God's Dress

I have been reading in Exodus about how God rescued the Israelites from slavery, led them THROUGH the sea, and gave them manna and quail from the sky and water from a rock in the desert. After God does all of this, He tells the people to remember what He has done. He asks them to not put yeast in their bread during Passover, He tells them to save a piece of the manna that He gave them, and He tells them to write down the things He has done for them on a scroll and talk about them so they won't forget. He says this because He knows that when we go through tough times, we start to doubt if God is out there and if He is going to help us. Right? We doubt the fact that God is ALWAYS faithful and that He loves us. So, I want to write something down that God did for me that I will always remember. God gave me a dress. (It is a lot prettier than it looks in the picture.)

One night, I was very over-whelmed, and I felt like I had no one that truly cared about me and that the weight of the world was on my shoulders and that I felt empty and that I always gave and never received...yeah, I was really over-whelmed! (Women, come on. Please tell me you have had these feelings before!) Anyway, Daniel and I had a fight too (about how I wanted the other side of the bed and he wouldn't give it to me and that before, he would have given me what I wanted because he loved me.) :) Ok, I was really bad! I'm sorry, and it is embarrassing to say these things, but I have to tell you to prove to you how much God loves us. Ok, so we are up until 3am because of my little break-down, and Daniel had to go to a Men's retreat the next morning...at 5am! (Wow, I feel so bad just writing this!) So, the kids and I were by ourselves that next day, and my Pastor's wife randomly calls me and tells me she wants to come by, and then she tells me that she has been thinking about me. She said that if she was ever out shopping and saw a dress that she liked, God would tell her, "That dress is for Brandi.", and that she couldn't buy another dress until she bought one for me! God had been telling her this for three days, and this specific day, right after I had my break-down, she calls me and tells me that God wants to give me a dress.

So, we went shopping, and she took me to several stores. She made me try on dresses until we found the perfect one. She told me that God is the owner of everything and He always wants to give to His children. That day, God opened my eyes to the fact that He loves me so much and that He knows how I feel and that He cares...constantly. Even if I act tacky...He loves me so much, and He wants to give me good things and fill me until I overflow.

There is one of my remembrances of when God did something EXTRA amazing in my life. You will probably see this dress on me for years and years to come! Daniel has made fun of me because I want to hang the dress in a plastic bag so nothing bad happens to "God's dress". ;)

I HAVE READERS!!!

Right now I feel very emotional and loved to know that ya'll are out there! One moment.......Ok. I think I can continue...I love ya'll and am glad to know that ya'll are there and are supporting me and responding with positive feedback. It's nice and comforting to know that as I share my life experiences with ya'll it brings a little laughter and joy into your lives as well. Thank you and I'll be here all year.

It's late and I'm weird...what can I say. Love you Leigh! I got some more funny stories to tell you but tomorrow. Later

Daniel

Mother's Day

Being away from family is always hard, but it is just harder on "special days". We had a good mother's day, but it just wasn't the same not being able to spend it with our mothers. I am very thankful, though, because yesterday we went to the village with our ladies group that meets on Wed. nights and we talked about starting a project with the women in the village...teaching them to read, write, and plant. Then we all traded presents, and I got drinking glasses, and since Daniel is always breaking ours, I was happy and it was a lot of fun. Daniel, and one of our friends Leonel, built me a side table for Mother's day and he grilled me some chicken for Sunday lunch, so I am very blessed to have a wonderful husband and two precious babies. Thank you Lord for the family you have blessed me with.

I've been reading in Exodus about when God rescued the Israelites from the Egyptians. You know, God didn't just stop at saving them...He made their enemy pay! He kept hardening Pharaoh's heart and the poor man kept changing his mind about letting the Israelites go and God kept sending the plagues. Then, if that wasn't enough, God hardened his heart once more and the Egyptians went running after the Israelites, and ALL of the them were drowned in the sea. It says that "the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left...and when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant."

Then in Chapter 15 of Exodus, they break out in praise, and the song they sung always makes me think of singing the song "Rejoice" that Luke wrote when we had the praise band in the States..."I will sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. The Lord is a warrior. The Lord is His Name. Your right hand has shattered the enemy, the evil one!! Who among the gods is like You God? Who is like You in majestic holiness, awesome in glory, a wondrous working God? I will praise Him. He is my God and I will lift His name...I will sing! Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice. I was lost but now I'm found; I was blind but now I see! Rejoice. Rejoice in His holy Name. In the greatness of His majesty. I will sing! I will dance! I will lift my hands! And I will shout it out! REJOICE!"

Rejoice in the Lord today. He is VERY good!

There you go

Hello there. Today was another roaster!! I was working today digging a hole at the village. I have moved thousands of miles away from home and traded my police job for digging a hole! Just kidding. But I really have been digging a hole for the last three days and will continue so, Lord willing, for the next week. Today I kept hitting the edges of the dirt wall b/c we are deep in the hole and would get soo frustrated b/c dirt would go flying all over me. One time I actually started talking to the wall like I was very angry at the wall and the other three guys there who were working stopped and watched me. Jorge finally asked me if I was angry at the wall or something. And I told them I was not mad at them but at the wall. I was covered in dirt and as of right now...7 pm...I still have not took a shower! NASTY!! ha I have become a very good digger and tree waterer. And I am doing it all for the Lord. I try not to complain too much and just work hard. I was reading about Joseph in the Bible the other day and God told me something about our lives...well my life. If I want everything that I do to be blessed and others to trust me with their work I have to work the BEST I can in EVERYTHING...digging, watering, waiting, spending money. AND I can not do my best if I am complaining or being negative. That is impossible. So I have tried to start really focusing on being positive and doing every little task I get the best I can. It does help to think about that rather than how hard this is or how petty this is. And this also includes being patient with my TRUCK and the mechanics here! So...There you go. God bless!!

Daniel

Busy day...

Today was pretty busy. Daniel had to leave early this morning to take our truck to the shop because the pully on it is broken...yeah the man told him it would cost more than $600 to fix it. Then Daniel went to another shop, and they quoted $400. Never know here because they think "Gringos" have money! Anyway, please pray that we find a part for the truck and that we can find someone that can fix it right...because we just did this a month and a half ago.
Then Daniel goes with Jorge to work in the village, and around 2:00pm, they had to come home because the people in the village started protesting with machettes and rocks because the electric company is raising the cost of electricity by 60%. This is suppose to be going on for 3 days, but hopefully it won't go on that long. But right when Daniel got home, he went to looking for other people to fix the truck. He got home around 6pm, and then he headed of to Ipala to make me a sidetable for Mother's day with one of our friends. (I'm excited about that!)
I went to school this morning and did NOT fall today. It was very hot though. Wow, how I miss the air conditioned classrooms. Then, I went to Sarita's house to work on the GMM newsletter right after school. I got home around 3pm, and as I was walking in the door, my neighbor asks me to help her with her math homework. (Of course I didn't mind working on math...I miss teaching math! :)) She had over 100 problems! Poor woman! She has two kids of her own and is trying to finish her degree, and she is so smart. (She taught me how to fit in here...aka, how to make tortillas and how to use my pila, which is something they use to wash their clothes by hand. Yeah, I just bathe my kids in it.) Anyway, now it is 8:30pm, and I am about to crash with the kids, read a book with them, and then wait for Daniel to get home. Night!

I BUSTED IT!

I was teaching my High School class today and busted it!! I was sitting on the teacher's desk, which I will never do again, and as I was getting off, it broke in HALF and I fell and busted. I hit the bottom of my back, and none of the students laughed...at first...and then when I said I was ok, they lost it and everyone just stared laughing! Horrible! Yeah, I am definitely getting old too because I am so sore. Every high school teacher's worst nightmare!! It was funny.
I am excited because I am planning on taking my advanced students in Chiquimula to teach my students in the village during this next month. I am teaching a Social Studies class, and anyone that knows me knows that is scary, and we were talking about Guatemala's president one day. It says in their book that the president wanted to solve the crime problem by fighting poverty, and I asked the students what that thought about that. Then they went off about how he doesn't do that and that he steals, ect. Then I asked what they were doing to help the poverty problem...complete silence. So, in this Social Studies class, we are planning to do a project to help one or two families that are truly struggling and take pictures of our work and send them to the president...we'll see what happens, but I am super excited to take them to the village and show them how it is up there and see how it effects them. I pray God truly does a work in these students.
Ok, pray for my back please...I'm in pain!
Brandi

Been a Few Days

What's up Kathy!? haha You are the only one who knows about this, so I reckon I will talk to you. But if anyone else read this...hey to you too. It's been a while since we have written anything about what we've done since my last wonderful experience in the capital. Kathy really enjoyed that story...kind of weird. But we did give the sun glasses to the men in the ministry and they loved them. We showed them a movie as well that NIGHT, and I looked out at the men there, and several of them were wearing their sunglasses in the dark room while they watched the TV. It was hilarious...I reckon they liked them.
On Thursday another person was shot in the village, from the same family that is always shooting each other. It is a family, uncles, cousins and brothers, shooting each other. They have been doing this for years now, and it started over land and has now continued as revenge for the other killings. Horrible. Brandi and I were going to be visiting the families this day, but after we heard that the shooting had just took place...we thought it wise to wait until it had calmed down a little and the families weren't walking around looking for each other to shoot each other.
We also went to a "zoo" in a city near by with the kids Friday because it was Labor day here. It was small, but it was a lot of fun to be able to get out with the kids and do something different. The city we went to, Esquipules, was beautiful. It is amazing how much greener it is outside of Chiquimula. It is so dry right now. It rained really good a couple of days ago, but it is still so dry.
Brandi sang today at a preachers seminar. She said it went really well. She was suppose to sing at 8:30am, but of course she didn't until 10:15am...it actually was suppose to start at 8am, but it didn't start until 10am! But she said she had a good time. The pastors of our church also asked Brandi to start singing with the band every three Sundays...of course she's very excited. I just hope she doesn't kill one of the band members dancing around like she does! :) I think she really has this singin thing on her mind here lately because she's been singing in her sleep a lot. My wife talks so much in her sleep, I would love to put an audio recorder in our room to catch some of it and share it with someone. It's so funny!
Well, Bye Kathy!