Day 9 - My God is so BIG, so STRONG and so MIGHTY! :)

Hello my friends and family!

For some reason that song has been stuck in my head all morning. =P Not hardly the worst thing that could be on repeat inside this head of mine.

I am so happy to share with you what God is doing in Chihuahua.

The noise level at breakfast time, has severely decreased the last two days. You can tell people are getting tired. Yesterday morning we woke up to a dark, wet, cold, ranch. Apparently, mountain weather followed us. We began our work day reluctantly, but we got things accomplished! A praise, we finished drywalling the room we have been working on for the last 1 1/2 weeks! Hopefully this next room won't take us quite as long due to our new found skills. Or maybe we already made all the mistakes two weeks can handle! ;) Besides drywalling, we continued weeding the devil plants as soon as the sky cleared. I'm not sure if anyone before me has covered the devil plants, but seriously, not a fun time. Monte calls them the devil weed because they have a nasty thorn that grows underneath the flower and has two extra big spikes that make it look like a devil.

Unfortunately, we got to lunch late and we finished with 30 minutes until the Brickyard. Scramble, scramble, scramble! (There never seems to be enough time.) At VBS yesterday the gospel was presented. What continues to surprise me when I watch these children and their mothers are their attention spans. Seriously, they sit there for an incredibly long time just listening. I know that if you have a room full of Americans you don't always see what I have seen day after day here. What an encouragement that must be for Allison while she teaches! So the gospel was presented yesterday and that concluded the VBS days. We played games, they had food from a different country, and the day went off without any problems. Except Ann's back. One of the children jumped on Ann's back yesterday and the car ride also did nothing to help her already hurting back. :/

Yesterday evening was fairly normal, except for KITCHEN WORSHIP! Woohoo! (now I have heard that many people like to read these blogs through to try to figure out who is writing them.. I'm sorry to all of you because now I am going to give myself away.) It's me, Kate! I heard many great things about kitchen worship from last year and I was excited to experience it for myself. This is how it went- after dinner, Caleb and I did music and everyone else sang, danced, and cleaned. Worshiping God is a beautiful thing, especially in the kitchen :) So many times this trip I have felt awkward singing because not everyone else feels comfortable singing in these types of settings. However, during kitchen worship, everyone let loose and enjoyed making some pretty noise! Finally! Now it just so happens that people also don't always feel comfortable sharing things at the nightly discussions either. Last night, I feel like the blanket of shyness was partially lifted. :) I love hearing things from my teammates, and last night was full of good conversation.


Now I get to share with you all what God has been teaching me thus far. Hold on to your hats, folks! My heart is in the process of the biggest transformation ever. Two years ago when I came on this trip, I got homesick, I worked hard so that I didn't have to invest in my teammates, and I was closed off to growing spiritually. I hardened my heart and the only things I learned and grew from were by God's grace, not because I was willing. However, the thing that struck me most about that trip was missions. After I came home in 2008 I set my sites on Bible College. Then two years passed and that goal seemed unreasonable and so many things happened. And at the beginning of this trip, I thought God's main goal for me was to relearn how to love people and be patient. I am so overjoyed to find that is not the only reason I was brought here this year! God is bringing me back to missions. I cannot tell you how full my heart is, I LOVE this place. I have never desired to live any place in the world besides Orlando, Florida, up to now. When I say I am content here, it really means a lot, especially because I am not just content. Pictures do this place no justice, you have to see it to believe it. We went to the mountains to stay with the Finches, and I cried listening to their story. I have never been so greatly impacted. I am hungry for more! It is so hard for me to process everything that God is teaching me in these packed two weeks. But you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be looking into Bible schools when I get home. For those of you I told I would be heading towards physical therapy: I HAVE NEW PLANS!

(if you are overwhelmed by reading this post, welcome to my head!)

One thing that has helped me sort through things and give me a sense of normalcy has been getting to talk with Mrs. Rigel. We spent an hour sitting in the kitchen last night after everyone else was in bed, just talking. :) I love you Mrs. Rigel!!!

Okay my friends, there is a peak at what our second Tuesday was like and a glimpse at my overloaded brain. ;)

Prayer requests:

-The Finches and the Caborachi believers and unbelievers.

-The missionaries here at Rancho Siloe.

-Monte's highly bothersome facial rash.

-Our team unity, safety, and health.

-Ann's back and Allie's shoulder. (they have both been banished to the kitchen)

-And a deeper love and hunger for God and his word for my team and me :)

-A long shout out to my wonderfully large family: Momma, Daddy, Shaez, Jeffro, Kristy Kay, Aaronious, Heath, Mikey, Timmy, Sari, Chicken (long for chick, and long for Bek), Small Fry (Caiden), and Chunkin (Addison)! I love you guys so much, I wish you were here! 'Leah and Kell, you both belong in my family as well and I miss you both! <3>