Standing By

Well, Ruben has been gone only a week and a day and we miss him terribly! He and the other guys on the team are on their Oaxaca scouting trip. For those interested, you can google in a couple areas to get an idea of where we are hoping to go. El Jicaral, Oaxaca is a village outside of a small city called Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca. Chris and Jim are somewhat familiar with this area but Ruben and I haven't been there so I look forward to the pics and report when he returns.

Housing is a priority on the trip - so pray they will be able to secure something so we will have a place to go. There is so much unrevealed yet, that I have no idea what to expect. If we are able to live in the village we may be invited in to teach English. They speak Mixteco and possibly a little Spanish. To Every Tribe has visited this village in the past so there is info - I just haven't been there. If we cannot live in the village we hope to stay in the nearby city, Juxtlahuaca. It is near as far as miles but the road that goes to the villages is very bad so it takes 4-5 hours to reach them. As you can imagine we are very excited to see the outcome of this trip.

So we are standing by, still homeschooling - I'm begining to wonder if first grade will ever end. I guess that's what happens when you take too many field days and vacation in December. Today we are preparing and awaiting the arrival of hurricane Alex. Blizzards, I know, but not hurricanes. Just like any storm, except the windows are being boarded and if the electricity goes out we probably won't freeze - but it might get awfully stuffy since the humidity here is like 110% or something these days. Makes me miss Ruben more. Not out of fear, we are in good hands. But because these kinds of things are always much more fun with him. When he's gone, I realize how boring I am. Plus, he has my camera so I won't we able to take any cool hurricane Alex pics. Who knows, this may be my only hurricane ever.

So we are standing by. Walk in the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Abide and stand by. Walk in the good works prepared in advance for you. Obey and stand by. God is timeless and all that we do by his Spirit is like stepping into what has already been accomplished. Like a storm that is already a storm, it just hasn'tblown on us yet. It has reached it's fullness in the heavens but has not yet been manifested on the earth. Like the fire stored up for this earth. Look up and stand by.