Happy New Year 2012!

Happy New Year 2012! This past year seems like a wonderful blur of love, anticipation, family, friends & zaniness! Here are some of our highlights!

 

v      Moving to Oakland & pioneering a new team!

v      Gettting engaged and planning 2 weddings in 6 months!

v      Getting married twice!

v      Honeymoon!

 

Oakland has been a pleasant surprise, despite what you may hear on the news, we have found our neighbors to be very loving and hospitable. We are listening to God and the people that He is bringing into our lives and learning how to love and minister in a new context! We feel that the Spirit of Jesus is very alive here in Oakland, He is leading the way, opening up opportunities and helping us to see what is going on in the spiritual realm. We are networking and building bridges between cultures! God is growing in us a love for prayer and worship and we are learning what it means to give thanks in all circumstances! We are seeking to be a unified team with a strong foundation on Christ!

               

Getting engaged was so much fun! We feel so blessed to have such an incredible community! Thank you for praying for us, listening to us, and celebrating with us through all the stages of our relationship! As we were planning our wedding we had 3 main desires…

1. To have Jesus at the Center of it all!

2. To have our communities involved!

3. To keep it simple and be able to invite everyone to celebrate with us!

God answered our prayers by using each one of you! Looking back we feel so blessed, it would have been impossible to pull it off in 3 mo. without everyones hard work, creativity and generosity! Due to the amount of love, community involvement and gifts we are still writing thankyous =)

 

Our MI wedding was so beautiful! Seeing 2 families and groups of friends come together really touched our hearts! I have so many stories from the wedding but my favorite is what my little sister saw. She told me afterword, “HE WAS THERE!” “Who was there?” I asked, wondering what special guest she might be thinking of… “JESUS!” she exclaimed! “He was standing at the back of the church in a white robe smiling as you walked down the aisle. And that wasn’t all, the Holy Spirit was there too, He was dancing like a mist all around us when we were worshiping and you and Mateo were getting married!” Sometimes children can see what we can’t and it made me want to cry tears of joy because Jesus was the most important wedding guest of all! It was a taste of heaven having so many of the people we love in one place! The joy in that place was overwhelming! We loved every moment and all the little details that everyone contributed! We are humbled by the outpouring of love!

 

The wedding in CA was an amazing experience! Through it we were able to reconnect with so many of the youth that we have gotten to know over the years! We really wanted them to see what marriage is; a union of two people before God for life, a joyous celebration that doesn’t have to end, a love that reflects Christ love for His bride.the church. Many of them told us that they had never been to a wedding before, this was to be their first! It was round two of God showing us his amazing provision! Everyone contributed and we were able to have a bilingual church service, special music, many of the youth and our friends as bridesmaids & groomsmen, a feast, decorations and even a DJ. God doesn’t hold back, He lavishly blesses! We felt that the blending of cultures, languages and backgrounds was a true reflection of the Kingdom of God!

 

Because of the outpouring of generosity we have been able to rent an apartment in Oakland, fully furnish it and open it up for hospitality, pay off Mateo’s car and his student loan and go on a honeymoon to Mexico! GOD IS SO GOOD! He truly answers prayers and knows the desires of our hearts! Our Mexico trip was a blast! As you know Mateo and I both have a ton of energy, we couldn’t stay in one place for more than a day! We spent 10 days bussing all over Mexico! We flew into Cancun and then traveled to Campeche, a beautiful colonial city with a history of pirates! We ate shark and danced to musical fountains in the moonlight. We got to stay in the governors mansion for only $30 a night! Our second stop was the jungle! We went to visit the Mayan Ruins of Palenque. It was incredible, we literally walked back in time and experienced an ancient civilization! Third, was a city called San Cristobal de las Casas located up in the mountains. We toured modern day Mayan villages! We visited waterfalls and got to swim in them and even explore the caves behind them. We went to Bakalar which is on the border of Mexico and Belize. The waters were 7 shades of blue, we were able to kayak and tour cenotes with locals. We went to Tulum and took a tour snorkeling in caves! It was so creepy, there were bats and stalagtites! We stayed in a palm hut and I got stung by a scorpion! We closed out the trip by ferrying out to Cozumel! We rented a moped and toured gorgeous beaches and then snorkeled! I love having a spouse who loves Jesus and adventure! What a gift to work together, play together and pray together! Some of God’s greatest gifts are worth the wait!

 

When we returned from Mexico I got so sick. I have never been down for more than 3 days, but this sickness knocked me out for a month. I went to the emergency room 3 times trying to figure out what was wrong. I was so mad at God, life had been so good and then it just turned. I missed Thanksgiving and I was afraid the sickness might just keep me from Christmas too. I felt like a horrible wife because Mateo had to do everything for me. I was mean and grumpy and my body was in pain. I realized I love to give but have a hard time receiving. There is nothing like sickness to show you your sin and need for a savior! After a couple of weeks of turning away from God, I finally gave in and just threw myself at his feet broken and at my wits end. It was intense physically, spiritually and emotionally. It was at that point that I realized that God does not like sickness either, BUT He can use all things for our GOOD! He began to speak to me again because I had time to listen to him. I remembered once again that my worth is not in doing but in simply being with Him. What he wants more than anything is my worship of Him, He wants relationship with me. He showed me that I can know a deeper part of His heart through suffering. He used the sickness to give me empathy for others who are sick. He showed me what the poor go through at the hospital when they don’t have health insurance. He showed me that comfort is a danger because when everything is going well, we often forget Him. I realized how much I need Jesus! Even the best gifts, friends, family, marrying the love of my life, a mission that I love are nothing compared to HIM! JESUS is ALL! So if you are feeling empty, lonely, depressed and if alcohol, sex, money, relationships and this world has to offer are not enough, turn to Jesus! He is what you are missing! I am cured thanks to a combination of doctors, nurses, antibiotics, a loving husband and the mother load of prayers! Sometimes Jesus uses physical issues to heal our hearts! In this New Year our hearts are overflowing with Jesus! May God richly bless you this year with His love, joy and presence!

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