Divine Mercy Chapel

As I promised, I have photos of the Divine Mercy Chapel we are currently building.  We are on the 3rd week of construction and the walls will be finished soon...probably early next week!

The footings are complete and we are ready to start the walls

We installed the floor now to make is easier to work on top of since the walls will be tall.

The first of two concrete beams that will help support the wall and bridge the windows and doors.

The second concrete beam is being formed that will support the roof joists.

Interesting:  These ants must have had a hole below our floor; and when we poured it, they dug a new hole through the soft concrete.  We found them about a week later!

Sergio Ruiz started working for us for this project as well. Happy Guy!

Part of the structure will be two large concrete beams to support to roof in the center.  To reinforce these we have to make these rebar rings.  They will make a cage of rebar that sits inside the beams.

 

Bonus Photo:  A family that lives in one of our ejidos had a baby boy recently.  When we asked him what they named him they hadn't yet.  So I suggested "David" was a good name...on a couple occasions :-).  I discovered a week later that they had decided to go with David!  So here is a picture of me and my namesake:

David in Spanish is pronounced "Daveeth".

Happy Birthday Dave!

Happy Birthday to an incredible father and husband. Everyday you bring so much happiness and joy into the lives of us 3 girls. You are our rock, our joy, our love. You are a perfect example of the love of Christ. Thank you for always taking care of us, loving us, and making us smile.

I had to share what Eliza and I made for Dave for his birthday. The most beautiful thing about it to me was how often she mentioned how happy her Dad is. How true that is! And how incredibly blessed are we? Thank you Dave for always putting us before yourself and serving the people here in such a beautiful way. Happy 31st, old man! We love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

My Dad is 20 years old

His hair is huge and his eyes are blue

My Daddy weighs 6 pounds

My Dad makes me laugh when he giggles

I know that my daddy loves me because he’s special

It makes Daddy laugh when I smile

My Dad likes to wear pants

He loves to eat sandwiches

Daddy’s favorite food is macaroni and cheese

The special thing that Daddy does for Mommy is kiss her

Daddy’s favorite thing to do is to play soccer

He is smart because he knows everything

My Dad works hard at the work project

Daddy always tells me I love you

It makes Dad happy when it’s Easter Time

If Daddy could go on a trip he would go to the zoo and he would bring the pack &play

I really love it when my Daddy works

Dad’s best friend is me

Daddy’s favorite movie is Despicable Me 2

My favorite thing to do with Daddy is play tent

I have the best Daddy in the world because he’s my special Dad

If I could give my Daddy anything it would be me

My favorite thing about my Daddy is that he’s happy

Just For You

Last night, I was reading one of my favorite childhood books to Eliza. Mercer Mayer's "Just For You". The first time I reread it was about 6 months ago; I was in tears. Last night as I read it to Eliza, I was struck with so many thoughts and inspired to write a blog. So bear with me as I share what God spoke to me through my favorite children's book.
The book is about Little Critter. Throughout the book, he is trying to do all these nice things for his mom, but everything seems to fail miserably, until the end. The book reads like this:

      .
This morning I wanted to make breakfast just for you, but the eggs were too slippery.
I wanted to wash the floor just for you, but the soap was too bubbly.
I wanted to put away the dishes just for you, but the floor was too wet.
I wanted to carry the groceries just for you, but the bag broke.
I ate my sandwich just for you, but not my crusts.
I wanted to take a nap just for you, but the bed was too bouncy.

 I wanted to mow the lawn just for you, but I but I was too little.

I picked an apple just for you, but on the way home I got hungry.
I wanted to set the table just for you, but the TV was too loud.
I wanted to not splash in my bath just for you, but there was a storm.
I wanted to do something very special,just for you.(As he hugs his Mom)
And I did it! 

The first time I read this to Eliza, after many years, I literally cried. As a Mother, I couldn't help but think of Eliza and how many times she tries to do nice things for me; like wash the dishes, fix her own lunch, give Lucy a snack. All of which end up being a bigger mess than we started with. Sometimes I get frustrated and think I should have just done it myself. But when I read this book, I was taken aback just thinking about the innocence of children. It's amazing how much they simply want to please us, and how hard that can be for them sometimes. That no matter how many times they mess that up, they still keep trying. If only to see us smile and tell them "Good job!"  What a blessing it is to be a mother and to be a part of these little moments; at times messy and frustrating, but truly beautiful.

Yesterday as I read, I was struck in a different way. I thought of us, being like Little Critter. Always trying to do these little things to please God, Our Father. And usually failing miserably. And how many times, unlike Little Critter, we want to just give up. How we don't have the faith and perseverance of a child. How at times, we can be selfish  I picked an apple just for you, but on the way home I got hungry. How God must be frustrated with us so many times a day, but (like a parent with a child) loves us through it all. The greatest and most humbling part of this book is the very end where after several failed attempts at serving his mother, he does the simplest and greatest thing he can do. Love her. It's so simple! We will try to serve God in hundreds of ways. And most likely there will be times we will fail miserably. (If you're anything like me, several times a day!) But in the end, the greatest and most important thing we can do, is to give Him our Love!  ~Andrea

Overdue Update!

The past couple weeks have been really crazy here in Mexico!  While Andrea's parents were here I had the guys working in the ejido Narigua.  Their chapel had a wall that was almost falling apart.  Water and mud would flow in when it rained.  Also, Minerva, one of the ladies there, had a roof leaking.  We were able to repair that as well.  While I was there I put in new wiring in her house.  She has two refrigerators she uses to keep the cheese that she makes.  For who knows how long she was unplugging one and plugging in the other, alternating back and forth!  And the worst part is the outlet would shock her when she would do this!

 Back wall of their chapel

They had a new window ready to install, so we did that as well

 The repaired roof and the new wiring

Just before Andrea's parents arrived we found out that the single girls who were with us here were going to be returning back to the states for the rest of the year.  This came as quite a shock to us!  We are praying for them and for what God has next for them!

After Narigua, FMC hired my guys to reinstall a roof on one of the bunk houses in our house.  This particular room will fit about 20 people, and at the rate FMC is growing it will definitely be needed this year!

The Taylor & Katie Schmidt family stayed with us for a week as well.  They are going to be taking the training courses this fall, but since she is pregnant with twins and due at the end of November they will be unable to come to Mexico with the rest of the group.  As a workaround, they came a experienced missions with us early.  They were a blessing to have around and I am sure will make excellent missionaries!

Eliza playing with the Schmidt family kids in the rain!

Stay tuned!  Due to a generous donation from a prayer group in Wisconsin (friends of Taylor Schmidt), we are going to build a chapel here in General Cepeda.  It will be called the Divine Mercy Chapel.  The land was donated to the church over a decade ago, and they never had any money to do anything with it...until now!  I am guessing the project will take about six weeks.  We had a youth group from in town here stay with us this week for a retreat.  They helped lay the foundations and clean the property.  I am sure they will be helping out throughout the project.  

Bonus Photos:

Leave it to Eliza to find the cats and dogs

Are there words for how adorable this is?

Our beautiful little girls!