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.

New Venue

Please still be praying for the contract with this Cinema. We announced it to the church today with good reception and we are targeting May 4 to start there. The lady in charge of renting all of their theater rooms is in Monterrey, and we are planning to talk with her directly this week. That will be a positive thing to have that relationship for the future. Anyway, the story is that she has to sign off on it because it is an ongoing rental (more than one time) and she has been super busy in her job because of upcoming dia de los niños.

Just an update and a visual aid of what we are trying to get. The kids place is called "Smiling Games" with the red sign next to the Cinema. Our arrangement with them is already set up and ready to go.

Praying for Easter weekend

Please join me in praying for the church in Cancun this weekend as we are expecting a number of guests in our services.

Not much time to write...I am finishing my message, prepping for the spanish service tonight, and trying to pack for our trip to Houston tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing many of you there.

-nw

Pastoring

Today was a day of investing one-on-one into people: some by sharing dreams, some by praying, some by guidance, and some by correction.

The weird thing is...I feel like a pastor today...not in a positional/prideful way, but as defined as a shepherd/leader. (Other pastors may identify with me on this--you don't always feel that every day) It's still a feeling I am not quite used to...and I will probably never call myself "Pastor Nathan." I am seriously humbled to be used by God in any form, and I have no idea how this was his plan for me all along...it surely wasn't mine. :)

In my short ministry experience, I have worked only in an assistant pastor role...even initially here with Marco. The day after he left, the feeling inside me that was a passion for ministry totally ramped up to another level. It has always been a passion more than a job, but that day I was overwhelmed by this feeling of ownership and responsibility for this church (read: people) here that has been entrusted to me by God. I will give a report to God for this group and our Kingdom impact. Even writing these words again here scares the hooha out of me...and makes me somewhat emotional...and makes me again want to go fall on my face before God as I am hopelessly dependent on Him.

For me right now, this is how it feels to be a pastor.

-nw

Next Houston trip

For all our Houston family and friends: we will be in Houston the week of March 23-28 and we would love to get to see you all.

We realized after our Christmas trip that we may not have planned ahead well enough and time flew by too quickly to get to see everyone we would have liked to spend time with. We are planning to have a hang out / party / love to see you / Davin's 1st birthday celebration on Monday night March 24. You are probably invited. More details on time and place to come.

Hope to see you there.

-nw

Date nights

We have started a monday night tradition that we have been faithful to for probably six or eight weeks now. After a family day with the kids (mondays are usually our day of rest), Kaycee and I leave them with Wendy (our helper) and go out for some quality time as a couple. It's usually something simple such as our favorite café nearby that offers board games and sometimes live music. Tonight we went to starbucks and watched a movie on my laptop that we had rented from itunes (a pretty cool new feature).

As Community of Faith, we are halfway through a series called One Month to Live based on a newly released book. The premise is basically this: how would you live your life differently if you knew you only had one month left to live. Looking at Jesus' life (he knew the number of his days) as well as the lives of other people who knew they were in their last days, this week we talked about "Loving Completely."

Preparing for and giving these messages has been a challenge to me and I want to pass that on to you: purposefully love on your spouse. Our simple tradition has re-ignited a spark that can get lost in the day-to-day...especially if you work together, and have little kids ;)

I try not to wax eloquent in this posts...I'm not that kind of a blogger. But I thought this would be worth mentioning. Thank you all for your continued support and prayers.

-nw