The Ideal Christian Woman

Part 4

Thanksgiving Celebration

A bunch of got together last night for some Thanksgiving festivities. It was very fun and soooo yummy! Here are a few photos from the evening:

Elaine patiently awaiting the food

Fox with Lil' Bit (Alejandra)

Finally it's time to eat!

Amazing, right?

Let the games begin...

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This n' That

I am not a play therapist, but I think Claire is trying to tell us something every time she lines all of her toys up looking longingly at Anna & Maggie's bedroom door

Sweet Elaine turned 2 on Nov. 6th!!!!

Wes & I attended Suzanne & Memo's Boda Civil last weekend

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Documentation of Why I'm Going Crazy...

At least 15 times a day Elaine asks me (thankfully in the most adorable voice) "Whatcha doin', mama?" And at least 15 times a day I answer, "Cleaning up, Elaine."

3 is a very concrete age, and their little minds are working very hard to make sense of everything. And oftentimes Claire's mind is beyond her vocabulary and ability to communicate. So I spend a lot of time having conversations like these:

Claire: "What's that?"
Me: "It's a box of cookies."
Claire: "Where's it from?"
Me: "The store."
Claire: "Why is it from the store?"
Me: "Because that's where we bought it from."
Claire: "Why is that where we bought it from?"
Me: "Because they were selling them, and we wanted them."
Claire: "Why did we want them?"
Elaine: "Whatcha doin', mama?"
Me: "Cleaning up, Elaine"
Claire: "Why are you cleaning up?"
Me: "Because the house is a mess."
Claire: "Why is the house a mess?"
Me: "Because no one puts their things away when they're finished playing with them."
Claire: "Why don't no one put their things away when they're finished playing with them?"
Me: "That, my dear, is a stinking great question!"
Claire: "Why..."

Or sometimes the conversation ends early with:

Claire: "What's that?"
Me: "It's a box of cookies."
Claire: "Why is it a box of cookies?"
Me: "Because...it's...it's... a box of cookies... because... that's what it is........."

Cultural Slideshow

The DBC Missions Women are featuring Mexico at their meeting this month, and this is my contribution to their efforts.

Enjoy!

Celebrate Good Times - Come On!

The Mag's is 6!

A Few Pic's From TX

Elaine

Granddad Crawford at the Family Reunion

"Uncle" Stew and the girls in Austin

Yesterday Claire said:

"What is that junk in my hair?" as I was brushing the junk out of her hair.

Labor Day Visitors

Dragon, Maggie, John & Elaine

John, Wes & Justin

Happy Birthday Claire-Bear

I never posted about some of Wes's program buddies - John Carroll and Justin Williams - visiting us over Labor Day Weekend. Click here to read John's account of the weekend. I probably wouldn't have even thought to post except my daughters continue to talk about the guys all the time.

Recent quotes: "Who's your favorite person Anna?" Anna: "Dragon "(a.k.a. Justin)

Maggie:"Do you know who is the smartest person I know?"
Well since we had had a great day of homeschooling, I thought I knew the answer, but I said:
"No, who?" Maggie: "John Carroll - he knows more than anyone in the world."
Thanks!

Claire: "Is Dragon Justin or Jazzy" Trying to figure out what Dragon's real name is and somehow inventing another nickname for him.

Craziness, Now and Forever

As always our life is insane! We took a super quick trip to the metroplex and were able to enjoy:
~ the Crawford family reunion
~ DBC's Mission Women's Meeting
~ some great time w/ our families
~ some great time w/ our friends/supporters
~ lots of yummy "American" food
~ lots of yummy Blue Bell (it's in a category all of its own)

Then we traveled to Austin and stayed w/ the Stewart's for several days! In Austin we were able to hang out with lots more people, attend the Austin Stone, go on 2 dates (thanks!!!!!! Stew & Kimberly), play Wii for the 1st time, hear the most awesome sermon (click on What is Pure and Undefiled Worship?)I've heard in a VERY LONG time, be challenged in pretty much area of life, have intense fellowship w/ the Stewarts, and Wes saw Midlake, Lucinda Williams, Wilco & Bob Dylan at ACL.

You can see a few pictures from the Austin leg on the Stewart's Blog.
I'll try to post a few more soon.

Now that I have my real curriculum we have begun our intense homeschooling! Wow, this is great material! It's also a lot of work for me and the girls! We'll see if we can keep up with it all! It's definitely going to take some flexibility and creativity to make it all work. But we are definitely having a good time!

Creative Ventures

Anna with her sun, lion & girl

Maggie with her dinosaur, lion sun & blue birds

3 Years Old

On Saturday Claire turned 3 years old!!! We cannot believe she is growing up so fast! She is such a sweet gift from God.

Always Thinking

Mommy: "See Maggie, 6 is greater than 4. Do you understand?"
Maggie: "No, I don't understand... why is 6 better than 4?"

From Justin Taylor's Blog- Offspring of Pride

Joe Thorn points to Puritan Richard Mayo's sermon on The Prevention and Cure of Spiritual Pride. Mayo says: “It is a big-bellied sin; most of the sins that are in the world are the offspring and issue of pride.” Joe summarizes some of the sins that pride gives birth to:

1. Covetousness - because you believe you deserve something more than others.
2. Ungodly ambition - because you believe that you are most qualified, and the idea of someone else being preferred over you is an insult to your perceived worth.
3. Boasting - because everyone should know who you are and what you have accomplished.
4. Contention - because in picking fights you feel a sense of superiority over those who may (or may not) be in error.
5. Unthankfulness - because you deserve everything you get!
6. Selfishness - because others do not!
7. Self-deceit - because it’s easier to believe you are something, when in fact you are nothing.
8. A judgmental attitude - because you believe the errors of others are much more serious than your own.
9. Gossip - because you look so much better when telling others how awful someone else is. Mayo said that the proud “endeavor to build their own praise upon the ruins of others’ reputation.”
10. Complaining - because God should have consulted you before orchestrating the events of your day/life.
11. Hypocrisy - because you must hide the truth, your own failures, in order to avoid shame and accumulate praise.

See Justin Taylor's Blog: Between Two Worlds; He has another great article on handling criticism.

Switching to Home

Well after much prayer, counsel and consideration, our family has decided to homeschool this year. I am very excited about the opportunity to pour into my children's heads and hearts. I know at the very least the Lord will use this time to grow me and draw me closer to Him. But I also pray that the girls will grow in knowledge and wisdom - true wisdom- fear of the Lord! They are sponges with an incessant desire to learn new things! I think we're going to have lots of fun. They are very excited too! We haven't officially begun since the girls' last day of school was July 2nd, but I've had to give them "work" since they couldn't wait! We are going to be using the Sonlight Curriculum. Please pray for us as we make this transition. And if you have any tips, book recommendations, suggestions, etc. please post 'em!!!!

A little more Xalapa

So this turned out to not be a zoo, but it was by far the LUSHEST park I've ever been to.

The girls and I with the lovely Lupita Bigurra!

Anna & Claire chilling at the Villa's home

Miguel (missionary to Spain from Monterrey) & Chuck (associate pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas) blessed IBUC with some evangelistic training, a men's retreat & some preaching! The Villa's blessed all of us with an incredible lunch.

Our final Sunday in Xalapa we invited the church over for lunch. It was so well attended we ran out of food :)! Here the jovenes are trying out Extreme Jenga! We miss you all!!!

We had a busy, but somehow wonderfully refreshing 6 weeks in Xalapa. These posts do not do our trip justice because so many people and places are missing (because we are horrible at remembering to take pictures!!!). We praise the Lord for loving us so tangibly throughout the entire trip! The sweet body of believers at IBUC, the Moody's, the Brooks', the College Life Dudes, Torie, Miguel & Chuck, the Bigurra Families, Sra. Francis - thank you all for loving us, encouraging us, praying for us and mostly for glorifying God through your humble lives of love and service. May His grace continue to shine through all of us!

La Hacienda de Santa Ana

The ceiling of the church right next to Santa Ana's house

The church

Maggie with Bates Moody! We miss you (and the rest of the Moody family:)!

Though you might not see Jono peering out at you from Santa Ana's house, it's still worth the trip.

Elaine

More Xalapa

Elaine with Daddy at the beach in Casitas.

The family that lent us the house in Xalapa also invited us to join them at their beach house!

Our friends the Moody's joined us for several weeks in Xalapa. Marcus led an outreach to a local village. He and a team of local doctors provided medical consulations for the community. Here he is sharing about everyone's need for the only true Savior - Jesus!

Faithful servants from IBUC Xalapa & DBC led a time with the children at the village.

Sunday at IBUC Xalapa - a sweet and faithful group of believers that we love dearly!!!

A little glimpse of our 6 weeks in Xalapa, Veracruz

This is the house we were lent for our stay in Xalapa. It was perfect! Thanks Lupita!!!

Check out this yard! Our kids enjoyed many many hours playing here!

Just beautiful!

Here was our view from the living room balcony.

Our picnic with the Hernandez family at the Botanical Gardens. Very fun & beautiful!

Pride

As you may have noticed from my last post, the Lord is really making me deal with the root of all my sins: Pride. Embarassing to admit, and not new news to me, my pride is horrendous, offensive & very much alive. My personality (tend to be a listener, kinda quiet, fairly nice) makes it SO easy to hide. Well, I don't want to hide anymore. I want to be changed in the depths of my heart to be like Christ - the humble Servant. Not fearing men, but fearing God. Pray for me!

Along with the Bible, here are some things that I've been reading on the subject:
The Glorious Pursuit: Embracing the Virtues of Christ by Gary Thomas
Humility by Andrew Murray
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Humilty: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (chapter called The Great Sin)
When People are Big and God is Small by Edward T. Welch

as well as listening (or reading) to:
John Piper's sermons on Humility

If you have any other recommendations, PLEASE share!!!
Thanks,
Melissa

Quoting Gary Thomas from the Glorious Pursuit

"Pride is that potent, that destructive, that abusive, and that offensive. Relationally, there are few things so obnoxious as self-righteousness. Spiritually, there are few things so injurious or even lethal as pride.

The irony is, the more we experience the character of Christ, the more natural reason we'll have to become prideful...If we're not careful, spiritual growth can sabotage itself."

Happy Birthday Anna

Last Friday Anna turned 7 years old!!! Unbelievable.

Here are some photos from the festivities.