In the need of prayer

What an incredible time it has been since I have come home. It's almost hard to believe all that has happened since I left Mexico City on an early December morning. I hope to get an "update" newsletter out soon, but I want to request that you be praying for some things.

• One of the keys to missions work is flexibility - and Jo Ellen Reaves is practicing that now as she did not return to Oaxaca last week as expected, but will instead be in Chicago this week to deal with some health issues. Please keep her in your prayers.
  
• Cindy Hoover is also dealing with medical issues (I believe she is currently in Florida), so please be praying for her healing.
  
• As you probably know, I've been on the job hunt for a while now. I have been offered a job at a bank and believe I may be offered a job at a school. I would need to make a decision on those by this Friday, so I would greatly appreciate prayer for that.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.


He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.


The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.


The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121

Denver sports... sort of.

There is a game that is taking Denver by storm. I imagine a majority of the Denver population plays this game every day, but most people don't realize they are playing it. I know it’s played in other parts of the country and has been played for many generations. I’ve even played it in Mexico and Honduras, but it is being played a lot more than usual in Denver right now. Us Coloradoans are slowly getting the knack of it though.

Pothole Mania is the game I am speaking of. Now that the snow has begun to melt away, the roads are filled with potholes. All you need to do is drive your car on just about any road in Denver and try to avoid the potholes. There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced roads. One of the thrills of this game is that at times you can even forget you are playing and then a pothole will sneak right up on you. If you want intense training for this game, all you need to do is to drive to your nearest convenience store parking lot. They should have plenty of large potholes and probably have large chunks of ice as well. If you’d like to play Extreme Pothole Mania – all you need to do is to play it at night or dawn/dusk when the shadows are long.

This game can be pretty dangerous, so please use caution when playing it. I would also like to thank the CDOT crews who are, in fact, working to fix the potholes. But, meanwhile, I hope you are able to safely enjoy playing this game.

To find more information than you ever expected to know about potholes, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pothole

Extra! Read all about it!

I don't have a lot of news, but I have important news. That's probably better anyhow ;-) . . . Ok, the news! Jo Ellen Reaves got the OK to return to Oaxaca and was scheduled to return today! So, that's super exciting. I'm sure she would appreciate your prayers as she gets settled back in.

Other good news is that the U.S. government downgraded its travel warning for Oaxaca. News sources say that the city has largely returned to normal. However, they also report that the governor has refused to resign (not real surprising) and opposition groups still launch occasional protests. So, if you could also keep Oaxaca in your prayers, that would be great as well.

Mexican Food!

I received something exciting last week - packages containing some of the things I left in Oaxaca! Most importantly, I got my teddy bear back and immediately gave it a big hug :-). Among other things in the packages, I also got the recipes from my cooking classes. So, guess what my parents got to do the last two days... That's right! They were the bold, the brave, the beautiful - the volunteer food tasters!

I have only tried two recipes so far. I am limited to what I remember how to make and to what I can understand of the recipes that are written, of course, in Spanish. What's more, sometimes the directions are kind of vague. For example, the first recipe I tried says that you need an onion, then later on it says to put a piece of the onion in a blender with the rest of the ingredients - what size piece? No idea, but it's kind of fun to guess. The recipe also called for 6 cloves of garlic, but the recipe makes no mention of when or how to use it. So... more guessing :-).

It turned out quite well actually. You can see a "making of" picture above of the entomotadas. I would just like to point out that while it looks like it's just tomato paste, it was actually completely made with fresh ingredients and tasted much better than plain paste ;-). Today I tried my hand at rice pudding, and that went well too. It is quite exciting and relieving to have things go so well. So, yay! My cooking skills are growing bit by bit (I think I need to attribute that in part to some good cooking genes I am finally trying out- thanks mom and grandma!). :-D

The completed Entomotada (with some nachos on the side).

Life back home

One whole month. This last week marked one whole month that I have been back here in Colorado. It is still kind of unbelievable that I am here. When I left for Oaxaca, I had no idea the next time my family would all be together again, so I have been very thankful for the time we've had during the holidays. It was wonderful. While I been able to take time to relax and recoup, I have also “hit the ground running” back here in Colorado.

“Looking for a job is a job in itself,” someone told me yesterday. Yes, it certainly is. I've applied for 5 jobs, and will keep applying faithfully until I get one. Sunday nights you can find me at a local Baptist church, volunteering at AWANA. About half the kids are Hispanic, so I hope to be able to use my Spanish at some point with that. I have rejoined my church's missions board (sounds very official doesn't it?). Missions month is coming up very quickly and I am volunteering with that. Starting next month, I will be joining with the children’s ministries program as well. Also next month (big month isn't it?), I plan on volunteering during the Midwinter Conference. And wait, that's not all folks! Hopefully once I get a job, I will be able to find an apartment and a roommate.

How do I feel? Overwhelmed. Very, very overwhelmed. And those are just the major things that I am trying to get figured out – I can’t even tell you how many thoughts, should do’s, should have done’s, will do’s and wish I could do’s are running around in my head right now. *Sigh*

"Come," [Jesus] said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.

Matt. 14:29-32

I often remember this passage as I get distracted and weighed down by all my business and problems. Whenever I begin to focus on the storm around me, I begin to sink as Peter did. I cry out to God and get back in the boat, out of the storm.
But, I think I may finally be learning to not doubt in the first place. When I notice the winds, instead of letting fear take hold of me, I am growing more swift to look back at God because I know He has a plan.

And, let me tell you from my short experience as a water walker, putting your full and true trust in God can make life pretty exciting. ;-)

Postcards from Laura - Snowy Colorado

Hello from snowy Colorado! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January 7, 2007

I took this picture on New Year's Day in Buena Vista, Colorado, as my sister and I did our best to walk the rails :-). We certainly got our white Christmas here in Colorado - I don't think I remember ever having one of those before. My sister and I even managed to get a snowman made. Although, to be technical about it, he was really an "ice man" because we used chunks of ice the snow plows had pushed to the side of the road. And, halfway through I got tired of the snowman and made myself a snow couch, from which I watched my sister finish our "Captain Iceman."

I'm not sure if I've ever seen so much snow in my life. OK... maybe that's a slight exaggeration ;-) but even so, there sure seems to be a lot of it - and just when you think it might be melting away, it snows again. Though I am growing a little tired of it, I still can't deny that snow is a reminder that God is unbelievably creative indeed. It's hard to come up with one thing about snow that isn't amazing. Go ahead, stop for a second and think about it - maybe even write a comment if you feel like pondering life with me ;-).

In Christ,
Laura Rodriguez :-)