God Has No Limits!

Day three and we headed to a swatter village called Catereyta this is a day I don't even know how to put into words. It is one of my favorite days, but it is the day that breaks my heart the most! At 15 years of age I was worried about high school petty drama while these teens have 2 or 3 kids. One of the girls didn't want to come into the church and as her friend was trying to talk her into it I went and put my arms around her and asked her to join us. As I watched her it just touched my heart that she got food for her kids but not for herself! During the course of the day she asked me to take a picture with her son for her to have....I just love loving on these people!

You are probably wondering what that story has to do with the picture of the girl...well that is Luisa! Lusia is a little girl I support in Mexico and I could just write an entire story on how that came about, but I will save that for another day. Let's just say God had a plan. When we arrived at Catereyta we walked into the church and Rodo asked me if I remembered Lusia. Of course I gave him a look like he was insane and told him yes I remember Luisa! He said well she told me to tell you hi! I said well give her a hug for me when you see her since I won't get to see her this trip. Rodo asked me why I was so negative, you might see her today you might see her tomorrow. We exchanged a few more questions and I kind of let it go. As we got on the bus to leave that day I processed what Rodo had said and realized I had put God in a box and had many expectations about the trip. I was able to let those go and just fall asleep on the bus. We were eating that night at Pollo Loco and as I got off the bus Rodo got out of the truck and asked me "Rashell do you believe that God has no limits?" I looked at him and said of course thank you for teaching me that lesson today. He told me that he was glad I answered that way he said look inside and see who is there.....when I looked in the window there sat Luisa and I got to share dinner with her. It was such a blessing. I would have been happy that she has just told me hello, but Rodo had went the extra mile and made sure that we got to spend the dinner together. I told Rodo that he made my year it was a very special moment and not one that I will soon forget. I love that God has no limits!

What is a Ropes course?

Sunday morning we got to attend church at Casa Hogar Douglas it was a really treat because Greg told the story of David and Goliath which tied in nicely with our morning small groups lesson about faith. After service we loaded up on the bus and headed out to a Casa Hogar (Children's Home) named ERJ. We were first going to do a ropes course and then play with the children. During the bus ride out to the site I let my fear get the best of me. All I could think was I just met these people and I have to do a ropes course with them. In my mind all I could picture was a zip line and my big hiney in a harness and I was starting to freak out a little. When we got to ERJ I was relieved to find out that the ropes course was a series of challenges we could choose to participate in or just watch if we didn't feel comfortable doing it. It was a lot of fun and pretty straight forward until we got to the last challenge called the Leap of Faith. Out come the harness and I decided it right then and there I was not going to participate in this challenge. As I sat down and thought about today's study, service, and the fact that is was on Faith. This morning I felt as if I had really showed a lot of faith the last two months leading up to this trip and if there was anyone here on earth I trust with my life it is Juan that being said why was I letting fear win over me now. I jumped up and grabbed the Harness and decided I was in. As I climbed up the the tree Rodo started asking me questions he knew the answers to which I found kind of perplexing at the time, but now realize he was distracting me so I wouldn't be nervous. As I climbed past Rodo and began to climb on the platform to jump I made a huge mistake and looked down....it was a long way to the ground. I kind of froze and wondered if I was going to be able to pull this off. Then I thought that the fastest, safest way down would be to jump with Juan at the other end of the rope. If I crawled back down the tree it was possible I would figure out a way to hurt myself, so I jumped! It was truly a defining moment and though I let my fear get the best of me and missed the trapeze I still jumped. That in itself was a lesson because even though I missed my mark I still made it down safe!
After that we had some special time with the children I got to play with a little 8 year old girl named Luisa. I painted her nails, we skipped and played on a tire swing. It never cease to amaze me how these children don't necessarily want material things they just want someone to spend time with and pay them a little attention.

My Heart is still in Monterrey!

This young woman saved me. I had seriously considered canceling my trip to Monterrey Mexico over Thanksgiving. Not because of the violence of the drug cartels, but because my life had been turned upside down I didn't think I could handle the trip! The thing is I have been promising Carolina that I would come for six months! Both her and I have been counting down the days, celebrating when my airplane tickets were bought, and we were both excited for my trip. There was no way in the world I could let her down! I packed the night before and had a ton of luggage. So once again I was off the airport at 4am to catch a plane to Monterrey! When I arrived in Dallas I realized I had forgotten the team leads phone number. Normally this wouldn't have been a big issue but since I had never met anyone from my team there was a chance I wouldn't find them. Thankfully that didn't turn out to be a problem which was a good thing because Theresa (The team lead) did have my info but it was for my work phone not my cell so it really wouldn't have helped much. At the time I met the group in Dallas I didn't know what a great group of people I would be spending the next week with, but they were perfect in every way shape and form. I was very blessed to be traveling with them. As the plane made it's decent into Monterrey I looked out the window, saw the Saddle Back Mountain, and felt like I had arrived home. By the time we got to Back2Back's campus I was beat, so as soon as my bed was made, my suitcases in the dorm, and donation/gifts unpacked I was ready for bed. Only I wasn't so tired that I couldn't stay up long enough to get a big hug from Carolina! It was a great day!

Prayer Request!

Today when I was driving home I was thinking to myself that I needed to send an email out asking for prayer in the days leading up to my Sabbatical and trip to Mexico.....then I asked Why don't I just Blog it out? I don't know if that is a saying or not, but I kept saying it over and over again on my drive home (Besides what a perfect excuse to post a picture of my niece Lily Grace). So here I am blogging it out!

You know that question that they ask you in a job interview about "Where do you see yourself five years from now?" Well nobody except for God could have predicted the route I have taken. Four years ago the mess of a person I was would right now have broken down and been admitted to the insane ward at the hospital. This summer I went on my first mission trip to Mexico with an Organization called Back2Back through PCC, to say it was life changing is an understatement. I fell in love with the children and ministry so much that I am going back to Mexico next Saturday. My days leading up to my first trip were challenged financially, mentally, and work was a mess. God worked it out to the very detail of sending my Uncle Tim and Auntie Rhonda to California to save the day by helping me pack and get to the plane! I can honestly say that in the last month leading up to this trip I have been spiritually attacked again from all angles and 10 times worse. I believe that is thanks to all the support I have received from all of you coming around me and just enforcing the path that has already been chosen for me.

There are many moments of doubts when I think I am doing the wrong thing, I don't know how the packing and shopping is going to get done, and even today will I have my work complete in time to walk out the door next Friday? I could go on and on and on to list the craziness that has ensued the past months, but all that would do is give satan the Glory! I refuse to do that (thank you mom for reminding me of that last week when I wanted to move back to Idaho and give up)! I am still on the journey to see how he is going to bring me through all of this but is a wonderful journey and I have found peace and a lot A LOT of GRACE through out this entire process.

So my prayer request to you is just continued peace throughout the next week wrapping up things at work, packing, and just getting emotionally prepared to go and love on the Children! I don't want to go into this trip so wiped out that I have nothing to give them because that is the entire point of this trip!

Once again thanks for your encouragement both financially and emotionally as I continue on this journey in life!

Losing my Small Town Innocence....

It has proved to be one of the most interesting weeks of my life. Monday I had forgot my driver's license and ATM card at my house and needed it for my doctor's appointment that afternoon. I wasn't sure I would have time to swing by my place on the to the appointment so I drove home at lunch and let the dogs out really quick. At the time nothing seem odd, but when I came home that afternoon things changed. I noticed my blinds were open when I went to my bedroom and thought it was out of place and then when it finally hit me that my window was also open I turned around to see my jewelry box empty with all the drawers on the floor. I grabbed my phone and ran outside to call the police. Well not to go into all the details but they think that I may have interrupted them when I went by the house at lunch. They didn't make it past the bedroom...they took all my purses, jewelry, and my camcorder. It still gives me the chills just writing down what happened. No body was hurt and they didn't do anything to the dogs. Now I am looking for a bigger dog....no disrespect to my babies but they wouldn't scare anyone off they would just make friends with them and I have a security company coming to put sensors on the doors and windows. Growing up in Pierce it is difficult for me to imagine that even in a safe neighborhood where I live that this is necessary. Again such a blessing it was just material things and nobody got hurt!