Christmas 2012

I hope you all had a great Christmas celebrating the birth of our wonderful Savior.
We sure did and here are some pictures to show it.

We are still enjoying time with family and friends in Pensacola. We will be here until the 13th of January and then it's back to Nashville! This is a special time for us because it is our last holiday season in the states for a while. Next year we will be spending all of our holiday's in another country (and in case you haven't heard, the announcement of which country is coming soon). 

We are so thankful for our family, friends, and the best gift of all- Jesus. 

Happy almost New Year!! 

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas! Next week? 2013 twelve days away? Where did all the time go?

Today I am hibernating in my house (for now anyway). The weather looks and feels dreadful. As a native Floridian, I have fond memories of waking up on Christmas day and throwing on short sleeves and sandals. And I'd like to keep it that way. Nashville is more true to the season though. "Baby it's cold outside!"

In light of all that has happened lately in our country, I know that there will be people this Christmas who are in deep pain. Pain that will be never be understood. I would like to share an article that I came across regarding the Connecticut shooting. It is one of the best articles I have read concerning this matter ( and no, it does not talk politics!). You can find it (here). And we can't forget to pray for these families. 

Here in our little multi-ethnical world we have held several Christmas parties. First one was with all us Trek-Xers. We love our tacky sweaters :)

We learned how to make Arepa's (a delicious and traditional Colombian snack)

My friend Karissa held a Christmas party for some of the Nepali kids in our apartment complex. We made popsicle stick frames, decorated cookies, and told the story of Jesus. They loved it.

Our final Christmas party will be Sunday with our hispanic church. After that we are off to Pensacola for 3 weeks with family and friends. 

We are excited to catch up with people we love. And looking forward to being in my beloved warm state of Florida! Merry Christmas! 

Español

2 years ago I graduated from college. It was one of the best feelings and accomplishments in my life. It probably felt so great because in my last 2 years of college at the University of North Florida (Swoop!), I literally thought I wasn't going to make it out alive. Even though UNF is often referred to as "you never finish," I am slightly kidding about making it out alive. However, I really had to rely upon the Lord to get me through some of my classes (like Interpreting Hispanic Literature or Advanced Spanish Grammar-sounds intimidating right?). College can already be tough enough in English. Put everything in Spanish and it becomes that much more tough.

UNF Graduation December 2010

But here I am today, 2 years later. Not only am I using my Spanish and am around it everyday, I have a hispanic last name now. It's like the Lord was preparing me for it all along :) 

Mitch and I still have a ways to go until we are fluent. And no, just because I have a degree in Spanish does not make me fluent. I wish! But it did give me a really good foundation. 

With all of that being said, I am thankful that the Lord directed me in path he did. Mitch and I can communicate pretty well with the hispanics we have befriended in our apartment complex. Had we not known some Spanish, we may have not talked to them in the first place, seeing as there would have been a language barrier, or we would have needed a translator.

But now we are rejoicing because our friend Rodolfo said he wants to know more about Christ! We hope to start a Discovery Bible study with him, one of the bible study methods we have learned and practiced in our training time. 

Please pray for Rodolfo and his roommates too, that they would be apart of the bible study. 

Please also pray for our Spanish to continue to improve. 

We are literally learning new words almost everyday! We are excited about immersing ourselves into the Spanish language next year when we move overseas! 

Praise God for giving us the ability and patience to learn another language. May it be for His glory.