Greetings from Texas in the precious name of Jesus! God is so good and we are so blessed.
We came north on Thursday, with lots of challenges along the way. The weather was the reason we travelled a day earlier than we had planned for Abigail's birthday party on Saturday, and I am so grateful we did.
We left Mexico at 8:30 a.m. that morning, and gave Yessica, Lupita's granddaughter from Tepeyac, a ride to Acuña with her fianceé. We prayed with them when we dropped them off, that God would bless their marriage and help them to seek the Lord and make Him the head of their household. The young man told us he does not attend church and is not a Christian. They are getting married the 28th of this month. We pray God would touch Juan Martín and that he would come to know Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Our pickup didn't have a working heater when we received it last year, and we had never had it repaired, or even looked at. So the freezing weather this trip required a mechanic, and we were blessed to find one in Brownwood. Bill asked the employees at Auto Zone and they gave us his number. They even called him for us. His name was Tommy, and he came to Auto Zone to bring us to his shop where he put a new thermostat in the pickup and did some other adjustments to make the heater work. He also put the new windshield wipers on the pickup, only charging us $25. We prayed with him before we left and thanked God for putting Tommy in our path that day. God is so good, and we couldn't have made the trip with the sleet and ice covering our windshield and having to stop every few miles to scrape them off.
As we made it along the highway, the weather continued to worsen, and it was a time of continual praying and trusting God as we slid along the road through the ice and snow. We finally arrived at Brandon and Jessica's house in Watauga at 11:30 pm. Thanking God for His protection and mercies, we were so thankful to finally be at our destination.
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| Our pickup in front of Brandon's house |
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| Frozen swimming pool in the back yard... |
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| Abigail, ready for the weather... |
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| Icicles on the back porch |
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| The delicious caramel apples Brandon made for the party! |
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Abigail, The Birthday Girl and her cake
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Saturday morning, Abigail and I decorated her birthday cake and I was amazed at how well she has learned to hold the frosting bag and control the flow of icing as she decorated Dora on her cake. She's an amazing 4-year-old.
Most of the day, we have been working on her Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck puzzles, playing hide and seek and drawing. Hide and seek with Abi is an adventure now that her Mom and Daddy are partaking in Abi's hiding places. Today, I went to "seek" her and found her on the window sill above the front door!
Made me think of a "Christopher Pop-In-Kins" moment!
Our "Elf on the Shelf"
We thank the Lord for each of you reading this, and praying for us. We know that God has a wonderful plan for each of our lives and we pray He uses you this holiday season to share the REAL meaning of this time of year. Those of us who know Christ as our Savior know that "God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
John 3:17
Be encouraged. He is continually putting people in our paths that need love and encouragement, and we are to be His hands and feet here on earth. May we bring Him glory until His return.
In His loving grip,
Toni and Bill
