New places

Last Sunday Dave was invited to speak at a church in the state of Campeche. The city is called Calkiní and sits just across the Yucatan/Campeche border, about an hour drive from here. It reminded me of our days itinerating, visiting churches in the States for services on Sundays and Wednesdays, mainly, to share our desire to minister in Mexico and our need for prayer and financial support. It is always a blessing for me to go new places and meet new people. I had the opportunity to talk with the pastor's wife Tili at length which was a welcome change to the activity that sometimes overtakes our time with people. They seem to be very forward thinking and have worked hard to overcome some of the legalism that permeates the church culture in this area. Between services, one of Dave's students took us to eat at a restaurant in the city. Interestingly, it had a pool which apparently you could swim in before or after eating. We, of course, didn't come prepared to enjoy that aspect of the location :-P

But I did get some cute pictures of the kids while we were there.
The kids are always ready to have a good time. So, instead, they played tag on other side of the pool, and they got friendly with the waiters and played with them using the walkie-talkies that were at the waiter station. Before we left, Jonathan returned to the counter to find his "friend" in order to say goodbye!

In the evening after the night service we went to an outdoor taco place and had "tacos al pastor" which is Dave's favorite meal here. It is a seasoned pork with onion, cilantro and small pieces of pineapple on what most Americans would call a soft taco - either flour or corn, take your pick. (The hard curved Taco Bell tacos just don't exist here!) After the kids finished, they ran to the nearby park - you know the kind with metal equipment, with railings missing at the top of the slides, etc. - to enjoy a few minutes of playtime before the drive home.

Since coming to Mexico, I think I have loosened up as a parent. I know I will always feel protective, but I have felt the need to "allow" my kids to be in less than safe environments and more than an arm's length away. Raising kids teaches you so much. Every day is a learning experience and I have SO far to go. I'm very thankful for me 3 blessings.