Fun

Monsoon Season

Monsoon Season here in New Mexico is July, August and September.  Monsoons are very heavy rains that last only a short time and frequently cause flash flooding.  New Mexico and Arizona both get the majority of their years worth of water via the summer monsoons.  We have been warned by lots of people that they are coming and today on our greenbelt walk I thought we (Myra and I) might be in for our first monsoon.  But no, we were in for a different kind of experience, dry rain.  That is where it rains, but because it is so dry and hot the rain doesn’t actually make it to the ground before it evaporates.  It made for a cooler walk but I was secretly hoping to get dumped on.

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Categories: Fun, new mexico, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

She’s Back!

Our car is back and shifting better than ever!!!  I am so pleased with the service and the timing.  They are very busy, lots of calls coming in while I was in the waiting area, scheduling maintenance and appointments out a ways.  How is it that they were able to get me right in and have it done the one day I could pick it up with our scrambling and feeling over extended?  I enjoyed getting lunch for the Mechanic guys.

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My view from my temporary office out front.  Imagine warm temperatures, but I’m in the shade with a slight breeze.

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Now she’s home running well, but needing a bath.

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And I still have time for a nap before work.
Check this out….

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I’ve never got an awesome customer discount before.  Who’da thunk it! A fun day was had at the mechanics.

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Honduras day 6

En primer lugar quiero dar las gracias a todos los que han estado siguiendo y haciendo palanca para mí mientras yo estaba en Honduras.

We have touchdown we finished moving all of the dirt into the church today.  Tomorrow we will begin pouring the concrete floor.  It will be hard work, but rewarding to be accomplishing such a large project.

As part of the process of spreading and leveling dirt you have to pour MANY buckets of water on it to get it compressed to a hard surface so the concrete slab will not crack.  This water is collected from a nearby creek.  As I had been told the days before by those who have gone to collect water it is quite an experience.  This is due to a school of tiny fish that like to nibble at your toes.  The reactions of them team members has been varied. From screams (at the teenage girl decibel) to being reminded of a spa treatment.  I was glade I went on the last water run and able to experience it for myself.

~Chad

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Honduras day 5

Sunday, time to head out for church.  We started off by heading up into the hills and through the jungle to go to our morning service.

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When we got there, we met outside of a small building, and just had some of the people gather around for service.  I was so glad for the opportunity.

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It was refreshing to to see God working in this community.

We asked the pastor how many people where up in that community and he told us about 500.  It is great that God has called him there.

In the evening, we went to the church that we are helping build.  They are currently meeting in a house up the road. They are in need of the new building.  They would have been in the streets if we had not been there.

What a great day to see and meet the people and community that we are helping!

~Chad

Categories: church, Fun, Heart, Travel | 1 Comment

A Sad Day in the Neighborhood

I suppose the one bad thing about Mary Beth visiting is having to say goodbye.

Mary Beth drove to Shiprock early this morning and picked me up from work, then drove us down to the town of Gallup 100 miles away.  I was a little tired, but my heart would not let my brain rest.  Such a short visit, and I wanted to soak up every last minute of the rest of our time together.  We talked a little about the morning, our visit, Myra, and her up coming maiden greyhound bus ride.  We turned on the iTunes Radio to praise music, turned up the dial and sung our hearts out to God.  I think that is one thing that I like most about Mary Beth.  She challenges me to not be a tourist to the “Christian experience” but to learn from the master as a disciple working actively at becoming more like Jesus. With a few growing moments, laughter and tears, it has all been good.  Phone calls, texts and Facebook are great, and I am so thankful for them, but they don’t 100% replace face to face, heart to heart discussions.
Gallup came upon us quickly, and as we pulled up to the bus stop, we both let out some nervous laughter.  It was a bit of a dive, and was this going to be a bigger adventure than she bargained for?

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We were very early, so after we got bags checked and tickets printed, we ventured further down the road to find some breakfast.  We drove a ways before something popped up on the horizon.  With only one choice, McD’s (besides Vergies, but after one look at that we vetoed it unanimously), we headed strait there.
Chad had better come home soon, as I am not taking nearly good enough care of myself.  With very little time for running to the store or cooking, McDonalds coffee has become my substitute for his well balanced nutritional meals.  I ordered my McDonald’s coffee, and decided to chance it with their oatmeal and we sat down to enjoy our breakfast.
This is when it all went down… I don’t believe in betting money, but Mary Beth was going to attempt to make an impossible shot with her straw wrapper and asked what the chances were that she would make it. Obviously without thinking I said, “if you make that shot I will lick the floor.”
SWOOSH nothing but net…
Seriously!! How did that just happen!  She turned to me with a little sparkle, obviously enjoying all the squirming in my seat that I was doing.  I backed off of my stool, and quickly but not with out attracting a LOT of attention, got down on my knees and licked the floor.  We were both roaring with laughter.  Me in my scrubs dressed to the nines of a professional nurse on my knees licking x1 the floor in McDonalds.  I jumped back up in my seat without taking a bow trying to ignore my new audience.  That set the tone for the next half hour.  It didn’t help that I was on the tired side. Mary Beth saw all my true colors totally unfiltered.  After breakfast we went back to the convenience store/bus stop and grabbed some snacks for the road.  Knowing I had a longer drive ahead of me, and work again tonight, She didn’t let me stay to see her on the bus.  We hugged goodbye and I quickly jumped in my car.  I didn’t want to cry again.
I received periodic texts throughout my drive back updating me on the status of her adventure, and maybe to make sure I was still doing OK staying awake for the drive.  Staying awake wasn’t a problem though, not today.  I had received a second wind with all the laughing and caffeine I had for breakfast.  That and running over the whole visit and how it went in my head.  Yes, I am truly blessed to have such good friends.  What a blessing you are to me Mary Beth.  Thank you for coming to visit!

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Honduras day 4

Today was a big day at the work site.  We got all of the dirt that they had trucked in hauled into the church.  It was not enough to bring it up to the level needed, but more is supposed to be delivered for us to work on Monday.

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The picture is what we started with today. I am sorry I did not get a picture at quitting time.

For Caleb I wanted to tell him that I got to play fútbol (soccer for those of you in America), with a couple of kids from the community that we are working in.  It was a lot of fun and very tiring. They ran circles around us.  It was a blessing to finally see some kids coming out of the corners after working there for several days.  We are hoping that there will be more kids next week that we can reach out to.

Praise the Lord for the work that he is doing.

~Chad

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Farmington for the Day

How many days off have I actually spent in Farmington? I might be able to count them on one hand.  So today was dedicated to just that.  We had a slow relaxing morning, not making it out of the house until around 11:00am.  Our first stop was Hastings, a book store here in town that is a lot like Boarders was in Salem.  We each got a coffee and headed for our favorite book sections.

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When our coffees were gone, and we both had our caffeine fix, we headed out to take a daylight tour of the town of Farmington.  We decided on a pizza place for lunch.  With our bellies full, we made a plan of attack for the rest of the day.  I have been wanting to go to the junk yard just outside of Farmington since shortly after we got here.  I had seen a few license plate Pinterest projects that I was dying to try.  We were having a blast finding so many license plates in good shape when a guy driving a giant fork lift came over to us and explained that most of the cars in that lot were impound cars…after clarifying what cars were what we were relieved to discover that we had not taken any plates off the impound cars, but we all three got a good laugh out of it and the gentleman was nice in pointing us in the direction we were actually supposed to be.  Phew, crisis everted.  We felt like it was a pretty successful trip, as we found several different kinds of plates in good condition.  I was so excited and can’t wait to use them, especially the so beautiful turquoise New Mexico plate!

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What a fun partner in adventure!
We had a deadline to be back to the house at 5:30pm at the latest, so I would have at least twenty minutes to get ready for work and make a lunch.  We made it back into town with more than an hour to spare, so we stopped at two trading posts on Main Street to find a small but pretty Navajo decorative piece for Mary Beth’s book shelf.  We found a little something at each store, a tile sand painting and a small pot.  I wouldn’t have spotted the second place but I am sure glad we discovered it.  I may have to go back and get some Christmas gifts. It was the best trading post type store that I have seen in our two months here.  With a half an hour to spare at home I rested my head a few minutes then dressed and gathered my things.  It is sometimes hard to go to work, but I am so blessed to have a job that I LOVE.  Seriously delivering babies, it doesn’t get any better than that.
Valerie, a coworker who has been so gracious to car pool with me, picked me up.  Shiprock has been a good work experience, and I am going to miss the friends I have made here when I leave.
I talked to Chad on face time today too…he was glowing.  Mission trips are so good for the soul, and I am so glad that he has this opportunity and is having a good time.

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