Walking Straight Toward Jesus
Eternal Manna
For much of my life, especially after my mission experience in Bolivia, I struggled with my vocation.
The Desert is Flowering
Not the Same Sky
It wasn’t a radical conversion or a 360 life change, it was just an amazing reminder that God is ever at work.
To the Ranchos!
Due to the amount of ranchos that our parish priest is in charge of, he can only reach them maybe two times a year, if that.
Long-Lasting Fruits of the Mission
Raul, was a local butcher, who helped Genie when she came to the store to buy their family’s meat. Genie constantly invited him to come to their weekly prayer meetings, but Raul couldn’t be bothered. He worked hard to provide for his family, but he was not what you’d call a family man.
The Suffering and Solidarity of Gospel Poverty
I ran into a very poor family of seven we had befriended. After catching up and learning that the husband was still struggling to find work, I asked how they were doing with having enough food. Sadly they didn’t even know how they were going to get dinner that evening.
Sometimes We Are the Poor Ones
The hardest part was that almost no one even asked our names or interacted with us as people. Here we were, living in a new country, caring for our young children, struggling with the language, and also homesick for everything and everyone that we left behind.
COVID Campout
We threw everything in the car—sleeping bags, water, food, a whole bunch of chips and cookies—and headed for the mountains. Though our general destination was only 15 miles away, we drove for about 80 minutes—60 of those being on a windy dirt road. As we ascended into the mountains, we had no exact idea of where we would stay.
Autumn in Mexico
They call it Kilómetro 64, just known by the nearest kilometer marker on the highway where this dusty village sits, next to a long line of windmills, directly under major, humming power lines, in middle of the Mexican desert.
Doña Marciana
Who am I to be able to do this? The world would say you are just a stranger in someone’s home, but the Lord would say that we all are brothers and sisters. The veil between Heaven and Earth is far thinner than we realize. We do not have to wait until Heaven to be united in love: we can have it now.
La Cruz de Amor
The voices of the world and the lies about mission life plagued me over the past few weeks. I should be doing more. I should be giving them more money and meeting more material needs. Who do I think I am to do this work?
Where Are We Going?
Once we got to our destination, each of us were handed an envelope which contained the information we were anxiously anticipating for the past few weeks: which country we were getting sent to. The boys were praying for jungles and mountains for the past few months. Our oldest son, Robert, had been hoping and praying specifically for Peru. We eagerly took our envelope and make a short hike to an area where we could lay out blankets to eat lunch and pray.
Racing In Coahuila
After the formal gathering ended, and while were were still chatting with the participants, one of the missionary kids asked me to help her communicate to a young Spanish-speaking girl that she wanted to race with her. Before long, almost all of the kids (and some adults), English- and Spanish-speaking alike, were taking part in the game. At the count of uno, dos, tres, another group would run competitively across the dusty field. Even one of the dads carrying a toddler on his shoulders joined in on the fun.
A New Home
It is a gift to be able to serve together and watch our girls growing into very sweet and generous little girls who are learning to love Jesus and each other.
Taking a Risk
As the week began, I wondered: is my faith deep enough to live the life of a missionary? Do I love the poor enough? Do I love Jesus enough to lay it all down: my career, house, activities, stuff for Him? Would I be willing to answer the door whenever someone knocks? Can I take having dirty feet all the time? Can I learn another language well enough to give people comfort and hope? Can I tolerate cold missionary showers… forever?!
General Cepeda Encounter
María de Jesús introduced us to Cipriano, the ninety-something man who was taken in from an early age by the family across the street. They had hired him as their farm-hand and he apparently did that for the rest of his life. I was somewhat disturbed by how disproportionately large his hands were in relation to his body, as well as his unkempt, thick, inch-long fingernails.
Rich In Community
While missions comprises much of our life in Family Missions Company, the context from which it emerges is the rich life of community we are blessed to share. Our family recently had the opportunity to witness this gift of community at work during the wedding of our close friends.
