Knife fight

Well, by looking at me, you would think I have been in a knife fight. I have cuts and scrapes all over the left side of my face and on my bald head. It seems that I'm not really awake at 6:00am and perhaps should not be allowed to try and shave myself. I think I would have done less damage had I used the razor I found on the ground in Juarez. I must give a thumbs up to the Gillette company for making very sharp blades, can't say they make them dull so you have to buy more, sooner. I will have to spend the rest of the day trying to minimize the amount of dried blood on my face and fending off stares and questions like, "Was this morning the first time you ever shaved?" If I don't post for awhile, have someone check to see if I passed out from lack of blood.

Quick update

I asked everyone to pray for my family awhile back, who were in a tornado in TN. I'm happy to say that my cousin Tammy is doing better, she survived with a broken neck and a missing finger, but went home on Friday. If you want to see a clip, go to this link. Not sure how long it will be on the site.

http://www.wsmv.com/tennessee-tragedy/15346131/detail.html

Her name is Tammy Brawner and you will hear in her story, she is tough. She does have Shrum blood in her, so she must be tough. Pray she continues to heal. The clip has a little interview with my uncle Jimmy, he looks just like my dad.

I give!

Here are a few pictures I decided to share. The first is self explanatory.The second is an actual photo of the bionic 14 year old on top of the mountain, holding the 2 year old she carried up there. You will notice that the 2 year old is very thin, probably weighs no more than a cookie.

Going home!

I love my travels, but its always good to get home, regardless of the chaos I'm heading back to. The trip home started with a 3:30am alarm, that I beat by 20 minutes. I think I'm so afraid that I will over sleep, that I way under sleep. I met Tom and Sara in the lobby at 4am for the trip to the airport. There were predictions of snow in the El Paso area, if you can believe it, but when I got down to the lobby I was pleased to see no white on the ground. It was cold, but I didn't have to scrape the windows or anything. We had great weather all week, in fact, it didn't get cold until we were in line to cross the border back into El Paso on Friday. A cold front came in that dropped the temp by about 20 degrees in about an hour. The check in went well at the airport, but I noticed something that would again raise a question later in the day. What I saw was the counter guy asking a guy, who didn't speak very good English, if he was willing to follow all commands and operate the emergency door, if necessary. He eventually agreed, but I was a little skeptical that he fully understood the question. We boarded our first plane to the Denver/Salt Lake City airport (If you read about my trip down to El Paso, that makes since, if not, you think I'm drunk). The first flight was uneventful, other than the gate ticket guy telling one of the passengers to "try and smile, seeing as how you are in the flight attendant training program." She seem a little stunned by this comment, but didn't change her face, so I'm sure she will be the employee of the month soon for United Airlines. We landed and went right for the breakfast place we had found on our trip down. They have a big breakfast sandwich, bagel, egg, ham, and cheese. We boarded our plane for the last leg home. When I got to my seat, the seat next to me was open, so I was excited for about 4 seconds until the Chinese couple that walked passed me, stirred the man in their seat one row back. Johnny Wrong Seat moved from behind me to right next to me, which is significant soon. Now the Chinese couple just sits in their seats, when the flight attendant walks up and says, "You are seated in an exit row, are you willing to follow all commands and operate the emergency door?" To that, I could "hear" blank stares. The flight attendant asked again, and I'm guessing by her tone on the third time, that she got the same response as the first, on the second. The lady of the couple finally said yes, but the man said no. I think the attendant was stunned, maybe she had never gotten that response before. She asked the man again, and he said no again. She told them they needed to get up and move so she could find someone who was willing. Luckily, another couple volunteered and the seating was settled with no blood shed but a little snickering. Here is the question that came to my mind, which I'm guessing you can see coming. Why do they seat people in the exit row that can't speak English? This questions goes for other airlines that are run by people who speak other languages. If I happen to get in an Air France plane, I don't speak the language, so I won't be offended if they don't put me in the exit row. I will say, however, that if I'm in an Air France plane, and it crashes, and I survive the crash, if there isn't a gaping hole in which to flee, I'll get the damn door open, French, Russian, Spanish, no matter. I just pray to God that I don't do a George Castanza and knock old women and children over to get out. That will look bad at the Pearly Gates. Now back to Johnny Wrong Seat. He has settled into his seat next to me and we take off. Now its time to relax, so he decides to recline the 2 inches they give you, so he can be comfortable. We all know that reclining 2 inches is the difference in being miserable and comfortable. If you remember, we are in the row right in front of the exit row, which if you travel, you know, doesn't recline at all. Johnny has now began pushing the button and slamming his back into his seat with such a force, I'm scared to tell him it doesn't recline, I'll leave it to a trained professional. As he is pushing the back of his chair as hard as he can, he is using the seat in front of him as a brace. As he repeatedly does the out stroke of an according trying to recline, he isn't moving his seat, but is throwing the guy in front of him forward about 4 or 5 inches with every thrust. I swear I was so close to pissing my pants, but I couldn't laugh out loud for fear that this guy would snap. I've heard of people who snap on airplanes, including screaming, cussing and doing unspeakable things on the drink cart. He finally gives up. He then shifts his attention to the drink cart which is on its way down the isle. He puts down his tray and I can see in his body language, he is getting in a happy place. The cart is about 10 rows in front of us, so I just hope he can hold out. When the attendant finally gets to us, he excitedly says he wants a something and Kahlua. "I don't have any Kahlua" I hear the soon to be dead attendant say. OH SHIT, this guy is gonna snap and I am sitting way to close to him for this to be fun. He sits in silence as the lady looks through the cart for Kahlua. I want to tell her to either find one, something close, or move me, cause I'm scared. She finds nothing and their is silence next to me. I wasn't sure if he was crying, steaming or plotting his jump over the seat and opening the door the Chinese couple refused to open. He finally says "Water then," but in an angry voice that I can't convey with words. He then begins the herky jerky with the seat again and asks, "Is this seat broken." She tells him, no, that it doesn't recline, and he says "PERFECT." Now I'm really scared because he will be sober for the rest of the flight and in an uncomfortable position. He asks for a water, downs it in 2 seconds and tosses the bottle on the floor. Then he tries to get comfortable by sticking his knees up as high as he can on the seat in front of him, again giving that guy a ride like a mechanical bull. All settles down and he either goes to sleep or just starts plotting in silence. Why do people get so angry on airplanes? If you get bumped or delayed, I see that you get a little upset, but Charlie Manson snapped like a do-wop group from the 60's.(I changed his name after the spaz out session) Anyway, I get home and Marcy, Michelle and the boys are at the airport to welcome me home. I stop at McDonalds to get some junk food, since other than the chili slaw dog, I have eaten pretty healthy all week, healthy for me anyway. I get home and I'm told I have to go in the basement, but blind folded. This all sounded like fun, but Marcy said the boys were coming too, so any fantasy I was having is now out of the question. I stumble down the stairs and get to the middle of the family room and they take off the blind fold. Now I have had surprises, but this topped it all. All of the drywall was hung. To say it wasn't that way when I left is an under statement. It turns out, my friends from my small group came over and put it up. Its a lot of work, so I was really thankful, and like I said, really surprised. I'm working on getting thank yous out, but I'm slow, as usual.

So that is another year in Juarez, my fourth, but not my last. I plan on going every year, for as long as I can. I hope the group I have now gone with for 3 years is there with me every year, because they are part of what makes this trip so good. I wish I was a better writer so I could convey the life of the people, but I hope this gives you a little glimpse. I'm open to any and all questions, because my friends can tell you, I LOVE to talk about my trips, so fire away if you want.

Juarez, Day 5

Today is our final day in Juarez and the house is finished. I have very few pictures of the completed house, but if you want to see more pictures, send me an email and I'll give you the login to see them. I probably shouldn't put the login and password on the blog, never know who might read it and put pictures on there that might be inappropriate. Here is a shot of the family inside the completed house:

That is the dad on the left, with mom next, then the daughters. (Gabby the bionic 14 year old is on the far right) The lady in the overalls on the left is Gretchen. She and her husband Garold are the leaders of this mission and are an inspiration to anyone who meets them. Their love of the people of Juarez and their faithfulness to God are beyond my ability to describe. We call her our Mission Mom, and the name both fits and is deserved. The blanket on the wall was made by someone at Hope, my church. We also bought them a cross at the market, to remind them who brought us there.

Here is a shot of the completed house from the outside:

Here is a shot of the inside as the finishing touches are being put on. The small dark blue room in the back is the bathroom.When we were putting the finishing touches on the house, the dad came in and was looking around. This was the first time he had been inside the house. I watched as he stood by the back door with tears rolling down his cheeks. If you ever wanted to know if what we do is appreciated, I now have proof. This is a family that has obviously never had anything given to them. Especially from a bunch of Americans that they didn't know. Think about it. How would you react if someone came to your house and told you they were going to build you a better one, and you don't have to do anything, pay anything or return the favor? It's just, Here, God bless you. I can't even comprehend how that must feel. I love Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Every time I watch I get an allergy attack that makes my eyes water right when the people get their new house, funny how that works out like that every time. The house we build is not even close to the houses they build on that show, but I'm guessing the feeling the family has is the same. We don't buy them big screen TV's or even new appliances, but they get a sturdy, insulated, concrete floored house. There are thousands of people who could use a better place to live. We can help so few, but we can change the lives of a family every year and with the work we do else where in the community, we can help brighten their lives. These are hard working people that just can't get a break, from their government or anyone else. My mission work has changed my life. I would suggest that, if you get a chance, go on one. It doesn't have to be to Mexico, there are plenty of places right here in the USA that need help as well. You won't regret it.

We finished the day with a late lunch at the hot dog place I mentioned, I had the chili slaw dog, which I highly recommend. Then it was back to the hotel for a quick shower, the first hot one in a week and then it was off to dinner. You may have noticed that there was a very small amount of time between lunch and dinner, that wasn't lost on me either. I wasn't very hungry at dinner, but when you have the chance to eat a barbecue brisket, you go for it. We gave out awards for the week, like Sally got the "Sir Edmund Hillary Award" not so much for her climb to the top of the mountain behind the house, but for her decent that was done primarily on her butt. If you don't know who Sir Edmund Hillary was, he was the first person to summit Mount Everest. We gave Holly the Nanuk of the North award because she bundled up every night like she was sleeping in the arctic. We had our final El Paso goodbyes and it was off to bed for my 3:30 am wake up to head home.

Jarez, Day 4

Today, I was humbled. I told you that Chad and I climbed the mountain yesterday and how I was out of breath and had to stop several times. Today, I watched a 14 year old girl climb that same mountain with ease. You might think that doesn't sound too bad, she is 14, probably in shape. The problem is, she carried a 2 year old baby to the top with her. I refused to take a picture of her climbing, since I didn't want photo evidence of what I can only guess is a freak of nature. Her name is Gabby and I think she might be bionic, but I can't prove it because I don't know how to say "bionic" in Spanish, so I couldn't ask. Nothing has made me feel my age more than that, knowing that I was considering tossing the cookie I was carrying to loose the extra weight. Plus, I thought if I tossed my "cookies," I could loose a little more. My stomach won the battle and I kept all of the cookies, other than that that flew out with my breathing. We've gotten a lot more done, but we are going to go back Friday morning to finish. We need to finish the walls inside and do a lot of trim work. I forgot to mention that the box that we have our tools plugged into, is black. Here is a picture of the box and you can see the black which is left over from what I can only guess, was a fire. It has been working just fine for us, but I'm always concerned that it will pop and catch fire, again. We were told that the family is currently stealing the electricity, but I can neither confirm or deny that. I know in the past, we have seen metal hooks that have a wire coming out that runs to the house. The hook part is then thrown onto the active power line, thus stealing the power. That sounds dangerous to me, but the wires that we were working with had actually been wired into the power box, which sounds even more dangerous. Might explain the fire on the outlet box.

Juarez, Day 3

Today started early for me, way too early. I have my alarm set for 6:45, but I woke up at 5:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. Today was a very productive day at the site. All of the walls are built, only 3 more pieces of siding need to be hung, the roof is nearing completion and a lot of the insulation is in. The electric wiring is pulled and all of the boards are painted, inside and out. Thursday should be a good day and we, hopefully, will finish so Friday will be relaxing. The people I'm here with are awesome, I wish you could all meet them. If I didn't have such a great family, I would adopt them as my own. I so look forward to my week in Juarez every year, doing what I feel God has called me to do and doing it with a very faithful, loving and fun group. It doesn't feel like work when you have so much fun. The family we are building for is so grateful and have helped everyday. I can't wait to see their faces when we had them the keys. I wish the pictures I have included here could accurately show the city and the people, but they can't. I climbed the mountain behind the house for the view. It always seems to be such a short climb from the bottom of the hill, but I soon found that it is quite a climb. Seeing as how I'm in such bad shape, I was breathing pretty hard when I got to the top. It didn't help that I was trying to eat a cookie at the same time, so my chewing was done mostly with an open mouth, which in turn caused me to loose most of my cookie. I'll know to eat my cookies before I hike again, or perhaps eat them at the top. There was a dead chicken on the path we chose, so that didn't exactly help the appetite. Juarez is a city of about 3 million people and is spread out as far as you can see. Here are a few shots from the top.
Here is one of the house we are building from up top.I told you they were crappy pictures.

Juarez, Day 2

Day 4 started a little cold, thank God for stocking caps. We held our morning prayer on crystal beach. The reason we call it a beach is because there is a mission from our church that goes to Jamaica, about the time we are in Juarez and they meet on the beach every morning for a prayer. The reason we call it crystal, is because of all of the glass on the ground. When the sun comes up, it shines on the glass and is quite beautiful, here is a picture from a few years ago. We headed to the site and started putting in the windows. In one spot, it has such a steep drop off and only about 6 inches to stand on. I stood with the saw while Chad and Jeremy pushed me towards the wall so I didn't tumble down the hill with a power saw, that is on. I was perfectly safe as long as they didn't loose their footing.WOW, tiny picture again. That picture, plus the one of me tied to a steeple in New Mexico, is going to make Marcy get more insurance on me. We actually made great progress today, most of the ceiling rafters are on and 3 of the four walls are built and sided. Christy has all ready drilled the holes to pull the electric and put the boxes in that will hold the outlets, plus, she ran the nail gun for the first time. There haven't been any injuries, thank you Jesus. I get the "Thank you Jesus" from Frankie. He says it all the time. I just realized that this is the choppiest, most rambling post I have ever done, sorry. Tomorrow, Chad and I are climbing the mountain behind the house, so I'll snap a few crappy pictures from there so you can have no idea what I was looking at, just like I do when I look at pretty much any picture I take. Bet you can't wait to see those.

Juarez, Day 1

Day three started with our early trip across the border. Nobody got stopped and nobody got lost. We went across with 4 vehicles this year instead of 3, so there was a lot more room. There was a thick haze over Juarez and El Paso that was visible once we got to Frankie's. Again, Frankie is the man who started the mission that we stay at. Every year, we stay here and try to do a project or two for him as well. There is a link on the right side of my blog that you can go to to read his story. He eats dinner with us every year and tells us stories and they are both inspirational and entertaining. That is always my favorite meal of the week. We drove to the build site which consisted of a very good road, until the very end. Then it becomes really steep, with large rocks that makes driving difficult, especially when you are trying to back a 15 passenger van up an incline that probably shouldn't be attempted on foot without hiking boots and a rope. Here is a picture of the very end, the house on the left is where the family we are building for lives. The site is very tight with very little room on either side of the concrete slab to move around. We were able to get the 2 large walls up and braced for the evening. They are sided and painted, so I think that is pretty good progress for 1/2 day or so. The slope behind the house is steep with large rocks, so I'm sure nobody will be living behind them. That, again, is their house and that smaller square in the middle is the bathroom, or as all of us that grew up with out houses, that's what it is. I don't know how they broke through the solid rock to get the flat spot, jack hammer I guess. I know they did jackhammer to make room for the slab, but I can't imagine that it was flat before that. The neighborhood is typical of what we have seen in the past, some pretty nice houses mixed with some that aren't so nice. We met the mother and the two daughters that will be living there, in fact, they helped us paint. Thankfully, we have a translator this year, Ruthie. We are able to have conversations with the family to ask questions about them and the people in the neighborhood. The mother told us that the houses around her are all family. I have learned that family is very important in Mexico, at least those that we have talked to led me to believe that. Monday night is prayer meeting night and we always attend. I don't speak Spanish and they don't speak English, but they tell us the Bible verses they are reading and God's word is universal. This year, the service was 2 hours and 10 minutes long. We hadn't eaten, so the stomach was a rumbling. We share pizza with the people who attend the meeting. They sing a bunch of songs to open the meeting and start kind of a conga line. I've learned in the past to put off getting into the line as long as you can because if you get in early, you are running around in circles for a half hour. I actually have more fun just watching the people dance than I do participating, especially watching the kids

El Paso, Day 2

Wow, what a beautiful day! I hear its cold at home, but at 8:30 in the morning, its a nice cool temperature in El Paso. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but I had a long sleeve t-shirt on and I was fine. We headed for the Cracker Barrel for breakfast and I was able to locate a menu choice that was tasty, filling, but yet I didn't leave half a plate of food. Portions in the US are huge, but like everything else in Texas, they are even bigger. A tradition was started a few years back that we have a church service in a park that overlooks the city. Here is a picture of the view. Other than it being right off of the road, so you get all of the traffic noise, it has a great view of the border area. Someone in our group pointed out, that from where we were, you couldn't see where the US ended and Mexico started. That is how God sees us, as one. There is no division. All of us, whether rich or poor, black, white or brown, are all His children and we need to love one another. The service is always so nice, sing a few songs, read a few verses. The group that put it together pick out a lot of verses to remind us why we are here.
As we pulled into the lot, we smelled antifreeze, so we lifted the hood. The radiator seemed to be a little low, so we topped it off, but the overflow wasn't hooked up, so it all just pored on the ground. Lets hope this doesn't become an issue later in the week. Especially when we try to come back into the US and we have to sit in line for 45 minutes to an hour. We drove to the border and walked into Mexico for an afternoon of sight seeing and shopping. If you know me, shopping isn't really my thing, but its a great time to bond more with the team. Some of the sales techniques at the market are unusual. I had a guy a few years back try to sell me a Cuban cigar, which I declined. Then he asked if I wanted a whip for my wife. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean as a gift, and he was laughing, so I got what he meant. The one thing I learned at the market is, don't touch anything that you aren't interested in buying. Once you touch it, the shop owners are on you so fast its scary. You didn't even see them. They're like ninjas, they jump out and start trying to bargain with you. I was so disoriented the first time, I think I may have counter offered on something that I didn't even know what it was. That was the reason I touched it in the first place. I have found 2 shops that I really enjoy going too. They both play Christian music, which drays me in, and then you can always work a good deal with them. I bought Marcy a ceramic frog that started at $22, went to $18, then down to $15, but I eventually paid $10. I was suckered into a Juarez baseball hat that I didn't need, but I love hats and I thought $8 was pretty cheap. The market is right by a bull fighting arena, Plaza de Toros. There are never any bull fights going on when we are there, maybe because it is Sunday, but I always thought that would be an experience. We hung out at the cathedral for awhile. There were these dancers out front that were fun to watch. I took a few pictures of them.
If you live in Iowa or have ever been to the Iowa State Fair, you have probably seen the Isseretts(sp?), these guys reminded me of them. I love the Isserets, so this was a treat for me. While standing there, I started to feel the heat, so I know I'm a little red. Seems I can't do much in the sun without a little burn. I took this picture of a guy juggling in the street, if you look close you can see his balls (THAT HE IS JUGGLING YOU PERVERTS). We walked back to the states and experienced customs with a passport required for the first time. It was actually the fastest we ever crossed back, so the passports seem to be a good thing when you walk over. We'll see how it affects the drive back. I found out there is a place that sells 25 different kinds of hot dogs, just down the street from our hotel. Looks like I found my Friday afternoon meal. Tonight we head back to Leo's for dinner, then have devotions and discuss the Monday crossing. It'll be an early morning, but we'll get to see where we are building and get started. I found out that we are building the entire house, not splitting it with week 2 as in the past. I can't wait to be present when we hand the keys over to the family. I got to do that 3 years ago and I think I was more emotional than they were. It was so great to see the project complete and the smiling faces of the kids. God has blessed me in so many ways, its good to give a little back.

El Paso, Day 1

It was a dark and foggy morning... I'm not a writer, but I wanted to start my posting with a classy literature line. Plus, it was foggy on the way to the airport. A couple of observations about flying:
1. You probably have seen people out in public, talking on their cell phones, and having conversations that should probably be saved for private time. I witnessed this the other night when I saw some lady with a Bluetooth headset, arguing with someone on the other end of the line. I don't mean disagreeing, I mean arguing. She was very upset about the "things she needed to get done" and was letting the other person know about it, plus all of us within 8 isles of her. I go to Target to make a purchase, not to listen to marital problems of some random person. Well on a plane, now you have people who decide to make a call as soon as the fasten seat belt light goes off. You hear the ding and its like a race to see who can make the first call. I'm not sure how they made it the whole hour without making a call, but they are making up for lost time now. Of course, all of the conversations start, "We just landed, I'm in (insert city here)." If someone calls me with that, they are getting a "I just sat down, at home" then I'm hanging up. Is landing such an unusual occurrence that they have to call everyone and let them know that they were successful? They didn't actually land the plane. If they did, I'd cut them some slack and they can make that call. You may be thinking, "Maybe they are calling for their ride." Maybe, but why do they then say the city they are in? If I'm picking you up, I better be in the same city.

2. When asked by the flight staff for volunteers to move to the back of the plane because the front is too heavy, you might as well volunteer right away because nobody else is gonna. Plus, you want to be the first so you can pick where you move to instead of getting stuck right next to the bathroom door. I fell into this category and I must tell you that the seat right out of the bathroom was empty for a reason, it smells and it gets way too much activity, not the desired combo. The kids going in and out wasn't as bad as the old guy that went in just before we were going to land, so the flight guy (not sure what to call him) was banging on the door trying to get this guy back to his seat. The old guy opened the door, but he wasn't quite in "open door" dress mode. He could have waited just a smidgen longer to get his pants up all the way. Again, made my seat not so desired.

3. While flying into the Denver airport, don't get too excited when you land and start your taxi to the terminal. In most airport, you land, you taxi for a few minutes, you leave the plane. In Denver, you land, you taxi for 20 minutes, you leave the plane. I've flown there numerous times, and every time, I'm amazed at how long it takes. I think the Denver airport is actually located in Utah, but I can't prove it.
Our flights were good, despite the above, but the lady in front of me kept yelling at her kids. They weren't doing anything wrong, really, but she was yelling as loud as she could. She also decided to show the kids a video on her phone and had the volume turned up as loud as it would go. I couldn't tell what the person was saying it was so distorted, but she didn't have a care in the world that everyone on the whole plane had to listen to it.
Now I'm relaxing in the 70 degree weather, getting ready to head down to the pool to hang out. This pool has been the darkest green I have ever seen for the past three years, but this year, I can see the bottom. I'm still not getting in it, but a better place to sit than years past. Tonight we head to Leo's Mexican Restaurant, right next door to our Red Roof Inn, for dinner. The first year I went there they had the salsa on the table, which I love. After eating it for a minute, I realized that the heat was beginning to build. Now I love hot stuff, but this was pushing my tolerance. We stopped the waiter to ask for some mild, which he informed us we were eating. I told him to be sure he kept the hot away from me, it might just have killed me.

Home, sweet home.

I made it!!!!! I made it back from Mexico on Saturday, just in time for another Iowa snowstorm on Sunday. This one was a little harder to take since I had just spent a week in upper 60's to lower 70's. I had a great week and I can't wait to write about it and post pictures. I have some stuff written, so I should be able to start posting tonight, so keep checking. I would have posted sooner, but I got one of my famous sinus infections while in Mexico. I think I get them from all of the dust I inhale while I'm there, but I'm no Dr., so that's just a guess. I'm doing better today and I'm actually at work, so this will have to be short. It's my lunch hour, so I eat then write, eat then write. Hard to get many thoughts down without loosing track of where I am or eating ice cold food. Like I said, I had a great week and we actually built a house and were able to finish it. If you have heard my stories before, you know that we usually just build part of the house and the group that goes the second week finishes it. Being able to present the house to the family is an amazing feeling. This particular family was very helpful in getting it done. The mother and 2 girls were always willing to help paint and when the dad wasn't working at his job, was helping load or unload trucks. I have some plane obsevations that I found amusing and the plane ride home from Denver, I had a guy that was slightly disturbing. I've heard of people flipping out on planes and this guy was as close as I've ever seen. I hope your interest is peaked, more to come.

Pray for my family!

Please say a prayer for my family today. I have a lot of family in Lafayette, TN, which was hit with tornados yesterday. We didn't have tornados here in Iowa, but here is a picture of our snow, as of 8:30 this morning. It is now 11am, and it's still snowing. That is all new snow.

A few quick things:

Take a look at this picture of ice that was coming out of the roof of a car wash and went all the way to the ground. This was about 3 feet around and 10 feet high, really cool looking.

The sun was shinning, which is a rarety in Iowa in the winter, so I got the glare on the door behind it.

I also went to a friends house to watch the Super Bowl. On the way, I saw these deer on a hill.

I don't know why I love that as much as I do, but I love to see wild life that close to my car, without me actually hitting them. These were a little bit off the road, I should have taken a picture 1/2 mile earlier when there was a group 10 feet off the road, but there was only about 10 of them, not as impressive. On our way to church, we go through an area that we call "Deer alley" because we see deer almost everytime we go through. Sometimes its at night and they are standing on the sidewalk, so that can be a little starteling. Not to mention that everything that comes into your headlight beams is potentially a deer, so you jump. I don't know how many times I have been frightened by a fire hydrant. I guess I think there are midget deer in Iowa. Don't laugh, you don't know, that could be the new thing, like miniture ponies or daschund dogs.

You will have to excuse my spelling, if you see something off. My spell checker on my blog isn't functioning and I don't spell very well. Isn't it amazing how much we rely on technology, and when it doesn't work, we can't function. I have more on that, but it has to wait until I'm back from Mexico. And no, I can't tell you why. I am planning on taking my laptop to Mexico with me, so I should be able to post to my blog as soon as I get back. Check it out on Monday the 18th to see if I got it done. I can't post while I'm there, but I can write while it's fresh on my mind.

Not sure if I'll post again before I leave, so pray for our safety, for us to connect with the people we are going to serve, and pray the language barrier doesn't hinder our ability to share the love of Jesus Christ, because he is why we are going. John 20:21 As my Father has sent me, I am sending you.