Home Sweet Home

Home, home in the humidity! 

Yep, back home! Yay! I miss playing with the kids every evening, Carmen's cooking, and our team, but I'm still really glad to be home. For one thing, I don't have to worry about dehydrating. I am such a mess when I'm dehydrated - just ask Marissa. Well, don't, since she'll probably tell you all about it and that would be kinda embarrassing. 

I had a very good time this year. I want to thank you all for all of the prayers - they were vital! I'm sorry that the updates weren't all that great. I can't say much in a text message. Hopefully you were able to get the picture, though. 

I'm not sure what all to talk about, so let me know if you have any questions. I will be more than happy to give you answers.

p.s. My name isn't Bandana

There & Back Again

Praise the Lord!

I'm in Texas - in that loverly hotel with the cookies - and so have the internet. I have to make this fast b/c there's a line.

The mission trip was really cool. One of the little girls remembered me from last year & I made a few friends. I was a lot closer to the kids than I have been in the past, which was a big blessing.

I had a lot of fun, but I was dehydrated at varying levels for the last few days, which makes for some scrambled memories. It's my fault.

Anyway, our flight home leaves tomorrow morning & then I'll try to post more. I didn't take much of a journal this year, so you're going to miss that.

TTFN

~Sarah

They're taking the author to Mexico!

So EEEEARLY tomorrow morning we're heading out for Mexico. Sorry that I didn't give you poor readers more warning, but things have been a hair on the chaotic side. At least you have some warning with this one, unlike the Wisconsin trip.

As I said, we are leaving very early in the morning and I will do what I love to do - something new! Huzzah! Unfortunately, this New isn't quite as dramatic as most of my News, because this New is many peoples Old. I get to fly in a real, live aeroplane! Again, I cry "huzzah!" and sway to the gentle music of Leaving on a Jet Plane. 

I'm leaving with a feeling that I would describe as a mixture of nervousness and excitement. This year seems so much different from the last three, so I don't know what to expect. In addition, this is probably the last year we have the opportunity to go for a while, so it's a little sad. Not that I am ever guaranteed another opportunity to travel to Centenario, or even to take my next breath. I just get into the mindset that 'this is how it is, this is how it always will be' and it's a little rough realizing that everything changes, not just most things. Now I've gotten off subject.

I'll post via cell phone when I get to Harlingen. I'll be electronically mute once over the border, but I'll send you a text when I'm back in the USA. 

I love you all, and I covet your prayers. Thank you so much for your concern and attention. I promise to let you know when I'm back.

Adios!

Mexico Journal, 2007

I'm Back! Here's my journal:

Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
Dear Journal,
Reached Texas @ 4:00 pm
-----------------------------

[note to self]

Ask Sonic to upgrade [my town's sonic] to look cool like the one in San Antonio
flags
silverish
and SCREEN
-----------------------------

Thursday, June 21st, 2007
Dear Journal,
Wow. A LOT has happened already, and we haven't even been to the church yet.

Right now a bunch of people are having a time of prayer in the boys' room, but the W. kids are too tired.

Everything is so much better this year. Sure, I started out crabby, but I've gotten a lot closer to God. I really love our group. Our huge group is divided into Small Groups:
One of a lot of people
One of a lot of people and led by my parents
& one of FOUR people (including me)

Each Small Group is in charge of at least one day in Mexico (my group has two). We have a lesson, a craft, and recreation. Stef and I are in charge of crafts. On the first day we're doing puppets and the next day we're doing masks.

This morning was our first together [everyone got in yesterday evening].

We had devotionals and sang and then practiced the Freedom Drama. For some reason Texas is extremely humid, so it's nice if you're just sitting there, but I've never sweat so much in my life as during that Drama!

We met a couple and their grandkids and told them where we're going and stuff. It turns out that their son is at the hotel to go on a mission trip, himself (in all we met 2 other teams). It was a lot of fun, and the lady (who, by the way, had a GREAT name) insisted on getting pictures of us with her grandkids. Then we exchanged addresses (but my copy was accidentaly thrown away).

Hopefully I'll get a chance to write tomorrow.

tired now.

have 2 get up early 4 Starbucks

G'night!

My God is a God of the Covenant!

PRAISE HIM!!!
*************************************
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
Dear Journal,
I don't have much time. I just got done with morning devotional. It was awesome. Denny talked about discipline, and then we prayed for kids that we'd met in Mexico.

Last night Mr. White did our evening devotional. It was about God's covenant (mainly about the covenant in itself). That was awesome. So far this trip has been like going to a really cool conference! Coming early has given us a lot of time to pray.

I'm so excited to see what God is going to do on this trip!
---------HERE THERE IS A STICKER THAT HAS MY NAME ON IT, FOLLOWED BY (Cent.) I RECEIVED IT @ TO EVERY TRIBE-------

www.tomsshoes.com

-------------------------
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007
Dear Journal,
Holy, holy, HOLY is the LORD, God Almighty.
Here I am in The-middle-of-nowhere, Mexico, and all I can think about is how gread GOD is! I know that it's not just the fact thta the weather is cool. I am sitting a foot off a ground infested with cockroaches this: I------------------------------I big (at least). And that's the bug I despise most. I was hot and sweaty, am using a toilet with out a seat, crunched a millipede and really had the kind of day I hate - but I LOVED IT!!!

We have worshiped so much! I'm so in love with God right now! Tonight our singing was so wonderful (I sang with so much emotion and love that my ears hurt - but not from the sound) that I honestly thought that I might be in Heaven.

In the first evening we have gotten responses that we usually get on the last evening.

HOW GREAT THOU ART!!!
-everyone's tired - must sleep - praise God!
Sarah

+++++++++++++++++++++++
Lunes, June 25th, 2007
Dear Journal,
I don't have much time. Im sorry I missed yesterday.

Yesterday Mom and Dad's small group did the lesson.

A little boy pointed to himself, a heart on his desk and then to me.

It rained big time but didn't last long. One of four predicted 'hurricanes' by Evelyn (one of our translators).

It is very windy and very wonderful

Today my small group was in charge of Bible School. The skits Ben wrote were a big hit and EVERYONE wanted to make a puppet - teenage boys and our group included. We played Ultimate Frisbee (which I stink at) and Stef got dehydrated. I've been dehydrated off and on.

I think the boys are doing a good job looking out for the girls.

Our worship is wonderful!

I love listening to the little kids sing off-key. They keep trying to sing London Bridge is Falling Down in English, but they're just making nonsense noises. [They ended up singing "If they ask for Macaroni" - In Spanish - because that's what it sounded like we were saying!]

Tonight we watched a long movie that went through La Biblia from creation to Jesus & Pentecost. Everyone's exhausted.

God is so good!

!El Dios es siempre bueno! (that first exclamation point should be upside down - not possible on here)

People are praying for me, I can tell.

Buenos Noches (did I spell all that right?)

Sarah
=====================
Martes, June 26th, 2007
Dear Journal,
Today was muy bueno. I slept very late and missed breakfast finishing the preparation for Escuela de La Biblia. Then we had our meeting.

I was kinda out of it (half asleep/dehydrated) but our worship was still sweet.

For lunch some of our group had been invited to someone else's home to eat, including my sister. I took her place. Wow the food is good here!

Anyway, I tired something new. Apparently they put hot sauce and chili powder on their fruit. They were serving us watermelon, so I had some of the mildest stuff. It wasn't very bad. (Ha, you probably thought I was going to say it wasn't very GOOD - fooled you!)

After we returned from lunch and visiting we headed to for E.Z. (another town very close to Cenentario) and did the Drama. During the Drama we (the evil knights in rebellion) are defeated by the Gentle Ruler's good knights and fall down (sort of) backwards. Well, when I dropped I lost balance and landed hard on my left wrist (just so you know, it's been hurting me off and on for a while). It hurt so bad I thought I broke it. I was scared to death, because the evil knights are required to fall down at another time, too - and I couldn't'. Praise God, it turned out well! I managed to fall with out my wrist.

So when we got back to Centenario we put ice on it and I took ibuprofen an hour later because it still hurt REALLY bad. And mom wrapped it up for me. So now my arm looks mummified. But it doesn't hurt. (it's not wrapped up anymore, and it doesn't hurt hardly ever - I'm going to have it looked at soon)

Anyway - hey, why do I always begin my paragraphs with 'anyway'? oh well - there's this cute little boy named Jorge and Kim was calling him 'Bebe' (I think that last 'e' should have a tick mark, but I don't know) so for awhile it was just her teasing him, but then he started calling her Madre (do I need a tick mark? I don't know). So then we were teaching him names of relatives in English (I got stuck as Grandma - but hey it's a nickname, which means you're accepted down here). It was all really fun, but then some crazier niNos (that 'N' should have a squiggly over it) got too worked upt and we couldn't get them under control. Gracias SeNor por los... guys. (how would you say that in Spanish? Oh yeah, the N needs a squiggly).

The guys were VERY helpful.

have 2 go. Night! Sarah
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Padre te adoro/Father, I adore You

Padre te adoro
Pon me vida ante ti
Como te amo

Cristo
Espiritu

(above the lyrics I have the counting written out)

Father, I adore You
Lay my life before You
How I love You

Jesus
Spirit

Sarah - via Carol (one of our translators)
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Mr. Postman, bring to me
A copy of the ESV
I just can't wait any longer
I need the Bible to grow stronger

Milk, Milk, Milk,
Drink the Milk, milk, milk
Eat the Word, Word, Word,
And grow stronger...
(this is the song that everyone sang)

"The only good thing
about being dumb is
that it makes magic
better"

"If you have to make
time for God, you don't
have enough time to begin with."

"Those who plan to meet
God at the 11th hour often
die at 10:30"

(Quotes Ben likes)
000000000000000000000000000

Thursday:
I have things written down about how sad I am that we're leaving, a sticker that has a donald duck head stamped on it, and Evelyn's phone number.
------------------------------

Friday, June 29th, 2007
Dear Journal,
Well, we're headed home. I guess I should write about the last two days, but I get so sad when I think of what I'm leaving. I've already cried. I can't again. I'm gonna get dehydrated if any more water comes out of my eyes. Why does it have to hurt to love and leave? Man. Here are more tears.

Well, since that's painful, I will write about now. A little while ago I saw a long puddle. The water was still and in it I saw a long streak of blue sky and beautiful fluffy clouds. It was so beautiful. I thought: "Lord, the sky is amazing, I can't take my eyes away. But this isn't the sky, it's just a reflection. Why am I so in love with the reflection, but not the real deal?" Then the puddle ended suddenly and I instinctively looked up. I have never seen clouds as beautiful as these. They're amazing. They make my heart ache, like when I hear beautiful music. There's something Heaven-pointing about them. I used to call that horrible, wonderful longing 'depression', but it's not. It's that feeling that makes you cry and laugh You want it to go on forever, but you don't think you can take anymore.

Lord, please make me a puddle.

Sarah
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
My Letter thing from Ben:

Sara.

I enjoyed being in your Small group. You always have very interesting, thoughtful comments. It was also great having you around because often you were the only one able to understand and appreciate my complex, intelligent sense of humor. The wise, off-handed remarks you threw out want to make me encourage you to continue your writing. God has given you a gift. Continue to use it to Glorify Him.

Ben H. 6/28/07
Hebrews 13:2
your dad has my contact info
99999999999999999999999999999

I had to put this down so that I won't lose it. Hebrews 13: 2 was our Small Group verse:
"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

To explain the complex, intelligent sense of humor thing: Ben makes humorous comments constantly, and many times people didn't get them - even though they were really funny. He's engaged, but his Fiance didn't get to come (I think it was work-related or something). I wish she could have. I'm sure she would have been a lot of fun.

Hey look, that cloud looks like a squid!

Wow. That one looks just like a mushroom.

MonkeyLion's new wife couldn't come either. That was a shame, too. The other girls know her, but I don't except by sight.

Hey, I have something to add to the puddle thing (analogy). I just saw a dirty puddle. A dirty puddle can't reflect the sky. Not even when you're looking for it. Maybe a hint of the outline of a cloud - nothing more.

Sorry, I never explained the MonkeyLion thing. His real name is Denny (I mentioned him before - he did a morning devotional). Well, ok, his real NICKNAME is Denny - but the kids in Mexico call him ChangoLeon (I don't know how to spell it) -MonkeyLion. They call him that because he does flips in the Drama and he has some blonde facial hair - a mane...

Lo Siento. A Robert Earl King (did I spell any of that right?) song about an illegal alien just played and it made me cry.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||////////////////////////////////////////////

So ends my journal. Don't worry, I'm not quite as emotional about it now. Yesterday morning was kinda hard, because there was a Spanish service at church in the morning and we sang a song that we sang in Mexico (Dios de pactos - God of the Covenant). Hearing our voices and Aaron's (our Fearless Leader :-D ) singing in Spanish made me get choked up, because I knew when I opened my eyes that I wasn't going to be in Mexico.
But, like I said, I'm better.

If I left out anything you wanted to know about, please contact me and let me know!

God Bless!

The Night before the Day before the Trip to Mexico

It's that time again! Yup, day after tomorrow we begin our journey, only we won't be going into Mexico for a couple of days after that. I'm going to try to keep a better journal for you this year.

But that's not why I'm on.

I'm on because I have an assignment due on the day that we'll either be home that night or the next day. WHICH means that I must send it early, WHICH means that I must finish it. Tonight.

I have most of it done, but part of it I have no idea what to put. I have to write a very difficult article and all I have is the Introduction and the Conclusion. Well. I can't really remember all of the examples I was going to use and stuff. It's horrible. I guess you must get sick of my AHHH! blog posts, but hey, I don't really have any readers (well, sometimes I do, but not often), so you won't really care much.

But yeah, I'm desperate.

And tired.

AND I HAVEN'T PRACTICED PIANO!!!!

great.

Well, God loves to show His power, and He's gonna have to to get anywhere with me!

If you happen to get on here, please pray for me.

Night!

My trip to Mexico - Continued

Okay, if you're just joining us, you may want to scroll down to the previous entry, so that you know what's going on.

Monday, June 19th, 2006
Dear Journal,

To begin:

"Let the peoples praise You, O God,
Let all the peoples praise You."
-Psalm 67:5-

Hey, guess what? - Okay, as a disclaimer, I know that it's ridiculous to ask a journal a question, and really, I don't care for that particular question, but I end up asking it without thinking all the time, so I'm going to shut up now, kay? - I just figured out that I'm going to have a verse for every day in La Posa except the day we leave (Thursday), sweet! Also, the Rockportians (what I call our church family) are coming tomorrow to do the Drama here.

Sarah Weber
************************************************************************************

Hello
you remind me of a tree
cuz you're like a bee
it's not too late to meditate
don't forget that you're a girl cuz
I shine like a pearl
So there you go don't read
this row.

(a drawing of a smiley-face goes here)
Ili

This is a poem that Iliana the translator wrote for me. She's the coolest.
It sounded kinda Beatnik-ish.
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Thursday, June 22nd, 2006 (the day of departure - 3 days later if you aren't paying attention)
Dear Journal,

I am SO sorry that I didn't write more!

Did I tell you about Pepperchuck? It's this beat up doll that was found in the dirt. They (some members of our team) played a bunch of creepy tricks on Ili and last night Señor Ricardo (Mr. Richard) broke open a glow stick and put it in Pepperchuck's eyes. It was creepy.

So now we're leaving, and I'm kinda sad and kinda not. I really loved it, better than last year even. But still, I think I'm ready to go.

I'd like to write down all of the stories, but I don't really feel like it at this moment. Maybe I'll tell you about the drunk man later (his name was Julian - pronounced: "hul-ee-ahn").

Sarah Weber
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Boy, what a pathetic ending. Sorry, I was traveling and tired. Actually, this wasn't a very good ending at all. It kinda gave things a fake sort of happiness, which was not the case. God truly blessed the trip. Well, "One man Band" has finished downloading and "For the Birds" is currently downloading, and I have to go change into my pajamas. Thanks for reading!

Sarah Weber