Greetings from Mexico in the awesome name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth!
What a privilege to wake up and see the
moon shining, listen to the roosters crowing and know that God remains on the
throne, ready to use us if we want to be used by Him!
I woke up at 4 this morning, with
excitement knowing that God is going to use me today.
Lately, I had been feeling like I’m not
making a difference here, but my strength is renewed by His Word and I will not
let the enemy take that away from me. The devil wants to discourage us and make
us feel we aren’t touching lives or serving God as we should. Yesterday I got a
“shot in the arm.” And today I am excited, knowing that God’s promises are
“Yes” and “Amen!”
I read two devotionals this morning, both
encouraging me to remember that I don’t need to get into debates about
religion, but just to do what God has called me to do. I need to bring every
thought captive, including those that bring discouragement. God has called us
to be a light, and we don’t have to worry about how He’s going to use us, we
just need to be ready to be used, for His glory.
Yesterday morning I took Henriquetta’s
daughter, Hortensia, to Piedras Negras for blood work at the Seguro Hospital.
Guadalupe, my neighbor (her sister-in-law) came with us. We left at 6 as we had
to be there by 7. We had a smooth ride until we came just into Piedras, where
the car broke down and wouldn’t run. We let the car on the side of the road,
leaking “fluids” and hailed a taxi for remainder of the ride to the hospital
for 30 pesos (that’s about $2.50 US.)
The hospital was full of people, and I
would estimate over 200 persons were waiting in line before 8 am for
consultations. When we got up the stairs to the line where Tencha (Hortensia)
was to wait, she realized she had left a bag in the taxi when we got out.
Guadalupe and I quickly walked back downstairs and out the hospital doors to
find the taxi driver who had given us a ride. Needless to say, he was long
gone. We spoke to another driver waiting there, but he didn’t seem to know the
man who drove the other taxi. No sooner did we speak to that driver, a horn
honked and behind that taxi was the other driver, with the bag in hand. He had
gone around the corner, apparently, and realized we left the bag in his car, and
brought it back to us! To me, that was a miracle. Not many people would do
that. But he did. I gave him 20 more pesos for his trouble and thanked him
profusely. Praise God for touching that man’s heart. Although I doubt he knew
it, the bag contained the contents of Tencha’s grandson’s wallet, with his
clothes he had left at his parent’s house in Tepeyac. God is so good!
Tencha was relieved when we arrived back
upstairs with her bag, and she was already finished with her blood work. The
next thing we had to do was get a mechanic, hopefully with a tow-truck, for the
car.
I checked my phone for numbers of mechanics
in the area that Bill and I had used previously. (I think we’re a little rough
on our vehicles here in Mexico.) The only one I had was a welder who did our
muffler work on the van months ago. Then I realized Brother Hector would
probably know a mechanic, and called him. Hector gave me the number of a man
named Rene, and I called him right away. Still sitting in the hospital, Rene
gave me his address and we walked down to get another taxi to his house.
He was waiting for us, and got a neighbor
to take us to the car, along with his tools. The neighbor dropped us off at the
car, and I decided to turn the key to see if it would start. (It just died on
the way and wouldn’t start again, so we left it.) Amazingly, it started and he
told us to all get in and head for his house, where he could work on it. We
made it about halfway, and it overheated, so we pulled over to a feed store and
turned it off to let the radiator cool down. Then he filled it with water and
we headed to his house, after he got a sack of feed for his goat and loaded it
in the trunk.
When we got to his house, he started
checking out all the things that seemed to be wrong, and to make a long story
short, we spent over 9 hours with Rene, while he worked on the radiator hoses,
removed the thermostat, disconnected the air conditioner and told me it was
missing major bolts, like for the motor mounts. I knew the car had problems,
but didn’t realize how many problems it had.
The wonderful part was I had hours to talk
to him about the Lord. He is a believer, just not really faithful about
fellowshipping in his church yet. He is single and wants to return to the
states, but had been deported so has 5 more years to wait until he can try to
get legal. He grew up in Southern California, and doesn’t like living in
Piedras, but is originally from Michoacan. Rene speaks perfect English, but I
didn’t know that until I had been there over 5 hours because I don’t speak
English to people in Mexico. When he had to go get parts for the car, he drove
his bicycle, and came back within 15 minutes.
We walked to get something to eat at a
little café called “Chavito’s,” and left there to deliver the package to
Tencha’s grandson by taxi ride on the other side of town. Then the taxi driver
brought us back to the mechanic, where we spent the rest of the day.
Another blessing was when I asked him what
I owed him, he said “Three-hundred and fifty.” I immediately asked, “Dollars?????”
and he said, “NO, pesos. But the thing is, you have to let me do all your
mechanic work in the future.” What a deal! That came to about $30.US dollars.
Praise the Lord. I doubt many mechanics in Texas would have worked on a vehicle
all day for that price. He really knew what he was doing, and told me what
parts I needed to get to repair the vehicle correctly. I am so grateful the car
ran great and we got home safely, about 7 o’clock. It was a very long day but a
very good one. God is faithful.
Today is Tuesday, and I look forward to
another day serving the Lord most high! What a privilege it is!
Serving Him with joy;
Toni
