Our Home Away From Home (Part 1)

Last week Jonathan, Kyle and I took our first "real" family vacation back to Cancun, Mexico where we lived in 2010.  Jonathan and I went back and forth for months over whether or not we should try to make the trip.  Wanting to visit our friends and church there before leaving for Africa, but not knowing if it was wise to spend the time and money, we finally determined that returning was the best thing for us to do. When we found this past Spring that instead of having to pay taxes, Uncle Sam was gifting us a large sum of money thanks to Kyle's birth and Jonathan's school bills, we saw how the Lord was providing for us to make this trip.  He does all things well! We booked the tickets a few months ago. In my heart I wanted to take a couple of these days to just spend as a family at the beach and the Lord provided through a family member for us to stay at the Marriott for two nights at no cost to us.  We rented a car enabling us to come and go as we pleased.  As we left on Tuesday, Jonathan and I agreed that the trip could not have gone more perfectly.

Driving to Atlanta on Monday the fourth to spend the night and catch our early plane Tuesday morning, we were giddy with excitement!  We ate at the famous Varsity restaurant for dinner.  I got a burger while Kyle and Jono devoured their hotdogs.  Being in downtown Atlanta with a car full of luggage and electronics, we sat where we could keep an eye on our loot.

Tuesday morning we woke up and had a yummy breakfast before catching a lift to the airport.  It is cheaper to spend a night in a hotel and park your car there than it is to park for a week at the airport. So, we were excited... can you tell?

Caught Kyle trying to grab more of the chocolate muffin as I took this picture.... little sneak!

Kyle scored a free seat beside us as the plane was nowhere near full.  He flew like a champ.  Great missionary kid.

By the time we arrived at the airport, though, he was worn slap out.  He made his desire for a nap well known in the airport as we waited to pass through baggage, immigration and customs.  Lots of funny looks from people probably wondering why we brought a one-year-old on our vacation.  I wondered the same thing a couple of times, but he's ours and we like to keep him with us.  He made it out alive and we were no worse for the wear.  I felt like crying, too, although for me it was because of how wonderfully familiar the smell in that airport was.  It felt like we were walking back into a closed chapter of our lives.

Once we got the car rental squared away, we headed for the hotel zone.  Before checking into the Marriott CasaMagna, we stopped into McDonalds to grab a bite to eat.  Jonathan and I have been in this McDonalds lots of times, but this time we brought a third Coca slurper along.  The cup reads : Where Mmmmm meets Ahhhh.  Yeah, I think that pretty much describes Coke.

Mommy and Daddy, Cancun 2010

Daddy and Baby, Cancun 2012

Then we checked into our hotel for two days of beach bum bliss.  The weather was gorgeous, the hotel was fabulous, but the company was the best part.  I think my eyes started to sweat a couple times as I tried to just soak in the few hours of sweet family fun.  I love my life and my boys.  We went to dinner, swam in the pool under the stars, took naps, played in the ocean and ate at a breakfast buffet fit for a king!

Pancakes with LaLechera (American equivalent might be sweetened condensed milk). Yet another reason why I love Mexico!

The donuts were.... so, so. They don't hold a candle to Chedraui donuts.  More on those later.  The marble cake was delish, along with everything else.

3/4 of the breakfast buffet.  My camera couldn't fit it all in.  That guy in the middle will make you any kind of omelette you can think of.  Jonathan took him up on that.

Our room was on the front of the building, fifth floor with an incredible view!

Kyle borrowed some nice little boy's trucks. Vroom vroom....

Doesn't Mr. Baby look so happy to be on vacation?  He is such a good boy!

Back for breakfast round two beside a large window overlooking the crystal blue water!

The best apple juice on the planet, Con Frutta jugo de manzana.  We brought some back in our suitcase. 

The enormous Mexican flag on the zona hotelera.  Viva México!

To be continued......

~Abby

Time to Celebrate!

We had our first face-to-face interview with our AIM regional representatives last fall.  At that meeting, I learned of the Bible competencies requirement Africa Inland Mission has for all of their missionaries who don't already have formal Bible training.  I agree completely with their desire to ensure that each missionary is equipped with in-depth Biblical instruction.  However, as a stay-at-home mom of an extremely busy young one, I wondered at times how I would ever complete the nine requirements.

Something about myself which I both appreciate and loathe is that I can hardly stand to have things hanging over my head.  I am a get-it-done and do-it-now kind of person.  That is great a lot of times because it means that I almost always stay on top of things.  In this case, however, I've known for nearly a year that I had these nine classes which I was required to take.  I was on my own time table since the only deadline was that I have at least five classes done before we leave for Africa; the last four could be completed before the start of our second term.  Leaving four to complete during our time in Africa was out of the question in my mind; instead, having all nine finished at least a few months before we depart was my goal.  I've been hoping for some semblance of a break between these requirements, gathering the necessary paperwork and support raising, and the imminent culture shock coming after the New Year.  Still hoping; we'll see if it happens. 

The classes weren't extremely involved.  I signed into my online account with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and listened to pre-recorded forty-five minute lectures.  To officially complete each class I was required to pass a quiz.  For the first couple of classes, I filled out the study guides which go along with the audio lectures.  That quickly changed as I realized I would never get them finished if I had to be sitting still the entire time.  I have much more time when my ears are free but my hands are busy.  The main challenge was finding time when Kyle was asleep or heavily occupied.  And when Kyle is asleep, Mommy often wants to sleep, too.  I had to constantly fight the urge to climb in bed and go work on the classes instead.  I listened to many lectures as I cooked dinner, smocked plates for Kyle's outfits, and took bubble baths.  Diligence paid off; I finished my last class today.  Insert completely relieved sigh here:

The nine classes I completed were: Theology Survey 1&2, Church History 1&2, New Testament Survey 1&2, Prophets and Promise - a study of the Old Testament, Biblical Interpretation, and World Missions.  Naturally I enjoyed the World Missions class the most, but I also thoroughly enjoyed the first Church History class as well as the second Theology Survey class.  Each of the lecturers was engaging and had some great insights to things I don't often ponder.  My favorite quote from the World Missions class was:

"If you are planting a church where there is already a viable gospel witness, you are not planting a church where there is not already a viable gospel witness."

I had to listen to that a couple times to let it completely sink in, but it makes total sense to me now.  I strongly believe in the urgency of reaching unreached people groups.  All too often it seems that our time and resources are invested in reaching those who have the gospel at their fingertips and not those who haven't ever heard the name of Christ.

What better way to celebrate completing this stage of our ministry preparation requirements than with ice cream?  We skipped over to Bruster's this evening where we all enjoyed a delicious treat.  Jonathan and I split an Oreo Cheesecake ice cream cone.  Kyle even got a free Cotton Candy Explosion baby cone which made him exceedingly happy... and sticky.

Brrr, this is cold stuff.

Hey Mr. Sticky, you sure are handsome - can I get a kiss?

... This is why we don't go out often ...

Then we burned some calories by playing basketball.  Or at least Kyle did.  I watched.

Caleb dropped his ice cream on his shorts.  Again, we don't get out much.

Graduation photo minus the silly cap.

Glad to have those required classes off my shoulders.  I may listen to some of the lectures through again as time goes by to gain an even clearer understanding of Biblical truth.  So much of what was discussed are details which oftentimes go right over my head.  After taking these classes, however, I feel like I have a better grasp on why I believe what I believe.  I was humbled and motivated as I learned of the sacrifices our church fathers made for the sake of preserving the gospel.  I am also reminded again of the immeasurable love and grace of Christ which held him to a cross as he became the propitiation for my sins.  May I always serve him faithfully.

~Abby