Post Monday Belize

I will do some post to try to put words to our mission trip but in the meantime read here for the baptism update:

http://westwoodbelizemission.blogspot.com/

Mission trip blues.
I expected it this time but as I wake up this Monday morning to get back to the grind I cringe.

Husband and I talked last night of all the things on our calendar that just doesn't matter. Softball, baseball, meetings ...
Every time I go I get this spiritual high of wanting to do more.
It bothers me. I lose sleep, but I believe it’s God-given. I even daydream of ideas of life changes that might make a difference instead of just talking about them, but it is hard.

So hard.

Images race through my mind of every little thing we saw, we did, and as every emotion we felt come racing through my heart. I mean, there are many places here that might be very similar to the Belize but… but…

For my husband and I, we have to start here in our home. Loving the 2 children God gave us. Loving more. Hugging more. Learning to be better parents. We fail miserably on our own. In Belize, many children miss that parental love. In my home is where I start.

This morning in my daily bible reading this verse spoke loud to me "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:14 ESV)

I don't want to feel closer to God in Belize.
I don't want the loud gods of this world to consume me or stop me from serving daily.

“We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes.” – Radical by David Platt.

Broken Ride

In the morning my little family of four will grow, stretch and live out a call made some 2000 years ago. Depending on Internet and time I will update either here or the church mission blog.

The link for the blog is here: Westwood Belize Blog

Special thanks
For prayers
For pancakes
For yard sales
For cards
For hugs
For painted toes
For donations
For tears
For playground prayers
For journals


I can't wait to take you all on this journey with us again.
We are broken vessels.
There is no good in us apart from Him.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. (Romans 7:18 ESV)






So join us on this broken ride.


All my love

Heart is Gone

I have not officially left.
I am still on the couch.
The list is long.
My mind is here, my heart is gone.
One more Saturday.
My own kids will be baptized in a river by the school probably Monday (3/18) before the school let's out.
My husband will be baptizing our children.
Our dearest friend Todd will share some words since the husband and I will be rendered speechless.
Others will be in the river that day.
Others will profess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord.
Cultures will combine.
Languages will unite.
And the one true God will be glorified.
I Can Not Wait.
I squeal periodically with excitement.
There are missionary friends I want to hug.
There are teachers I long to see.
There are kids I want to squeeze.
A Jesus I want to serve.
A hand I want to hold.
A song I want to sing.
A bible story I want to tell.
A book I want to read.
A Jesus I want to share.

(For geography purposes I posted maps of where we will stay. The school is inland. )

Jacob

I was digging through last year Belize pictures and found a picture of me at my heaviest weight. I don't need to list my excuses but it started with an ankle. Four surgeries over the course of two years and three years of inactivity will pack on pounds. Poor diet + Little movement = weight gain.

So what did I do?
Like Al Roker, I got ... Just kidding.
Mine is a different story.
It won't make People magazine list of who lost half of their body weight.
Mine is a story of healing of a different kind.
My ability to move and exercise is because the healing power of Jesus Christ. There is a story in the Old Testament about Jacob wrestling with God. He walks away from his time with God with a limp and his name changed. I remember reading that story after my ankle injury and relating to Jacob. That time of recovery and brokenness was a tender time in my life. I can see a different me before the injury and after the injury. I am not the same girl who fell down the stairs. I was changed. I was healed.

That being said, it is nothing I have done to lose weight. It is through His power and grace that anything happens with this 35 year old body. I did start the Weight Watchers eating plan. I did start doing what exercises I could. My husband and mother got me a stationary bike. I also have an elliptical.
My ankle has lost 70 % mobility.
It will never be able to run.
It will be able to tell a story of healing and a changed life.
It will be able to walk the jungle roads of Belize in 13 days.
It will work for His glory and His purpose.

Time For The Week

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV)

This week I felt I had very little time for anything. But hindsight is 20/20. I had time this week.
A time to pluck up what is planted which husband can take full credit.
A time to heal after a back injury this week.
A time to laugh with sweet friends over for dinner Friday night.
A time to build up as we had our mission team for dinner Wednesday night.
A time to weep with our church family after Bryan Carr went to the arms of Jesus Tuesday night.
A time to dance with my daughter on Just Dance 4.
A time to embrace my son on a field trip.
A time to seek His word.
A time to keep silence when I just needed to listen.
A time to speak prayers over my family.
A time to love my husband before he travels this week.
A time for peace as we sat around the fire in the back yard.

20 more days until Belize.

26.2

Husband ran 26.2 miles today for his first Full marathon.
We are 26 days from Belize today.
No words to describe how much I love this man.
I have been the momma that cheered for her kids maybe too loud.
I have been the momma who cried during one of my kids sporting events.
That doesn't compare to watching my husband.
This is my fourth marathon to watch my friends run.
There is nothing like it to see it in action.
The 80 year old finishing his first marathon.
The handicap man who drags a leg but beats half the crowd.
The crazy boys in tutus.
The Kenyans.
And yet all I cared about today was an injury free race for my husband.
He mapped it out for me.
When to be where.
What I was to hand him.
What I was to take.
Where I should stand.
His engineering brain had a strategy.
He had a goal.
I grabbed his hand and prayed over him before we got out of the car.
He said this might be the dumbest thing I ever did.
I laughed and said no that was marrying me.
The waiting at a mile marker to see him was too much.
I would catch him in the crowd and shake my Auburn shaker wildly as he would flash that smile.
The finish line is loud and music is blaring.
People screaming.
I shake my shaker so much my arm is numb.
And then he turns the corner.
I am screaming but he can't hear me.
Then he sees the shaker and he flashes the smile.
It is done.
He killed it.
26.2
3:52:08

"A magnificent marriage begins not with knowing one another but with knowing God "
- Gary and Betty Ricucci

If I were on facebook

If I were on Facebook, I would have had some status updates.

But for this time I felt I had to put it down.

So here would be my status updates:

My Valentine for 17 years sent flowers and gave presents.

We are 27 days away from Belize.

Much to do and Much to prepare.

We have reached our goal financially for the trip.

We are always humbled and amazed how God uses His people in our lives to support and love on us and the kids in Belize.

My son ran his first 5K and finished 10th for his age group.

My daughter ran her 3rd kids marathon.

My husband will run his first FULL marathon Sunday.

I am the Mommy Roach cheerleader.

Also I weighed in today at my before daughter weight.

Only took 8 years.

31 pounds gone.

The goal: to weigh my drivers license weight.