All In A Days Work

Life is full of transitions, comings and goings, changes…My arrival here in Mazatlan came at a most opportune time – its amazing how a change of scenery can aid the heart in transition. The endurance of change would have been harder to bear amidst familiar surroundings – the kind of surroundings that jog ones memory at every turn. But to be in a fresh place, doing fresh things, working along side new friends, and living where people hold no expectations over your head, has been a liberating experience. I am stepping into newness on a daily basis, and seek to leave what is past exactly where it is – in the past. And the scenery is beautiful – I live but some blocks from the ocean, in a great house that is constantly buzzing with wonderful people (there are about 20 of us living together, including the guests that come and go). The fellowship has been such a blessing! It is awesome to be surrounded by such wonderful and encouraging people every day. I am surprised and blessed to find myself surrounded by nine other young ladies – each so beautiful, sweet, and single too. Our times together have been amazing, and these wonderful girls constantly bless me. The last few weeks, indeed, what has nearly been a month now, have gone by in a blur of fun and hard work. I’ve certainly had some random adventures…I got hit in the back of the head with a rock while we were doing ministry at the dump, and had a nice size bump for about a week. Got to eat some ground, raw fish at another ministry site – needless to say it took a few days to recuperate from that adventure. I love walking to the little store a few houses down and getting a coke for 50 cents. We do kids club ministry every week in a poor neighborhood…I had a horrible cold for about two weeks, and last week I took some kind of stuff for sinus/ear/throat/chest stuff, not quite sure what it was cause the box was in Spanish…anyways, I took it right before kids club and didn’t realize it would make me drowsy until it was too late. I was so out of it and had to do ministry anyways. I was a zombie at the craft table! The other day we were walking back from somewhere, and I was looking down at my feet and didn’t see the cactus coming. Yeah, I got all kinds of fuzzy little hair-like splinters in my arm. Those were a lot of fun pulling out. Yesterday Mel and I had to take the bikes to the grocery store – you know, those old fashioned kind of bikes with the funny handle bards and a basket. And then we had the load the groceries in and tote them back. We were quite a sight, and we laughed at ourselves the whole way. Calling slug bugs is a favorite game, cause there are a million of them down here. Went to a salsa dancing club the other night and had a blast dancing the night away. I can keep up with the best of em’, and I’m not gonna lie, it was way too much fun. And mafia nights are always a hit.
Been helping a lot in prep for the new Looney Bean coffee shop to open up (this weekend hopefully). Yesterday I scrubbed the floor by hand for about 6 hours to prep it for staining. I have a new respect for construction workers – its hard work! Got to do some painting too. Its cool to see it all coming together, and once it opens I’ll be on the schedule about five days a week. How exciting! Each week comes out a little different. One week we were working with the San Diego Masters Commission, the next we helped run the surf tournament. Our current focus is the coffee shop, but tomorrow we leave to help with a surf camp. We get to sleep on the beach, surf, and hang out with the kids for two days – yay! I keep waiting for us to figure out a consistent schedule, but each day seems to bring its own fresh, and often unforeseen, needs. But we live on Mexico time, so as crazy as it gets sometimes, it is still always in that easy going ebb and flow. We are almost finished with our book study on John Wimber’s Power Evangelism, which is totally awesome. Once a week the four of us (Joel, Raf, Mel and I) take sandwiches downtown to talk and pray with people, and none of us really speak Spanish, so it’s a perfect opportunity for us to put into practice what we are reading, cause we certainly can’t do it on our own! I am taken back how fast the time has gone by, and I will be thoroughly enjoying every moment of the next month here in Mazatlan. Taking from God’s hand each day as it comes, and pouring my heart and soul into it – its all in a days work.