Our thanks to all of you!

My family and I just want to thank all of you who have written and called. We don't know what the future holds for Noah, but we do know that God is incredibly good, and whatever it is we know that God is in control. Today Noah is good, and that is all we know about today. We are truly learning to live "one day at a time." Praise our God. I am personally learning that the peace that God gives me today is the praise and honor that I want to return to him daily. We ask you all to please continue to pray for Noah and our family.

Billy's News

Hello everyone. Please know I appreciate your love, concern and prayers. I am now living in Lubbock, Texas as I am sure most of you know. I have a job at Wal-Mart and am a stocker at grave-yard shift. Other than my body being sore and learning to sleep in the day time I really like my job. It is very uncomplicated, and that is good for me right now. I am doing well in my recovery. Tomorrow I celebrate 60 days in my sobriety. I am attending group counseling sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and have personal counseling on Thursdays. I am going to church again at Lubbock church of Christ and really appreciate Rex and all there. My main battle continues with depression and my uncertainty about the future. I am learning to live one day at a time, and sometimes that is hard, however it is getting better. I love each and every one of you. Please continue praying for me, Belinda, Noah and all of our family. Would love to receive e-mails from you. My phone number is 806-281-4702.
The Rains

I am a weather person. Mexicans are not weather people. They do not have hours and hours of weather information unless there is a hurricane coming. I miss the weather channel. I have found a weather website that gives me the satellite scan of my world on the web. That is how I found out about our tropical depressions.

The rains have started, and the roof still leaks. It leaks maybe more than last year, and this is after we spent so much time and rent money trying to stop the leaks. A week ago this coming Monday we had a tropical depression form over Lazaro Cardenas, and oh my did the winds blow. At 9:00 p.m. the winds were completely out of the South and at 4:00 a.m. they had shifted and were completely out of the North. There was an incredible amount of damage all over this area. Several enramadas, palm shelters, where completely destroyed and their things were washed into the ocean. I have been moaning and complaining about water in the hallway, not anymore. I am blessed and God is good.

What do You do?

I have had several people ask me lately, "What is it exactly that you do?" The question is from people here. So I thought I would write about what my life is like here on a daily basis if anyone else is wondering.

My mornings begin around 7:00 a.m., earlier if there is a lot of trash that I have to get out before the truck comes by. I make my coffee, feed the parrots and dog, etc... Then I begin my time with God. I read a lot, pray even more, write in my journals, prepare for the classes that I work on during the week, answer email, and then I paint when time permits. I have really painted some beautiful things lately. Support a missionary..buy a painting!

Then it's just daily living like all of us have to do. The other day I fixed a leaking toilet. Wednesday the pump lost its prime, and I had to get it pumping water again. I really prayed over that one. Sometimes it takes a long time to prime a pump. Oh and now I have mice ... did you know that mice poop and gecko poop looks almost the same? I have learned to tell the difference ... now the mouse is dead in a place I can't get to and it is smelling really bad. Now I am waiting for my Lazaro phone to be fixed. It has been out for seven weeks. I have to be here so the technician can get in when he comes. It is a problem.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I attend my Al-Anon group which meets from 5:00 until we are done. Tuesdays I study with Gina and Salvador. They are grounding themselves in God's word. Wednesday's at 7:00 p.m. I assist them in the small group that meets in their home. Thursdays I go with Gina and Salvador to visit a family that live in the Sierra in the state of Guerrero. We sing with them, read God's word and pray. Believe it or not, some of them are baptized believers. By the time I get home it is an 75 mile round trip. Later I will post pictures and tell you about Santiago and Erika and their 5 children who are 5 years and below. Next door live the grandparents, a sister and her child. They have no electricity, no running water, none of the things that I consider essentials. All of the children have been born at home. Oh, I have gone ahead of myself, all of this to write about later.

Thursday evenings after this trip, Griselda, Ishmael, and myself are studying together. They were baptised in May. Saturday evenings there was a home group with Rigo and Yessy but they haven't had it in a while. Sunday is worship and I always try to use this day to hang out with people that God is helping me to build relationships with.

The 13th of this month we had lunch together after worship to celebrate Yessy's birthday and also used it to invite friends. I had guests go with me. (Update.... Rosy and Roxana went. Today Roxana ask me if she could go back on Sunday. I gave Rosy a New Testament, and she began reading it while the rest of us were swimming and talking at my house after church.)

Four Sunday's ago the church had lunch at my home after service. We were about 40. Three Sundays ago I had lunch with Rosy and her daughter plus Gabriel, Arlen, and their daughter, Gaby. We went to an enramada for lunch and then came here to hang out. It was the Sunday of the downpour and terrible winds. By the time I got home the wind was fast and furious. Coconut fronds were falling all over the road plus coconuts, a small one crashed into the car. I was glad to arrive home without a broken windshield or a huge dent. I was out in the weather because I had taken Rosy home. Today after worship I went to a birthday party for a little boy who turned one. You should have seen the party and the guests ... at least a hundred people. It was a good day because I am getting to know a lot of people in this family, and they are so warm and hospitable. God is good.

I am always busy with people. Al-Anon has also made it possible to meet more women who are going through the same things that I have been through and even worse. I have been able to minister to them as well as them to me. God is good.
Prayer Requests

• That we live such lives that God is honored and glorified no matter what happens


• A miracle for Noah...God's will be done


• That God continues to use me to reach the lost and be a good teacher of his word to the younger brothers and sisters


• Peace that passes all understanding for our family and extended family


• Complete healing for Billy


• The church and its workers in Lazaro ... we have been under heavy atack from Satan


• That God continues to provide for the Vision in all of Mexico

God's richest blessings on you all. Belinda