Intern day out

Grutas de Garcia-
Every friday when groups leave we have a chance to hang out and get to know our interns more. Each staff couple has one friday of the summer to take interns out on the town. Last friday was the single staffs turn. We decided to get subway, eat it on the bus on our way to Grutas de Garcia. As you can tell from the pictures it means the caves. we had a 45 minute tour throughout the cave and it was a blast. the interns loved it.
Then we came home and ate dinner. Decided we were ready to get our groove on with some salsa music so cheque, rodo, hope, and i helped teach how to salsa dance. We danced the night away. Then around 11:00 we started a movie in the big palapa which was super fun also.
We wouldn't be able to do anything in the summer if it weren't for our interns. we are so grateful they decide to take time out of their schedules to come help serve alongside us. We are so appreciative of them.

WEEK 2 OF SUMMER

Sorting through all the donations McCollum's group brought.

Famous McCollum soccer camp shirts

Serving dinner

It was one of my best friends, Kenzi Couch's, birthday this day also. I love you Kenzi. Happy 22nd!

So this week has been one of the busiest weeks of summer. Steve McCollum was here with his group of 55 people. We had another group from Christ Church at Mason, and another from Horizon Church.
Every year McCollum brings down a bunch of people and does his annual cookout with all of our guests and ALL THE KIDS WE SERVE... well almost all the kids we serve.
Last Monday we served over 500 plates, we grilled 96 kilos of meat, made 1430 tortillas, chopped 238 avacado and tomatos, chopped 20 onions, 8 ciliantro, 238 limes, 96 jalapenos, and we had 48 bags of chips. it was a busy afternoon getting all of the food prepared. we had staff, group members, and some of our teens helping out.
We had a time of games and worship with 20 centavos which the kids LOVED, me too. We did an open mic night with anyone that wanted to share something, and we also had a couple people tell their testimonies. there were lots of tears coming to my eyes while listening to one of our jovens telling his story of accepting Christ. i am so proud of the impact Tonio is having on the other teens here on campus. God has completely captured Tonio's heart in this past year.

While out with groups, i have leveled two playgrounds, and done cement 2 days in a row. i am obsessed with running the trompo (cement mixer). it has been a full full week and God has shown up in BIG ways. all of our groups leave in the morning.
Then it is time for a staff meeting, it is my turn to take all the interns out, rest tomorrow night, then do it all over again next week starting Saturday. Please be praying for strength throughout my summer. i am only going to last if i am filled up by the Lord. Pray for intimate times with Him.

Saying Goodbyes

Dulce and Katya after a cake fight!!!!!!

Edgar, Connie, and Dulce

Me and Dulce

Yessica and I

You know something doesn't feel completely right when your stomach hurts and your heart aches. I am always really sad to see people, that i have known for a long time, leave. And the funny thing is, that if the person leaving is still in a Childrens home, shouldn't i want them to leave and be with their families? my answer is YES, But it is still hard. While i know it is time for some of them to leave i also know that God has brought them in my life for specific reasons and for certain seasons. Each child that we serve has something different to offer. It excites me to be able to build into the children we serve. Those of you that know me, relationships are my thing. I love relationships. i love investing into the teenage girls here on our campus, i love hanging out with the children we serve. It excites me to get to know them.
But on the flip side, it is really hard for me to say goodbye... I have had to say goodbye to Yessica who lived in Esperanza house here on our property. She has taught me so much about life. She is super passionate about everything. And the joy that she has is straight from the Lord. God has good things in store for her life. But it was really hard to say goodbye to her. Her presence here on this campus was always a positive one and I can tell she is not here.

I also had to say goodbye to Dulce or ABBY from Manantial De Amor. She was having a birthday party and invited me to come along. it was such a fun time in knowing that i had specific time to say goodbye. sometime we don't even get the chance to say goodbye and those are the hardest. But God allowed me to spend all day with her at the girls home. I got to celebrate her birthday with her and the rest of her house. And i even got to pray with her before i left. She is a special one. she is so beautiful and eager to seek God. She is independent and can speak for herself. The confidence she has for a 15 year old girl who has grown up in a Casa Hogar, is unbelievable.
It has been a pleasure to serve both of these girls. they are both dear to my heart. I have and will not give up praying for them. Even though i could possibly never see them again which is incredibly hard for me. But it is okay because i believe God has given something special to both of these girls. I know they both experienced God in both of their circumstances. And with that, we have to trust that they experienced enough of HIM to get them through any situation that comes their way. that they will fight the good fight and take a stand against this cold world. Although it is hard to say goodbye i know good things are coming for them. PRAISE YOU FATHER FOR RESTORING THESE GIRLS LIVES WITH THEIR FAMILIES.

SPA NIGHT

PEDICURES!!!!!!!!

MANICURES!!!!

all of the girls posing for a picture with their new fun things!!!!!

Back2Back got a huge donation from a friend of my roomate, Jessica. One weekend we had gone to Texas and opened up all the boxes that were shipped for this specific donation. Inside these HUGE boxes were tons of body wash, face wash, toothbrushes, floss, deodorant, lotion, and lots and lots of make up.
Receiving donations is a HUGE blessing. We would normally divide up everything and deliver it to the teen homes here on our property. But Jessica and I had a better plan. We decided to host a spa night at our house. We divided up all the donations and put them in gift bags for each joven girl on campus. We had 11 gift bags FULL of things they will use and LOVE. Each Bag consisted of things in the first picture above.
So, we invited the girls over. We ate chocolate, did pedicures (which Jessica was in charge of), manicures (which i was in charge of), watched a chick flick, and at the end did facials. It was such a fun and relaxing way to use these specific donations. The girls felt blessed and their toes and hands felt better than ever. it was such a wonderful time of fellowship with the girls. Getting them out of their homes, making them feel special and loved, and being able to bless them with essentials. It was a wonderful night.

Casa Hogar Del Norte LIBRARY!!!!!!

After almost a year of starting the library foundation at Casa Hogar Del Norte, We finally finished up things this past week. This past Saturday on April 17th we had the Library Dedication.
The weeks leading up to it was great because we didn't have a lot of groups here so a ton of staff were able to come together to help Gabo get things ready for the big dedication. The very first picture with all the couples was Friday night (the day before) we had worked pretty much a 12 day shift or more. Finishing painting last minute things, scrubbed the floor on our hands and knees with paint scrapers and a rag, putting the tv and computer up, finishing staining the librarians desk, putting the desks and the dividers together, cleaning up after ourselves every 10 minutes, putting books in the shelves, hanging lights, and putting last minute touches on everything to make it look the way it did.
When you put so much work into something you are super excited to show people the creation from nothing to finish. the dedication was just for that and to dedicate it to the Lord as well as thank people who had put so much money and service into making it beautiful. I love a good work day with just staff. It reminds me of how much i love working with the people i live with. what a blessing it is to be here in the midst of what the Lord is doing. Providing a fun place for the kids to learn more and to be excited about it is one more blessing for them.
The dedication went great. We ate, the children sang some songs they had been learning, we prayed over the building, Martha spoke, and we got to look around and see the kids smiling faces as they saw their new library full of books, movies, and learning games. What a blessing to this specific children's home!

LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS OH MY!!!!!

not much for this blog! SMCA (our staff kid school on property) had a field trip to the zoo. I was able to tag along because one of the teachers wasn't able to make it that day. We were pretty much the only people in the zoo and the animals were very interactive. we saw tigers, elephants, lots of parrots, ostriches, bears, alligators, and lots of other animals. it was a great day with those little monkeys, and YES i mean the SMCA kids.

BODA DE MARU Y EMMANUEL

Maru looking so happy on her wedding day!!!!
Riding in on her carriage just like a princess.
Padrinos: Hope and Cheque giving them their Bible
Padrinos: Antonio and Priscilla putting the lasso on them.
Mariachi Band. So fun
Emmanuel singing to his bride.
Rodo and i showing off our fun little gifts from the band at the wedding.
Friends at the Rodeo.

Last weekend me and some of our staff took a little trip to San Luis Potosi. This wedding was 8 hours away and we all packed out our suburbans and vans and caravaned to this little town. The wedding was like nothing i have ever seen before. The Bride was led in by carriage that her father was leading. then her bridesmaids were all on horses riding in. Emmanuel was leading all the men on horses as well. They call this a CHARRO wedding. Big Dresses and traditional dressing for the men. SO FUN and different.
The ceremony was beautiful. In Mexican weddings they have Padrinos. Basically the bride and groom ask people who are important to them to be padrinos in the wedding. The padrinos give either a Bible, a lasso (which represents binding the 2 together), coins, or the wedding rings. They go up to the front and present the item to the couple and do a blessing on the bride and groom. My roomate, Hope, was a padrino for the Bible. (Picture above)
The reception was AWESOME. well the wedding started at 1:00pm and we left around 12:30a.m. and the reception was still going strong. There was a really fun band that kept passing all these little things out with every song. Rodo and i had a great time salsa dancing all night. oh how i love the Mexican culture.
On the way home we stopped and got some ice cream with exotic fruits. It was so YUMMY!!!
it was really a fun experience being with people from Back2Back but being out of Monterrey. Lots of bonding with eachother, eating very different food, and supporting our good friend Maru in her marriage. The rodeo the next day was incredible. Got to break in my cowboy boots and watch some really cool tricks with horses and cows. We had to leave early though to get home in time for monday morning work. Overall, the weekend was great and Maru got to have the wedding of her dreams. She was beaming with joy and love on her special day. or should i say her special weekend.