Ladrones

This is the first time I have been online since lunch yesterday, with the primary reason being that a thief or thieves broke into my apartment yesterday afternoon while I was at the store and stole a few things, including my computer. Please pray that God would use this situation to His glory, even though I am really angry and frustrated about it right now. I know He is sovereign and in control, but I am really wanting vengeance, plus I would love to have my things back. I realize that vengeance is the Lord's and I will probably never see my things again, but please pray that I would be able to quickly resume my work and that I would quit walking around wanting to maim, kill, and destroy.

Until yesterday I had never been robbed. I am still pretty mad about it. It isn't so much the money, it's the fact that some chump had the audacity to break into my apartment and steal my things. This wasn't just some expensive junk that insurance can cover. They stole a very special watch that my parents had given me. They stole my computer that contained over five years of work, including papers I have written, letters I have sent, and priceless pictures and videos of family and friends. They took my backpack, just so they could stuff my things in there and carry them off more easily. They took my PlayStation as they walked out the door (not that I care), but didn't even grab the controllers or power cord. All in all, they probably spent less than 60 seconds in my apartment. The leading suspects are some guys who were working at our building yesterday, or possibly someone that knows me, which really gets my blood boiling. If you have ever wondered what it is like to be robbed, it is enormous frustration coupled with a few shots of rage. Fear does not enter the equation. I actually hope they come back, while I am home. Anyway, please pray that the thieves ("ladrones" in Spanish) would repent and come to Christ and also pray that this situation would not distract me from the work God has called me to in this place. I will update you soon on more positive happenings. God is still on the throne.

The Mountain

WARNING: This post is really long. Only begin to read if you have 8 minutes.

I’m sorry it has taken me so long to get to this story, but things have been busy here in Monterrey. Only in Mexico can you have your gas service shut off after being two days late on paying a $30 bill. I bet if I called the gas company about a leak, they couldn’t even get here in two days. Oh well, the cold showers have been nice, as its been pretty hot around here, but I haven’t been able to make my award-winning spaghetti. I really hope they turn me back on today.

Okay, we rejoin our story two Sundays ago, on the 14th day of May. Nolan and I woke up very early, as we were planning on climbing a mountain, and a new friend had said he was going to meet us at 6:30 a.m. outside my apartment. After sitting on the curb waiting for him for about ten minutes, we decided to go back to sleep and get some more rest. It retrospect, it was the best decision we made all day.

After waking up at about 11 o’clock, I called my mother and sister to wish them a Happy Mothers’ Day. Nolan and I then packed our bags full of water, Gatorade, and snacks and took a taxi to the mountain. A friend of mine who had previously climbed this peak had given me directions for where we needed to begin to find the trail. This peak was much more remote than the one I climbed in February, and the trail was no where near as easy to find or follow. After a short search, we climbed into what appeared to be a garage on a residential street, and following it back found that it was a tunnel that led us under the neighborhood and onto the trail at the base of the mountain. We paused for a video update and then began our journey at 12:10 p.m. We had been told that the trip up would take us about 4 hours. I had my doubts.

The first hour was rough. It was all scampering over boulders and up steep slopes, getting stuck by cactus and other “vicious plant life,” as Nolan so-named it. The trail was often difficult to follow, and when we finally stopped for a break at about 1:30 we were exhausted. I was seriously concerned that Nolan might not be able to make it, as he sat in silence chugging Gatorade like Napoleon Dynamite. We got back on the trail, and after about an hour we paused for another break. Below is a picture of Nolan taking a short power nap.



At this point we were almost half-way up the mountain, and we were feeling much better. It seemed like we both had much more energy that when we had begun, and we were in pretty high spirits as the trail had become much easier to follow. We rested for about 15 minutes, and then got back on the trail. A short time later we came to several large rock outcroppings, where we paused to take a few pictures. The first shot is Nolan with part of the city in the background. The next shot is me with the peak behind, showing that we still have much ground to cover.



After getting back on the trail, we were quickly disappointed as we realized that the path quit going up, and began to wind its way around the side of the mountain. After walking for over an hour, we found ourselves no closer to the top than we had been at our last break, but now we were in the valley between two peaks. We were fairly confident that we were on the right trail, but couldn’t understand why the route was so round-about.

After walking up the valley for close to an hour, we finally began to go up in the direction of our intended peak. Our spirits began to rise as we realized the trail we were on was actually going to get us to our destination. Although we were pretty tired, we made really good time. Near the top we met a Mexican guy on his way down from the peak. He told us to hurry, that it was late. We charged toward the top, scrambling over rocks and climbing up small cliffs. We finally reached the summit at about 6 p.m.

Getting to the top was an awesome feeling. The view was unbelievable. The peak afforded a 360 degree panoramic view, with the city spread out far beneath us in every direction. We spent quite a while taking it all in, snapping pictures, and recording video. There was a small metal tower on top where Nolan and I wrote our names, and climb up to experience the view and the wind. Below is a picture of me on the antennae and also a picture of Nolan pointing to where he wrote his name. I don’t know why he put the date as 13-4-06. It was actually 14-5-06. Oh well, we were pretty tired at this point.



After a little exploration, we figured out why the trail to the peak had been so round-about. Pretty much every side of the summit, except the direction from which we came, had cliffs that dropped off several hundred feet. Below is a picture of me laying at the edge of one of these cliffs. It was a pretty awesome site.



When looking down at the city from that distance, it doesn’t even seem real. Here is a great picture of Nolan with Monterrey in the background.



In the next picture, if you look directly above my left hand (your right, my left) you can see the campus of Tec de Monterrey. The stadium is easy to find, as well as the big blue skyscraper.



Now that we were at the summit, we had a big decision to make. It had taken us nearly six hours to reach the peak, and we knew that it would be dark in about two hours. We discussed the situation for a few minutes, and then decided to spend the night on top of the mountain. At the time, we had several good reasons for this decision. One, we didn’t want to start down the mountain, only to be stuck in woods in the dark, getting eaten by mosquitoes and other insects. Two, we were pretty tired, and thought that the trip down would be much better if we rested and got some sleep, and then began our descent when the sun came up. Finally, we had plenty of food and liquids, had found a decent place to lay down, and the weather was pretty fair. After trying to call a couple of friends to inform them of our decision, we ate and laid down to get some rest.

At about 8 o’clock, with Nolan sound asleep, I was awakened from a light doze by the wind. I got up and noticed that the sun was setting, but looked much different than any sunset I had ever seen. I grabbed my video camera and yelled for Nolan to get up. We ran to the edge of the peak, and this is what we saw.



Before we had went to sleep, it looked like there might have been some rain way off to the northwest. Now, there was a huge thunderstorm over downtown Monterrey, and to the west we could see that we were just getting the front edge of it. We took several pictures, including the one below, but the video we have is what really tells the story. I hope to be able to post the video soon.



As I stood in front of the camera, explaining what was happening and doing my best weatherman impersonation, lightning and thunder were all around us. We weren’t getting any rain yet, but we could feel a light mist beginning to blow our way. We watch the events unfold below from the best seat in the house as transformers exploded all over the city and different sections lost power. As the wind became more powerful and the storm began to approach us, Nolan yelled to me that his hair was buzzing. I didn’t understand what he meant until lightning struck again and he covered his head and ran for cover. His hair was actually crackling from the electricity in the air.

As we tried to take cover in our “shelter,” a hard and heavy rain began to fall. We quickly put everything into our bags and pressed ourselves as close to the rocks as we could. We were sitting side by side with our backs to the mountain, our backpacks over our heads to try to block the rain, but getting soaked nonetheless. Pretty soon it was a torrential downpour, with the wind whipping all around us and lightning and thunder going off right over our heads.

I hollered to Nolan that the rain was killing my legs, to which he replied, “It’s hailing!” I looked out from under my bag to see hail almost as big as golf balls hitting me in the lap. I couldn’t believe we were sitting in the middle of this on top of the highest mountain in the area. After another minute or two of getting pelted by hail and getting soaked by rain, I found myself on Nolan’s lap, trying to protect him from the hail, with both of us pressed as close to the rocks as we could get, our backpacks over our heads to try to block the storm. We sat for a moment shivering in the cold, wet wind, finally looking at each other and saying, “We have to get off of this mountain!”

At 8:30 p.m. sharp we started our descent. I led the way, with Nolan right behind me. We went as fast as we possibly could, while still trying to be careful on the wet, slick rocks and muddy paths. As soon as we began we were praying aloud, asking God for His protection, and for some respite from the storm. As we were continually pelted by huge hail and blown by monstrous winds, we climbed, crawled, and slid down the mountainside. In several places there were long, large rock outcroppings that we had climbed up just hours earlier. The rain had turned them into natural waterslides and several times we had no choice but to slide down and hope for a soft landing. We shouted constantly, with a typical conversation sounding like this:

Nolan: Dear God, protect us…keep us safe…ugh…I just got drilled in the eye with some hail.
Josh: Nolan, watch your step here...really slick...Ouch! I just got hit in the ear…watch out...cactus right here…God, don’t let us get injured.
Nolan: I can’t believe this! This is crazy!
Josh: Yeah, but if we survive it is going to make a great story!

Anyway, we continued on like this for about a half hour before the hail stopped and we were somewhat under the protection of the tree canopy. At this point, we were still descending very steep rocks and we fell more times than I could count. It was amazing how God protected us and kept us from injury.

We continued without a break for about an hour and a half. When we stopped, we could hardly believe what we had been through, but we were still in a difficult situation. It was now night time, but fortunately the sky was bright enough to illuminate the trail. We were filthy, scraped, bruised, and wet, not to mentioned exhausted, but had so much adrenaline running through us that we weren’t about to stop. We paused for some water and started moving again.

We would go for a few minutes on the trail, lose it, and then find ourselves on the trail again. Fortunately I had packed a small headlamp that we used to light the way when we couldn’t see in the dark. I have no doubt that God gave me better vision that night than I have ever had in my life. I have no idea how we found the trail in some places. We continued moving for what seemed like nights on end, only to find that we had only been walking for another hour. After what seemed like an eternity, we were back in the valley between the two peaks. We stopped for another break and decided that we were going to walk off that mountain tonight.

Once in the valley, the going was much tougher. The trail was very difficult to follow, and many times we found ourselves simply climbing over huge boulders through an ancient creek bed. Every once in a while we would pick up the trail on one side of the creek bed or the other, but for the most part we just stumbled in the general direction of the bottom. Being in the valley was nice because we were protected from the wind and rain, but it was much darker underneath all of the trees and it was very tough to gauge our progress. On a few occasions the only path was to climb down huge rock faces that really tested our strength and teamwork. It is truly a miracle that neither of us were hurt.

After we were about four hours into our hike, we were so exhausted that we simple plodded along in silence, stumbling over rocks and roots and checking on each other after the occasional fall. I stuck my hands in the “vicious plant life” so many times that the poison caused them to tingle for two whole days. During one break Nolan put his head down on his arm and I felt myself starting to doze off while sitting up. We quickly got moving again, vowing not to stop until we were in civilization. Finally, about five and half hours into our excursion, we found a good, solid trail and were able to begin moving much quicker towards the bottom. We began to see the lights of the city getting closer, and we could see signs that this area was much more heavily traveled than were we had previously been. Finally, after close to six hours of challenge, we found ourselves walking along a high wall. Soon we were standing in the neighborhood where we had begun. We had taken a different trail back down (we knew this), but had ended up very close to our starting point.

We walked through the city for 30 minutes before sitting down outside an Oxxo convenience store to take a break and do a video update. We were so thankful to be safely back in the city, and could do nothing but laugh and praise God that everything had turned out okay. We finally got up and walked out to the main road, where three empty cabs refused to pick us up before we found one that would take us back to my apartment. I know we looked like we had been through a war, but it is so unusual here in Mexico for a cab not to aggressively try to pick you up. After returning to my apartment, we got cleaned up and I cooked spaghetti, then we slept for about 10 hours. I think it was well-deserved.

In conclusion, I just have a few suggestions for anyone wanting to climb a mountain.
-Get plenty of rest the night before.
-Take plenty of food, water, and Gatorade.
-If you want to spend the night, pack a tent.
-Make sure you have a light.
-Bring along a good friend that will have a great attitude in any situation.
-Take plenty of pictures, and even video if you can.
-Make sure you know Jesus, just in case you have to go through what we did. Sliding down wet cliffs in the middle of the night is a lot easier if you know you're going to heaven.

Well, that’s about it. If you have read all of this, you probably deserve an award. I tried to make it as short as possible, but a lot happened that day and night. I just want to thank God again that He protected us so well, and I want to thank Nolan for everything he did. There are very few people that would not have been completely miserable in that situation, and Nolan handled himself like the true warrior that he is. He can climb a mountain with me anytime.



By the way, the mountain is no longer calling my name. It just whimpers when I look at it. I think we showed it.

The Trip Home

Before I begin this story, we are going to have another game. Look at the picture below and venture a guess as to what Nolan and Josh are doing.



Okay, so here is the story. I am still relating the events of last Saturday. After descending from the waterfall and leaving the park, Nolan got a call from the office. While Al and I waited for him, we began to discuss how we were going to get back to my apartment. It was beginning to get dark, and we were on a mountain side in the middle of the country, about 45 minutes from town. We decided we could probably catch a cab back to the main road and then try to take the same bus that we used to get out to the falls earlier that day. While Nolan and I threw food at a bunch of ducks, Al went into the hotel to see if someone could call a cab for us. I don't know who brought up the idea first, but when Al returned, Nolan and I were considering trying to hitch a ride back to town with someone who might be leaving the mountain. Al informed us that a worker at the hotel had volunteered to call a cab for us, but he was going to charge us 12 pesos. That's a little more that a dollar, and I decided it just wasn't worth it. We all looked at each other, and unanimously voted to hitch-hike our way back to Monterrey.

I know what some of you are thinking - that I must be completely insane. I mean, we are talking about hitch-hiking...in Mexico. I assure you that it was safer than 95% of places in the U.S. Anyway, as we started walking down the mountain I wasn't so sure that anyone would pick us up. The first couple of cars that passed us waved and a few people laughed, but no one even slowed down. Next, we saw a couple of pickup trucks passing by, and tried to flag them down, but to no avail. I remember saying, "It would be perfect if we could ride in the back of a pickup truck." Less than one minute later, two pickups came down the mountain, and the first stopped ahead of us and the passenger motioned for us to hop in the back. We quickly jumped in and were on our way. Descending the mountain was a blast. The wind felt awesome, and the thrill of hitchhiking home was a perfect compliment to the other events of the day. As we neared the main road, the driver rolled down his window and asked me where we wanted to go. I began to tell him in Spanish, and he quickly asked me (in English) if I spoke English. It turns out that our drivers were from the U.S. and they spoke better English than Spanish. They were also going back to Monterrey, and he told us to just tap on the back window when we wanted to get out.

We spent the next half hour relaxing in the back of the pickup, laughing about how fun and crazy our day had been, and trying to figure out where we were going to eat. Bungee jumping and losing your underwear to a waterfall can really make a person hungry! Anyway, when we got back to town, the truck (which was traveling with another truck behind us) dropped us off at Wal-Mart, which was perfect because I needed to go to Sam's. We thanked the guys and gave them a little gas money, and then did some shopping. After taking a cab back to my apartment, we had an excellent dinner at Paco's Tacos, and then watch videos and looked at pictures from our adventures.

As crazy as last Saturday was, it was only the opening act for Sunday. I will tell you about that in my next post.

The Waterfall

After the awesome Bungee experience last Saturday, Nolan, Al and I walked up to the waterfall known as Cola de Caballo, which means tail of the horse. As you can see in the picture below, the water cascading down over the rocks actually looks like a horse’s tail.



Before I continue on with the story, I would like for you to take a look at the next picture, and try to figure out what Nolan and I are pointing at. You will probably figure it out later in the story, but it will be fun to try to guess right now.



Okay, now that you have ventured a guess, here is the story. We decided after checking out the waterfall that we would hike up to the top. I had been up there before, and knew how to get to the point where the water comes cascading over the edge. Nolan and Al were both interested in checking it out. After a short hike, we found ourselves standing at the top of the falls. We were greeted by a guy from Sweden and two of his Mexican buddies, who were swimming in the shallow pools. They left soon after we arrived, leaving us alone at the top. Below is a picture of me standing at the top of the waterfall.



As you can see in the photo, my pants were a little wet. After walking around in the water for about twenty minutes, and taking a bunch of pictures of each other, we decided we wanted to swim. The only problem was that we didn’t want to get our clothes soaking wet because we still had a pretty long trip ahead of us to get back to my apartment. Since there was no one else around, and it is pretty difficult to find your way to the spot where we were, we decided to go swimming in our underwear. Below is a picture of Nolan and I getting soaked in the cold mountain water.



After taking this picture, I had to climb down from the falls. In the process, two things happened. First, a Mexican guy and his girlfriend appeared above us at some smaller falls. The guy looked at three guys standing there in their underwear and waved. Fortunately, I don’t think his girlfriend saw us. The second thing that happened was that I got extremely muddy on my climb back down around the falls. The following picture is me trying to get clean as Nolan goes to dry off.



At this point, we were getting hungry and the park was closing, so we decided we should head back towards town. The other guys put their clothes back on and were obviously uncomfortable as their soaking wet underwear made their pants look like they had had an accident. I decided I was going to be smarter and “go commando” on the way home. After getting back into my clothes, I was attempting to wash the mud off my underwear when the force of the water ripped them out of my hand and quickly launched them over the edge of the falls. If you haven’t guessed by now, the thing Nolan and I were pointing at was my underwear floating in the spectator pool beneath the waterfall. I hated to leave them there, but I thought it was probably safer than claiming them. I never would have guessed when we got to the park that I would be leaving my underwear there in the water, but hey, life is full of surprises!

Bungee Jumping

Okay, so now that I have told you about last Saturday morning, I will move on to the more exciting activities of the afternoon. After returning from Alianza, we (Nolan, Al, and I) had lunch at Subway. Al only had a six-inch sub because we were planning to go bungee jumping, and he was concerned the jump might make him sick. After lunch we got on a bus and headed south toward Cola de Caballo. This was no ordinary bus, but was more like the stereotypical Mexican bus that you would think of: packed with tons of people, doors barely hanging to the hinges, kids hanging out windows…the only thing missing was a guy with a guitar and some chickens. Anyway, we took the bus as far as it would go (about 30 minutes south of the city) and then jumped in a cab with the craziest old man I have met in quite sometime. By this point, we were out in the country, driving up a mountain, and it is quite common to see people on dirt bikes, four wheelers and dune buggies. This old guy was taking way too much pleasure in trying to run kids off the road who were coming down the mountain on dirt bikes as we were coming up in the cab. Every time we passed a group, he would swerve into their lane, yell something in Spanish that we couldn’t understand, and then start laughing at himself. I have to admit, it was pretty funny. By the way, the picture below is Nolan and Al outside the Italian restaurant where we found the taxi. Am I the only one that thinks this is a funny picture? I didn't think so.



So, let’s get back to the story. After we arrived at the Hotel Cola de Caballo, we quickly found the bungee platform. It was a long metal walkway thrust off the edge of a steep cliff, with the treetops about 300 feet below. It reminded me of the saying “walking the plank.” After paying our 330 pesos (about $30) and getting some quick instructions, we were ready to go. The guys had already decided that I should go first, and I was feeling pretty confident, so I got strapped in and headed for the far end. I can honestly say that I felt nothing but excitement until about 10 seconds before the jump. One of the workers told me that he was going to count to 3, at which point I needed to leave the platform. Once I was standing on the edge, looking down at nothing but treetops 100 meters below, I must admit that I was a little scared. As the rope was thrown off the deck, the weight of it began to pull on my feet, and I held onto the railing for dear life. I finally reassured myself that the rope was going to hold me, and told myself not to think, just to jump. I heard 1, 2, 3, BUNGEE! and I only paused for a split second before leaping out into nothing. It was honestly much more difficult that I had thought. Below is a picture of me in free-fall, right after I left the platform.



Once I was in the air, it was impossible to speak. I couldn’t have screamed if I had wanted to. I fell for almost two seconds before the trees stopped getting closer and I felt myself springing back skyward. The transition was surprisingly smooth. It was at that point that I began to whoop and holler with glee. I was having a great time. I have a video, but I haven’t found a site that will host the file format. I am hoping to be able to post it soon. For now, you will have to settle for more pictures. The next one is at the bottom of my freefall, right before the rope took over.



After I went, Al and then Nolan took the plunge, and they both described similar experiences. All three of us said it was much more difficult to jump off than we had anticipated, but we were all very glad that we did. Al completed his jump in complete silence, earning him the nickname “The Silent Thrill-Seeker.” The following picture is of Al during his jump/fall.



Nolan attempted to yell “Geronimo” on the way down, but as I mentioned before, it’s really impossible to scream until you have hit the bottom. He was pretty noisy after that, and I think he may have enjoyed his jump more than anyone. I wish I could show the video, because he wasn’t able to say anything coherent for about five or ten minutes after coming back up. The following picture is of Nolan swinging through the forest upside down.



If you enjoyed the story of this adventure, tune in tomorrow. The bungee jumping was only the very beginning of the fun and craziness that we experienced this past weekend. I will tell you a little more about it next time. This final picture is of the three of us after we successfully had bungeed the tallest jump in Mexico. By the way, the cans of Tecate in the picture are not ours.

Saturday Morning in Alianza

Okay, before I can tell the story about last Saturday morning, I need to tell you about the previous Sunday. I have already blogged once about Alianza, so if you need details go back about two weeks. A week ago Sunday, I returned to Alianza with my buddy Al and some others from his church to help distribute food, cooking supplies, clothes, and Bibles to some of the people in the neighborhood. I had brought along a huge soccer-ball piñata for the kids, and it was filled with over 800 pieces of candy. I had also brought about 40 pictures of the kids that I had printed out from my previous trip, and they were going wild looking at the pictures and trying to decide who should get to keep each one.

When it came time to have the piñata with the kids, there were only about 20 or 25 of them there. I knew we had way too much candy for only two dozen kids, and I had seen many others running around the neighborhood, so I told them that they each needed to go find a friend to bring back and we would do the piñata when they returned. Immediately, one girl name Laura took off to go find someone. A few of the other kids started to leave, but then some began to complain that they didn’t know any other kids, and that the other children wouldn’t come anyway. I knew the truth was that these kids just didn’t want to share the candy. After waiting for about 15 minutes, with Laura being the only kid who wasn’t there, we set up the piñata and the kids began to take turns trying to whack it with a stick I had brought.



After all the little kids were finished, we blindfolded the bigger kids as they each took a turn. I was holding the rope, and kept swinging the piñata away from the stick, trying to prolong the event until Laura returned. Finally, the children began connecting solidly with the poor piñata, and candy soon covered the ground as screaming children and their mothers went diving into a massive heap, hording as much as they could get their hands on.



After the last piece of candy had been picked up and we had cleaned up what remained of the piñata, we were preparing to leave when Laura came walking around the corner with her little cousin. It had been about a half an hour since she had left, and she had walked across the entire neighborhood to retrieve the excited little second-grader. As they took in the scene, Laura looked at me with a confused and disappointed face, and put her head down. I apologized that there was no more candy, and asked several of the kids who were standing there with fifty or more pieces stuffed in their shirts if they could share with the girls. Each of them had a different excuse as to why they could not part with even a single piece of their candy. I was trying to figure out something to do when my friends yelled for me to get in the car, saying they needed to leave.

I spent a couple of days thinking about this situation and its spiritual and practical applications for our lives. I could preach a couple sermons on it, but I won’t. Instead, I will fast forward to last Saturday. Alfonso, Nolan and I left early in the morning for Alianza. I had two medium-sized gift bags, each filled to the brim with all different types of candy. This wasn’t the cheap candy that you typical use to stuff a piñata. These were high-quality sweets. Anyway, we arrived at about 10 a.m. and began to round up the children. Soon Hermana Lolis arrived. She is the woman who teaches the Bible study for the kids while Alfonso teaches the adults. I explained to her the situation, and she agreed that it was a good opportunity to teach all of the kids a lesson. Since her Spanish is much better than mine, she gave the lesson to the kids. Since my English is a little better than hers, I will relate it to you.

So here’s the deal. I asked all of the kids to do something, namely to bring back a friend to share in the piñata. Only one kid, Laura, did what I had asked. She missed out on the fun and candy. She was really disappointed. She probably wondered why she just hadn’t stayed like all the other kids. I am sure she felt like she had missed out by following directions. While all of the others got rewarded, she got nothing. Little did she know what I had planned. She had no idea about the reward that awaited her at the end of the story.

Just like I had asked the kids to do something, often God asks us to do things. He actually has given us an instruction manual for how we are to live. Sometimes we feel like if we follow His instructions we will miss out on all the fun that everyone else is having. A lot of times, we get disappointed when we see people get rewarded who aren’t doing what God has told us to do. Many times we may feel like it isn’t worth it to do what God has asked of us. Just like Laura didn’t know what I was planning for her, we often don’t know the prize that God is planning for us. We need to be patient and realize that we will be rewarded for doing what He asks.

As Hermana Lolis told this story to the children, she didn’t use any names, but Laura, her little cousin, and several of the other kids began to realize that she was talking about them. Near the end, I got the two bags of candy out of my backpack, and gave them to the little girls. It was so great to see their smiles, especially Laura’s, as she realized that she was being rewarded for doing the right thing. Some of the other children began to congratulate her, and I could see some of those who had refused to share thinking about their actions. It was evident from their reactions that the kids really understood the lesson, and I hope it encourages them to start making the right decisions, even when it is difficult or may seem like they are missing out.

To conclude this story, I just want to mention that the little cousin was also rewarded because of Laura’s actions. Laura sacrificed being there for the piñata because she wanted her cousin and best friend to be able to share in it as well. Some of us need to sacrifice some things so that others may be able to share in the reward. If you are a Christian, God is asking you to go out and find some people to join in His great piñata party. It will be a sacrifice, and you will definitely miss out on some things that everyone else seems to be enjoying, but when all their cheap candy is gone, there will be a great reward waiting for you, and for all those that you are able to bring along.

Just one final note: After receiving their huge bags of candy, guess what the girls did? They immediately started sharing with all the kids, even the ones who wouldn’t share with them the week before. Las niñas de Alianza are not only learning, they are teaching.

Laura (on the right) and her little cousin

Get ready for more

I have just about recovered from this past weekend, so I am now going to attempt to write about it. I warn you, this was definitely one of the craziest weekends I have ever experienced, which is saying a lot. I hope that I can effectively relate all of the things that happened to make it so wild and wonderful.

Things started off pretty normal, with my friend Nolan arriving from Querétaro on Friday morning at about 7 a.m. We hung out most of the day and in the afternoon went to the recreation center and played sand volleyball with a bunch of people from France. That was pretty fun until a bunch of Canadians showed up and basically took over the court by shear numbers, although they could never beat us. From there we moved on to the basketball courts, where we had a few lackluster games before some good players showed up and we started having a lot of fun. We played three on three with two Mexican guys, a German, and a guy from Norway. Several more Mexicans showed up, and we ended up having a great five on five game that lasted over an hour. Nolan and I, along with the German, Norwegian, and one other Mexican, played excellent team basketball and ended up beating our much bigger opponents pretty badly. It was definitely the best pick-up basketball I have seen in Mexico, and was the best game I have been a part of in probably 5 years.

After hooping it up until about 9:30, we got cleaned up and enjoyed an excellent meal from Paco’s Tacos with my friends Ramiro and Israel. Paco’s is right next to a juice stand called La Michoacana, and they have the best flavored waters I have ever tasted. I am hooked on the Strawberry – Piña Colada mix. After eating and hanging out for a while, Nolan and I headed to Wal-Mart a little before midnight. I bought some computer speakers, an air pump for my soccer ball, and a couple bags of candy. I will explain the reason for the candy in my next post. After the great and eventful day, we went home and looked at old pictures of previous trip and then got a few hours of sleep to prepare for Saturday.

Just another day

I actually have something weighty to post, something that I have been thinking about a lot, but it can wait until tomorrow. Right now I just want to share a couple of things that make life here enjoyable.

1. I have been battling an ear infection and decided to go see a doctor today, so I headed down the street to Clinica Sur. I walked in, gave them my name, birthday, address and phone number, and told them what my problem was. They didn't ask me if I had an appointment, didn't ask for an insurance card or what my co-pay was, didn't make me fill out any forms, and didn't make copies of anything. The power actually went out momentarily right after I walked in, and the receptionist didn't even flinch when her computer screen went black. She started writing down my info on the back of a sheet of paper, to enter into the computer whenever it came back on. The outage ended up being only about 30 seconds, but I got the feeling the visit would have been the same with or without electricity. Anyway, I waited all of about 10 seconds to be escorted to a room, where a nurse immediately checked my vitals, took down a quick medical history, and listened to all the details about my aching ear. She left the room, telling me that the doctor would be in to see me in a minute. I was amazed to find out that she was serious. One minute later a doctor came in and asked me to step next door into his office. After asking me a few questions, he had me sit on the exam table, and checked both of my ears. He then prescribed some drops that will serve as an anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic. I paid 241 pesos (a little over $22) and walked out less than 20 minutes after entering. That is what a trip to the doctor should be like! He also told me that if I don't feel better in a day or two, come back and see him. I don't need an appointment. They'll be waiting, just in case. I love that place!

2. I went the the track tonight to run, just like I do most nights. There is usually a good crowd working out at the track, both young and old, and I am getting to know a few of the regulars. Tonight I met a French girl who is always there running, and we carried on a 15 minute conversation - in Spanish. I thought it was great. Neither one of us have been studying this language seriously for more than four months, but we got along just fine. The only thing I couldn't understand was her name, which I must have asked her to pronounce at least five times. I think it is something like Guilmos. Anyway, I am really developing a love for languages. I can't wait to get Spanish down so I can start on another. Right now Arabic is next in line, unless I meet a really hot girl that speaks Italian.

3. For the last couple of weeks, I have been doing my laundry on the roof of my building, using my neighbor Susana's washer/dryer combo. This is not your typical washer/dryer, and the process has given me a great appreciation for technology, and has also taught me a lot of patience. I can put a small load in for 15 minutes on the wash cycle. Next I empty the tub, rinse the soap out of the clothes, rinse the tub, and then put the clothes back in for a 15 minute rinse cycle. Often there is still soap in the clothes after this, so I do as much rinsing by hand as I can. Finally, I wring the clothes out and put them in the dryer, which is actually called a "centrifugo" in Spanish. For five minutes the clothes spin around very quickly, with enough water being removed to hang them on the clothes line to dry. The centrifuge will only dry a few items at a time, and it won't work properly unless the clothes are perfectly balanced inside, so selecting each batch for the centrifuge is something I have turned into an art. Once the clothes are on the clothes line, the drama has just begun. The wind on the roof can get pretty violent, and even though the laundry area is somewhat sheltered, there have been several occasions when I have found the majority of my "clean" clothes scattered on the ground. Today I found myself re-washing an entire load that I had done last night. One other thing - clothes that are dried in this manner in this climate often appear that they have been heavily starched. I am still trying to figure out how to get that "Snuggle" fabric softener feel to my clean clothes. If anyone has any ideas, I am more than open. Also, I have decided to break down and buy some clothes pins the next time I go the store.

4. Okay, I have one final thing. I live in the middle of the city. I am looking out the window right now at the signs for the 24-hour pharmacy and the 24-hour 7-11. I like the convenience. Don't get me wrong, I love to have my space, and would love to have a 100-acre farm in good ole' KY, but being able to leave your home in the middle of the night to get milk for a bowl of cereal and return in less than two minutes is priceless. It's also nice to have a Subway, a great sushi place, 7 taco stands, 5 banks, and a dojo all within 2 blocks. Suburbia is nice, but in Mexico it is just another store. (Seriously, it is a store here.) There is definitely something to be said for living in the city. It forces us to know our neighbors, and not just the neighbors, but guys like Marcario, who shines shoes right in front of my building, or Gypsy Man, who sells all kinds of hand-made crafts and trinkets in front of the pharmacy. The same reason why most people don't live in the city (so many people) is probably the main reason I love it. This apartment was a gift, and I thank God every day that He has put me in this very spot at this very time. For my fellow movie buffs out there, this is what I call a "target-rich environment."

Jealousy

I have always hated to see people mess up. I am not one of those people that takes pleasure in other's mistakes. One reason that I became a missionary is because I wanted to talk to people about the way we spend our lives, and hopefully keep others from making some of the same mistakes I did. I want to tell people about God's plan for them, so that they don't take as long as I did to start living life as we are meant to live it.

That said, last week I faced a really difficult situation as I watched a good friend make some bad decisions. I found myself up late, late, late one night, praying over this friend, asking God to intervene. I found myself even becoming jealous of the way this friend was spending their time, wishing that they would wake up and see the light. As I walked the lonely streets outside my apartment at four o'clock in the morning, singing verses of Walkin' in Memphis (I don't know why) between desperate prayers for my friend, God started to work on my heart. He showed me that the way I felt about my friend is the same way He feels every time I forget Him and decide to spend my time on some lesser passion. I began to feel so convicted and like such a hypocrite. As I continued to pray for my friend, and as I finally rested, knowing they are in His hands, I began to think of all the late nights God has spent pacing the far reaches of the universe, wishing that I was making better decisions. I thought about all the times I have made Him jealous, because I have chosen weak and momentary pleasures over the all-surpassing joy of God and His love. I was so convicted thinking of all the times I have traded His glory for my own, or have chosen to bestow the worship that only He deserves on some cheap imitation.

I remembered the Bible saying that our God is a jealous God, so I knew that there were times where you can be jealous and still be holy. Deuteronomy 4:24 says, "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." Exodus 34:14 says, "Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." I think that's pretty clear.

Last week I think I felt like Paul must have felt in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 when he said, "I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ." May we not be led astray. May we continue in a sincere and pure devotion to Christ, not being tempted to cheat on God.

Scripture, especially the Old Testament, makes it very clear that God takes our cheating very seriously. There are many references that compare us to adulterous people, guilty of infidelity against the one with whom we have made a covenant. While God's holiness requires a just punishment for our wretchedness, in His love he is like the perfect husband that is willing to take us back, IF we repent and decide to turn from our adulterous ways. May we all turn and return to the God who is love, who is holy, who is jealous for us, and who continually pursues us, even when we have turned our backs on Him. He is staying up late tonight, thinking about you, wishing you could only see, hoping that maybe tomorrow morning you will come and talk to Him, let Him love you, let Him fix you, let Him restore you to the person you were created to be.