Lord, help us to be a blessing...

How many of you have ever participated in a nursing home ministry??? I remember going with my parents when I was younger ...and I must admit hating it. As a child I was frightened by all the elderly people wanting to touch and hug me; Praise the Lord I see it differently now. The people in the nursing home are often so lonely and at their age living there they rarely see children, but oh how they love them! We went a wk or so ago with several couples from the church to visit a lady who used to come to church when she was able, now she lives in the nursing home. She does not remember much nor can she move around or do much for herself, and she talks very little. However it was so sweet to see the way her eyes lit up at the site of our little Sergio. Of course she was not the only person either, all the sweet elderly people could not stop talking about how cute and sweet he is. I was going to hand Sergio to one of the ladies from the church who went with us and was sitting right beside the elderly lady we were there to visit, as I passed the baby in front of her, she instinctively reached her arms out. If by something so small we can be a blessing, should we not? Not everyone there has the mental capacity to understand the gospel, but what about the ones who do? Hopefully over the years we can explain to Sergio how much these people enjoy children and hopefully he will be able to be a blessing to them:)

Iglesia Bautista El Faro

God is so good. We have really been seeing the Lord working here in the church. Although economically the members are struggling, spiritaully the Lord is stirring hearts. The last Sunday of every month we stay after church to enjoy dinner and fellowship. This past Sunday we had 8 people come who were either visiting for the first time or had not attended the church for many months. Praise the Lord. We also had some delicious food:)

Last week and this week the men have been working on giving the church a fresh coat of paint...it was severely needed. The people have such servants hearts. Several days they have put in 10-12 hrs of work. The walls were very cracked etc so it has been tedious.

Alex (with the hat) - a professional painter and our "project director" and Luis a youg Peruvian who missed his driving school classes to help paint (even though he had paid for them)

Of course they did have to eat too:)

Mr. Smiley

Here are some recent pictures of our almost four month old adorable son! He is such a hilarious little blessing. His new thing is blowing spit bubbles, and sometimes when I sing to him he "sings" back! God is so good to us:)

Momma's Chicken-n-Dumplins

There she is...me and my momma:), and the little guy of course!

The best Chicken and Dumplings ever!!!

I have been meaning to post this recipe for over a week now, so here it finally is:

Be warned no one can make it quite like momma:) Funny thing is I used to like Cracker Barrel's but not anymore!

(I never measure anything so sorry if that throws you off)

-Cut up raw chicken - amount depends on how much you want to make...the more chicken the better!
-Put it to cook in a pot of chicken broth with the stove set on about 5.

-Once the chicken is well cooked add some milk to make creamy - not alot

-The easiest way to make dumplings is with Jiffy or bisquik mix and milk (not sure how to do it from scratch but I am sure you can). the batter needs to be thickish...drop clumps in the pot and let cook.

-Serve and enjoy a delicious traditional Southern dish.

Easter Update...a little bit late:)

Little Sergio in his Easter outfit...he smiles all the time now!!!!


Another pic of the little guy

Torrijas... Step 1

Step 2

Step 3....tttaaadddaaa!

We had a "sonrise" service for Easter. I should have done this post a while ago, but have been super busy, anyway. It was up to me to make torrijas, similar to American French toast, but better. It was a big job since it is a very traditional food during easter week, and here I the American had to make them for several Spanish families...Praise the Lord, they turned out well:) were actually quite good, or at least no one complained, We had a good turn out for the services that day. We have been doing alot of activities at the church, this week the men are painting and this weekend we are having a barbecue so I will try to keep my blog updated a little better, but I make no promises:) Please keep us in your prayers as we serve the Lord here in Alcala.

Salobrena, Spain

We recently had the privilege to go down to the Southern coast of Spain as well as Granada.. here are some pictures of our first day of "vacation"

This is an arabic fortress, the views of the ocean were spectacular...it was worth our 45 min. uphill hike!

My two hansome gentlemen on the beach!!!

Sergio...ready to catch some rays, actually it was a little chilly:)

All of us, with the mountains in the background. How can people see creation such as these mountains, and deny the existance of God??? I just dont get that!

Train up a child...

This post is really just a couple of funny pictures from recent adventures with Sergio!!!! Check out the things we are teaching him:)

UUmmmm, mom, I can not reach!

I really did try hard!

My fingers don't reach the piano either , man I need to grow!

Boxing....now that I can do...just come a little closer:)