The Year 2022

I knew that it had been a while since I posted but I didn't realize it's been almost 11 months!

Picture credit: Addison Beyer

It's so cliche to say that the year went by so fast, but it really has. When I think of all that transpired this past year, I am overwhelmed by God's goodness in His Protection of us, His Provision for us, and His Never-Ending Love for us.

Allow me to elaborate a bit on each of those: I think anywhere in the world has its challenges with safety. In every country, you would be able to find unclean water, wild animals, humans doing inhumane things to others, drugs, child trafficking, etc..... It's no secret that in our area of Sonora, MX we have had past experiences with cartels fighting over land and territories. We are about an hour south of the AZ border and its precious real estate to be located so close to the United States. Praise the Lord the fighting does not seem to be occurring so close to us now. It's a peaceful place to be, especially when there's no gunfire in the distance.

Because we live so close to the border, (around 1 hr 15 min away) it's convenient to make trips to Walmart, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, etc. Recently, the last stretch of the new highway was completed and so far we have escaped an accident. If I were to guess, I'd say we averaged 2 trips a month up to the States and God has kept us from experiencing car trouble for which we are so thankful!

Another example of protection is in the form of daily living. Raising kids is risky business and it is almost a given you'll have some form of need for emergency care throughout their lifetime. Since we've lived here (July 2020) we have needed to only take Sierra once and Erin once as well. Thankfully both problems cleared up with some medication and time. With horses and Gators to ride and bikes and hoverboards and swingsets and trampolines.... the risks are many, but we aren't dwelling in anxiousness, waiting for something to happen!

One way He is providing is through an increased understanding of the Spanish language and the ability to speak it. Language school gave us a great foundation but there's nothing like being around it all the time! It really is the best way to learn after having the groundwork laid by teachers. From time to time, Andy and I talk about how we feel we've improved and are able to understand certain people much better now than even 6 months ago. There's a particular man that he says talks like his Grandpa Grusy did, only in Spanish. :) We both have a lot to learn, but we don't experience discouragement as often anymore.

Another providence is His continued peace and presence. With so many needs (physically, emotionally, mentally, financially) around us, very suddenly we can find ourselves in a pit of discouragement. I particularly am a "fixer". If I see a problem, I like to develop a solution and get it "fixed". Perhaps that is a way God is refining me. He places me in a place where I can not possibly "fix" someone's problems. He reminds me that I am nothing. I'm called to be here and sometimes I still wonder why? Why am I here? "Nothing" seems to change. And yet I know I am being changed.

Recently, on a walk with a dear sister, she shared how sometimes God just doesn't show up in big ways like we think He should. And yet, during a period of complete surrender to the years of hard things, God gave her the vision of how God provided for the Israelite people, step by step. In the vision, she couldn't see faces, only feet. Feet that were marching. Marching toward His eventual providence. Listening to her explain that gave me some more understanding of how He works and its something I've tucked away in my heart.

Financially He is providing for us through generous donors like you, through the Servant Fund of HarvestCall. I can't begin to tell you how precious it is to not have to fundraise or raise support when we go home for visits. For those of you who do need to fundraise, I can see where that would be a blessing to experience God's provision and meet directly with donors by way of presenting your mission to them. I'm not saying one way is better or more right or anything--that is not my intent. This Servant Fund is the only thing we know and seems to work for HarvestCall missionaries.

God's Never Ending Love for us: there are times I think about this more than others. Parenting has taught me a lot about a Father's Love. It's our desire that our kids would have a healthy view of their Heavenly Father. I realize there are times I get in the way of this. When I'm feeling especially discouraged about a parenting mistake or emotions that I allow to have control over me, the Holy Spirit is there to remind me of my Father's Love and how He would want me to be at peace with those I love. Please pray for parents everywhere!

The above encouraged me to remember the high privilege of raising my children and to view it as an opportunity.

"...but I know that you are the God of the journey, not just the moment."

Praise God for all He cares to do with us, His Clay. It's not always easy to surrender to what He asks of us, but the Peace is always worth it. There's a lot of life here that I cannot share nor would have the words to be able to express the depth of sadness, despair, consequences of sin, etc. that some have experienced. I occasionally post on social media but try to keep things lighthearted and upbeat. Social media can be positive, it can be negative but it's almost always an inaccurate description of how we are doing behind the camera. If you do see our pictures and think "They must be doing alright" please remember

1.we are humans

2. living in a different culture

3. with stress and fatigue

4. with children that have needs

5. most of the time have more questions than answers

6. being overwhelmed with all the needs around us

7. missing family and friends back home

8. trying to not look to the future too often

9. sometimes struggling to get our point across in a language that we are kindergartners at best

10. and probably a hundred different things I can't think of right now:)

Wow, sorry if that got deep and heavy.

It's probably one of the main reasons I haven't blogged all year. I didn't quite know how to put the thoughts that I felt comfortable sharing into a paragraph. However, I do enjoy writing. I find it therapeutic. So I don't want to give up on this blog just yet!

And now...some pictures to share from 2022. Sometimes pictures tell more of a story than what we can write. I'm so thankful for pictures! I love looking back at when my kids were babies, toddlers, kindergartners, when we were newly married...etc.

This picture was taken in San Carlos, Sonora, MX. It is a beautiful beach town about 3 hours from us. We've been privileged to tag along with Mom & Dad Z and Mom & Dad Ott, and Adam for two different trips. It's a beautiful place with lovely condos. The picture right before this one also shows the condos we stayed in.

The lovely pool

On a trip back from San Carlos. It's a blessing to be able to take a 15-passenger van from CVE to fit all of us and our luggage/food.

Over the summer, I was able to help teach the cooking class with Marce. She's a real gem!

Also this past summer, we were able to help paint a mural on the entrance wall with the summer volunteers! It was a great teamwork activity but you'll notice some kids are wearing lots of paint!

I'm not sure why this picture is so blurry, but this is all of the summer camp kids and teachers. If I remember correctly, it was each Tuesday and Thursday for about 5-6 weeks. There was a cooking class, a carpentry class and a Joy Camp class. There were also some elective classes like cross-stitch, sports, survival class, mechanics, and macrame. Our older 3 kids were involved but Aria was not old enough so she went to the babysitters class:)

SEDONA/PRESCOTT, AZ

Instead of buying Christmas presents last year for our kids, we decided to do a spring break trip to Sedona & Prescott, AZ. After we finished there, we drove back down to Tucson for Easter Services and then returned to CVE for an Easter meal.

It was a great trip! We loved getting to explore more of the AZ landscape and hope to be able to do the Grand Canyon someday.

Brittany Lanz has been helping me add some murals to the Santa Ana Burgers location.

Aria has enjoyed getting to know her kinder classmates and reaped the benefits of being invited to their parties.

We've been blessed to have many visitors this year! Harold and Ashley, Mila, Job, Jake, Elise, Adam, Mom O, Dad O, Marilyn, Jeff, Mark, Tammy, Mom Z, Dad Z, Evan, Elisabeth, Josie, Penny, Violet, and probably some more I'm missing :(

It's a joy to get to share our lives with those we love! We love spending the intentional time we get with those who come through our doors.

Sierra loves her horses! Well not her horses, they are CVE's. She works at the stables several times a week and especially enjoys the end of the month paycheck:)

This huge tree is a pecan tree in our backyard.

Visiting the town plaza with Evan and Elisabeth and girls

Clayton getting his haircut in town. His barber's name is Temo.

These next pictures are of our trip back home in June. We spent some time in Illinois and Ohio when Adam and Karen got married. Clayton and Aria were in their wedding.

And this is just a photo dump of our summer here. It was packed full of stuff and flew by!

This last picture is of our Weimaraner Indi. She died November 4th from complications of a surgery. We miss her so much and thought this picture was very fitting. Almost looks like she's walking to her grave, as we buried her out "beyond the sunset".

We had almost 2 wonderful years with her. She gave us all kinds of unconditional love and was just such a good dog. She had puppies this past June and we kept one of her pups, who looks very much like her. We named her Nayvee. It's been a good thing shes around, I think the empty yard would have made the transition without Indi that much harder.

Our community here grieved with us and was so special to receive gifts from them. Indi would often be over at the school playing with the school kids during recess and PE.

Jason and Clayton did an excellent job on her cross. I'm so thankful for their friendship!

Well this blog is getting really long. I will sign off for now. Thanks for reading and caring about us. Please pray. Whenever you think of us, please just pray. It's a two way street, so when you come to mind, with God's help I will pray for you!

Because of Jesus, Erin and family

P.S. No Christmas cards this year will be sent out. Taking a year off.