Amen to a Good and Sovereign God!

This was a verse that we received from our taxi driver:

Psalm 16

"Perserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, 'You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.' As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. the sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

A few things have happened here since the last time I blogged and I am so excited to share them with you guys! I just wanted to start out by saying the God that we serve is so good and he is so sovereign!! Amen! The last saturday was a great day! In the morning Chels and I had a great opportunity! I got the chance to speak a short message on John chapter 3:30. "He must become greater and I must become less" This was kinda tough with the language barrier! Chelsea sang a beautiful hymn in spanish! (She did such a great job!) We were truly blessed to receive such a great opportunity. After the service the ninos invited us to play games with them in the park at night time! We of course took them up on this! We have been waiting to play soccer down here! It was a blast! Except for the fact that I had no idea who was on my team.. this made it kinda difficult! ha It was still so much fun! After one of the families from the park invited us over their house
the next day to celebrate their son's birthday (Samuel).

When we went to the family's house on sunday for Samuel's birthday! This was such a humbling experience. This family are some of the most beautiful people I have ever met. They have four children ranging from 1 year old to 12 years old. The father works 2 jobs to support his family. In the previous blog Chelsea did a great job explaining our experience there. I got to talk with the mom a lot about what was going on in her heart. She shared with me that one of her sons was actually her nephew. When Daniel was 6 months old his mom brought him to her sister to take care of because she no longer "wanted" him. Although this family couldn't afford to take care of another child, they trusted in the Lord to provide for them. He totally has. One of the things I loved most about this house was that they had a mini farm in their "backyard." They had a rooster, a hen, and probably 30 chickens that they raise and then they eat! They cooked us traditional
mexican "mole" with pollo and arroz (rice and chicken). It was so good! One of the most amazing things about this family is the joyful spirit that the Lord gives them. In the midst of poverty, suffering, worry and all the things of this world, these people alone rely on Jesus Cristo, their Saviour. So blessed to have gotten this opportunity to spend time with this family! Praise God!

Yesterday (Monday), the family had to work and so we decided to spend the day and walk to starbucks and listen to some messages and pray... Well its funny how God works because He always has special plans for us! We are totally excited about this! "Coincidentally" we met one of only 2 americans that we have met here the whole time we have been here. We got the opportunity to witness to him for like an hour! It was awesome! We are so thankful to be used by our King in that moment.

I think one of the craziest experiences here happened to us today! We wanted to go say goodbye to some of our dearest friends here who live right next to the hospital. The family here had a lot of work to do in the morning so we decided to venture out for the first time on our own in a taxi! The family had their concerns about us taking a taxi because of some of the danger but we went with the white ones which are supposed to be safe. We had no doubt that the Lord would protect us.. Well lets just say.. He did way more than that. Not only right at the time we walked out to call a taxi, a white one comes who was unoccupied, we got in... started talking to him and we told him we were christian missionaries. Turns out.. he is a fellow hermano en Cristo. We didn't get to chat much because the drive was short so we asked him if he could come back to pick us up because we felt safe with him. He agreed to! It was really sad to say goodbye to our friends. We
love them so much! Our taxi driver came back to pick us up. We got into the car and immediately started talking about how amazing Jesus is. He shared his heart felt testimony with us. It was rad because we actually forgot something at the house so we had to go back, perfect because it gave us more time to chat with him! This man totally has been radically changed by Jesus. He was a drug addict and alcoholic who was choosen by Jesus and radically changed! So cool! His wife recently passed away 2 years ago from Lupus but this man is still praising Jesus for always being so good. He kept saying "Gloria a Dios" after everything. He as well as we were really encouraged by getting the opportunity to talk with him.

It's just crazy how the Lord works. When you choose to be in the Spirit daily, He chooses to cover you with His presence, guidance, and protection. As I have said before, there is no such thing as coincidence. We are learning that everyday as we see God's sovereign and good hand all over everything we do and see.

I have had such a blessed opportunity to spend the last 4 weeks with one of my best friends Chelsea. I could not have asked for a better friend to spend this time with. We have challenged each other in many ways. I seriously have learned so much from her! I thank God to have such a good friend as her. When I was weak, she was strong and vice versa. We are a team now! I am so excited to see how the Lord is going to use each of individually and together. Thank you and I love you Chels!


I am so thankful to have been able to spend the last 4 weeks with the Serrano family. They are so sweet! Each and every single one of them has taught me so much since I have been here. They truly show God's love through the gift of service. Every day they give thanks to the Lord for everything that they have. I am so so grateful for them and can't wait to spend time with them again.

Well I am sure that there will be more afterthought after I return home. Thank you guys so much for following this blog and continuing to pray for us! We are flying home tomorrow morning very early!! We are so excited to return home and share our stories with you all!

Praise God!

Dios te bendiga!

Laurie