a second call telling us not to go because there was another couple interested in adopting him. For the next 6 weeks we did not know if Daniel would be adopted by the other couple or if he would eventually become a part of our family. However, during that time, Ruth would pray for and talk about Daniel as if he were already a part of our family. I thought it was just her limited 3 year old vocabulary and understanding, at the time, that prevented her from fully comprehending what was going on and expressing accurately that Daniel may never come to live with us. But, each time that I would correct her and try to explain that we didn't know God's plan for Daniel's life, Ruth would insist that he was her brother and was coming to live with us. That is exactly what ended up happening!

Ruth LOVES learning and adores school! She is ready to start kindergarten, but we have to figure out a way to make the school schedule work so that Lucy, Vero and I can cover all of the different students, levels and activities. Please pray for creativity in solving that problem so that Ruth can start school soon! She is now in a stage where she identifies the first syllable of nearly everything we say! That makes conversations with her take just a bit longer!

Martha cleaning the warehouse/kitchen/dining room
this past Sunday.

As some of you may know, Victor is leading a crusade to the state of Guerrero this week. About half of those who live and work at Refuge Ranch went on that crusade, along with our three largest vehicles! This meant that Magda went to church this past Sunday in our Ford Focus (and this coming Sunday) only with the older girls that HAD to go to church due to their ministry commitments, while I stayed home alone with the younger children. The crusade team had pulled out early that morning, after spending all day Saturday in the warehouse area of the main house preparing and packing things for the crusade and after having eaten breakfast (all 30 or so of them) early that morning. Needless, to say the warehouse/kitchen/dining room was not a pretty sight!

After taking advantage of the opportunity to sleep in, Martha got up, got dressed and immediately went directly to the warehouse and started cleaning! She is 12 years old! Cleaning the warehouse was no small task - it was a mess! In fact, earlier that morning I had cleaned up our house and then thought: "I really need to clean the warehouse! Forget it! I want to relax today some too! I'll have the older girls do it when they get home from church!" Surpise! Martha took care of it! She did a stupendous and thorough job! Can you tell I was impressed? With 12 children, plus four staff children around all day, I actually spend most of the day making sure that they are all doing what they SHOULD be doing: making their beds, doing their chores, studying, putting their laundry away, etc. I feel like an official "make sure you do what you are supposed to do" police officer! So much of the time they haven't done what they were supposed to do and must be told to do what they already know they have to do, that when they do something that they don't even have to do without being told - that is about as close to parting the Red Sea as we get!

When Martha joined our family 6 years ago, she could not speak Spanish or read or write any language. Her right hand was nearly useless due to some kind of defect that has never been identified. So, she couldn't bathe herself, button her clothing or cut her own meat. Severe dyslexia made learning her numbers from 0-10 a tearful experience for both of us! Now, she reads and writes in both Spanish and English, if I hadn't told you about her difficulties with her right hand you would never even notice any difference now and she is learning how to multiply! Her life's dream? To be president of Mexico or a missionary!

She is a powerful testimony to the transforming power
of the presence of Jesus Christ in somebody's life!

Fidel working on one of his inventions/creations

This past Sunday, Fidel was infected by Martha's burst of helpfulness and he joined her in cleaning up the warehouse area! Then, twice throughout the day, he took the broom out of my hands as I was sweeping in order to finish the job himself! He did so in normal Fidel style...no words involved! Fidel is a quiet guy and so many times I pray that the Lord would reveal his thoughts to me to know what is really going on in his head!

Besides being an excellent soccer player (pray that we could find a good quality team to put him on with no Sunday games or practices and with a coach that emphasizes character more than winning!), he is also very creative! Fidel could win a prize for recycling! His bedroom looks like a recycling station! So many odds and ends that we throw away end up in his room to be used to make something else! He is a great artist, loves to take broken electrical appliances apart and also enjoys building "things" out of cardboard, styrofoam and any other materials he can get his hands on.

Besides all that....he is seriously a world class Connect Four player! If you ever come to Refuge Ranch I challenge you to challenge Fidel to a game of Connect Four and see if you can win! I highly doubt it! Grandpa Claassen (my dad) tries every time he is here and is very rarely successful - although the 6 months between each of his trips to Mexico provides the time for him to get hopeful and pumped up, only to be beaten by Fidel.....once again!

We pray that the Lord would plant in Fidel's heart

a vision, dream and passion for his future!

Bonus Pictures!

Daniel, Ana and Ruth taking a bath together:
I love the rainbow effect with the skin colors!

I wanted to include this picture on my last blog about Caleb, but I forgot! This past Sunday built this "water park" all by himself and I thought that it was very creative!