Blessed to be a Blessing

This past weekend, we at B2B Mexico had the opportunity to minister to a family that attends our Church- they have 8 kids and the husband has been out of work for some time now. They called the church asking for help and the church mentioned us and that we might be able to help with clothes and food needs. At first when I heard about this, I'll admit that I thought pessimistic things like, "we have a hard enough time as it is trying to pay the bills for the teens in the Hope Program and make sure they have enough food- why would WE have food for this family?!?" and doubting statements like, "oh goodness! Winter is approaching and the needs for winter clothes are going to be high this year, I dont have much to offer from the donation room." blah blah and so my thoughts continued. But the family was scheduled to come anyways so I put together some bags with toiletries and school supplies and Matt sent an email out to all our staff about their need for food. And much to my surprise, a TON of food was collected from our teen homes and families here for this family of 10. I was honestly shocked at the amount we collected. And I was hit over the head with the realization that God has placed us here in a position of abundance and we do HAVE ENOUGH- sometimes it might not seem like it, especially to those teen home parents struggling to feed football teams of teens under a strict budget but it's true- we had the ability to be generous because God enabled us to be.

I was reminded of the message to the early believers in 2 Corinthians 9:11 -- "You will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God."

Being in charge of our donations here in Mexico always reminds me to be thankful. This summer, we received a lot of soccer cleats as donations. I saved them and hid them away knowing that 2 children's homes in particular would be incredibly grateful for them in the fall when they start playing "organized" soccer with several B2B staff members like the great JJ Lail who is honestly just a rock start at Casa Hogar Douglas. Thank you to everyone who donated cleats- the kids LOVE them and feel sooo cool in their cleats and wear them every tuesday and thursday afternoon for soccer. Back2Back is blessed through the amazing donations we receive and so are the kids we serve.

I just can't stop thinking about thankfulness- I personally have a lot to be thankful for. All 4 of my grandparents are still alive and are such a huge part of my life. I LOVE spending time with both of my brothers and there were years when we were younger that I would have said the exact opposite. My mom survived a very rare cancerous tumor 5 years ago that went through her heart and I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly thankful I am for the past 5 years of health and earthly living my mom has seen. This past August, I was overcome with the realization that my friends from UF are some of the greatest and most amazing saints on the planet. Many crowns await these people in Heaven and I'm honored and blessed and encouraged to call them friends. I grew up in a nation where no matter who you are or how poor you might think you are, no matter your birth parents, no matter your gender or race- you can get a great education and get loans and scholarships to make college a reality. Few countries can say the same and Mexico is sadly not one of them- they are improving though so give them some credit.

And then I read this in my Beth Moore study on the life and ministry of Paul: "The very thing Christ finished we can't seem to leave alone; and the very thing He hasn't finished, we try to halt. The work of Calvary is finished. No more payment for sin is necessary. He did it all by Himself on the cross. We can't earn it. WE CAN'T ADD TO IT. IT IS FINISHED. Yet we try to add our good works to his Salvation.

However, the work He is doing on everyone who has accepted Christ as Savior is not finished. Salvation is finished. Sanctification is not. Completion is not. Philippians 1:6 promises that "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Yet we wish He'd stop picking on us the moment we're saved and let us be the boss. Like the Pharisees, we wish He'd stop interfering. Give this some consideration: sometimes more effort is required to keep rolling the stone back over the tomb (put Jesus "away" or ignore him) than simply to cooperate with the work He seeks to finish in us.

Do we just want the cross without the resurrection? Are we trying to stuff the living, working Christ back into the tomb so He'll just save us, and then let us alone? Or do we want to know "the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings?" Thank you Beth Moore. I think in many ways, my pride doesn't allow me to acknowledge that I had no role in earning my salvation -- Christ did it ALL. This is a daily reminder to let go and thank God. He's done it. It's over.

New Sermon Series

Thought i'd pass this on because I'M EXCITED ABOUT IT and why not let you be excited about it too? eh? yeah!

So my favorite pastor man- Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church in Seattle just started a new sermon series on the gospel of Luke. Mark and a film crew traveled all over the places where Jesus lived, followed Luke's investigation into who was Jesus and was his story real throughout Jerusalem - and the footage, photos, and historical insights are the basis of this sermon series. For those of you who like short, 20 minute sermons- mark is honestly just NOT for you. These are long- at least an hour each but worth it. Check out week one and watch all the way through to the end- it wont disappoint, promise. You can watch/download the sermons yourself if you want from their website. Click here to view. or copy and paste the following: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/eyewitness-to-jesus

PureNRG visits Monterrey

About a week ago, Back2Back Mexico was blessed to have PureNRG join us on a Family Christian Stores - James Fund trip. PureNRG is a christian pop group who just released their 3rd CD. PureNRG donated about $1.25 for each CD that was pre-sold at Family Christian Stores to the James Fund (which is the orphan care not for profit division of Family Christian Stores) in order to purchase new shoes for orphans. I was told that they raised about $24,000 for shoes for orphans from their CD. CRAZY!!!!!!! and somehow, we at Back2Back, Mexico were blessed to not only receive quite a few of those shoes for the kids we serve but we were also blessed to have PureNRG in person to give those shoes away. Jordan, Caroline and Carolyne are honestly just awesome kids- (soon to be adults) who decided to try to do something to make a difference. It doesn't matter how old you are- God can use you if you'll let him.

The organizational side of washing 350 kids feet at rio 3 and outfitting them with proper fitting shoes and socks with only 2 hours of this group's time to complete the outreach with about 20 people was my job. The day before we set out to embark upon this crazy day of outreach- i felt a lot of pressure- as if we were about to launch the space shuttle and had to do it exactly right. When the day came, we got there on time, washed a ton of kid's feet and gave them new shoes and socks. We saw over 350 kids!!!! and then, jumped on our bus and headed back into town to prep for the concert that PureNRG was going to do for all the kids from all the children's homes we serve that same afternoon.

Enjoy the photos:

Jordan from PureNRG with some rio 3 kids during the footwashing and new shoe giveaway

PureNRG on stage at Nuevo Pacto performing for all the kids from all the casa hogares we serve here in Monterrey - they were awesome and the kids were memorized when they started dancing and doing back flips

my new best friend - Jose Daniel literally head banging and rocking out during the PureNRG concert

possibly 2 of the sweetest boys on the planet- Felix Antonio and Josue Oswaldo hanging out in their seats before the concert started

the love of my life- Kevin from del norte eating his dinner after the concert - this is actually kevin's reaction to seeing the 3 year old i was holding in my arms who used to live at del norte with kevin. he was overjoyed to see his long lost friend Oziel

girls from Douglas performing before the concert

Estephanie and my sweet Jahir before the concert. Jahir kept going to the bathroom to throw up throughout this concert- he was super sick with some stomach bug and then fell asleep yet looks happier than ever here- weird

Side story: As the different children's homes were arriving and taking their seats, the sibling set near me who now live at Douglas started freaking out when they saw the children's home that they used to live at arrive - del norte. (weird to think that the kids we serve change children's homes sometimes isnt it?) Well the 4 boys started yelling and jumping up and running over to their friends from del norte- and the del norte kids just could not get over how fun it was to see their long lost "brothers" and best friends and play mates. It was one of the most joyous reunions I've seen in a long long time. And I sat there realizing how much the other kids at the homes function as siblings and family to these kids - God as their heavenly Father is looking out for them.

What do you want for Christmas?

that's right- kids smiled for me this time

Christmas feels just around the corner to me. A few days ago, I had the opportunity to ask all the kids that live at Casa Hogar Douglas what they wanted for Christmas this year. As you can imagine I'm sure, when you ask a kid this - their face just lights up. It was such a fun afternoon for me and for them too. I also took new and updated photos of each of the kids as I went through the process of asking them individually what they wanted but I noticed a major difference in the photos I took this year and the photos I took last year for this exact same task. This year the kids smiled a lot more and I decided that it's because this year I know how to say "smile and look at me/over here" in spanish which made me giggle. Poor kids- putting up with our pathetic attempts to speak their language. They are so gracious.

Funniest gift request: "I want pizza!!!!"

Cutest gift request: "I want a police car that has lights and lights up and makes noises!"

Most sounds like me at age 7: "I want a baby alive doll that I can feed and change it's diapers"

I can not wait for christmas this year for about a million reasons - it's going to be a fun week and one more opportunity to reinforce the simple fact that these children are not forgotten, they are individuals, and God loves them.

Merry Christmas! Go ahead- pull our your christmas CDs. I did this afternoon.

Breath of Fresh Air

God is good and today I feel like He gave me one constant hug... and it came through the kids at Casa Hogar Douglas. Last year there were many mornings, days, and nights where I found myself praying for this home- alone in the old church that no one was using, in the kids' dorms, as I tried to go to sleep at night but couldn't stop thinking and dreaming about what God could do there, or with other staff members who just wanted to see God move- begging for something different for those kids. But in the past year, I can honestly say that i've just seen and felt God move at this home. He is turning things upside down. Sure... maybe they are struggling financially and having a hard time paying the bills or putting food on the table right now.... but I believe that their heavenly father is blessing this home beyond belief lately. The kids are happier, they laugh more, they smile more, they can BE KIDS sometimes. The workers are happier and you can just sense how much more uplifted they feel. Why??? Because God is at work. He's brought them new leadership, MALE leadership for the first time in who knows how long, and these kids are now in church twice a week with the world's greatest worship team hearing and learning and singing about a God who is obsessed with them and believes in them.

Kids laughing and smiling is just about the most beautiful thing ever. I'm hearing it these days.

Kids opening up and wanting to spend time with you is so healthy. It's happening- even with some of the older boys.

I just love these kids and today I got to spend my entire day with them until I was so tired I could barely stand - that's beautiful.

A lot has been going on in my life personally in the past 2 months but today... being with my kids was such a breath of fresh air. There is joy when you can be about the things that matter to God. I want that. I want to be about that