Where Beauty, Service, and Spirit Converged

 

Oops!  I forget to publish this a few weeks ago.  Better late than never!

November 17 was not only Pat’s 64^th birthday, but also a national holiday in day in Mexico honoring Dia de la Revolución commemorating the start of the Mexican Revolution in 1910.  For us, it was a welcome day of relaxation after hosting a mission team at the ranch for nine days.  We celebrated Pat's birthday by getting a long-overdue massage and visiting a couple of historical establishments near the Zocalo—one had a 10-member Mariachi band that was AMAZING!  We love this part of town and have a different experience each time! 

The culture and music here continue to surprise and delight us daily. We even popped into a few antique stores and walked out with an old Best Western ashtray!  IYKYK!!!

Sacred Sunsets!  Our rooftop has become a sanctuary for us. The sunsets from our apartment complex have been breathtaking lately—fiery skies melting into soft twilight. Sitting together after work, watching the colors fade, has become one of our favorite spiritual practices. There’s something holy in those quiet moments, a reminder that God paints beauty into every day.  Although the rooftop space is for all residents, we seem to be the only people who enjoy it—and it feels like a private, quiet place. 

We participated in our first GYTTE Board meeting. It was an interesting experience, as here in Mexico, the Board is appointment by the Bishop to serve as a ministerial volunteer.  What a blessing it is to have so many attorney’s on our board—a rare treat in the nonprofit world!  I really appreciated the opportunity for Pat and I to share our vision and future legacy for GYTTE.  Great things are happening in Southern Mexico with GYTTE, and we are humbled and excited to be part of it!

We helped greet 60ish GYTTE Community Health Promoters  for their annual training and celebration.  Pat led the devotional and I led the teambuilder.  These are incredible women filled with passion for serving, laughing and celebrating each other.  Our staff poured their hearts into preparing handmade decorations, making an amazing Mexican holiday meal from scratch, and an educational day focused on drug misuse and addiction. My heart overflows with gratitude for each person involved.

We also spent time with the administrators from each church in our Conference to promote GYTTE.  It was our first time to present formal engagement opportunities for the local churches.  God is doing so many amazing things!  The big hit was helping sell the recently-harvested jamacia (hibiscus flower) from the Tree of Life training center "ranch") to the attendees, which serves as a fundraiser for our program.  Our car smells so good!

Pat and Pastor Isaias in San Matin before the church service.  The view was incredible!

This is Pastor Isaias' familia:  Ivonne- also our co-worker, Joel, and Hannah.  Beautiful view outside of the church!  We live in a valley surrounded by volcanoes!

In other news, I’ve been working with a therapist on my anxieties with snakes and being a good passenger in a car. This was a good week on the snake front—no sightings.  Car anxiety, well that’s a different story.  Pat preached in a town about an hour away and it was an adventure on the way home. Here’s Pat’s account of the weekend:

“Redemption?  Ok, so sometimes things don’t really go the way you think they should. But I think that is one way we learn and grow. For instance, driving here is a real test of ability. You have to be aware of everything around you. I mean killer potholes, low hanging tree branches, motorcycles coming from every direction at every speed, speeding busses passing you then braking hard for the speed table right in front of both of you, pedestrians, honking cars, police and toll booths. I have driven in traffic all over the US and never have I encountered anything like this!

This last weekend, I got a real dose of it all. It started with parking for our meeting with the public notary.  Here that is as close as you get to an attorney for most stuff. Anyway, it was in an unusual part of town and I took the parking spot near the corner. When we got out, Kim let me know it was motorcycle parking. Really, there were 20 places open, nobody would care… at least that is what I thought. Anyway, back to the notary. We explained that we wanted to get our wills done in Mexico in case something happened. “What could happen?” “Do you own any property?” he asked.  “No, Just a car,” we said.  He stared at us blankly.  Then why do you need a will?” he inquired.  

We don’t know, Kim just read in some Ex-Pat group that is what you do.

“Oh, anything else?”

“We would like to update our medical power of attorneys, and power of attorneys”

“If your dead, those don’t work in Mexico”

“We need them if one of us is not able to make decisions for ourselves”

“Well, you just make the decision…”

Seriously, I thought I was in a SNL skit. This guy talked in circles; in perfect English he learned when he was four. It was seriously funny!

We left there more confused than when we went in! It is perplexing because our US wills and powers of attorney are not recognized or honored in MX, and this guy didn't think we needed one.  

Then to top it off, we came out to my first parking ticket in years! Ugh!!!  [We didn't notice our missing front license plate].

We worked all day Saturday at events, and anyone that works at events knows how much work that can be. Sunday, we drove to a remote village, and I preached for a friend of mine and his wife/my coworker translated for me.  We make a good team!!

On our way home, we stopped at a grocery store to get the fixin’s for Thanksgiving dinner. (Actually finding the items on our list will be a different blog post.  Teaser:  is gravy really a salsa?)  As we left, I put directions in Google and started down the street, made a U-Turn, got honked at by a combi, and flagged down by a motorcycle cop. Yep, I apparently made a U-Turn where I wasn’t supposed to! UGGHHHHH!!!! Through 20 minutes of broken eng-spañol I wrestled the conversation back and forth between him taking the plates for the infraction, to possible impound, to our friend telling us he is just trying to get money out of us… and so much more. The real drama started when he got out his screwdriver to remove our front license plate, only to discover we didn't have one!  That really confused him and us.  [Our front plate was taken 3 days prior for collateral for our parking ticket.  If they were to remove the back plate, the car would be impounded  immediately and we would have been stranded in a town an hour north of home, carrying a frozen butterball!]  More than once Kim handed her phone to him, he would shove it between his helmet and sweaty face and talk to our excited friend trying to work out the details, take the phone out, hand it back to Kim, only to have it handed back and forth again and again. In desperation, he finally wished us “God bless you” and sent us on our way without a ticket and with our back license place intact!

Back on the road again with Google, we exited onto the main road heading to the freeway. There was a small, "abandoned" toll booth on the side of the road, and I began to accelerate, only to strike the toll booth’s restriction arm. Apparently, it wasn’t abandoned, just unkept. I broke off the toll arm and the person manning the station came up and began telling me we would have to get the insurance involved, the toll would be 11 pesos, and more for the rickety arm I ‘broke’ (I could see it as precariously held in place by a nail, obviously I wasn’t the first to drive through it). Anyway, 100 pesos later (about $5 US) I was back on the road. We encountered the real toll booth just a few kilometers up the road. What a day!

This morning I got up early, made my way down to the office where you pay the parking tickets. Made three stops to have copies made of stuff I needed, escorted through the center because I was a gringo that really wouldn’t understand anything, and finally handed my plates and a receipt that said no charge along with a “Buenos Dias” from the person behind the counter. A second act of generosity!  I would have to say it was a redeeming weekend. God’s way of reminding us we can do the difficult stuff, survive, and even laugh on the backside. Well, I am laughing.  Kim, on the other hand is still clinging to the dashboard after our adventures!  I recognize this is funny to me, but anxiety is a real struggle for Kim.

Pat actually had the nerve to ask me why I didn’t have any photos of the experience.  Seriously?!?!  My therapist didn’t even know how to respond, except to say, “I can see why driving with your husband can be a stressful experience. We will add that to our treatment plan."

Anyway, we hosted our staff team at GYTTE for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and had a blast.  It was fun to share our cultural traditions with them.  I’m pretty sure they thought the seasoning was mild, but the fellowship was rich and full of joy.

We tried Mexican Avena (fancy oatmeal) for the first time and it was delicious.  It is an incredible concoction of oats, chia seed, cinnamon, Abuelita Chocolate, fruit and edible flowers.  I highly recommend adding it to your foodie list of things to try in Mexico.

In other news, we experienced a nationwide day of protesting by truck drivers and farmers' organizations.  Strategic road closures across 12 states raised awareness about trucker safety, rising corn prices, poverty, and immigration challenges. It was unlike anything we’ve ever seen—a complete shutdown of ground travel. A powerful reminder of how interconnected we all are.

We enjoyed an outstanding Flemnco Dance Performance.  So much passion!

I took a therapeutic art seminar - all in Spanish, and I survived!  Human connection through creativity, meditation, and human touch was something very different for me, but so soul-filling!

We stumbled upon a local Chocolate Festival—equal parts delicious and artistic—and it was the sweetest way to kick off the Christmas season. 

Through celebration, rest, service, humor, community, and even unexpected disruption, this season continues to reveal God’s presence in big and small ways. We remain grateful, humbled, and excited for what lies ahead.  Thanks for journeying with us.