HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hope each and every one of you had an amazing Thanksgiving. I hope you truly know what you are thankful for.

I know being here in Mexico over Thanksgiving really makes me thankful for so much more than i realized. i am so blessed and give thanks to God for EVERYTHING He has given me. It leaves me standing in awe of how BIG God is. i am so thankful to be living here in Mexico. So THANK YOU ALL WHO HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO BE HERE. i seriously could never thank you enough.


I JUST LOVE THIS GIRL. and yes those are pink work gloves!!!!!! hahaha

it was so fun being able to work on Thanksgiving Day!







WE MADE 6 turkeys and everyone made a dessert! i have never seen so much food in my entire life. We served over 110 people Thanksgiving dinner. Just our staff and jovens that live on campus. CRAZY BIG and CRAZY FUN!














We got to set up a ton of tables all over HOUSE 5 which will shortly be ready to be lived in. It was super fun and tons of fellowship.










the very first pumpkin pie i have ever made!!!! it turned out pretty good. the pie crust is made from scratch too.

Standing on God's promises!!!!!!!

I am writing this blog trying to hold off tears. This weekend God has been breaking my heart all over again for the children i am serving here in Monterrey, Mexico.

The other day i was at Casa Hogar Douglas. Sundays are visitation days where some of the kids parents can come visit. Most kids in the Childrens homes we serve with have parents of some sort that will sometimes come visit them. The children that are lucky, their mom or dad comes every sunday. Others are either wondering where their mom or dad is, wondering if they are going to show up this week or not? i had my first experience with meeting some of the kids moms. it was very interesting. i honestly didn't know the feelings that where running through my head. i wanted to ask them why they took their child to an orphanage. i wanted to ask if they really love their kids. i wanted to ask so many questions but clearly i could never do that. anyways, i was telling them who i was and what i was doing here in Monterrey. and then i honestly didn't know what more to talk about so i said "it was so nice to meet you" and walked off with a smile. then i kept watching all the kids with their mom or dad. some moments of watching were really sweet and other times my heart was just flat out broken. one girl Alexia, has a twin brother and an other brother. she is about 6. Her mom had come on that day. When the mom was leaving, SHE STARTED CRYING HER EYES OUT. all she wanted was her mommy and her mommy was leaving her there once again. thoughts in my head were, does this little girl know that she is loved? what is she thinking about all of this? does she know that God has a specific, wonderful plan for her life? it was seriously something i started praying for immediately that she would believe these truth's for her life.
i have been learning alot about some stories of the children here. And literally every time i hear another one my heart is broken all over again. Trying to understand where these kids are coming from can not possibly be done with my little mind and the fraction of what i have experienced compared to them. Yet, these kids are so full of love and smiles. And only by God's grace do they have happiness. the more i see them, the more i hang out with them, i just want to be on my knees praying for them. God has many promises to these precious children. please be in prayer with me in knowing that if we stand on God's promises to the orphan child together, together we can help and make a difference.
God's Promises to The orphan child:
God promises to-
vindicate them,
rescue them,
deliver them,
not leave them,
come to them,
hear them,
lift them up,
be their Father,
make them a home,
lead them out,
not to forget them,
extend mercy towards them,
execute true justice,
provide them with food and clothing,
be their helper,
maintain their cause,
and incline His ear!

Estoy Aprendiendo Mucho!!!!!!!! (I am learning A LOT)

For the past couple weeks we have been remodeling on of our Casa Hogars girls bathrooms. As you can see it is a very messy job. Lots of not so fun smells, lots of tearing the old pipes out and replacing them with new ones, lots of plugging our noses, and lots of chipping tile. This has by far been one of my most interesting projects. Todd (the director of Back2Back) has taught us how to install plumbing, clean it, glue it, cut it, use a jackhammer, knock out old toilets, and all the other fun stuff we have to do when installing plumbing. Needless to say, my dad would be so proud of me. I am not a pro but at least i kinda know what i am doing now, which is super cool. The bathroom is coming along and i can't wait to see the finished project.





CART- this week has been very busy. There was a group of 13 here this past week. Their leaders were with another organization called CARING ACTION FOR CHILDREN and they were around 77 years old, wife and husband. They also had an 85 year old women in their group. Let me tell you something about this group..... i have NEVER seen so many people determined to serve our children here in Mexico. They seriously were working the entire time. They got Del Norte's gym ready for the dedication. Tor and May (the leaders) have been involved with Martha and Del Norte for a really long time now. So they got to be apart of the dedication, they got to hang out with Martha, they got to go sight seeing in Monterrey, they got to play on top of a mountain with children.. and i was just along for the ride. the more i got to know each and every one of these group members the more i was shocked and awed by their lives and the legacy they are leaving behind. one man, VIRGIL, said he was in the airforce for 20 years, then gave the post office 20 years, and NOW he is giving the Lord 20 years. He said he has 4 more years to go. He is 78. I am telling you these people were simply here serving the Lord and it was burning within their hearts to give. They were ALL such a blessing to me on this trip. some of the women taught me how to sew on a sewing machine and how to crochet. It was so fun and it was exciting that i learned something new. They trusted me in making 2 curtains for Casa Hogar Del Norte and i loved every second of it.
More importantly, i learned that no matter what your age, you still can serve the Lord. You can still be going on mission trips at the age of 85. You can still be teaching young girls things they don't know. AGE ISN'T AN ISSUE. So there is no excuse. My heart was so filled up by these people and this CART group. It was an honor to serve alongside them. Thank you CART for the many blessings and teachings you gave me this past week.


i am NOT pretending here. My Momo (grandma) would have been so proud. MOM YOU TOO. i learned how to thread the machine and everything.














this is my crochet teacher. She was way more patient than i was. there were many times i wanted to throw the needle down but she would let me. she was wonderful.