[ Just a Glimpse ]

And, the last 2-3 weeks, we've been enjoying these beautiful primavera trees that are sprinkled throughout the local landscape. I love the beautiful "pop" of golden color against the crisp, blue sky!

This particular picture was taken right down the street in our little community.

Happy. and Blessed.

It's how I'm feeling today. Happy...and very blessed indeed!

Last Saturday we went to the hardware store to price some lumber for a project we want to do. On our way out the door, I saw a dryer on clearance. "Hmmm..." I thought. "Maybe I ought to check it out!"

You see, I've been wanting one for some time, but they are generally on the more expensive side, so we've just been waiting. Anyway, back to the story. On clearance, this "fancier" model was the same price as a brand new bottom-of-the-line dryer...and then after talking to a manager, she graciously offered to reduce the price by another $100 USD!! Well, that pretty much clinched the deal for us! But actually, the best part is that the entire control panel is in English! Very rare for here, but made me feel happy! Happy and blessed, knowing that God delights in His care of us, even down to the smallest details!

Also, we're very thankful to a special friend of ours who called on Friday, and told us of an unexpected monetary donation coming our way. I believe God prepared the dryer to be on clearance at the same time that we received the money to buy one. Simply amazing how God orchestrates the events in our lives!

Well, now that we tried to clean up some of the tape marks, then got the gas hooked up and the vent run out the window, we're on a roll with laundry! My towels will forever be grateful to be fluffy once again!!!!!!

[ Just a Glimpse ]

[ Just a Glimpse ]

[ Just a Glimpse ]

I'm excited to be starting something new on this blog!

In my pre-missionary days, I always found it interesting to see how other missionaries lived, the things they saw, and sometimes just wondered about the practical aspect of their lives. Now being a missionary myself, I realize we tend to become acclimated to the culture where we live, and only post to blogs the major happenings in our lives and what our respective church is doing. Not a bad idea, but there's probably other people out there, who like me, wants to see more pictures of the whole panorama that makes up our lives in a foreign country.

Thus begins "Just a Glimpse." I will try to post something every Tuesday for this whole year (and please note the emphasis on "try!"). The pictures will be diverse, ranging from: my family, my house, my community, people on the street, where we shop, the places we go, what we eat, etc...anything that I think you might find interest in. I would like to give you a snapshot into our world here in Southern Mexico.

Most of my pictures will have little commentary with them, unless there's a good story behind it. Please feel free to leave questions or comments and I hope you will enjoy "Just a Glimpse" throughout this year!

Happy New Year!

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

May the rains fall soft upon your fields,

And, until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

-- (Traditional Irish Blessing) --

Our New Year's Eve was spent up in the mountains at our Santo Domingo Church. We brought up a group from our church here in the city and also picked up some young people from Faja de Oro. We had a very good service blessed with God's presence.

After the service, the ladies in Santo Domingo served us all some tamales, mexican coffee, and horchata while we enjoyed some fellowship together.

[ Parker enjoying sips of horchata.]

[Michael digging into the tamales!]

We then headed towards home only to end up driving through Tapachula as midnight rolled around! Bad timing! We saw several drunk people out and about (actually one man on a motorcycle crossed the road in front of us almost causing an accident) and we saw so many fireworks you would have thought it was 4th of July in the States! People also like to throw fireworks in the roadway here...makes me a little leery while driving! I sure would hate to drive over one as it explodes! Ha! Ha! Anyway, we made it safely home last night (actually, this morning) and are now enjoying a relaxing New Year's Day!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

May the prayer of our hearts for this new year be,

to always strive to be like Jesus,

and to give our devotion -

in worship to Him.

(C.M.)