On your toes

Since I've been here on the coast of Oaxaca heres a little of what natures like for us. Earthquake? Earthquake!
I am up and out of whichever building, chair, or bed I may have been in, outta there. I don't know why but my instinct is to get outside, like fully out of the house/building- ha... And all around outside we've got lovely swaying palms with coconuts just dying to drop.
Well anyways, whether it's 3pm, 2am, or 9pm whatever, I am like the human earthquake detector. For real.  It could seem like or be the smallest of quakes but I can feel it when it comes and others think I'm crazy! For those of us that actually go to sleep earlier, the majority of the quakes happen while we are in the bed tucked in with sleep tempting us. Not for long anyways because I hop out of that thing like its on fire.  Two nights ago we had a little guy, not too fierce but then this morning we had a big fellow. Like big. Again my desire was to get out, you know like just in case the cement roof decides to fall but I stayed inside the house waiting for the family to come out too...
No one else came out of the rooms or "evacuated" nah, non of dat. These people sure can sleep! They never feel ANYTHING while sleeping. So while I stood out in the kitchen (quake still going) watching the kitchen shelving sway and hearing the dishes clank around, after watching the momma duck and her babies lined behind her out the window, finally it chilled. And I did too.
Where I'm from in California there are earthquakes.  Well since living here we've had more- on the stronger side- earthquakes in this one year than my Californian life.

So it's exciting, keeping me on my toes. Alert and ready (well sort of).

Maybe this is how we are always called to be/act. Not overly fearful but alert, on our toes for the coming. Not slow. Not sleepy. Awake.

A time for change.

In August I’ll have been in Oaxaca, Mexico 12 months.

I came here with a plan to learn Spanish and then be off to Queretaro. I was thinking I already knew a thing or two. Within the first few weeks of living here and studying here I was humbled and realized no, I don’t know a single thing. So instead of being prideful I was humbled. I quickly was aware of how little I knew and became hungry to learn. So here I am now I have graduated and still have so much to learn. If anyone thinks it’s normal to attend a language school for 3 months or even 6 months and expect one to be fluent… I’d say that’s unlikely. Oh but there has been an improvement! I’m amazed at all I’ve learned in this time, thankful for what my brain does understand. But like I said I came here for a purpose, as tempting as it would be to stay here.

I’m thankful for this time living among these people, learning their ways and traditions. Compared to life in Queretaro, Mexico life here is pretty different and these are the things I’ve grown accustomed to. In the nearby city I know my way around and can travel there and home just fine. I’ve loved the way of transportation, sitting in a 15+ passenger van with the windows rolled down for only 30 pesos. I’ve loved being surrounded by greens and bright flowered trees. I’ve even just recently learned how to have peace in the thunder and lightning storms (while inside my home ;). And my body is somewhat used to the climate.  I’ve grown accustomed to these people that have loved and this family that I’ve learned to love. These are the same people that welcomed this wacky white girl into their home for 12 months. I was allowed to invade their space and get to know them deeply.  These are the same people who laughed while watching me eat their spicy foods and watching me sweat. These are the people who fed me Iguana, eggs of who knows what, ants, grasshoppers, turtle, fish, clams, crayfish, giant shrimp, crabs, and possibly other prohibited foods that I didn’t bother to ask about. It’s been great… this place, this year has been a blessing. I’ve found beauty here and hardly want to leave.

Now September is coming and I’ll be in Queretaro, Mexico. I’ll be living there working with only a few of the many, many deaf within the state. I’ll be living and working with my friend Marisela Cano who has been reaching the deaf and has been teaching them alone. I could quite possibly be in Queretaro one year or 20 years. Who knows maybe God will call me back to California. He won’t lead me where he doesn’t follow.

As of now I am living from week to week in Gods faithful care. I get to trust him with my needs and it’s gotten easier to do so because he has been providing in crazy ways down to the details.

I want to be honest with you saying that I am only able to do this with YOUR partnership in this. This is only one tiny part of what God is doing among these Mexican deaf people. I need 500 dollars monthly for living expenses. This is 500 dollars each month to live in Queretaro, Mexico compared to the 150 dollars right now in this small Oaxacan town. This has got to get going. With so much to do it can be overwhelming while thinking about all the need but we can start somewhere. My goal this year is 6,000 dollars, cant wait to see what God does this year.

 By sending me the Gospel of love has the opportunity to spread among a MAJOR unreached people group, the deaf.

-body talk-

So I had a worm. Well, not just one. It's more likely I had many... many little worms living inside my intestines. That explains why I was feeling the way I was, though (not that I voiced any of these feelings): insomnia, anxiety, irritability, nausea, lack of appetite, restlessness, itching in not pleasant areas, and major abdominal pain.  Its funny, I have joked many times with others about worms and said things like, "Hey, maybe I have one." Well, I did and I have probably had it since November. NOVEMBER. That is a long time to go with worms living and affecting your body. You'd think I would have realized something was wrong and gone for help. Nope, not me.

In my defense, though, the symptoms were not consistent. The symptoms would come and go during those months and I couldn't figure out was going on. By May it was bad. I was suffering physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I'd be so excited to do something, but then I would feel like I could sleep all day. Inside I felt like I had no emotion. Just "blahhhh." It was awful. I thought maybe it was the food I was eating and I needed to change my eating, which may have been true. Those stinkin' worms sucked away my nutrients for 8 months! In December I was told that I have an iron deficiency, so the worms just made everything that much worse. If you want to know more about pin worms, look it up. Google can help you. Yuck.

 

By June I was feeling pretty crummy. I went to visit some friends in Queretaro, Mexico which was wonderful, but the whole time I felt like a zombie. Lethargy hit hard. Then I had a few days back at my home in Oaxaca, Mexico before I flew off to California for a week of rest. Let me tell you, that plane ride to LAX was draining. I cried on the plane, overwhelmed by exhaustion, and felt ready to sleep forever. The month leading up to my California trip, I started thinking that I may have a worm (or 2 or 3 or many, many more) and was waiting until I went to California to get the right medication. 

 

That week in California was amazing. There was prayer, there was communion and fellowship, there was encouragement, there was healing and being made whole. I got loaded up on herbs and veggies and then my last day (praise Jesus!), a few hours before heading to the airport, I was given the right medication. The herbs were AMAZING. After just one day I saw a difference.

 

So here I am now, waiting to see how it all clears out (literally, ha ha). Since I've been back in Oaxaca, I feel alive again. I can get through the day without sleeping for hours and hours. I can eat again without feeling full and bloated. I can sleep at night without waking up with anxious thoughts and ridiculous fears. These last 8 months have been a time of seeking, a time of listening, a time of questioning, and a time of real wrestling, but hope has always been near. God seems to be changing everything I ever thought I knew and I am being constantly humbled.