Still Here

Sorry for the long absence, life has actually been surprisingly busy since being back in the States. I wanted to post a link for those who are interested to a short video that our friend/co-worker Andrew made of this summer. It is a fun glimpse into Spearhead Mexico and our summer Spearheaders, who, by the way, were great! If you are interested in seeing the video just paste or click on this link: http://vimeo.com5875731.

I am now 35 weeks along and still on target for delivering a baby girl sometime on or around October 11th. It has been fun to focus on and anticipate the fact that in a very short amount of time Kevin and I will have a daughter!

In other encouraging news...Kevin has a job! One of our biggest prayer requests/concerns was to be able to find a flexible job while we are in the States to support ourselves until our full support for Spain is pledged. Kevin will be working from home, doing something he loves, and on a 4-6 month contract, perfect! God is so faithful.

The pictures below are from our trip back from Colorado when we stopped briefly at the Arches National Park in Utah (on the bottom), and Kevin's Pop-Pop's 90th birthday. We were glad to be back for this occasion (which we celebrated at the end of August). Pop-Pop is an amazing man and we feel blessed to have him. He celebrated 60 years of being in the ministry on his birthday as well.

We're Back!

Last Saturday my baby sister Amy got married.

This is a picture of all four sisters, in a month, Stacy (far right) will also be getting married.

The next day our nephew, Jack, was dedicated.

We were both excited that we could be a part of these events, we flew straight from Mexico City to Colorado. After the wedding and dedication Kevin and I drove back to California with my uncle and cousin with whom we live. We split the trip into two days, which was much more endurable rather than 20 hours straight of driving! We stopped for a quick hike in the Arches National Park, which was a welcome diversion from all of the driving!

Now we are back in Northern California and diving back into life, preparing for the baby, debriefing from Mexico, focusing more intensely on support raising, and job hunting in the mean time. I, Leah, am going to be teaching junior high Spanish two hours a week for the next 10 weeks, which I am really looking forward to. My parents are also moving back to the farm in a week from Florida. It will be fun to have them near. Please continue praying for us as we have a busy couple of months ahead and we continue to readjust to a life in constant change as we continue on the road to Spain.

Baby Shower

Last night our family threw us our first baby shower. It was really fun, they put a lot of time and thought into everything and it was very special and meaningful. I am posting some of my favorite pics from the party – as you can see there was a lot of laughter!

Everything was super decorated, on the top of the cake is a picture of Kevin and I, and there was even jello in the form of a baby's bottle and a sleeping baby!

A close up of some of the decorations they made for us. :)

This was the "How fast can you dress your baby" game. All of the clothes were passed to us relay style by our teams -- you can't start passing the next item of clothing till the last one is correctly placed on the baby. I won since Kevin couldn't quite figure out the snaps!

This is the "How well can the blind-folded partner feed you baby food" game. We won, though I almost threw up. The flavor was not bad, (fruit dessert or something like that) but eating at that speed something which is all mashed up for you can definitey trigger the gag reflex!

Kevin had to practice being pregnant and complete a number of tasks like this. I have to say though, his baby looks a little like a torpedo! The game ended when the watermelon started to leak onto his stomach, yuck!

Our teams dressed us as babies, I think the girls won again, although we couldn't quite get my diaper to fit correctly!

Mirna (my Mexican sister) and I, she is 14 weeks pregnant, I am 30 weeks.

Most of the group all crowded together to take a photo. I love these guys!

Prayer

Please be praying as our Mexican brother-in-law, Jose's, mother just passed away. She had been having back pain since December, but it was not until just over a month ago that they diagnosed her with breast cancer. Unfortunately, by the time they diagnosed it it had already spread to her bones. In just over a month she suffered several ribs broken, as well as a femur, and her arm. They were operating on her ribs this afternoon when she passed away. Please be praying for Jose's family as he is the only one who knows the Lord, and this has been a very difficult summer for him. Tonight we will be going to her velada, which is like a viewing, but all the family will be there and they will have a little service, it will probably be an all night affair. We are also in the midst of debriefing the summer Spearheaders, so please pray we will be able to support the family while also fulfilling all of our responsibilities.

Last Week

In the last blog I asked for prayer for three things, Steve Johnson's (president of LAM) visit to Spearhead, the Mission Conference Spearhead sponsored on Saturday and for Kevin's preaching on Sunday.

I am glad to report that everything went really well. Steve Johnson's visit was good, Kevin and I had a chance to sit down with him and talk a little more about our plans for Spain, and he also was able to share with the Spearheaders during our large group time. All in all everything went smoothly.



The entire week was spent in preparations for the Mission Conference, and all in all the conference seemed to be a great success. Two fun stories from the conference: 1) On Sunday at the church where Kevin preached the Pastor and his wife shared about their renewed call to go as missionaries to Africa, and their commitment to work towards that goal.

2) In the children's program we learned about what it is to be a missionary, and then focused in on three countries that missionaries from the conference represented: Pakistan, India and Morocco. The Spearheaders prepared a little lesson about the needs of each country and the Mexican missionary serving there. Afterward we made flags of each country and put the prayer requests on the back. One little boy came home telling his parents how he needed to be praying for the missionaries and then sat down and drew the flag of India as a gift for one of his friends.



The conference focused not only on illustrating the need for missionaries, but also on equipping those who feel a call to actually go.
At the end of the conference there was a concert based on a CD that our Assistant Director Wendy Der helped to sponsor called Llevame a las Naciones, or "Bring me to the Nations." The CD is a compilation of Latin artists who sing and share about missions. Proceeds fromt the disc go toward supporting Mexican missionaries who are serving overseas. If you are interested in hearing more about the disc, or possibly buying one, check out their website: http://www.dreamakerrecords.com/.



On Sunday we headed out to Ecatepec, which is north of Mexico City in the State of Mexico. Kevin did a really great job preaching. It was especially fun for me to see how much he has grown since last time he preached in Spanish. He shared about the paralytic who was lowered through the roof to Jesus, and how critical the community of faith is in bringing others to a saving knowledge of our Lord.
After he preached the pastor shared about our call to Spain, and then had all of the young people of the church come and lay hands on us and pray for us. It was a special experience that I will treasure.

So thanks for your prayers, they were a part of everything that happened here this past week and helped carry us through all the craziness. :)

Crazy Week Ahead

We had a great time while my cousin Lawrence was here, he left early this morning. Some of the days we had to work, but we also had some time to sight see around the city. Because this was Lawrence's second visit we spent some time seeing sites that he hadn't visited before, but also spent time just hanging out and eating delicious Mexican food! This is a picture of us all hanging out in one of the city's fun neighhborhoods, Coyocan.

Sorry for the intermitent blogging, not having our computer definitely is putting a cramp in our style, but we are surviving. I think the two most difficult things for us are 1) Kevin likes to write every morning and all of his stories etc. are on the computer, and 2) Skype. But, like the title of the blog says, this week, and pretty much each of the f0llowing are pretty much jam-packed till the Spearheaders pack up and head back home on July 31.

In fact, if you could be praying especially for us this week there are a few big things happening that we wanted to share with you.
1. Tuesday and Wednesday the president of Latin America Mission, the mission we are
associated with, will be here to meet with Spearhead leaders as well as speak to and meet
with the Spearheaders. We are looking forward to seeing Steve, and also continuing to look
forward to when we will be on the field in Spain.
2. On Saturday Spearhead is sponsoring a missions conference for Mexicans. The Mexican
church is growing, and one of the fields that is continuing to develop is that of sending out
Mexican missionaries to the nations. I am in charge of planning the kids program, which is fun
but also a lot to think about. Please pray for a good turn out Saturday, and that more
Mexicans will be raised up and further equipped to serve God in another country.
3. On Sunday Kevin will be preaching (in Spanish) at one of the churches where we have
Spearheaders. Please pray for his preparation, especially during this crazy week, and for his
message on Sunday that God will speak through him.

Thanks for thinking of us and keeping us in your prayers, we value each one of you!

Good News and Bad

So... on the fun side, my cousin Lawrence is here for a week to visit. He arrived yesterday and will be staying through Monday morning.

On the not so fun side it seems that our computer has decided to not work at all. It looks as if it is a hardware issue so we won't have a computer the rest of the time we are here in Mexico. So it may be that blog posts come a little more infrequently for the next month. It is especially a bummer for Kevin who uses our computer every day for his writing, but for both of us in regards to e-mail and general keeping in touch.

Oh well...

In other news, this week marks the first of full-time ministry for the summer Spearheaders. They graduated from their Spanish classes last Friday, which was fun. Everyone did an excellent job.