Merry Christmas everyone. I know it's late in the day and that it's almost over...but hey - we should celebrate it everyday. This year more than ever, it was easy to forget what we're celebrating. Between family bickering and trying to make Lily feel special on her birthday (sometimes she thinks Christmas is about her - or worse yet, that "she's Christmas"), it gets a little hard. I always hoped that one day I would have my own family and that I would give my kids presents from Jesus... or better yet, that we could give Jesus a present for Christmas. The coolest part about giving Jesus a present is that we can be our presents... He longs to spend time with us and just be with us. He just likes knowing He's welcome. I think so many times He doesn't even feel welcome because we are always trying to make this person or that person feel special. It's not about us or anyone on this earth and I don't know how Christmas turned into a family holiday when it should be about Jesus. Yes, He loves when we spend time and love on our family, but it should never take precedence over loving Him.

Anyway... I'll go ahead and tell you guys what my two favorite presents were. Since... that's the most common conversation people have after Christmas - as annoying as it is.

My top dog present (and I just changed it to three because I remembered that I forgot the one in the number one spot)....is......

drum roll please....

A card from Jesus, the boy I sponsor. He made it when I was down there but I didn't see it until it came in the mail. We don't usually get the one our kid made, but I did. It was pink and it said (in Spanish of course), "With love from Jesus Humberto B. M. for you". If you ever met him, you would know how cute it is when he says "for you" in English... seriously adorable. Any who, in the inside he drew a picture and said "Thank you for your support". It totally touched and melted my heart... Oh, and he did wish me a Merry Christmas as well.

The 2nd most favoritist thing I got was an e-mail from Adrian (my brother in Mexico). I love this boy to death, and he e-mailed me on Christmas Eve to wish me a Merry Christmas. I got it 15 minutes before I left work and so we got to exchange a few e-mails during that time. I was blessed that he thought of it to e-mail me and that I at least got to do that and spend some time with him to celebrate the holiday and tell him that I love him.

The 3rd gift that I loved was a card that Patty gave me. I loved the present inside as well, but it was the words that she wrote on the inside that almost brought me to tears. I am so thankful for her heart and for who she is. She's such a great friend and I can't even express how blessed I am by the entire Kincaid family. Their support and love is huge and they're just amazing people. I'm so blessed by how much I have gotten to get to know them this year.

Well that's it ya'll. Hope you had a great Christmas!

A day at the park with my niece.....

Here's a layout of my house. I tried to give the details that I remember. It has two gates into the yard which is really nice. The fence around it is tall. It has a pretty open floorplan, and the only thing that I think is kind of weird is that the main entrance is in the hallway of the bedrooms. But, besides that, I think it's awesome. Oh, and the lady said I could paint, so I am super excited about that. :)

My move in date is January 16th. I think the January trip is that next weekend, so I'm not sure if I will be able to have any furniture in yet to make it comfortable for everyone on that trip. Hopefully, I will be able to be mostly moved in by the end of January.

If you read Keith's blog, you probably read the part about his co-worker Leslie and how her and her husband sponsor four kids at the orphanage. These kids are beyond happy to have them as their sponsor, and they cherish everything. They didn't want to open the presents in front of us, but they were immediately opened, playing with their toys and sharing with the other kids. It was beyond amazing when they shared their photo album from Paul and Leslie with us. They love that photo album - especially the blown up picture of their mom. Yet, I was completely overwhelmed when I found out that they had a bag of presents to give to their sponsors. The bag said, "Te quiero mucho". The love that is between these kids and their sponsors is obvious and it's absolutely overwhelming since they have only met each other once.

Here are the pictures of Keith and Patty's boy Guadalupe and my boy "Ruco" in their new soccer jerseys that we got them. We got them personalized for free at "Tees and More" on Neely in Gilbert. Sniders (2 suites over) actually personalized another boys for free in the last hour before the trip. The boys loved their new soccer uniforms. We got them each a pair of goalie gloves... and I think both pairs might have holes in them by the time we go down there in two weeks. I have never seen them play so much soccer before. They were using them constantly. Right after Guadalupe got his, he immediately put them on and went to play goalie on the soccer field.

Oh, one quick thing that isn't about the trip... I was showing my mom these two pictures, and when she saw them, she said, "Oh, their boy is cuter". Who says that? My mom doesn't think my boy, Jesus Humberto, is the cutest boy there, but do you really need to compare kids? They are all beautiful, and yes, Guadalupe should be a model, but come on... my boy is pretty darn adorable too. :)

Here is a picture of Miguel David and Jose Ricardo opening their presents from Jen and Obie. They each got their own present and then there was a bag of toys that they had to share.... After much intervention, they did it.

Christmas time can always be hard, but it's amazing at the same time. We brought down gifts for 10 kids that are sponsored by people we know. It's always fun to watch their faces when they open their presents and to see the joy on their faces just for their sponsor "remembering them".

This was Anthony's second time down to the orphanage. He fits right in, and here is a picture of him with Freddy. Freddy is a kid that doesn't always like people. In fact, there have been many times where he hasn't liked me. He was the first kid there not to... It kind of freaked me out, but then I realized it must be pretty good for all of the others to, and that I will never be liked by everyone. Yet, I found out why on this trip... He told Anthony that he didn't like me because the boy I sponsor is mean to him and I still love him. Well... what can I do about that? I had a talk with Jesus about that, but that's all I can do.

Anywho, back to Anthony. I think everyone on the trip was happy to get to know him more, and it was great to see his heart grow even more for the kiddos. On the way back, he mentioned that it seemed weird because he felt like he was leaving home. The kids are permanently in his heart. He also was wondering how we do it... When I asked what, he said, "leave". I don't know how we do it each time... I think I have numbed myself to a certain point just because I know I will see them in how ever many days each time.

Gracie has also been amazing on these trips. Here she is with Johana (who Mike & Evan M. sponsor) and Cristina. She is great with all of the kids, but she's especially wonderful with the teenage girls. They need so much love and attention and are usually the last ones to open up to people. With her speaking Spanish fluently and having the spunky personality she does, they opened up to her right away. It's amazing. She is one of the few people that can actually minister with her words.

Here's a picture of Carolina, Wendy, Ramon Abdiel, Adrian (my brother), and Dulce. They are just too cute that I had to put this picture up here. :)

Here's another too cute to not mention picture... It's of Sofia (in the back), Juan Igncacio, and Humberto Antonio. Antonio only wanted one eye to show. It was a good call on his part, because he looks adorable.

These kids are just too precious for words, and I really don't know how anyone can go down once and not continue to go there over and over again. I really don't understand how groups can go there, hand out presents for an hour, and then just leave. These kids have consumed my heart, and even when I'm cranky and I have a headache for 3 days because I have a pimple on my forehead, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

This trip was amazing. I got to enjoy monkey in the middle a couple of times, play catch with my boy, get my house.... I'll post more on that later...

Oh, one more quick thing. My boy asked me if he could get a present for his teacher Juan. I was so ecstatic that he wanted to get a present for someone and that he didn't just want to be on the receiving end. We got permission and then off we went to Magdalena. It was so much fun shopping with him and Adrian while they were both looking for someone else. Despite my boy being a malcrinado, it was a great time, and I couldn't have been happier to spend money on something like that.

Please pray.

I found out today that my move to Mexico that "was approved" is no longer approved. I learned last week that there was some misscommication between management that caused this to happen.

Right now, they are going to be working with HR to see if I can become a contractor. IF that gets approved, then I will have to provide my own computer, phone, and possibly benefits.

I have already applied for 2 companies today.

I don't know what to do. I want and plan on still moving down there, but without income, I would obviously have to find another alternative. The worst case scenario for me right now would be to have to go to Nogales, AZ everyday to work... Yet, I could do it.

I refuse to tell orphans that have been abandoned many times that I am no longer going to be living down there. I can't and won't do it.. and more than that, I don't think that is what God would want either.

I am trusting in Him. I wanted there to be some fightback so it would be beyond obvious to everyone involved and that witnesses it that it was only God that could make it happen... So right now, He is definitely in the position to make that happen.

Church today was awesome. It really spoke to my heart.

Sam B. said that he always thought of thankfulness as "being content with our blessings". I have never thought of it like that, but I really like that definition. It's so true. So many times we don't think that we would need to be content with our blessings. We think about how so many times we need to be content with the things we have problems with. Yet, there are definite times where we have to be content with our blessings as well. Sometimes we just want more and more... but God has already given us so many blessings, that we need to be content in them as well. Go Sam, Go!

Terri also talked a lot about fears and different things that get in our way to pray. See... there are times where God tells me that I need to pray a lot about something or that He will tell me to fast for it. Some of these are times that I already have complete confidence that He is going to see that thing to completion and that He will make it happen. There's no chances - they are definite, without a shadow of doubt plans. In those situations, I get this fear. Fear that if I do pray or fast for that event or situation, that when it does come to completion, that I will take some of the credit for it just because I prayed or fasted for it.

With the fear of pride and becoming like Saul (when he was later eaten by worms)... I don't pray a lot. I hold back. I hold back because 1) I would never want to be eaten by worms and 2) I would never want to be able to take credit for the work that God has clearly done. I know that this sounds stupid, but it's my honest fear.

Now, I wish that I had the truth part about that fear so that I can walk in it for the rest of my days... but I don't know it. I know that it's wrong and that there has to be a way to be obedient and not have that attitude. I know I can pray to not have that attitude, but I don't know what else...

If anyone has any suggestions, I am open to them.