It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This morning we woke up to 54 degrees and 90% humidity. Cold to say the least for Isla Mujeres. Downtown in the plaza the decorations are going up and homes around the Island are starting to glow with a Christmas theme. We are gathering quite a bundle of shoes and assorted goodies as we prepare for our annual Christmas outreach. Such an exciting time for the kids here in anticipation that Papa Noel (Santa Claus) is coming to town. As Christmas approaches we are reminded of the greatest gift ever given, Jesus Christ and the price He paid for us. A gift given with unmeasurable love and our desire is to share this love with every pair of shoes. Blessings during this wonderful Christmas season and thanks for all you do.

Blessings

What a blessing for us to be able to stand back and watch others love on the kids here. We struck up a conversation with a group of ladies we had met before on the beach the other day and they informed us they had shoes. A few days later they asked us if we could go with them and help out. Of course we said yes, and set the time and place to meet. They went down to central and bought shoes from Ely, our favorite store owner and helped her make rent once more. Upon meeting with the group, we found out that 5 of them were from Milwaukie, Oregon where we had just been for 3 weeks visiting family. Small world and God is so faithful in bringing folks such as these to love on the little feet here. Over 100 pairs of shoes were fitted that day by loving hearts and gentle hands. Simple acts of caring and giving bring big smiles and memories for these kids. Thanks for sharing your time in helping us love on the precious feet of Isla Mujeres.

TIME

We have referred to this word many times in our past postings, and it is still one we find worth pondering. Time never stops moving forward. We can not turn it back as much as we would like to sometimes. "Timing is everything" is a favorite phrase in our society. "Time just got away from me... where did the time go?... I don't have the time. We use it in many ways to either excuse ourselves from not keeping an appointment or recognizing that time really did get way from us and wonder how it happened. We just returned from a 3 week visit to Oregon to see family and our wonderful son graduate from The Art Institute of Portland in Photography. Sitting down this morning I realized it has been a "Long Time" since the last posting. We have had folks from around the states contact us and deliver shoes here for the kids. Met many new visitors on the beach and given the chance to share why we are here and what we are doing. We took one family into a new colonial to hand out shoes and the need is great everywhere. We are still amazed at the response over a new pair of flip flops or sandals for those precious little feet. So many parents let us know that we came at the perfect "TIME" as their other shoes had just fallen apart. As we continue to share and show others our journey here, they have taken it upon themselves to come again and go hand out shoes on their own. Praise God for their love for the kids and desire to keep impacting them in little ways. We keep seeking out God's will with each rising sun and He continues to leads us to new families and friends.

A WILLING VESSEL WITH A SERVANTS HEART

A SERVANTS HEART: I read this morning in Luke how Jesus came to serve and His example of humility is what we should all be desiring in our own lives. We were touched by our friends from New Jersey once again with their love and serving towards the kids of Isla Mujeres. Debbie, along with her family came down with shoes, little flashlights, glow sticks, Frisbees, and a whole lot of other stuff for the kids. We were blessed by getting to go with them and take photos as they loved these precious souls in the name of Jesus. She is the C.E.O. of the Original, "JERSEY GIRLS" that we have written about in past blogs. This trip she brought her 2 daughters and husband to join her first hand in what she has been doing the last couple of years. They have heard all the stories and seen the photos from past visits but this time, they came and experienced it together. What a blessing they were to the kids as they marched right in like they had done it everyday and loved on them as they handed out all the goodies. It is great for us to stand back and allow others to take home a changed heart, experiences of a different culture, and most of all, their testimony as to how God used them to serve others. Our desire here on the Island is to be "WILLING VESSELS WITH A SERVANTS HEART" as we continue with the work God desires to do through us. The GLORY is all His and we are humbled by the folks He directs to us for the furthering of His Kingdom. Thanks Joe and Debbie for sharing in this journey with us.

More shoes and lots more love

We see from our last post that a month has already raced past and August is coming sooner than we want. We handed out shoes last week and saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd. It was a special day for us since school is out and the kids were all there to greet us. When school is in session, we miss 1/2 the kids since they go half days and strange hours throughout the week. As we loved on the kids and handed out shoes, we were reminded of how fast they are growing up. These two guys were 9 when we met them and not very big but wow, what three plus years will do for a growing kid. We have seen a swing in the older ones in the way of fashion desire. It is very cute to see that they become a little bit more aware of styles. It is not that they are not grateful but we want to be sensitive to their surroundings and love on them none the less. Crocs... or a pair of flip flops with some bling on them is all we are talking about and the price is the same. The little ones still like the kick off in a hurry style so that when they want to run fast or rough house, off go the shoes and away they go. They are still kids at heart and such a joy to watch when they interact here. They create silly games to pass the time and you hardly ever see them quarreling. We have visitors coming in August with shoes and lots of love to share. Thanks for your prayers and support as we continue to march forward and love on the kids here.

Is it June already?

It is simply amazing to us here on Isla Mujeres that time slips away so quickly. We have had a very busy past month with shoes and visitors. We can't thank the faithful supporters of our ministry enough for their sacrifices in giving so we can provide shoes for the children here. Knowing that times are tough for everyone to make ends meet blesses us beyond measure as the support continues to comes in at the perfect time. A group of 16 just left this past weekend from Missouri that came down to do other missions work yet found time to bless us with over 180 pairs of shoes. The non-profit Organization, P.E.A.C.E. here on Isla Mujeres gave us enough money to buy 50+ pairs of shoes and then our core supporters sent in their monthly support as well. We took the group up in Guadalapana and let them experience our world first hand and what a blessing they were. We keep loving on the kids here and are so gladdened to be riding down the road on our Moto and hear our names called from the kids walking around. We were overwhelmed by Manuelin the other day when we handed out shoes with the group from Missouri. He told them that a lot of people come and live here on the island, spend a ton a money but not to help the families of the Island. He then told them that we are always helping the kids here and that they are grateful for us because of the love we show to the Island. That love he spoke about is because people from all walks of life give freely to the ministry so we can be conduits for the Lord in sharing His love. We are preparing for another round of shoes soon and will post more when we complete the task before us. Life has slowed down to a crawl here with the tourist season in the down swing but the folks keep smiling and are thankful for what they have each day.

The Shoes finally Arrived

Well, as we have stated before, "Nothing happens fast in Mexico." The shoes for Fernanda and her brothers finally got here. Her cousin that is living with them received a pair as well as we saw it only fitting for her to be included. Thanks to the support from faithful people, we took them to the shoe store and let them pick out a special pair. Mom had a lot of input as well and then we had to wait for them to arrive. Here are the photos of the kids with their newly purchased shoes and much thanks included. We have a group coming from U.S.A. the end of June that are bringing $100.00usd each to buy shoes and go with us to hand them out. There will be a total of 16 people in the group. Hope we can fill the demand as the Island is preparing for the off season and might not have the quantity on hand to fill the order. God is good all the time and we will continue to trust in His provisions as the time approaches. The weather is warming up early this year and no rain for 3 months to speak of. We are always learning new aspects from the locals about this wonderful culture and continue to fall deeper in love with them.