Thanksgiving...Christmas and everything else!

Where do I begin...it's been a very long time since I've updated my blog.

I'm not sure how many people really keep up with my words but it has been a cool way to recap and relive what's been going on in my life.

Let's see, November was loaded with good times! We traveled to Mexico and stayed at Rancho Sordo Mudo (ranch for the deaf and mute) in the Guadeloupe Valley which was in between Tijuana and Ensenada.

Rancho Sordo Mudo is the only free Christian school for deaf and mute children in Mexico. Our group got the privilege to meet and spend a lot of time with the director, Luke Everett. Luke's father was obedient to God's calling many years ago which lead him from the United States into Mexico where he has ultimately enriched the lives of hundreds of deaf and mute children from all over Mexico.

Our group mainly did manual labor around the property and helped with every day tasks. Overall, it was a neat time of seeing God's hand prints in another country. To see children flourishing because they were given an identity and a language that they did not have prior to living at the ranch made my heart smile and left me in awe of God's goodness.

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving, catching up with some family and good friends.
A few weeks before going home for Christmas break, Rich, our director had told us that our classmate Daniel, who had been kicked a month prior was going to come back. No student who has been kicked out of Joshua has ever been able to come back before. This was an amazing time for me to reflect on God's grace and His sovereignty. I was able to see a radical change in Daniel as he became part of our class again. I tend to take for granted the opportunity I have to recognize God in circumstances like this and to praise Him for who He is.

Christmas breaks started on December 13th but the night before we had an awesome Christmas party. Everybody dressed up really nicely for our pizza dinner and then we all quickly changed in to our ugly sweaters for our contest. Our pause families (5-6 students are "adopted" by a Hume family to spend time with throughout the year) arrived soon after for an annual gingerbread house making contest.
This is a picture of one of the three of my pause sisters and I.

I just got back from 2 1/2 weeks home for Christmas break. It was definitely a great time with family and friends. It was such a blessing to be able to celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday on Christmas day!
They are two of the most important people in my life and sometimes forget how blessed I am to have people like them in my life. About my break, I can't say that God did super amazing things during my break but He definitely opened my eyes to a lot of things. I learned how easy it is to slip back into my "old" self and not apply the things I'm learning at Joshua at home. It just confirmed that Joshua is where I need to be.
I also realized that although knowledge is good, it can be a scary thing when I crave growth in knowing more but my spiritual life lacks in growth. My goal throughout the second half of Joshua is to take advantage of every opportunity I have to be involved and allow much growth to occur in my heart and in my life so that I will leave this place with a greater confidence in my relationship with Christ and not just head knowledge.

Please be praying for my second half of Joshua, as I know it will fly by. Pray that God continues to work in my heart and helps me in surrendering everything to Him at all times.
Love you all and thank you for being apart of my life!


--Lindsay


PS
Snow is DEFINITELY here and this is a picture from my bedroom window :)