2019-A year of (more) transitions

 We spent two months in the USA December 2018 to January 2019 and got one of the biggest surprises of our lives when we found out that we're expecting a little one this August! We trust and rejoice in the Lord's timing-and an extra sweet bonus was that my mom got to be with us for our first sonogram! :)

 We began renting the entire CdR building. Upstairs is now housing for our two single intern/staff girls, ESL classrooms, and a sleep shelter for women in need/transition. Here you can see that we have a LOT of ESL students this year! We are thankful for the bigger space for so many opportunities like these.

Our bosses the Guerrero's left last month, so when this team came from Montana two weeks before their departure they left it all in our charge. They were still here and helped with a lot of things, but we were stretched in our abilities to work as a team, coordinate activities, meals, and practical day-to-day things for them. But it was a great experience and a great team!

We had a going away party for the Guerreros the weekend before they left. We all cried. A lot. But we trust and rejoice in God's timing (again) and purpose in leading them back to the USA. Now Richard, Lesly, Joel and I remain in leadership. We have two other staff members who work in the Cafe, one intern who helps with ESL classes (one more intern coming for 6 months will arrive this Saturday), and lots of volunteers! Please pray with us for God's wisdom and guidance as we take on this big job of leading and serving these young people. May God receive all the glory-and may He give us the strength to represent Him well here.

The enemy of gratitude and contentment...

I've been enjoying listening to some sessions from The Gospel Coalition 2019 National Conference . One of my favourites so far has been by Trip Lee called Faith and Healing. (If you have 48.28 minutes, WATCH IT!) I can't get some of the things he said out of my head. So I'll put it here, in case it's as challenging for you in your growth as it has been for me this past week.
He was talking about the Centurion in Matthew 8, and how he humbly approached Jesus asking Him to heal his daughter. And he said this:

"We can be tempted to think that the opposite of gratitude is silence [not saying thank you], 

but the opposite of gratitude isn't silence; it's entitlement.  

And that entitlement is the enemy of contentment. 

We will struggle with gratitude and contentment [until] we understand that everything we have is a gift from Jesus". 

And that's a really big problem for me sometimes. I get jealous, or feel sorry for myself or think that I somehow deserve...whatever it is that I want. But really when I realise who I am and who God is it becomes abundantly clear that I don't deserve all the good things that I want...nor did I deserve all the good things I was given. It's a GIFT from a perfect God to a lowly sinner and that makes it all that much more wonderful.  So these days I really am making a conscious effort to see God's hand in everything and truly be grateful. And I find that I'm so much happier when I look at it that way. (As it should be).