Time Management

Well, another month has almost passed and new adventures keep coming our way. Since the passing of my father in June, we have had some down time to look at life with a different view. Thinking about the things that weren't said, the things that should have been said, or just the things that seemed important to get done with my father that did not happen. The final week that we spent with him was remarkable to say the least. Nothing really mattered anymore except to love on him and to enjoy every passing minute we had together, knowing that his final days were near. Now that we are back in the groove of things here on Isla Mujeres, we find ourselves approaching life in a whole new way.

Removing anxiety from our lives is a big one, as Mathew says in Chapter 6:25, "Do not be anxious for your life." Mathew 6:34 says"Do not be anxious for tomorrow." In Luke 12:25 the scriptures ask, "And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life's span?" I feel that Philippians 4:6 says it best, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

We worry about a lot of trivial things during our life span, and to no avail, it usually comes out differently than we had assumed, predicted, or desired after we mulled it around for hours, days, even weeks at a time, and for what? Hoping for a better, easier way of life here on earth? Desiring our walk be a bed of roses all the time? Maybe a truck load of money will be dumped into my garage today and everthing will be OK. Our children will never do anything that might rock my pride among the community members.

Philippians 4:7 gives us the support we need from being anxious, so read verse 6 again from above and then meditate on this one for awhile. It says in verse 7, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehesion, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." That is a promise we can dwell upon until we see Jesus face to face, yet one thing is still required of us to have this truth dominate in our life. We must apply verse 6 day in and day out. We take those anxious thoughts and turn them towards heaven in our prayers daily, with thanksgiving. Life might not get any easier, but we sure can enjoy Gods peace through it all.

Time Mangement you might be asking? We all have the exact same number of hours per day to try and achieve our goals, missions, fulfill our dreams, etc. Are we doing it with Gods peace each step of the way or are we striving in our own strength, abilities, or desires? The two of us have taken the approach of starting the day saturated in Gods word each morning, praying, and then deciding between the two of us, what is the most important things we have on our plate today. Natalies job is always on the front burner so that we can continue to reach out in the name of Jesus to the the locals here. After that 4 hours is set aside, we get to ask God to bring us ministry each day, large or small. He has shown us that all we need to do is simply step out the door and be a conduit for His love to flow through. I know that everyone does not have the same work loads as we do, yet we wonder if we are all willing to allow Gods' love to simply flow through us no matter where we are? Can it flow freely if we are anxious, stressed out, burdened with the worlds problems, struggling in our marriages? That can only be answered by each of us as we take it before Him and ask him to fill us with His peace that surpasses all comprehension so that it will guards our hearts. Time Management, lets see, if I can remove 2, maybe 3 things from my plate today that are not pressing, and they each might be a 1 hour job, oh my goodness, I have an extra 3 hours to spread out and use for the other tasks at hand. I might be able to stop and show "The Toms and Sarahs of my life" a peace that dwells inside of me by actually taking a few minutes to talk and love on them.

Time management here on the Island to truly different than anywhere we have lived. We still face the struggles of life, just on a different level. No matter the level, Gods word still stands firm for us in these trying times we face. Finding time to observe the drag races they held last weekend on the air strip. Time to hold Natalie's hand and stroll along the beach with her to hear her thoughts and in the midst of that, still take the time to say hello to each person we meet as we walk.

It is a special time for Natalie and I here on the Island as we continue to seek out His will in our time management. We don't want to miss the wonderful things He has for us due to our trying to keep up the "JUST GET 'ER DONE" mentality that is so easily slipped into during our walks of life.

Here are a few photos from this last weeks TIME MANAGEMENT we got to experience. Hoping your time is being managed in a wonderful way as the days continue to slide into the FALL SEASON of 2009. Oh no, did I say Fall? Yes another year is headed for the history books and we hope is has been a good one.

You are now my true Mayan sister

Oh what a treat to have gotten invited over to Alex and Cecilias' home for an evening of sharing and giving. We brought back some very basic gifts from the States for them as a gift of love and as usual, we are the ones that walked away blessed. As we were giving them the shoes, a basketball, necklace, and other little things we brought them, they were filled with anticipation for something that blew us away. As soon as the opportunity arose, I looked up and saw Cecilia , with her older sister dressing Natalie in an authentic Mayan outfit. They took such pleasure in wrapping her all up from head to toe and then stepping back and saying,"Now you are my true Maya sister." They are a Maya family that believe in Jesus and attend the Assembly of God church here on the Island, so this was a very special moment for us to be a part of. We have birthday parties to attend in the days ahead, had Samuel and his precious family over for pizza and gave his two daughters new shoes the other night. These connections continue to provide us with avenues to learn more about this wonderful culture as well to love on them in the name of Jesus. Little Thomas.. the young boy who we had reached out to many times just down the road from our home has left the Island along with his family. They sold seashells along the road at this end of the island and we always looked forward to waving to them everytime we rode pass. One day, they were not there... no biggie, we will see them tomorrow... well some 14 tomorrows have passed and we have seen a new elderly man there selling shells in their place. They have had to move on to who knows where to make ends meet, and we are once again reminded that we need to make every opportuniy count because we might never get that chance again in Gods economy. We pray for the seeds we planted and that they are well. We are finally getting back to the Island pace of life after being in the U.S.A. for almost a month, between the two trips made in June and July. Life is very slow here and we realized how precious it is once we were gone from it. It was great to see so many faces of the past and we look forward to the future that is held in the palm of Gods hand for us, when we will all be reunited for the final call to sit and worship Him for eternity. Thanks for your prayers and support.

Images of Isla

We are in the states today, catching up with friends and family, but ever mindful of the friends on the island. Cecilia, on the far left, is a Mayan woman we have the joy of knowing. She has 3 children and is married to Alex. Thanks to God and His precious people, we have been able to provide her children with shoes. She walks the beach all day selling handcrafted goods from Chiapas, and some days goes home without a sale! But... she believes in Jesus and that He is a rewarder of those that seek Him. Her attitude is one of love and joy and trust. A true gift to our hearts. The little boy with the blue shoes just wanted to hug his new sandalias!

You can see video games, la isla style, on the left, and our new friend Enrique. Enrique has been a recipient of the shoe ministry and, as a result, the door to connect with his grandmother has been opened to us. We pray for connections with people every day. People are all that matter, and so we continue to go because you continue to give. We thank God for you all everyday!
We thank God for the brilliant Blaine and Bethany Franger, who supplied us with a few of these photos!
Please pray for us as we sojourn in the midst of Mexico, and travel for a short time in the states.
Hebrews 13:20-21

We hope that all is well with everyone and that your summer is warming up. The thermostat has been turned up another few degrees here on the Island as our home stays between 85 and 87 24/7. We are trying to stay away from the air conditioner as much as possible but sometimes it must be used. We have had a few events since last updating the sight. My father(pictured above) graduated to be with the Lord on June 8, 2009 after living out an outstanding life before us for one week short of 87 years. He was a hero to me as we were able to be home with him and my family for his final days here on earth. He invited in with peace and dignity his final walk here and took the hand of Jesus with confidence to sit at the foot of his throne. See you soon Dad. We have returned to the Island but are getting ready to go back to Central Oregon for a previously scheduled trip from July 2-16. The shoes that so many of you have blessed us with are still seen running around the Island and we keep returning to the locations that we handed them out in to see if they are in need of another new pair. We are connecting with a dear friend Marisa and her husband to meet with new families. She has an inside track to alot of the poorest of the poor here so we shall use her as another means of reaching out in the name of Jesus.

We thank you for your prayers and support as we press on for His glory and honor. We will be back the middle of July and kick off another round of shoes for the children.

outreach ministry to Rancho Viejo

Well... today we went to Rancho Viejo, the providence of Isla Mujeres over on the main land back of Cancun. We took Rance, Bender, and Andrew, the three young men from the States that came down to do missions work. Alfonso, the minister from a church in cancun picked us up, took us out to his church where he dropped us off, left. We were in the midst of strangers for the next 4 hours. What a treat is was to come along side of fellow believers who were there in the little church to serve food and share Jesus with the 30 plus kids that we gathered outside of the school and walked them over. We made friends on the way, even though the Spanish is not happening from my perspective, but God is a God of universal languages and love. He broke down the barriers, we loved on them none the less and had a great time watching and helping. The photos speak for themselves as we sat and listened, danced and sang with them, and then ate. Afterwards we went out and played soccer in the street, since we were pretty much in the middle of a jungle but the street was a wonderful soccer field. Lots of laughs today and warm smiles from all. The staff there are true servants of the Lord as they ushered in the kids, taught the word with the felt board, fed the hungy little tummies, and then off they went after a little bit of legos and soccer. They even had Vegie Tales in Spanish for them. Sweet stuff since it has been many years since we have watched Larry boy go for it. God is so amazing as we see new things, meet new brothers and sisters in our walk down here. Enjoy and talk with you soon.

Evelyn Gidalti Colli... Her Grandpa works down at the beach club here in front of our Casa. He wells up with tears each time we talk about her over his excitement that she is getting the opportunity to learn English at the La Gloria English School. (www.folges.org) I was able to get her a sponsor so that she can go free. What a blessing to see her blossom as she learns new words and grows in confidence when using them. Another chance to see how God is using us to touch and reach these precious kids on Isla.