This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and
be glad in it.
Today is a beautiful day here in Mexico. The weather has
cooled down and the temperatures are perfect. A gentle breeze is blowing and
the windmill is just starting to turn.
Recently, I drove some
friends to Acuña to get groceries. On
our way back, we picked up a man on the side of the road. He had a small
suitcase and a gallon jug of water. My friend, Yessica, said she knew him and
that his name was Julio and he was from San Carlos, a town we had to pass
through to get home. Although I frequently pick people up when I am with Bill
or alone, I hesitate when others are with me, so with Yessica’s okay, I told
the man he could ride in the back of the pickup, as the cab was full of mothers
and children.
When we arrived in San Carlos, I got out to help him disembark and
introduced myself. He kept shaking my hand, thanking me in English for the
ride. He was a short, stocky man, and appeared unusually friendly. After
shaking my hand, Julio began hugging me and kissing me. For what seemed like
forever, he showed his gratitude including the sign of the cross on my
forehead, all the while saying, “Thank you, thank you, nice to meet you, God
bless you!”
It was quite an experience. If it hadn’t been for Yessica telling me how
he was, I would have been caught off-guard. But while we had him in the back of
the truck, she described how he had acted with her when her husband worked with
him, and the employees bought him a cake for his birthday. Apparently, Julio
always greets people like that. And I didn’t even make him a cake!!
He also told me where he lived, a few blocks from the store where we
dropped him off. What a character! I
really felt loved and appreciated. Too funny! I have never had such a grateful
passenger.
What was funnier was that all the while we drove down the road with
Julio in the back of the pickup on the way to San Carlos, he went through the
grocery bags and the ice chest in the back of the truck, clapping his hands and
talking to himself out loud. He smashed all the bread rolls with his fist,
hooting and hollering. We laughed all the way home! God bless Julio!
The past few weeks have been busy with lots of visits with friends. We have had several birthdays and lots of chances
to make cakes, pies and cookies. Bill enjoyed a recent visit to Rito and
Maria’s house, and I took these pictures while we were there.
Tuesday, two women from town came to the house to ask me if I could
paint a wall mural for the school’s November 20th celebration of the
Mexican Revolution. At the same time, I
volunteered the paint for the moms to paint all the playground equipment. It
has been a desire of my heart to do that since we arrived. Most of the moms
helped paint the playground equipment with me. Here are some photos.
On October 21st, we completed two years here, and earlier
this month, Bill and I celebrated 13 years of marriage. It’s been a month of
anniversaries for us. This picture was taken when we decided to get married in June, 2000.
We have been so blessed to be back in Mexico again. God is faithful and we are grateful.
We pray God is blessing your life and encouraging you in your faith. Keep seeking His face, reading the Word and praying for wisdom.
God bless you as you live your lives for the King. Thank you for reading the blog. We thank God for each of you.
Serving Him with joy,
Toni and Bill
