I have Cinnamon rolls baking in the oven (for Susana!) The new baby and mom are resting quietly upstairs. I have a lot to ponder right now as our life takes on new twists and turns in this never ending adventure of living in Mexico. 
We have seen our relationship with Carlos and Susana deepen in these last couple of weeks before the baby was born. Everything from waking up in the middle of the night with a false alarm trip to the hospital, to being privileged to pray for Susana and the baby before they left for the birth, to taking care of Camila while Susana was in the hospital, to being part of welcoming the baby home and crying as Camila kissed her new brother. We've cherished every moment of this new baby event and have really fallen in love with Camila, not just as a sweet Mexican toddler but that deep nurturing parental love that comes when a child is in our life. Gary is now "poppi" to Camila as he is certainly in a grandfatherly roll in her life. These relationships mean so much to us as a family.
This whole "baby event" is swirled around with the "house event" in our lives. Thankfully, they aren't in competition for our attention and time. Right now the house is on the back burner but ever present in our heart and mind.
As we pray about the house we feel God nudging us to move forward. We have no assurance that we will have this house handed to us on a silver platter, we have no assurance that the doors won't slam shut in our face, but for now we are being led steadily forward with each movement having his grace and mercy covering our lives. Gary spoke with Berto, our combi driver and neighbor a few days ago. He said that the owner lives in town and owns a silver shop. He is in the process of getting the name of the shop and phone number for us. He was excited that we are going to put down roots here in the barrio of Casallas. For now we wait, Mexican style on Berto to get us the phone number, "Mañana!
What people don't realize is that the definition of the word mañana is not tomorrow as in the very next day but actually the literal translation is "sometime soon". When Americans translate mañana as tomorrow it is a sure recipe for frustration! What we've noticed is when something is going to happen the next day there will be a day of the week attached to it, such as "I'll deliver that on Martes" but if it will be "sometime soon" they say, "I'll deliver that mañana!" It really helps to know the cultural definition of a word. In any case, this is just a little "helpful hint" of living in Mexico that we've learned.
So we wait and pray regarding the house. We've had some positive information flowing in. First of all, we had an afternoon heavy rainstorm, which isn't all that common. Typically the rains come at night but a few days ago we had a heavy afternoon downpour. As soon as it tapered off, Gary and Nathaniel ran down to the house to check on the roof. The interior ceilings were dry as cactus! ahhhh what a huge relief!!!! Gary also was able to locate the water supply and it isn't as complicated as we thought to tap into the local water. He's also checked the electrical feed and it shouldn't be as expensive and complicated to get a 220 or even 110 drop put in. (He was an electrician so this is his area of expertise!)
We've put all our finances on paper and hope to move into this house on February first with the preceding months used to fix it up (rent free of course) and make it livable. We are hoping to pay around $2K pesos in rent (which is under $200USD!) our upward limit, when we talk to the home owner, would be $3K pesos, which is under $300 USD. We are paying $7K pesos right now so this would be a significant drop in rent.
Our goal therefore, is to have a large home to live in with spacious land and gardens but at a fraction of the rent that we are paying right now. Of course in the beginning the expense will be a lot but as time goes on we'll certainly be reaping the benefits of our labor and financial investment.
This house has such possibilities. I know it is premature to assume that this will all work out and we will be living there. But if we do get it I will be too busy to blog about all of this so I'd rather write about it now before I have a permanent paint brush in my hands!
Initially of course, what thrilled us was the family aspect of this house. The tower bedrooms for Nathaniel and Bethany, the large kitchen for me, and the private office space for Gary. Yet, shortly after we thought about the family space the ministry possibilities hit us in amazing ways!
The downstairs area, which I'm not sure what it was constructed to be, would be an amazing ministry section of the house. It has large arched windows (and I mean LARGE arched windows) on either side of a large arched window sliding door. The doors and windows face the road and are extremely accessible to neighbors and friends. The floor is paved with flagstone and it also has direct access, via a spiral staircase, to the kitchen! Okay, so my cooking passion, along with my ministry passion has been ignited in this setting! First of all, we could set up the common Mexican plastic tables and chairs and welcome our neighbors in for Tacos and jamaica! (A hibiscus flower drink not the country!) It would be fantastic for Nathaniel and Bethany to be hanging out at the soccer field and invite their new friends home for tacos or some other delicious quick meal. (They are constantly meeting Mexican teenagers as they hang out at the soccer field!) Also, all of our neighbors could be welcomed in for large informal meals. Secondly, as this very public aspect of this house would become known as a friendly place and somewhat of a local hang out, we then could hold bible studies and other types of evangelistic outreaches in this same very large open space that sits very close to the dirt road in which we live.
If someone were to design a house with public ministry in mind, there couldn't have been a more perfect setting than this particular house! It also has a large living/dinning indoor space that could be used for more intimate settings, biblical counsel and prayer. Furthermore, as people might need special attention during a bible study, a Mexican mom and I could easily walk up the spiral stair case into our living room and pray together for her marriage or comfort her in what ever way is appropriate.
I think one of the most amazing things is how there is a distinct ministry space as well as private family space. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect home!
Of course beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. There is MUCH work to be done. Yet, nothing is insurmountable. We have a tentative plan of what is necessary for move in and what we can work on once we are living there. Given what we anticipate paying in rent for that house, every month in this house we are "wasting" $5k pesos by staying here. Yet, the new house has to be habitable before we can move in. We figure we can live without light fixtures (just pigtail's with light bulbs) without bedroom doors and glass in the windows but we have to have water, electricity and paint for the graffiti filled walls. The first step of course is major cleaning and clearing away of the tropical overgrowth. And then Gary and Nathaniel will work on plumbing and electrical while Bethany and I paint our hearts out! But for now we wait and we pray and ponder the amazing things that God is doing in our life here in Mexico!
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