Thanksgiving Day

Hey to all!

Happy Thanksgiving Day! This post is actually the Friday after the day, but still, it is a reason to be thankful. We are alive and healthy for another day, and God is blessing us abundantly every day with his love and life. Yesterday, we helped serve food at the community center here in town. It was really cool for our family to be able to serve others on Thanksgiving Day instead of focusing on ourselves and our big meal. We jumped on the chance to be able to help out, and we really enjoyed it. I know I was blessed by it! God has given us so much, how can we not give something back by serving others?

Hope you had a great day!

Aaron

Trip to Mexico

Hey, Jessie here!

It's been a while since I've written on here. I decided to give a little update on what our family has been doing.

In early November, we took a 10 day trip to Mexico. It was awesome! First, we went to a city called Fortin, where we had the WIM Mexico Conference. We were there for about 3 and a half days. I learned a whole lot at the conference, one of which was this.... I really learned to trust in God more and have faith in Him no matter what the circumstances surrounding me are. I started having very bad headaches the second afternoon at the conference. Basically, I had to sleep during all of our free-time at the conference to be able to stay well. I got a headache ever afternoon for about 5 days, extending to our time in Altotonga. During this time, I had to lie down and sleep for it to go away. Whenever I woke up, headache was gone. At first, I really didn't know if it was the medicine or the sleep that was helping me, but later I realized that it was really God who was taking care of me. I haven't had any more headaches since we got back to New Braunfels, so praise God!!!

There is a lot more I could say about the conference; for me it was one of the best ones I've ever been to. We got to meet new people from the church in Fortin, and were able to interact with the local Christian youth group. I was really impacted by the passion that they have to serve God and share Him with others.

After the conference, it was on to Altotonga! It was really cool to see everyone again and to share with them all the awesome things that have happened since we had last seen them. Overall, it was an awesome trip!

Well, that's all for now and don't forget: God is awesome and does great things!

Jess

Harvest Time

Hello Friends,

Fall is a wonderful time of year even in south Texas. The weather is cooler though we do not have the nice colors to enjoy as many parts of the United States. Fall is also a time of bountiful harvest across our nation. We are truly blessed to live in a country that can not only feed itself but millions of others around the world.

The fall season also reminds me of our need to harvest for the Kingdom. Take a few minutes and share with others how grateful you are for all God has done for you in your life. Share your personal experiences and show love to everyone you come into contact with. Be different and make a difference in the world you live in.

Thanks for reading and be blessed.

God's Awesomeness

Wow! Wow! Wow! God is doing crazy stuff in my life!

To start off, up until about 2 weeks ago, I had been kind of down and depressed. Then KABANG!! Things started happening. I got closer to God, for starters, and then everything went uphill from there. Because I was closer to God, I felt school going more smoothly, and I stopped worrying so much about different things. I felt like I got involved more in church, or at least started talking to leaders about getting involved and talking more with other church members.

First of all, Wednesday (the 8th) I was approached by the youth pastor about doing worship in Sunday school for the teens. I had volunteered to help him out in whatever needed, and apparently, that was what. So I told him I would pray about it, and Sunday (the 19th) was my first time doing it. More on that farther down.

Then, Thursday (the 16th) I went to worship practice at church, figuring I would continue observing and taking it all in as I had the past couple weeks... God had other plans. Adam, a college student that is member of the church was back visiting, sharing his amazing testimony about what is going on in his life. Thursday he shared about what was going on in his to the worship and tech team, and then Sunday he shared in church. Anyway, Thursday night was crazy, the whole time I wanted to get up and shout how great God is, just from hearing such things in person. It's one thing to read in a book, or hear from a third person, but to actually hear it told from the guy himself who went through it was awesome!!! So after he shared his testimony, the worship team did one song to practice for Sunday and that was it....or so I thought....

After Pastor Phil left, the remaining worship team members continued playing. There was one song that was played over and over and over again, as the Spirit just came down upon all of us in the church...during practice! It was totally an increidible experience that strengthened my faith that night. Before I left, Martin (soon-to-be worship team leader) asked me if I was interested in starting to play the bass on Sundays. Of course, I didn't have to decide immediately, but I was to take time to think and pray about it. How many amazing ways God can work in!! I have been praying that God get me involved again, and all of a sudden, everything at once! So, because of how awesomely God moved, I ended up arriving at home 2 hours later than expected. Luckily, I was able to call from church before hand....

My family and I went camping Friday night (the 17th). We had a really good time as a family to cool off... quite literally, as it hit 45 degrees that night....

But when Sunday (the 19th) came....ohohohohoho...... To start it off, I lost a bet and had to wear orange since Mizzou lost to U. Texas and I had to borrow a t-shirt from Jessie... Anyway, TJ (drummer on team) gave me a ride to church, so it was really cool to get 10 minutes to chat with him. At church, I was in watching the team practice, and then I felt drawn towards the kitchen. So I went to investigate, and ended up spending the rest of the time in there lending a hand where needed to help get ready for church and the baptism/picnic to be held afterwards. In Sunday school it was my first week leading worship in class, and it went really well, except I forgot the verses in the first song. As it ends up, the group knew the song well and followed another person easily enough. After that, I was kind of nervous, but luckily that was all the unfortunates. Other than that Sunday school was really good. In the service, my family and about 10 other people were recognized as new members of the church. After praising God for a few songs Adam shared his testimony. As on Thursday, he was super-pumped and excited to share it with everyone, and it was amazing! So many people were just crying out to God. His Spirit just moved among everyone as David (teen worship leader) led a worship time, a time of people just pouring out their hearts to God. It was awesome!!! I felt God speaking to me during this time, but with one problem. Before, I had become too comfortable thinking that I knew what university God was going to put me in. I thought I knew what direction God was wanting for my life, and now it seems He threw it all up in the air again. He made me stop and remember that I can't become complacent, because He wants me to rely on Him for EVERYTHING. Apparently, I was a little too comfortable for Him, and He shook me up.

After church we went to the Guadalupe river for baptism service. Once more, I asked TJ if I could hitch a ride with him. I didn't realize that we would leave the church almost an hour after everybody else!!!! We were basically just hanging out with other teens that had - like Adam - come into town from college for the weekend. Once we got to the river, the baptisms were awesome!!! It was neat to see adults, youth, and kids alike proclaim their faith in God! One thing I found out at the picnic was that I can still joke around and just share laughs with people in church, something I really hadn't felt comfortable to do since we were visiting STL.

It was a long 4 days, but it came with everything.... school, amazing spritual revival, closeness to God, closeness to family, boredom, busyness, awesome testimonies, young men seeing visions and dreaming dreams, baptisms, resting assured in God, and resting confused in God.... everything in such short time!!!! The one biggest thing about is though, is that God is who He says He is. He is faithful and He answers prayers. I had been praying for a strenthening of my faith, and God delivered 1000 times more powerfully than I ever could have dreamt possible!

Serving an awesome God,

Aaron

Texas State University

Hey there, Aaron blogging.

Well, it's been a while since the last posts, and actually, not much has changed, at least for me. I am still adapting to life away from Mexico, although the adapting to life in USA has come easier. Basically, I just wanted to give a little update on my life, and the possible next step.

Being a senior in high school, I have been on the lookout for potential colleges for the past couple years. It is definitely different than I pictured it when living in Mexico. I had always thought that I would be based out of Saint Louis for my advanced studies, but since then, we - obviously - had a relocation, and college options changed. Texas State University (15 minutes away) and Christ for the Nations (in Dallas) became two very potential schools. Dad, Jessie and I walked the Texas St. campus for about 2 hours a few weeks ago, and I decided to attend what was called a "Bobcat Day." Basically, it is open house day under a different name. The program they had was very good, and gave the hundreds of prospective students that went a chance to find out more about specific areas of study, cost, campus layout, applications, and scholarship opportunities. It was a very good day for myself - not to mention my Dad- especially when we learned that I potentially qualify for various different scholarships. When we got home from our little excursion, we immediately went online, and I started filling out online application request and scholarship forms. Although they probably won't be submitted officially for a couple weeks, during that time I will be writing two different essays for the scholarship committee, and one of them will be used as an application essay. I get to kill two birds with one essay, so to speak.

Even though Texas State is not necessarily final, it does look very promising. Christ for the Nations hasn't been ruled out completely, and I continue researching it and more importantly, praying that God will give me wisdom in this upcoming choice. Right now though, He has given me extraordinary peace whenever I think about choosing Texas St. It is really good to know that whatever I choose, I know I can count on God to be there for me, and I will be with him, as long as I make Him my priority.

Serving the God of wonders,

Aaron

Jessie Update

Life in Texas, hmmm... where to start? It is pretty good overall. The biggest transition for me has probably been my homeschooling. Before public school in Mexico..... now, homeschool..... different! I have been slowly adjusting to life here, but I have not completely adjusted yet. I have made new friends, which I really enjoy spending time with, and have been going to a cool youth group at a local church. Another big thing is our eating schedule. Like Aaron explained in his post, it is really different from what I'm used to. Other than those couple things, it's going ok. That's about all for me now!

Jessie

Adapting to Life

Having moved to New Braunfels a couple months ago was a huge transition for our family. Everyday life is different, and the culture shock is, well...shocking. Schoolwork for myself, Jessie, and Carmen can at times be frustrating, especially since Mom is the sole teacher. Dad seems to be adjusting to his office duties day-by-day. The food schedule is what messes me up most though! After being used to eating breakfast at 7:30, having a mid-morning snack, a full lunch at around 2pm., and a small dinner at around 8:30, my eating schedule is completely different! Now I have a small breakfast, usually around 8, a smaller lunch at noon, and a big dinner at 6. I know these kind of things may seem like small trifles, but hey! That's the culture shock. Driving everywhere instead of walking, staying indoors almost all day to avoid the heat (instead of avoiding the rain), and for me personally... having a room in the house, instead of having my one door off the courtyard. Little things like that add up in the change, but the transition is more than just simple stuff. The big thing is to remember, every day - heck, every minute - that God is in control and will use the change to do his will. The hard part is learning to leave everything, not just 99.9% of it, in His hands. That's become my daily lesson for the last few weeks, and I know that He is molding me to his purpose, I just have to let him.

Aaron

Technology

As I sit here learning more about blogging and computers I am reminded how life is a journey. We all need to continually learn, no matter what age we are, or we will become stagnant. The same is true for the life of a Christian. Everyday we should be learning more about God almighty and His character. If we do not continually learn of God it is an open door for satan to attack and make us "lukewarm" towards God. We all know what happens to those who are lukewarm, right?

Thanks for reading.
Chris