I'm sitting outside listening looking at the beautiful full moon over Taxco. The clouds are illuminated and the palm trees are glistening in the silvery light! Time seems to stand still in Mexico. I could sit out here in the moon light listening to the soft sound of the fountain forever. It's incredible!

Today is a day that I will always remember. We had our first Mexican guests for comida! If you would have told me two weeks ago that I would already be having friends in Mexico over for dinner I would have thought you were crazy! First of all, I never thought that we would get to know people so quickly and secondly I thought I would never be able to pull a dinner together and feel comfortable with the people this quickly. I was wrong on both points!

Oscar and Silvia, the grounds managers of where we are staying and their children came over for comida. I made spaghetti, which was a huge challenge without the availability of Italian spices. The meatballs turned out yummy and the sauce was a combination of a couple of jars (expensive) and fresh tomatoes (yummy and cheap). I would have used only fresh tomatoes and made my own sauce but I could not find an Italian spice to save my life. So I went with the jarred sauce for the spices and the fresh tomatoes for flavor. I also made strawberry shortcake for dessert. Everything turned out well, which was a major accomplishment for me without my really knowing where to buy ingredients’ and not being in my own kitchen where I know how to do everything. (The oven has no thermometer so I had to guess at the temp for the short cake. Amazingly it turned out perfectly!)

They came over at 2:30, which is the typical time for comida the main meal of the day. We sat and talked and talked and shared our hearts. Silvia speaks very little English and I speak very little Spanish but it was amazing how deeply we could all share our hearts. Oscar translated and his son Joshua translated and Gary even translated a little! They are a delightful family. Oscar gave me a silver butterfly pin that he made. Taxco of course is famous world-wide for it’s silver production and everyone seems to be involved in the silver industry in one way or another. It was very special that he made it and I will treasure it always.

One thing that amazed me is that Silvia started sharing her life, how her parents died when she was eleven and how when she got married they lost everything and didn’t know how they would feed their family. She shared her heart and her life with us. I was amazed and also thankful for the years of suffering that prepared me to hear this precious ladies story with compassion rather than pity. Pity comes when we don’t understand another person’s pain and stand at a distance and think "poor poor person". Compassion comes when we have walked through a very similar path and can walk arm in arm with someone and feel their pain and cry with them and rejoice with them when they rejoice. I wanted so badly to share with her my own loss of parents and our walk through poverty and being homeless and so forth. But I also wanted to give her a chance to talk without jumping in and taking over the conversation. But in my heart I know I have a kindred spirit in Silvia and I know that someday we will be able to talk and share in Spanish about being orphaned and about the suffering of poverty and so many many things that I know we have in common. What a dear woman of God and what a blessing to know her.

I think one thing that will make such a huge difference in our transition is when we get our own home. There are so many things I’m thankful for in being at this B & B but the main thing is the relationship with Oscar and Silvia. Oscar has helped our family in tremendous ways from taking us to immigration and translating for us with the government officials to showing us where the grocery stores are to picking us up and taking us to church every Sunday. I can’t imagine how difficult this transition would have been without the relationship with Oscar and Silvia being here on the ground every day to help when we need it. Yet, we long to have a rented home of our own where we can relax and be a family. Oscar will be taking us to different houses for rent in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait!!! J


I was going to take pictures of our afternoon but I got caught up in the conversation and forgot. I will try to remember to take pictures on Sunday when we go to their home for comida after church. It's amazing how often people get together in Mexico. We lived in Colorado for 13 years and was invited to dinner or a picnic in someones home a total of four times in those 13 years. We have been in Taxco for two weeks and have been invited to three different dinners/comidas and have had a family to "our" home for comida, all in those  short two weeks! I can see that we will be very rich in relationships here in Mexico. It's amazing! We have not met one person who wasn't extremely kind, helpful and gracious to us, from the shop owners in the mercado to the taxi drivers to the church members everyone has been amazingly wonderful to us. What a huge blessing this is in our lives. We are so very thankful for the people of Taxco.

The blind will see and the deaf will hear.....and be in shock!

We’ve been in Taxco for two weeks now. It’s so funny to think what a short amount of time we’ve been here and how long ago it feels that we were in Loveland. What’s even weirder is to think that it was winter when we left and we’re in the middle of hot summer right now. It just feels like everything in Colorado was so long ago. Change makes everything seem longer.

I have been pondering change for awhile now. Actually ever since I got my hearing aids I’ve been thinking about situations that include incredible change. What was it like for the blind man in the Bible who Jesus healed? For all of my life I have thought of that amazing miracle and have only thought of how wonderful it must have been for that man born blind to finally see. Since he was blind from birth he would have never seen his family or a flower or a star filled night sky! What would it be like to see those things for the first time? How would he have felt to look at his wife for the first time? How could he have pictured her if he had been born blind? What would it be like to see her for the very first time after only having the sense of touch to give him clues to her eyes, the softness of her skin, and the beauty of her hair? What an incredible moment that would be. Yet, now that I’ve walked through the change of being able to hear and the changing of countries, I realize that even good change can be incredibly difficult.

When I got my hearing-aids everyone kept saying how wonderful it must be for me and how excited I must be. Yet, I was dying on the inside.  Every moment of my life was different. I had no “normal” life during my waking hours. Everything was different, yet everything was good. I never experienced anything quite like that before. Where something was very good but also very difficult. I could hear birds singing that I never heard before. I could hear conversations that I never heard before and I could relax with my family and not strain to hear them. Yet why was I suffering so much???? It was because of one simple word and that is change! My emotions and my brain had to learn to process the song of birds and the sound of my children’s voices. I had to learn what sounds to be alerted at and what sounds to ignore. The first time Gary and I went to Denver I drove him crazy because I was so jumpy. “What was that noise”? “It was a siren dear”. “WHAT WAS THAT?” “It was the breaks on a truck….dear!” And so on. Every moment of every day was filled with new things that I had to process emotionally and intellectually. My brain had to catagorize what sounds should create an emergency response and what sounds should be ignored. What really struck me in this was how good it was to hear but how difficult it was to learn to hear!

It’s amazing to me that I went through this process with my hearing –aids only a few weeks before we moved to Mexico. That experience has helped me tremendously in understanding why change is difficult even when it’s good change.

When we eat comida we watch the hummingbirds sucking nectar from the flowers surrounding our outside table.

 I have always loved hummingbirds and wished we had more than one or two a summer in Loveland. There are hundreds here in Taxco! I see many each day. There is such beauty surrounds our lives. Yet, change is difficult.

I read a book this winter on cross cultural moves. The author said that it took her two months of living in a new country to see and hear the beautiful exotic birds that were around her new home. She was too much in a state of shock to see the beauty that was all around her.

 The book was talking about culture shock but I think I would like to come up with a new term; we aren’t in culture shock we are in change shock. Every time I read about culture shock it focuses on the annoyance of people doing things differently in another culture. We’re not feeling that way at all. But I don’t think any of us can deny that we are going through “Change Shock” that comes from every aspect of our lives being radically different. We feel that we’ve been prepared for the change, such as all the books I read on hearing loss and hearing-aids before I was fitted for mine. I suppose if the person that Jesus healed would have known ahead of time his friends and family could have prepared him, “Your wife’s eyes are jet black and sparkle when she looks at you.” Never-the-less, could anything have prepared him for that moment?  In the same way, we have spent four years preparing for this move to Taxco yet the change is still incredible. It’s wonderful and difficult all at the same time.

One thing that I am very grateful for is how wonderfully Gary and I doing together. First of all, the man just retired and that can bring chaos to any marriage. And secondly, well we just moved to a remote city in Southern Mexico and of course that could bring major chaos to most marriages. In all reality the last couple months before we left Loveland was much more difficult in our relationship than the actual move to Mexico has been. We are delighted to have more time together and we have been really enjoying discovering Mexico as a couple.

I am so proud of Gary and how he has led us around this city and taken care of our family. We had no clue that so few people would speak even a word of English so we are really in a sink or swim situation with learning Spanish. Gary has taken such good care of us. I really feel protected and loved with him by my side. It may seem like a small thing but even getting a taxi to go to the grocery store is a major accomplishment. Gary has been able to negotiate everything from taxi fare in Spanish to taking me out to a restaurant. Very few people speak a word of English so the simplest things take a great deal of effort and Gary has done so much for me that I feel like a bride who is newly in love with her beloved. It’s been such a treat to be totally taken care of by such a wonderful and capable man!

I also love having him home with me, even when home is a totally new and foreign place. When he lost his home office over two years ago it just ripped my heart out and completely changed our family dynamics for those two long years. When Nathaniel had a question in math he could no longer run upstairs to Dad’s office and ask him for help. When I was digging a hole for roses, in the Colorado clay, I could no longer say, “Honey, could you help me for a minute? When he had his home office he did his job but he was available to us during those times when we just wanted to give him a kiss, share a bagel together or have a complex math problem solved. Of course, now he will be about the work of being a missionary, as we all will be, but It’s such a blessing to have him here with us, teaching us Spanish, running out to the mercado for me, and leading us in Bible study. I’m so thankful to finally have my husband back home!

So despite the change everything is good. And we know that all the upheaval in our emotions is very similar to the upheaval I experienced with my hearing-aids. We’re learning to “hear” our world in a totally new way and it is very difficult but it is also very good!

We stand amazed!

It is difficult to believe that one week ago tonight I was lying immobilized during our first night in Taxco, hoping against hope that somehow we could get back to Colorado stop our shipment of boxes, and escape the immense terror and dread that I was feeling. Tonight in Taxco, I hear the wind whistling through the palm tree leaves, the familiar sound of the taxi's driving up our road at a 50 % incline, and the distant sound of music playing from the zocalo. We've learned so much and have been blessed in so many ways during this week.

Today we had an amazing experience. First of all, we were confused at the specifics of our invitation to comida but it all turned out perfectly. We thought we had been invited to Oscar and Silvia's home for comida with the pastor. When we had in fact been invited to comida here on the patio of the B&B for comida with the pastor and his wife. I was so nervous all day. What would we say? Would we make a huge cultural mistake? What would the pastor and his wife be like? Should I get roses or gladiolas for our hostess? Thankfully I know that white, which is one of my favorite colors in flowers, are used exclusively at funerals so we avoided that blunder. On and on the cultural questions flooded my mind.

Around 3:00 we realized that guests were arriving down on the patio and we saw Oscar and Silvia down there as well so we began to realize that we weren't going to some one's house but they were coming here! (Not to our small apartment but to the main house patio). Suddenly panic filled my mind. Do I take flowers to Silvia when she isn't having us in her home? Would it appear awkward to bring flowers to someone in a more public place? Do we just walk down and join them? Questions questions questions!

Much to our relief Oscar came up and escorted us down to comida. In a very relaxed fashion I was able to take the flowers to Silvia in the kitchen and then go sit down with the pastor and his wife. At first the nervousness I was feeling did not subside. We just did not know what to expect and the pastor spoke no English! Thankfully his wife speaks English fairly well so she was able to translate for us. As the time flowed, so did the conversation. The more we all talked together the more relaxed we all felt.

Gary and I are totally amazed at how God opened the door to this relationship. We had such wonderful fellowship with this man and woman that we had just met. We talked about prayer for the city and God's calling upon us all to Taxco and what that looked like for each of us as couples. The pastor even said to Gary, "When you preach in our church there are many translators so you don't need to worry about language right away." Gary and I were stunned at the openness of this man of God. Here we are total strangers and he is welcoming us with open arms. What we found was a bonding of hearts that didn't need to have a church committees approval or a board meeting to say that it was alright.

What was even more shocking to Gary and me, after coming from years of relational isolation in Colorado, was that the pastor and his wife invited us to dinner-comida at their home tomorrow! Amazingly, we had comida together this afternoon on the patio for two hours and then we are having comida together tomorrow afternoon in their home!

All of this hits Gary and I on many levels. First of all, the spiritual level where God has totally orchestrated all of this without our initiating anything. Oscar, the grounds keeper at the B&B, approached Gary yesterday and asked him if we would be willing to have comida with the pastor today. We just cannot believe the open doors. Also, some of the prayers for the city that have been on our heart have also been a major prayer focus for the pastor and his wife! These prayers are not the typical, "God bless Taxco" but specific prayers led by God. It's amazing that Gary and I and the pastor and his wife have been praying these unified things for Taxco even though we were several thousand miles apart! That is just incredible.

On an emotional and relational level it is also amazing. As I share these things in my blog/journal I want to be careful not to offend my Colorado friends. In short, the Colorado culture has been very foreign and painful to Gary and me for these past 13 years. We come from a much warmer interpersonal cultural climate in Tennessee and Western Pennsylvania. We were accustomed to getting together in people's homes for dinner, Bible study, and game nights weekly and some times many nights out of the week. Coloradoans just do not do this and we have lived in a state of cultural shock and pain for the past 13 years. I do not want to offend any of those who I love in Colorado but I also have to be honest in that was an incredibly painful time for us relationally.

Therefore, to be invited to comida twice in one week, and one of those dinners in some one's home is like finally coming home after many many years of loneliness. Our surroundings are different and we are struggling to learn the Spanish language but the people oriented culture is so meaningful to us. We will learn the language and we will figure out all the ins and outs of being culturally correct but what matters most is that the culture naturally fits us. We don't have to grunt and strain to enjoy the Mexican culture, because we are Mexican in our hearts!

We stand amazed at all that God is doing on our behalf. We couldn't possibly have orchestrated any of this on our own. We showed up site unseen to a foreign country where we don't know a soul and in one week are having dinner with a pastor and being invited to preach in his church through no initiation of our own!

Thank you Father for your amazing provision in our life! We are your sevants Lord, use us for your Glory!

Mercado!

I'm sitting in our upstairs apartment sipping cocoa. Gary is across the room in bed reading and Nathaniel and Bethany are in their downstairs room asleep. I cannot believe how contented I am here 2,000 miles away from all I've known and love! It's amazing. Gary and I were talking about how God has established our family and has taken the American culture out of us, in the past 16 years of marriage, to the point where it doesn't really make a huge difference where we are in the world, our faith and our family life remains intact and actually very much the same. I was hoping that's the way it would be and I am so relieved and joyful that it is true in reality.

Having said all of that, we are not just snuggling into this historic Mexican home but we have been out and about nearly every day making discoveries, learning the language, and enjoying the Mexican people. Today was certainly no exception!

These past couple of days have been amazing! Yesterday we began the day by going to the downtown Mercado. We had been there twice before but this time we were going to attempt to buy some groceries. The first thing to do was to find a bolsa to stuff full of peppers, spices, fresh fruit and other goodies. When I finally did find a bolsa I ended up buying two because I couldn't decide between pink and red! :-) Choices choices choices!

The next hurdle was to figure out how a gringa gal, who speaks very little Spanish can buy groceries in a bustling Mexican market where no one speaks a word of English! It was very interesting to say the least! The Taxco market is simply amazing, with emphasis on the aMAZing! It is so very steep and the market stalls wind in and around a labyrinth of streets. 

We filled our bolsas and then started the journey up up UP the street back home. It was an incredible work out as we once again walked the 50% incline but only this time carrying two large bolsas of fresh produce! Hmm maybe we won't miss the gym after all!

After we ate some comida, Gary and I took a taxi back to the walmart owned store in order to buy more staples that will carry us until we can locate everything in the massive market stalls. This was a big step for us because Nathaniel and Bethany were too tired to come along with us so they stayed home alone for the first time since we arrived in Mexico. It was difficult on this mom but we all did fine during our first two hour separation. Gary and I took a taxi, which is always an adventure in Taxco. The taxi drivers are so nice and helpful though. I am not really afraid of all this crazy driving because mostly everyone is very polite and doesn't drive really fast. It's more the terrain that is crazy than the drivers.

In the evening we all relaxed up on the terrace as the sun set over Taxco!

First blog from Mexico

Buenos Dias Senores, Senoras, Y Senoritas!

We have been in Taxco now for three days. It seems like it's been centuries, not because it's been bad but simply because so much has happened in those few days that each moment has taken on such depth and length.

I have to start from the beginning and since this is my blog and not our ministry newsletter I am going to share my heart and not worry so much about length. I need to record the immense change that we're going through and the things that we have experienced. We will never again live through our first few days in Mexico so writing about this is very important to me.

Gary, Nathaniel, Bethany, and I each experienced a lot of different things upon flying to Mexico. The moment I got on the airplane I entered into a type of shock that is difficult to explain. I don't know if it stemmed from the emotional exhaustion of leaving everything behind and moving to another country as well as the shock of major change but my emotional spiral went from bad on the airplane to feeling completely immobilized during our first 24 hours in Taxco.

Everything went well from the airport to our hotel in Mexico City. We got through immigration with some language difficulties but we didn't have a major problem. Going through customs was so easy because we got the green light. Therefore, all my vitamins, healthy oils, and protein powder made through without a problem! I should have been a happy traveler but I just felt numb. We got our shuttle to the Mexico City Holiday in smoothly and we had an amazing dinner at the hotel restaurant. Everything went well but my emotions began a great crumbling descent that I could not logically explain.

We were picked up the following morning by David who took us to Taxco on a beautiful two hour drive. It was amazing to go from winter in Colorado to summer in Mexico. We drove through much greenery, many farms and even saw a field being plowed by a team of oxen! It was a gorgeous drive on a safe highway with a good Mexican driver. Again, everything went fine and I loved my surroundings but inside I was falling apart.

When we arrived at Taxco, I saw the beauty of the city and the stunning surroundings at Casa de Las Palmas, yet I could barely stand up from an unexplainable sense of terror, dread, and hopelessness. Every sound terrified me. I  was trembling in fear and feel that I was probably in physical shock and not just culture shock.

That evening I collapsed in tears and told my family what I was going through. Bethany and I felt pretty much the same. Gary was in a type of shock but not as deeply as I was and thankfully Nathaniel was being an adventurous 14 year old boy and was happy and excited! We cried together, talked together and most importantly we prayed together. After we prayed I felt a lot of the deepest darkest emotions lift. 

That first evening we walked down to the zocalo and then into the market. Now we realize we made a mistake and didn’t hit the best part of the market but kind of got lost and ended up in a dark and depressing maze that made us feel alone and emotionally vulnerable. (We felt totally physically safe but emotionally raw.) We thought this was the only part of the market and we were disappointed and felt that we could never find the food necessities and toiletries that we needed. We walked back up the hill despondent and alone. Every moment of that first evening and night was filled with prayer and leaning totally on God. I cannot imagine walking through that first dark night without the Holy Spirit to comfort me and carry me through. Gary and I just held each other as we tried to get some sleep and push the feeling of dread out of our emotions.

Friday morning we all awoke feeling rested, spiritually and emotionally a bit better. We were served an amazing breakfast of sweet breads, fresh squeezed orange juice, and coffee. After breakfast Oscar, the grounds keeper, offered to take us to the supermercado, owned by none other than Walmart! We were able to get a few staple foods and other products to get us through until we could make sense out of the maze of street markets. When we got home I started to make spaghetti for comida and had a great time of prayer while cooking! After that afternoon time of prayer the oppression that we were under really lifted and we were able to feel joy for the first time since we arrived.

Now for the good news! J

I had a really good night of sleep Friday night and woke up today feeling excited and joyful. I could really “feel” the beauty in our surroundings, hear the birds sing, and enjoy the wonderful Mexican people.

I sat outside on our balcony and read my Bible and sipped my coffee. Then I went up to the roof terrace to have my prayer time and prayed for the city as well as repented for my own lack of faith and trust in God as I wanted to rush back to Egypt the first time the demonic armies began their attack.

After prayer we had breakfast and then we headed out to the market for a day long adventure. What a fun time we had. The market was SO different than our first experience. We found where it actually was and it ended up being totally amazing! It was just like everything we had every hoped it would be and then some. Everyone was so sweet and friendly. We didn’t buy much because we need a couple of bolsas and some smaller peso change. But I had such fun in just buying a bulb of garlic from a sweet Mexican gal and discovering where to buy canola oil! J

The streets in Taxco are amazing. Two cars would drive on this road in the picture going opposite directions, with people plastered up against the walls! There is no way to describe it unless you are here. To say that they are steep and narrow is like saying the ocean is big and deep! Steep and narrow are such insipid words to describe something so indescribable! We are certainly getting our exercise! The street from the zocalo to our “home” Gary has estimated to be a 50% incline! We thought walking on the treadmill at the gym at a 15% incline was a work out! The streets are also very narrow but these little VW bug taxis go winding up and down the roads. Everyone is polite while driving so you don’t fear for your life in that regard but there are no sidewalks on these narrow streets so if a car comes you have to plaster yourself up against the side of walls of the buildings so as to not get your toes run over! When Oscar took us to the supermercado on Thursday we were driving on a two way road where we could have put our hands out both back windows and touched the walls on either side of us by just sticking our hands out as we drove and that is on both sides at the same time! It makes our adventures in Ouray, Colorado look like a kiddy ride at an amusement park! Thankfully when we have ridden a taxi or with Oscar they haven’t been driving terribly fast so we aren’t afraid but just completely amazed!

After our amazing trip to the market we walked back up the hill to "home" and then walked back down to enjoy comida (the 2:00 main meal) at a local restaurant. We had mole Poblano and it was delicious! The music was beautiful, the warm summer breeze was blowing and the view was incredible. What a magical day!

Right now I am sitting on our balcony listening to the amazing song of a thousand tropical birds and Mariachis in the background. There are also a thousand humming birds here which is such a delight. The bougainvillea is incredible! What amazes me is this past summer I bought a small bougainvillea plant at Loveland Garden Center in order to pretty up our picnic table. It was small and I couldn’t keep it alive for anything! Here the bougainvillea is more than eight feet high and a house width in size! It’s just amazing.

The best thing about being here though is the people. Oscar and Silvia have been wonderful. They are so kind and giving. It’s bringing a lot of healing to my heart.

Tomorrow should prove to be very interesting. We are going to our first Mexican church service. Oscar and Silvia are picking us up close to 11:00. I can’t wait to worship in Spanish and see how God uses us as we step out as missionaries.

Que Dios Le Bendiga!

Raquel Y Familia

Last day in Colorado

I started this blog in order to journalize our move to Mexico and all of our experiences once we arrive. For some reason it's difficult for me to pick up a pen and old fashioned journal and find a quiet place to physically write. So for now this is my journal, read it if you like, either way it is not a place where I am focusing on pleasing others but simply sharing my heart. If no one reads this it is fine because it helps me just to get my thoughts on "paper" and share my heart in the ether of the Internet.

This is our last day in Colorado. I wasn't "feeling" much until we got the shocking news that our boxes will cost us $2300 to move rather than $1000. Gary and I were shaken down to our toes. But our God is greater than money and he will provide. It's put my emotions off balance ever since we got the information and in some ways this is a good thing because I've finally begun to "feel" this move as the shock of the financial disaster shook up my emotions. I think we've been too busy to really feel much of anything. We've just been going through the motions of what needs to be done but haven't taken time to really soak in the finality of these last few days. I hope once we get to Mexico we will be able to breathe deeply and take some time to re-cooperate from this move. It's taken an incredible amount of time, effort, and money to make this happen.

As I look around our empty house, I'm not sure what I feel. Our children were 7 and 8 years old when we moved here and now Nathaniel is 14 and Bethany is soon to be 13. They've grown up in this home so of course it has a lot of meaning to us. Yet, it is still plaster, wood, and carpet. Our family dynamic goes with us, it doesn't end when we leave these four walls. Yet, if these walls could speak they would tell of a thousand family memories, all of which we take in our heart with us to Mexico.

It is a tremendous time of transition. The next few years Nathaniel and Bethany will grow to be a young man and woman. Not only are we entering a major culture shock but we are also in a major life changes in the stages of growth of our children! I love seeing them grow though and discovering the little adults that they have become. Every aspect of parenting is an adventure. I do miss Nathaniel's little blond curly hair and how he would curl up on my lap and write me little love notes when he was so little. I miss Bethany's little girl dresses and how she would always run up to me and put her arms around me and say, "Mommy!" Yet, I love the maturing and growth process as well. Nathaniel and Bethany are such amazing people. How could I possibly get sad at their growth and maturity? Parenting is an amazing and wonderful process!

Now to move my family to Taxco, Mexico for the next adventure and stage in our life!
Adios Amigos!
Raquel

Dust in The Wind

It's a beautiful early spring day here in Loveland, Colorado. Our bulbs are poking their heads out of the ground anxious to grow and bloom. If there's one thing we will miss in Colorado it is our flowers. It's been such a fun experience these past five years, digging and planting and nurturing our gardens. It's difficult to release them into another person's hands who may not care at all about gardening and who may let them dry up and die.

This has been a grand lesson in the realization that "everything is dust in the wind". Without our constant love and care our flowers will die. This house and land could very well go right back to the way it was before we bought it and put so much effort into fixing everything up. It's a very weird feeling and as if we never existed! Just another reminder that only what is done with an eternal purpose will last forever, everything else goes back to the clay that it was created from and turns to dust. We all want to leave a legacy. We all want our life to matter. We all want to know that when this body dies that something will remain of our effort and our life. Yet, how much time and effort to we put into earthly things that will rust, decay, and fade away? And how much time and effort do we put into developing spiritual things which are our great eternal inheritance and reward? I never really pondered this until I looked at my slumbering flowers and realized that without our care, our house, yard, and land will go right back to the unruly state that it was in when we moved in here and no one will know we even existed.

No one will know we existed, except the neighbors who we loved, prayed for and brought cookies on a cold winter's day. No one will know we existed when looking at our work on this house but I pray that we've left a spiritual legacy here in this neighborhood that will grow in people's lives and bear good fruit. Those are the kinds of things that will never die.

I close my eyes
Only for a moment and the moment's gone
All my dreams
Pass before my eyes a curiosity

Dust in the wind
All they are is dust in the wind

Same old song
Just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do
Crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see

Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Now don't hang on
Nothing lasts forever but the Earth and Sky
It slips away
And all your money won't another minute buy

Dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
All we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
Everything is dust in the wind
Everything is dust in the wind