Mexican Ingenuity

The Mexican people are amazing. Nothing stops them. Nothing gets them down. If they want to do something, they will find a way. Here are a few examples of things I have seen here over the last few weeks.
Entire families on one scooter...mom, dad, six year old and baby (all with helmets of course)
-A man riding his bike while carrying a large box fan.
-A man riding his bike while carrying a pizza.
- Bicycle taxis ready to take you anywhere you want to go
-A bicycle taxi stacked eight feet high with furniture
-A man standing on the street corner, making churros and selling them while you wait for the light to change

My favorite and the most impressive:
-A man riding his bike while carrying a six foot ladder!!!

WOW! I would sit at home thinking I couldn't go to work today because I didn't have a car. Not the people I saw...they work it out!

Baptism Sunday

Happy Sunday all!

Thank you for your prayers this weekend...God answered them in a strong way! We had a great morning as we celebrated communion and baptisms today. With a pool set up in the back service driveway of the theater, we baptized 71 PEOPLE throughout the three services.

We had planned for 50 spontaneous, so had to make a quick run to the store to prep extra packages before the last service when we saw we were going to be short. Even the rain during the last service paused exactly long enough for us to baptize and then restarted. It was an unforgettable day and a life-changing experience for so many. Special thanks to Kaycee (event coordinator) and Marco for the awesome sermon.

Exciting things at the Cancun campus, as God continues to amaze me. :)

-nw

El Policia

Today was my first time to be pulled over by the police! I was in the car alone...which NEVER happens. I turned left at a place where the sign says not to but I couldn't see it because of the huge bus in front of me. I was also on the phone with Nathan which is not allowed here. My license is also expired which matters here too. After the guy took ten minutes to explain to me what I did wrong (I finally understood with LOTS of patience on his part), he told me I had to go to the police station to pay one hundred and fifty dollars. They take your license here until you pay your ticket.
I said that I could go in the morning and pay my ticket. He said if I paid him right here (bribe him) he would not write me a ticket and it would not go on my Cancun record. We went back and forth for a long time. After about twenty minutes it finally ended. He gave me my license back with out a ticket and invited me to go dancing with him sometime (with Nathan if he wanted to come too). HAHAHA It was so funny but I got away without bribing or a ticket and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. :)

Baptism

This week we are working on spontaneous baptisms for CDF Cancun. I am in charge of making sure everything goes well and is planned out perfectly. I am really excited about it. There are several ladies helping me put everything together. We are providing clothes, undergarments, towels, anything you could possibly need to get baptized so people have no excuses not to go ahead and do it that day. I am getting baptized in the English service. I was baptized when I was little but I don't remember anything about it. Now it has a whole new meaning to me. Nathan is going to baptize me...I am just a little nervouse that he might try to dunk me before my nose is plugged or something. ;) You know he would be serious at a time like this though. I wish all of you could be here to celebrate with me.

Our cable to hook the camera to our computers has been missing for a few weeks. I used it when Bethany and Charity were here so I know it is in our new house. As soon as we find it we will post some pics of the kids. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.

I Like To Move It Move It

Check out our kids moves! They are ready for the clubs in Cancun.

Emmy's spanish

Happy Birthday!

video blogging

fifth test with this...and just to clarify we are only moving a few streets away here in Cancun.

Just a typical day in Mexico :)

The last few days have been so interesting. We are really getting a taste for what it means to live in Mexico. Yesterday morning we had the most awful smell in our house after I fixed breakfast. It took several minutes before we saw black smoke pouring out of our laundry room. When we opened the door we saw that our tankless water heater had exploded in flames! Thankfully Nathan was back from Costa Rica or I would not have known what to do. He turned off the gas and put the fire out with a damp towel.

Today the men came to replace our water heater. After the water heater was in place they turned it on to check it. Something was not connected correctly because water was spraying all over the ceiling. They got that mess cleaned up and finished what they could with out the piece they were missing. The men will return tomorrow to finish but they didn't tell us that they did not connect the water line to anything. Nathan turned on the bath for Davin and I heard running water coming out of the laundry room. That room is now flooded! again! The men are supposed to return in the morning (always mañana) so hopefully they will get it right this time and we can have hot baths tomorrow. :) Just a small sample of life in Mexico. From what I hear this is pretty typical.

Flying solo

Nathan is in Costa Rica for 6 days with a group from Houston and a few people from Cancun. I am alone with the kids for 6 days. It is only day two and I think I could sleep for the next four days. Apparently Davin and I do not sleep well with out Nathan here. I think Emmy could sleep through anything so she is fine.

My friend Ana took me to look at houses today. I found three that were nice options so I will bring Nathan by when he gets back.

If you read this before tomorrow, please pray for me. I am singing all the services by myself (including Spanish!) because our other singer is visiting Houston. I am nervous but prepared so it should be fine.

I am getting the kids ready for bed now so I will blog more later. :)

Freakishly huge kids!

We decided to measure the kids today just to see if they are really as huge as they seem or if it is just because we compare them to Mexicans. They really are giants! On the pediatric growth charts, Emmy is in the 100th percentile for her age height at 39 inches tall. Davin is not even on the chart for 15 month olds. He is 31 inches tall which is the 100th percentile for 18 month olds!!! Crazy tall kids. I wonder where they would get that gene from? ; )

Just thought I would update you on our kids.
-KC

About the church

Guess what...I haven't written about the church in a while.

Since moving into the cinema May 4, we have jumped up in attendance about 50% to around 450 total on Sundays. Things are going great. We have been going through an intense series that we wrap up tomorrow. Two weeks ago we did a membership class and had about 45 people join. Last Sunday, we baptized 16 people in the Carribbean. We are adding helpers, both volunteer and staff, hoping to work ourselves out of a job here in Cancun.

Community of Faith - Houston is set to start spanish services in September, which will change the dynamics of the services here a little as well. We are beginning to investigate other possibilities for the near future that I hope to be able to share more about with you soon.

Thank you for your continued prayers
-NW

Emmy's birthday

Emmy had a princess themed party for her big number 3! There were maybe 20 kids that came. We had an area set up for the girls with 10-15 princess dresses they could wear, jewelry, crowns, etc. My friend volunteered to paint faces for all of the kids. She actually turned out to be really really good! We also had the pool available and every kid ended up swimming before the party was over.

In Mexico, any social activity is an "event!" There is no consideration for the age of the birthday kid. Every party is a minimum of 4 hours. Emmy's party ended up lasting about 4 1/2 hours. We had a piñata and enough candy for all the neighbors!

After everyone went home, Nathan and I joined the kids in the pool for a quick cool off. The day was very successful and I think all the kids had fun. Even the boys were entertained at the princess party. We were worn out though! All I have to say is I am glad there is only one birthday a year per kid.

Mom and dad, now I know why you did not throw us parties every year! Sorry we misunderstood. I ge t it now. :)

What a day!

Well, today was a very trying day for me! I found out how unintelligent I really am!!! Don’t you hate days like those. Last night I was in the process of transferring files from my computer to an external hard drive to free up space on my computer. It is a long story how it happened but I managed to erase EVERY powerpoint and pdf file. EVERY ONE!!! Every song slide I have made over the last 4 1/2 years at the church are gone. Everything!
I was in tears today several times trying to find them and then mourning when I realized they were really gone. I was sitting in the floor with my computer crying when Emmy walked in. After she asked what was wrong and I explained it to her, she said, "Mommy, Emmy get you a kleenex, ok? I'll be right back!" And she did...she brought me a wadded up roll of toilet paper! It was so sweet and brought the smile back to my face. :)

Towards the end of the day I took my kids outside and got a little more familiar with my new camera. While we were outside, Davin ate mud, which (you can tell from the pictures) he did not enjoy. Emmy tried to stay the focus of my lense the entire time. She did not appreciate me passing her up to get some pics of Davin.

The day ended well for having such a traumatic middle. Thankfully, God gave us sweet kids who make us laugh and forget our problems for a little while!

From my personal reading today...

Isaiah 43:16-19

I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,
making a dry path through the sea.
I called forth the mighty army of Egypt
with all its chariots and horses.
I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned,
their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick.

“But forget all that—
it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.