Memories

As many of you know, my mother passed away last Thursday, September 12th.  Even though she had been in the hospital for a month after heart surgery, we still had hopes she was going to recover, so when we got the call from the hospital that it appeared she was on her last breaths, we were all shocked and shaken.  We are so thankful that the whole family was able to gather to honor her life at her memorial service on Monday.  Norman and I flew in from Guatemala, my niece Whitney from England, Heather and her husband, Nathan, from Grand Junction, Colorado, and Ryan drove in from Chicago.  My mom lived her 80 years of life well and has left a legacy through her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  We are all working on grasping life without her and are not being very successful, but eventually, we will adjust and start living life without mom/grandma but we will never, ever forget her and the impact she had our lives.  And her love for us will live in our hearts forever.  Below is something her four granddaughters wrote in her memory and they read at her memorial service.  I wanted to share it because it shows how much she was loved and how much she poured into all of us! 

Remembering Grandma

Audrey Reynolds was a wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend.  She has left everlasting imprints in the hearts of all those around her; especially those of her grandchildren.  The lessons we have learned and memories we have made with her still bring smiles to our faces and wisdom for our future.  

We will never forget where we first fell in love with Mary Poppins, Pete’s Dragon and Charlie Brown.  With the never ending supply of the best microwave popcorn that no one could duplicate.  

We will never forget a good nights sleep on those feathery pillows only to wake up to the most delicious fried eggs and potatoes.  No one made a breakfast like grandma.  Always having everyones favorites on hand like ham and bean soup, dilly bars and delicious apple pie.  

We will never forget following a full holiday meal that there was no question where grandma would be.  Right in a rocking chair, catching flies while we stood by and giggled taking candid pictures without you knowing.  

We will never forget your energy.  Though small and more elder than us we still had trouble keeping up.  You were a quick lady, but not fast enough for that tricky treadmill responsible for that hole in the wall.  Keeping busy with your exercise class, attending every family or holiday event, while never being too tired to work at the library.  

We will never forget this woman on the move who had no time to be unprepared.  Because really, who's purse shouldn’t include:  silverware, snacks, salt, toothpicks and of course an emergency stash of york peppermint patties?  

We will never forget your competitive spirit.  Though you were small you packed a mean punch in go fish, euchre and wii bowling.  Keeping tally so Grandpa would not forget that two months and two days did not slow you down.  

We will never forget the sound of your dinner bell.  That tiny T.V. tuned to Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, playing along as you prepared supper.

We will never forget the example you have set as a loving spouse.  Your love was one of a kind.  Balancing both knowing how to care and push each others buttons.  Cleaning Grandpa’s glasses every morning, making his bed, helping him with his coat and giving a big goodbye hug before he left for the day.  We all can only hope to follow in your footsteps with your kind and carefree heart.  

We will never forget baking those delicious sprinkled sugar cookies, cookie bars and peanut butter blossoms.  And you are right, they taste just as good gluten free.  

We will never forget the surprise and excitement you expressed everytime we walked in the door.  It is a look never to be forgotten because that smile made us feel so loved.

Mostly, we will never forget the role model we have grown up with.  Continuously setting examples of selflessness and understanding.  What we wouldn’t give to have one more breakfast, another journey to the park, one more holiday, another round of wii bowling or give you one last back massage. We know this is not fair to ask because you are in a better place watching over us while we instill your values on those around us.  We will always speak of you highly, love and miss you.  

Poco a Poco (Little by Little)

Psalm 121:1-2

"I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and eath."

Jesus and I are on a journey together.  I have a long way to go in my walk with Jesus and I am so thankful He is patient with me as I seek intimacy with Him.  I struggle with the same sins over and over and over again.  Yes, I am an imperfect Missionary and yes, I said it, sins.  I really wanted to put "things" or "areas" but in reality they are sins.  I have victory in these "areas" for awhile and then I slip back into old habits again.  To be honest with you, I feel like I am the only Christian with this problem.  I feel like everyone else has found sustaining victory and is walking in total freedom, only dealing with occasional unintentional sin.  I honestly hope that this latest description is true for most people.  But for those who are like me, I am thinking there might be at least one person out there, I wanted to share some gems and encouragement that the Lord showed me this week.

I was reading out of the devotional "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young and one of the scriptures for that day was Jeremiah 29:13-14.  I have long quoted Jeremiah 29:11 as my favorite verse, but this particular day God opened my eyes to the treasure in the surrounding verses and I realized that my favorite verse held even more than I realized.  Jeremiah 29:11 is in the middle of a message from the Lord through His prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel who have been exiled to Babylon.  In verse 10 He tells them that after 70 years He will come to bring them out of captivity, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."   (vs 11)  This promise of hope and a future comes when they are in the middle of captivity, not when everything is hunky dorey (for the young people out there that might not know what hunky dorey is, it means when everything is going along fine and dandy.)  AND they are in this captivity because of their disobedience.  Struggling over and over with the same sins is a form of captivity, and we are there because of our disobedience and lack of trust in the Lord to deliver us.  Then verses 12 through the first half of 14 go on to say::

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  

I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity."  

So am I calling upon the Lord, going to Him and praying to Him and seeking him will all my heart?  If I do, He promises to bring me back from captivity.  Is this what I want?  Do I believe that if I seek Him I will find Him?  

Lord, 

I believe you and I seek you with all my heart.  I praise you that I will find you and you will bring me out of captivity.  I pray Lord that I will not be like the Israelites when you brought them out of slavery in Egypt.  When things got tough they wanted to go back to the familiar.  Back into captivity.  Lord, help me to live in the light of your freedom and to experience those plans you have for me to give me hope and a future!

Amen   

So poco a poco, little by little, step by step I am following the Lord out of captivity.  It isn't a perfect journey, I get off track at times but the Lord's mercies are new every morning and when I seek Him with all my heart I find Him and together we continue the journey.  Because I know He has plans to prosper me, not to fail me, plans to give me hope and a future!  Amen y Amen!

God's Ways Never Cease to Amaze Me!

Tuesday we had the privilege to host a group of four people (and a baby) for the day for lunch and a tour of the home.  The interesting part is that these four people came from Spain to Guatemala to check out different ministries (more about that later) and among the four of them they represent four different countries.  One is from Spain, one from Guatemala, one from England and one from the United States.  They all know each other from their church in Spain.

The even more amazing part is how we even got in touch with them in the first place.  It's a little bit of a long story, so bare with me here.  You know how sometimes your plans don't go exactly how they were supposed to and you are inconvenienced?  Well, when that happens we just adjust (or get bent out of shape) and go on with life and don't really know or see any reason for that inconvenience to have happened.  Well, about 2-1/2 weeks ago when I was coming back from a short visit to the States, my return was postponed by 24 hours due to a delayed flight that would cause me to miss my connecting flight, the last one of the day.  It caused some minor inconveniences both on the U.S. end and the Guatemala end, but the blessings that came from it are far more.  First, I got to spend another day with my daughter. Second, I got to help with another wedding detail that I had really wanted to help with but had run out of time.  Third, when I did end up flying back to Guatemala I got to fly first class!  The fourth involves my husband, Norman, on the Guatemala end.

By the time I got a hold of Norman to let him know I wasn't coming back until the next day, he had already left the home to head to Guatemala City to pick me up at the airport.  He was in Quiche, an hour away from home, but that hour is a pretty rough road and it isn't exactly a joy ride to navigate.  When I called him, he "just happened" to be with some other missionaries picking something up from them.  They told him they were hosting a couple for the night and invited him to stay.  So he stayed and met this nice couple.  He is Guatemalan and she is English and they have an 8 month old baby.  He is a Doctor and has been in residency in Spain.  He will be done in a year and a half.  They both have a heart for serving the Lord and for Guatemala.  So while they were in Guatemala visiting family they also have been visiting different ministries to see where God may lead them to serve when they return.  If my flight hadn't been postponed, he wouldn't have met them.

A couple weeks later we received a phone call from the wife saying that they had two men from their church in Spain here visiting and they wanted to come visit the home.  Once they got here and shared their heart, we told them that they needed to go to Canilla and meet the Fickers and learn about Adonai International Ministries.  Their time was limited but we zipped over there and had an awesome time listening to the vision God has given both the Fickers and this young couple.  Meeting this couple and their two friends and spending the day with them was such a blessing to us.  We enjoyed hearing how God is working in their lives.  And it is all because my flight was postponed by 24 hours.  God's ways never cease to amaze me and they are definitely higher than mine!

Isaiah 55:9  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Counting Sheep Isn't Working

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't blogged since the end of November. Sorry about that. Well, I've had quite a day today (well really yesterday now), it is 2:20 a.m. and I can't sleep. After playing games on my Kindle until the battery died (my alternative to counting sheep), I decided to get up and do something productive. So here I am writing about my day. But I have to give you a bit of background info first. If you aren't sleeping right now, this just might help put you to sleep. Hehe, not my goal, but you never know.

Last Friday we picked up the college team from Journey Christian Church in Rochester NY. (I will write a little bit about that in another post.) Friday morning when I woke up I had a scratchy throat, some sinus drainage, and by the end of the day I didn't have much voice left. Well, I didn’t get my voice back all week and the sore throat and sinus crud just got worse. I was able to function all week, well almost, but Norman had to do most of the translating because my voice (and throat) couldn't handle it. It was good for him though. It forced him out of his comfort zone and he did a great job. He learned that he could do it just fine!

Thursday was the team's last full day at the home and they informed me that I had the day off and I was to rest. This "happened" to be the day I needed it the most! It was really hard for me to give in and let them do it. It just didn't feel right, I was supposed to be serving them, but I gave in and God showed me that sometimes we need to bless people by letting them bless us! Friday we left for Guatemala City with a stop in Antigua for some shopping. By the end of the day, I was starting to feel worse and I wasn't breathing the greatest. Early Saturday morning I woke up visiting the bathroom several times in a row (to put it bluntly, I had diarrhea). Plus I couldn't breathe very well and felt absolutely awful, both unrelated but together taking a toll on my body. So I stayed in bed for the morning (besides occasional visits to the little room down the hall) while Norman and the team went to breakfast and had their final debrief. We then took them to the airport for their flight home and Norman took me to the emergency room since it is, or was at this point, Saturday and there are no Express Care clinics in Guatemala City.

Turns out I have a really bad sinus infection that has been dripping down my throat making it sore, taking my voice away, and finally, dripping in my lungs and making it hard to breathe. I didn't have pneumonia though (even though the doctor thought that it wouldn’t have been long) so I am thankful for that. So they did a sinus x-ray, a chest x-ray, gave me two nebulizer treatments, IV antibiotics, and IV steroids. It didn’t take long to discover that steroids, even through the IV, wasn’t such a good idea on a totally empty stomach. I hadn’t eaten anything all day due to my other “issue”. So once the nausea passed, I was served yummy chicken broth and jello. It was entertaining to eat jello with a shaky hand from the steroids. :-) After 4-1/2 hours of being treated in the ER, we finally got to leave. We then checked into a Bed and Breakfast and hung out for a couple hours until it was time to go to the airport to pick up Norman’s brother and his family. Roger, Cathy, Andrew, and Nathan all made it safely and we are excited to spend the week with them. We will be heading back to San Andres in the morning, or should I say, later this morning.

So all this just to tell you the reason why I am wide awake and ready to go at what is now a little later than 2:30 a.m. :-)  But the good thing is that I can breath and that’s pretty important!

 P.S. Sorry I didn't have any pictures to include. I wouldn't let Norman take a picture of me in the hospital with the nebulizer on my face. And any potential team pictures I could have used are on our other computer in San Andres!