January Weather and Fruitcake

It is January, right?  

The children have had a bit of spring fever lately.  

It has been so hot!  I think we've hit the upper 80's/lower 90's for several days.

It is still cool in the evenings/early mornings...40's and 50's so I'm still enjoying hot tea and champurrado for breakfast or before I get to bed.

But in the afternoon...

Well, it's been a bit difficult to get everyone to finish up school after lunch.

We get a good early start, everyone studies/works hard all morning, and then we have lunch around 12:30 pm.  We all eat outside on the picnic tables and then nobody feels like going back inside to finish up.

Of course, we don't usually follow our feelings.

Unless Daddy happens to be home and turns on the sprinklers and grabs a basket ball.

If you can't beat them, join them.  That's when I got out the ice cream. :)

We did finally finish all our studies that day...around 7 pm :-).

But it was sure fun!

 Tell them to smile for a picture and you get this...

Tell them to act normal, and you get this...

Yep, I think I'm rubbing off on all of them! :)

Several people have either emailed or commented asking me for the recipe to the bread I posted a picture of recently.  I make this bread several times a week and it always turns out perfect!  

It calls for white flour and sugar, but I have made it with whole wheat flour, half and half, and also used honey instead of sugar before.  

I currently only have 1 bread pan, and since I usually make 4 loaves at a time (double the recipe), I just shape them into loaves, score the top diagonally with a knife and put them on a couple cookie sheets.  

You simply combine everything, knead it well (I just use my hands...I love kneading bread by hand!), let it rise, punch it down (I love that part too!), shape it into loaves, let it rise, and bake!  Eat warm with butter!  Mmmmmm!

I was going to take pictures of the process, but didn't get very far :)  My hands got messy!
But I did take this shot.
There are only 3 reasons I can think of for which I will remove my wedding ring.
#1- If I am in the hospital and they make me.
#2- If I am making meatloaf and mixing the meat with my hands.
#3- When I knead dough.

Which brings me to fruit cake.  

Did I ever mention that the top of our wedding cake was a fruit cake?  

Really, it was!

Yes, Daniel and I have both been called a fruit cake a time or two :), but that's not the reason we had one on the top of our wedding cake.

It's because my hubby does not really like cake.  But he LOVES fruit cake. 

Yes, he has strange tastes, but I'm glad he picked me! ;)

We were told that you save the top of your wedding cake, freeze it, and then eat it on your one year anniversary.

So I had the lady who make our beautiful cake make the top out of fruit cake.  She had to charge me an extra $25 dollars for that and while I don't know why anyone would pay so much money to make/eat such a thing as a fruit cake, I was (and still am) deeply in love with that man so I was happy to pay for it.

She wrapped the fruit cake with plastic wrap before she frosted it so it would be nice and fresh/frosting free for our anniversary.

I was 6 months pregnant with Timothy our first anniversary and Daniel took me overnight to the coast.  And we brought our fruitcake.

And he ate a lot of it.

And I ate the frosting.

See, we make a perfect match!

I think that was the last fruit cake we had.

Until this week.

Daniel went to pick up the mail at our little post office.

He came home with this small but very heavy box sent to us from a church in Texas.

I opened it up and inside was a beautiful round tin from Collin Street Bakery.

I opened it up and inside was a fruitcake.

The nicest fruit cake I've ever seen!  It was pretty.

I'm sure this church has no idea how much my hubby loves fruit cake.

It reminded me of just how much God loves us to send a fruit cake all the way down to Mexico.

Every day, when Daniel is studying, I serve him a cup of tea or milk and a nice slice of fruit cake.

And he doesn't even have to worry about me eating it. :)

Serving

Sunday morning and evening services.

Wednesday evening prayer meeting.

Thursday Bible Studies.

Saturday morning visitation/soul winning

Saturday evening youth service.

Those are our weekly church activities.

And here is the calendar for all additional activities this year for the

Iglesia Bautista de Insurgentes.

Full. Exciting. Anticipating what the Lord will do this year.

There is so much joy in serving Jesus!!

This past Sunday, we added an additional service Sunday Morning.

We now have Sunday School hour as well as our regular morning and evening service.

Sunday is the Lord's Day and we love being with God's people, hearing preaching from His Word, fellowship, praying, teaching, learning, singing, praising our Lord together.

The day starts early as we get ready for the service, run bus routes, have our morning services, take people back home, clean up for the evening, often have someone over for lunch, and then a bit later, go back to the church to get ready for the evening service.  We get home late, tired, and blessed.  There is truly the deepest joy in serving Jesus!

Daniel has been preaching all year on faithfulness and everyone doing their part to serve.

Working together to reach our town for Christ.

Everyone is excited and just seeing them all serving together brings a smile to my face, often tears to my eyes, and a thankfulness to the Lord for all HE has done!

Brother Juan is teaching first hour Sunday morning now.

Here is a man who kicked Daniel out of his house when Daniel went to share the gospel with him a few years ago.

And he came to Christ!  And he serves him faithfully with his sweet wife and four children along side him.

So many children come each week. 

All week long they hear what is broadcast on the television.

What is taught in the public school.

What their friends tell them.

And once a week we get to teach them about Jesus Christ.

Once a week we get to teach them God's Word.

We get to teach them the truth!

It is the most beautiful few hours.

Hna. Lourdes and Hna. Rosa teach first hour.

Hna. Karla and I teach second hour.

And we pray for them all week long.

Some of the older ladies prepare a small snack between services.

Most of the children do not eat breakfast before they come.

Even 88 year old Hna. Juanita does her part to serve.

Meeting together in a building that is being loaned to us.

And using every room for the Lord!

I love our church!
Our family loves serving together!

There is nothing that brings more joy!

The Joys of Having an Older Brother

Oh, and don't worry...according to them both, "This is fun!"

Only boys. :)

And the Winner is....

This was sooooo fun!!

Not only did I get to share about the blessing Sweet Journey was to me, 

I so enjoyed reading all your comments.

As I wrote each and every name out for the drawing, I re-read through the comments, thought of each person, and prayed for some of you, too.

I had some helpers :)

 Daddy is teaching Bible classes at the church tonight, so after everyone was clean and ready for bed, we gathered in the family room for devotions.

I told the children we would do the drawing first.

 I promised Elijah he could draw the name.  

He was working on  ironing my giant mountain of ironing this afternoon, so it was the least I could do :)

 And the winner is.........

 Jessica Curtis!!!

Jessica,

I have your name sitting on my desk so I won't forget!  

Just email me (daniellockwoofamily (at) gmail.com) your mailing address and I'll get the book ordered for you!

I'm so happy to be able to do this and pray you'll be blessed!

The best news is that we can all have a Sweet Journey walking daily with our Savior!  

His Word is so precious, time spent alone with Him through prayer, giving Him our every care, confessing our sin and knowing His mercy and forgiveness, praising Him, growing in the knowledge of His Word, seeing Him change our hearts and lives as we walk in obedience and faith!  Day by day.   It truly is the Sweetest Journey!  

Sweet Journey

*Wanting to share this book with one of you...see end of post!

Always wanting to do everything "just right", I have been putting off writing this post for too long.  It's been bouncing around in my mind and heart and while I've imagined the perfect thinking/writing time (i.e. children all asleep or quietly occupied and not needing mommy (ha!), hot cup of something sweet by my side, well rested/clear mind....I have a wild imagination, huh? :) ), that time hasn't come.  So I have 10 minutes.  

Last month, I ordered Teri Maxwell's newest book Sweet Journey.  

I was so blessed by this book that I have to share!

Mrs. Maxwell is a sweet, godly, Titus 2 lady and the Lord has given her such a burden and heart to teach and encourage other ladies.  She gets many, many emails every week often from ladies with so many burdens.  Fear.  Discouragement. Worry.  Overwhelmed. Disorganized.  Angry. Unsure.  Hurt.  Lonely. Feelings of failure. Wanting to have a close relationship with the Lord and wanting to be loving wives to their husbands/ loving mothers to their children and just not knowing what to do.  Sound familiar?  My hand is raised.

Mrs. Maxwell understands those feelings.  I've had those feelings and sometimes still do!  

Through Sweet Journey, Mrs. Maxwell becomes like a personal mentor gently leading you

through God's Word to the path of victory, peace, and joy.

It is a very easy book to read!  Perfect for a busy mother of 1, 2, 4, 7 or 12 children.  But yet its truths run deep.  Deep into your very heart.  And it is an interactive book!  Each chapter is full of verses with questions after each one and a blank space for you to write in your answer.  You know, you remember so much more when you write it down!  That's why I'm always making lists!!

This is what I loved so much about the book:

Each point Mrs. Maxwell makes, she gives Scripture to show that truth.  Yes, the Lord has taught her so much and it has been through His Word! 

The Scripture verses are written out throughout each chapter.  You are welcome to look them up in your Bible if you'd like (I marked several of them in my Bible), but you can follow along in the book/answer the questions without having to have your Bible open.  I know more times than not I've been reading while nursing a baby, holding a child..or two..., sitting in the car etc...

It is VERY practical!  I learned sooo much and just applying what I've learned has brought already so many changes in my heart and daily life!

The cover is beautiful and feels really soft!  My husband would probably say, "Jaynee, I can't believe you just wrote that".  :)  But you ladies know how special pretty things are and I loved the feel of the cover.  It's the little things in life that brighten our days!

If you go to the link for the book and check out the table of contents, you can see what the book covers.  

Time in the Word.

Prayer.

Scripture Memory.

So vital.  So important.  Yet often so neglected.

It seems now days one of the main topics I hear is health.  Eating right.  Exercise.  Different diets. Etc...

How much time do we spend thinking about our spiritual health.

Just as physical food is vital to our body...daily, several times a day...man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.

Too busy.  Too tired.  Too discouraged. 

I'm too tired not to spend time with my Lord!  (Isaiah 40:31)

I'm too busy to not give my day to Him and ask for His direction and rest in His plan.

I'm too discouraged when I live on my own without seeking Him first.

I'm still learning so much.  And am soooo thankful to be encouraged in this vital area.  

I would LOVE to share a copy of this book with one of you readers.   

From the names of all who comment on this post, we will have a drawing and send a copy of Sweet Journey  to the one chosen.  

I sincerely wish I could give one to every one of you!  But I can't.  So I encourage the rest of you to get one! 

Christmas and Today

Christmas Morning

Well, it was really Christmas Eve morning because with Christmas being on a Sunday, we knew we'd have our day full with preparing for and enjoying our Sunday service and being with our church family.

By the way, I LOVE Christmas being on a Sunday.  What better day than our Lord's Day to celebrate and remember our sweet Savior's birth!  

The children didn't gripe at all about having our family Christmas celebration a day earlier. :-)  Of course, being as it was my half birthday, I was all for making it a special day too.

Sooo up bright and early.  Well, the children and I were.  I'm not the sleeping in type of parent on Christmas morning and still think I get as excited as I did when I was 10.  But my hubby is mature and wise and keeps us all in anticipation to when the day will begin.  Really, it wasn't that late.  I think we started around 8 am but when you've been up since 5am it feels like forever!

We started with a special breakfast of the yummiest coffee cake ever along with hot cups of maizena.  

*Note for next year:

Make about half the food that I normally do as certain children will be sooo excited about opening gifts that they will not be hungry.

After breakfast, we cleaned up (fastest chores have ever been done) and gathered together in the family room.

I'd been reading the account of Jesus's birth from Matthew and Luke along with some of the OT prophecies throughout the week with the children, so even the younger ones had it fresh in their minds and were following along as Daddy read it out loud to us all.

Afterwards, we talked about that wondrous time and the children went on for quite a while asking Daddy Bible questions.  He's always the best at answering them!

In years past, the children have memorized much of the account in Matthew and Luke each learning a certain part and reciting it out loud.  We got this idea from here and loved it.  This year, as we've just gotten home from being on furlough, we have been concentrating hard on school and didn't do all the things we normally do for Christmas.  But we had a wonderful season as always and covered some of the most important things:

Reading and talking of Jesus Birth

Caroling

Christmas Service

Christmas Box Program

Christmas Crafts (Snowflakes and Carolers)

Christmas Cookies (Gingerbread and Sugar)

Christmas Meal

Learning new Christmas Carol

Giving gifts

Finally, it was time to open gifts.  First, we had each child, oldest to youngest, give out the gifts that they had for each other and Mommy/Daddy.  It's so sweet to see them save up and buy such thoughtful presents or if they don't have much money, to choose a toy or other item that is in good condition that they own and know another sibling would love to have and give it.  

I got a new spatula, coffee mug, pot holder, sweet  hand written notes, new pens, candy (  :-)  ), and among other things, a  note card titled "101 things to do besides drugs".  :)

Then we had the gifts under the tree...Gifts from Grandparents, new Bibles/covers from Daddy/Mommy, and some extra special gifts made possible by a surprise gift from my Uncle and Aunt.   Their faces said it all! :)  

Of course, the rest of the afternoon was spent with them enjoying/playing with their gifts, Mommy making our Christmas meal, picking up wrapping paper that managed to spread to every room of the house, and  responding to, "Mommy!  Look at this!" about 100x,  and Daddy assembling toys/games.

That evening, we were invited to Hno. Ninfa's house where many of the families of our church were and we ate a late night supper, the children played, had a pinata, and fellowshipped together.  

Things are back to "normal" now. :) 

Little ones playing

and getting into things they shouldn't. :)

And back to school

Thankful for my Lord, my husband, my children, my church, friends and family...

Thankful to be just where the Lord wants me to be!

The Best year ever!

My heart is full.  Just seeing these pictures, I can't help but smile and give thanks to the Lord.

I can't begin to tell you what a blessing it was go give out the Christmas Boxes this year. 

We didn't receive as many boxes this year as we have in previous years as due to our travels there was not as much time to organize everything.  But the PERFECT amount arrived.

We received about 100+ boxes.  As we thought and prayed over who to give the boxes to, the Lord laid certain children on our heart.  We wanted to give a box to each of the children from the families in our church.  We wanted to give a box to each of the children on our bus routes.  We wanted to take boxes to the children out in the village of Jesus Maria where Daniel preaches.  And more than anything, I told Daniel that I wanted to take boxes to the "grandmother's" house.  

About 2 years ago, Daniel's brother Samuel was here working with us.  He started a bus route where he would bring 20-30 children into church each week.  One day, as he was out inviting children to church, he came upon a house with many children.  He went to invite them to church and the grandmother came out angry and yelling at him.  Samuel didn't speak much Spanish, but he understood that the grandma did not want the children going to church.  

He later brought my husband to talk with that family.  She yelled at my husband to in Spanish and her native dialect.  

Last year, I took over that bus route.  I pick up a little girl right in front of "the grandmother's" house.  The grandmother wouldn't look at me or she'd scowl.  She wouldn't wave.  The lady who's daughter does come into church with me told me to not even try to talk to that family.  

Every week, I drive by her house.  There are children everywhere in that home. They are filthy. Ragged clothes.  No shoes. Literally sitting in the mud with trash all around.  And they are so precious.  My heart goes out to them.  I would love to bring them home, bathe them, dress them, comb their hair, love them, play with them, and tell them how much Jesus loves them.  But as I saw them week after week, there was nothing I could do.  

I began to pray.  The Lord put it on my heart to make a big batch of homemade cinnamon rolls to bring to them before we left on furlough.  They accepted them and thanked me.  And the grandma began to wave when I waved to her.  The other day, when I drove by, she saw me and waved before I even had a chance to wave to her.  

She is on my heart and I continue to pray.  

Last week, we delivered Christmas boxes to every one of those children.  The first picture of that sweet boy up above is one of them.  They let us come onto their property and we spent about 10 minutes with them.  The children were so happy.  I held the youngest of them.  A 4 month old baby girl.  She had a bad cough.

I told them that other Christians wanted to do something special for the children of our town for Christmas and sent the boxes to us to give to them.

The mom of 5 of the children told me,

"Please tell the people who sent these gifts thank you very much for remembering us."

And I thank you sooooo very much, too.

After we handed out the last of the boxes, it dawned on me that this year, ever box was given to a child with whom we are currently working.  A child that comes to church with their parents or on our bus.  A child that either I or my husband or one of the other men/ladies from our church visit each week.  We are in their homes.  We sit at their tables or in their yards.  We tell them over and over again about the Savior Who gave Himself for them and loves them so very much.

I know there are a lot of pictures.  But if you have the time, look at these children.  Pray for them.  Thank you for making their Christmas so very special in the name of Jesus.