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.