Heading home

Hi folks,

Well, my time in Mexico has come to an end, for now. 

Last night after church it was a bittersweet love-fest of hugs and prayers and goodbyes.  I was swarmed by kids, most of whom I think might actually miss me (I will miss them, for sure!), and a few of whom may have been more interested in the photos I had put together for each family..  In any case, it was nice (if chaotic) being the center of attention for a few moments.  I wish I had had time to say longer goodbyes, but then I might have decided (again) not to leave.. 

My flight leaves at 4pm today (and gets in at 7:05pm — anyone able to pick me up?). Jose likes to be early for everything, so I’m sure we will end up leaving here before noon.  At least it wasn’t 4am, which is the usual strategy for crossing the border – we’ll get to try out Jose’s brand new SENTRI pass, which allows him to skip the long lines and will save them a huge amount of time in the long run, not to mention allow them to sleep in to a more normal hour.  Unfortunately, Yolanda’s application was denied due to a clerical error, which will require several more appointments and possibly re-application to fix (I hope Jose was paying attention when we did it online the first time).  Anyway, for today I’ll get to experience the walk-through border, since Jose can drop us off and meet us on the other side.

It’s been several weeks since I had time to write.  Days have been long, the sun has been hot and the labor physical (much more so than in the months prior).  As many of you know, I’m not exactly known for my prowess as a manual laborer (Braulio jokes that I should stick to photographing others doing the work), so it was tough for me some days.  The worst was hand-scrubbing our 242 “new” (stained and stinky) upholstered chairs on my birthday, with not so much as a “Happy Birthday” or a dinner to look forward to (Jose was orphaned at age 13 so I can’t blame him for calling a birthday “just another day”, but we’d done something special for him a few days earlier so I expected something).  I clearly still have a long way to go in becoming a true “servant” who doesn’t require any appreciation/ affirmation for who he is or what he does.  In that regard, “character-building” may not have been what I had in mind for a birthday present, but it’s probably what I needed (especially turning 34 – I need to grow up one of these days)..

On the topic of not growing up..   A couple of weeks back, myself, Braulio and Eric were given the task of painting my lime-green Sunday School classroom white.  It was frustrating because the green kept bleeding through and we didn’t have any color-killing primer, yet I knew Jose felt it was a one-and-a-half day job at most and would have plenty to say if we didn’t finish.  To make matters worse, we were running out of paint.  Then to top it off, the grandkids, ignoring a dozen or so warnings about playing near the painting operation, got paint on their clothes and tracked it all over the compound (fortunately, they were still outside).  I scolded them harshly and proceeded to hose down the concrete (at least it was water-based paint!).  The grandkids retreated upstairs but 5-year old Eliana, who lives next door, stayed downstairs and quietly splashed her bare feet in the river of water I was creating in my anger.  But as she’s done so many times during my time here, Eliana smiled, my heart melted, and the next thing I knew I was tossing aside my boots, rolling up my pant legs, and puddle-splashing alongside her.  The grandkids heard all the commotion, and before long we were all in a full-scale water fight, complete with hoses and balloons.  Even Mary and Susana (Eliana’s mom) joined in the fun.  Then we all rushed to dry our clothes and hide the evidence of our unsanctioned fun before Jose and Yolanda got home.  What a day!

Braulio hasn’t been able to find work lately so Jose has been paying him to work on projects around the church (good for him, but bad for me, since it means I’ll be putting in a full days’ work also!).  One day last week we went to Joe Jr.’s house to feed the horses and do some weeding of the big, thorny tumbleweed-like shrubs that take over like morning glory or blackberries do back in Seattle.  Jose said to feed them to the horses, but there were so many I knew it would end up as a huge mess for me or someone else to clean up later.  So we did what any stereotypical Mexican would do – we dumped them on the empty lot next door!

This week he and I have been painting the fence around the church, and the running joke has been about all the ways I have (or haven’t) become a Mexican in the time I’ve been here.  Have’s: the aforementioned dumping; driving aggressively, with one hand on the wheel and one on the horn (unthinkable in Seattle); beans several times a day; homemade tortillas or none at all (it’s impossible to go back to the storebought Mission variety).  Haven’ts: using your car horn for a doorbell; eating whole chile peppers; liking “banda” music.
 
Some other activities:
Tecate: We loaded up the bus and took 50 kids to the same ranch the youth went to a few months back.  A 10-year-old boy did the preaching, as well as singing (mariachi) with his sisters.  I wore several hats as clown/teacher/referee/lifeguard/photographer.  As always, pool time was the big hit with the kids.
Tomatoes: Some friends who have a ranch in Tecate and periodically show up with overripe produce to be given away came with tomatoes this time – lots of them.  We bagged them and gave them to everyone who would take them, and pitched the rest (we’re still getting rid of the fruit files).
Baptisms: We had a baptism service last Saturday and 11 folks took the plunge!
Clown reprisal: Last Sunday at church Mary insisted that we do a few clown skits, since many of the adult members have never seen them.
Newsletter: Last Sunday we sent out the church’s first-ever email newsletter.  I wrote it but created a template so hopefully Jose will be able to do it on his own next time.
Youth conference: Last Monday we hosted the monthly youth conference with 150 or so youth from the network of churches.  No clowns needed, thankfully, but since I sat in the front row I still got called up for a few illustrations (the hair-gringo combination are always good for comedy relief)

One of the blessings of attending a small church (and one of the reasons I stayed) is that you can get experience in just about anything you want, since there is always more work than people to do it.  If there was a need and I thought I could do it (or wanted to learn how), I usually volunteered, and thus learned to play bass (one song anyway), train dogs (until they mutinied), teach Sunday school, etc. 

But be careful what you promise around here, because Jose will call you on it.  The past month has been hard on him because he’s had to preach three times a week while Joe Jr. is gone.  Yolanda used to preach sometimes but she’s been so tired lately that that wasn’t a possibility.  Jose said anyone in the congregation could preach, so naively I said I’d start thinking about it, and spent the evening looking up a few verses that I could add to the essay on “God Math” that I wrote for my grad school application.  The next day (with two hours to go before service) he said, “You’re preaching tonight.”  Yikes!  I pretended that I wasn’t phased, sneaked out to my room and went into full-on last-minute mode like I haven’t been in since college. 

Then, to top it off, some friends from my church back home arrived for a surprise visit, so my first sermon was going to have to be bilingual as well! (thankfully, Jose sat next to them and translated so I didn’t have to)..  Anyway, my sermon was short on Holy Ghost and long on verses, but it wasn’t terrible for a first effort.  In hindsight, with my friends there I should have thrown out everything I had prepared and given just the bare-bones edition (and my testimony) in two languages, but that’s a lesson learned for next time (if there is one – allowing a random member of the congregation preach doesn’t seem like it would fly so well back home)..
 
Well, technically I’m still packing so I’d better wrap this up.  Perhaps I’ll have some reflections after I get home, but you know how easy it is to get caught up in the distractions of daily life, especially after a long trip.
 
I start grad school next month, but for the moment I’m thinking it will only be for one trimester and then, God willing, I’d like to go ahead and do YWAM in Argentina like I had planned this past year.  I still like the idea of full time missions a whole lot better than being a psychologist, even though I’d be helping people either way.  I’ll give school a shot so I have an idea what it (and a psychology career) might be like.  I have 5 years to complete the degree, so technically that gives me two years to play with.    I’m not sure many folks would pay to see a psychologist under 40 anyway, unless they were extraordinarily good..
 
Please continue to keep Jose and Yolanda and the church here in your prayers.  I’ll attach the newsletter in case you’re curious — feel free to email him if you’d like to be included on future editions..
 
Lots of new pictures, let me know if the photo site is too slow with 600 pics.  Here is the link — http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=c76dvf4.a374gik0&x=0&y=pofqq1
Thanks for all of your support and prayers during my time down here, and thanks for reading these updates!  I’ll be in touch regarding my future plans.

I hope all is well with you.  Please drop me a note if you haven’t recently, and I’ll try to catch up on email when I get home..

Que Dios les bendiga!
-Tos