sweet summertime

this week is the first time it has actually felt like summer!
my sister and i played tennis and went for a run. carolynn and i went to get ice cream. i've sat on the deck and read a book. last night we had a thunderstorm. i went for a run in the humidity. i watched a movie with my family. in the midst of all this good, i've been feeling discontent. just feeling like my life is not what i want it to be. but then i think, "what do i want it to be?" and i don't know the answer to that.

your love is deep

"Your love is deeper than my view of grace
Your love is higher than this earthly place
Your love is longer than the road i've traveled
Your love is wider than the gap you filled

What can separate us from Your love?
Nothing can separate us!"

when i think about the ways the LORD has been working in my life the past few weeks, i am not the same person that i was the first day of may. God has been changing me, molding, me, breaking me, and wasting me on Him. he is showing me more and more how much He provides. it's true, nothing can separate us from His love. he loves me. he loves you. he is jealous for me. he is crazy about me. he is crazy about you. he is madly in love with us all.

this past week, i got the opportunity to take a trip to monterrey, mexico. it was an experience of a lifetime. God really made it apparent that He is the provider of all things, both here and all over the world. the first example i saw of this happened right when we arrived. since january, my team had have been praying for rain in monterrey. they have been in a drought for about six months, and had only received rain twice. praise be to God that the first way he pushed me out of my comfort zone was that it rained the whole week. it down poured! it was frustrating because i was prepared for hot and dry weather, but how beautiful it was to see that God provides. wells at a few orphanages had gone dry, and now they have water!

on saturday, we arrived late and had an hour bus ride to the center where we stayed...we had many hour-long bus rides all week. on sunday, we went right to work. we were taken to the catareyta, one of the poorest neighborhoods in monterrey. we split into three groups, and went to invite the community to the church to have a meal. for most of them, they cannot afford to feed their families, and this meal may mean the difference between keeping their children and giving them to a casa hogar (children's home). this was a test of my faith in God because i had to be a leader of a team to invite people since i speak spanish. it was really an adventure, and i was nervous, but appeared calm, cool, and collected. we walked through mud that covered our shoes and puddles that we could have swam in. the homes were barely walls and blankets covering where there wasn't a wall. it reminded me of the homes i saw my last trip to mexico. most of the town showed up, and they sang songs, and had a small message, and then we served tostadas to them. it was amazing how God had the rain hold up just long enough for us to arrive, invite, have service, feed them, and as they were leaving, it started to pour! i think he really wanted to remind me that he is serious when he says that he provides.

the second day (monday) we went to casa hogar imperio de amor where we had a tour of the orphanage, which currently has 55 children. we painted a few rooms in their main home for them. one of the rooms was for the older girls, and they stood outside and watched with anticipation the whole time. they had picked out the beautiful soft lavender that was going on the walls. after painting and lunch, we threw a birthday party for the children who had a birthday this summer. they each got a specialized birthday present wrapped for them. the best part of this was the little boy who happened to have a birthday that very day. we sang happy birthday to him, and the look on his face was precious. you could tell it was one of the best moments of his life. he had the biggest smile on his face, and it was one of the most memorable parts of my trip. after the party, we played outside with them, and i supervised a game of candyland, and held a little girl the whole time. after the game of candyland, we colored together in the new coloring book she got for her birthday.

tuesday, we got to go on a field trip! we took the same children we saw the day before, from imperio de amor, and we went to a museum and planetarium. the girl i was with was named cyntia, and she was thirteen, so she wasn't hard to supervise. i had met her the day before, and we became friends. she reminded me a lot of myself. she was slightly quiet and reserved, but incredibly smart and full of facts. she told me all about her life and school and wanted to learn english slang words. we talked the whole time we were together, and it was beautiful. i think we learned a lot from each other. she aspires to go to high school and become a nurse. there is not a doubt in my mind that she will achieve these dreams. i really liked her! the museum and movie were cool too. this was the day i used the most spanish, and grew in that way.

wednesday, we first worked on the campus either paiting or cementing. i was painting inside a new teen home, but i heard that cementing was the best job ever, haha! in the afternoon, we met the children at rayitos de luz. they came over for a pool party and a barbecue. we played in the pool, and i held the most precious little girl who belonged to the director of the home. we had salchichas for dinner, and i also helped make pico de gallo to go on the salchichas.

thursday was a great day! we went to the home of the rayitos de luz, and saw where they live. they live in a poor neighborhood with gangs and drugs. we also saw the home they lived in before, it was about two houses down. it was so awful, you cannot imagine humans living in it. the rayitos de luz are precious children. we also raised money for them to buy a new van to transport their seventeen children to school instead of piling them in the back of a pickup truck that breaks down. after visiting them at their home, we went to see the new property they will move to next month. it was absolutely beautiful! it is situated a ways out from the city, not in a neighborhood. it was mango, lime, lemon, and persimmon trees. they have a pool and a cabana, and i cannot express how beautiful the home will be when it's all finished! we painted the home, and i am so excited to see the look on the faces of the children when they get to spend their first night in the home...i'm sure they will feel like princes and princesses! they are calling the property the promise land because God promised that he would provide this for them. in the evening, we got to talk to a woman named meme, and she was a beautiful woman, and it was obvious that God is alive in her! she shared her vision for the rio, the poorest part of monterrey. it was a beautiful ending to a wonderful week!

my heart was overtaken with joy to be there and be able to spend time with all of the children. they are desperate for love. they are beautiful and full of life, but also wounded and need people to care for them. we let them know that we were there because of Jesus. i wish i could capture all my memories of them and frequently look at them to realize just how amazing my God is. i really believe that God put the people on my team together for a reason. there was a bond that was created that will endure. i could talk just as much about all the people i formed deep relationships on my team as i could about all the children.



God provides.