Blessings in the little things

We had the pleasure of spending time with our dear friends Brian and Joyce from Truckee California the other day. They came by and spent 41 hours with us on their way to Belize to see the missionaries they support there. As we took them around the Island to introduce them and show what the Lord has us doing for His Kingdom, we went into Guadalapana, the small community of families we spend most of our time at. We wanted to take some progress photos of where the fire was a couple of weeks ago that destroyed 19 homes. As we strolled through the area, as normal, we drew a crowd of the kids running around filling their day with adventure and laughter. We stopped and laughed with them as they showed us their newest inventions. Pieces of PVC pipe with balloons on one end to shoot rocks out of. They let us give it a shot, :) and hit everything we aimed at. They never stop amazing us with what they can do with the things laying around the Island. The biggest blessings was as our group said goodbye to the 8 or 9 kids with us was something we both noticed and it sure touched our hearts. We looked at each other as we made our way down the jungle trail and asked if we had noticed anything about the group. Being liked minded that we are since 30 years of marriage and seeking the Lord first in our lives does that, we had both been blessed with the fact that all 9 of them had shoes on their feet. This was the first time we have gotten to experience that sight since we have started putting shoes on the feet of the children of the Island. It is because of the faithful giving folks keep sending our way that we are starting to see fruit from our trips up and down the lanes here. They seem to want to save them for special trips downtown or gatherings they attend but we keep telling them to put them on and get with it. We know that this was a special sight and that every kid will not be protected from the elements of the Island with shoes, yet God gave us this special blessing to encourage us that we are or should I say, you are making a difference in the lives of the kids here as they know that we hand them out in the name of Jesus. We can't thank you enough and we have a hope that comes from above that another pair will be handed out with love and another life will be blessed as we continue to march on day by day here with these beautiful people of Isla Mujeres.