So it has been quite a long time since this blog has seen any action, so long in fact that this blog no longer represents just my life as a single woman on an adventure from God in Monterrey. Instead it will tell of the adventures of a married woman and her husband in Monterrey. :) In fact, a year ago today that wonderful man proposed (picture below) and I am so thankful for the blessing God gave me in him. Today Sam and I both continue to serve full-time with TIME Ministries in Monterrey, working closely with Iglesia Biblica La Gracia. In an effort to keep you, the people who support us and pray for us, more up to date and informed about what is happening and what God is doing, I hope to keep this blog hopping with news, pictures, updates, and reflections.
One of those reflections I'd like to share now. This weekend, while spending time chatting with a great friend who came to visit (yes, we love having visitors!), I have been able to reflect over the years I have been here and what God has been doing, not just in this city and the church but in me. Numerous people have asked us over the last few days how we met if she lives on one side of the US and I am from the other. Many seem shocked to find out that the answer is we met here-in Mexico. You see, this friend was once an intern for the summer working alongside the TIME Missionaries and with the many groups that come down and the churches we serve. It's quite amazing to reminiscence, reflect, and remember the path on which God takes us and to see with renewed eyes the many blessings He has given us. Two things today were an additional reminder. This morning, we celebrated "la santa cena"- The Lord's Supper-Communion, the time to remember and reflect on what Christ did for us on the cross. Later this afternoon, Sam and I, our visiting friend, and a few other friends were able to visit a beautiful place just outside the city. A place that brought to mind and made alive a few scripture passages. I'd like to share just one with you.
"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1
We drove through an area surrounded by mountains and rocks, everywhere I turned my eyes were drawn up. Up to see where this massive structure in front of me would end. But only some of them were visible, today being a lovely, cool, rainy day (yes, they do happen occasionally in Monterrey). The others were hidden behind and underneath a blanket of white. But I knew they were there. We live right on a mountain and in a city surrounded by them, they are usually resplendently beautiful and visible the second we leave our house, but as with the last few days, if you didn't already know the mountain was there you'd never guess how close they are. As my friend exclaimed yesterday during a moment when the sun broke through and the clouds weren't so low. "Wow, you really do live in the mountain." Sometimes life is like that-at least for me. It's not always so much a matter of not knowing; it's more a matter of not remembering, of not reflecting, or of not lifting up my eyes to see that the top of the mountain is there and most importantly to know that that is where my help comes from. Sometimes it's easy to just see the base of the mountain. Maybe the top is covered with clouds, maybe I've forgotten to lift up my eyes, but whatever the case the top is still there. My Savior-the one who died for me, for my sins, who loved me enough to give His life- He's still there. "I lift up my eyes to the mountains-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord."I need to lift up my eyes to the mountains, all the way to the top, whether it's visible or not, and remember that from up there comes my help. When the mountain feels huge and the clouds are low, my Savior, the Maker of heaven and earth, awaits.
As I've reflected and reminisced with my friend over the last few days about moments when the mountains were big and the clouds were low, moments when I forgot to take the time to look to the top of the mountains to find my help even though God has placed me in a location where I am surrounded by their beauty, moments when all was well and the skies were clear, through them all I've been reminded of just where my help comes from and will continue to come. I've been struck by His immense faithfulness and seen the truth of the Psalmist David.
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You annoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23
