refreshed

This entry has been posted by Grant's mom, Dawn.

That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. Romans 15:32

Our week with Grant & Hannah is swiftly coming to a close, and we most certainly can say we have been refreshed from our time spent together.  The beautiful sunny weather has been refreshing too.  I have thoroughly enjoyed getting a little taste of life in Ixtlan--walking to the market to buy vegetables, hearing roosters and  fireworks day and night, enjoying street bands, hanging laundry from the balcony, singing hymns in Spanish, eating breakfast at 8:30, lunch at 2:30 and supper at 8:30pm.

Greg (Grant's brother) found his Spanish skills greatly improved since the last time he was here, and has been enjoying talking to the people of Ixtlan church and to the students at school.  We've all had the opportunity to say "Dios te bendiga" (God bless you--equivalent to our "greetings brother/sister") many times over, as it is the practice at Ixtlan church to greet everyone when you arrive at church, then after the first service, then again before the second service (which follows fifteen minutes after the first service), and once more at the end of the second service.  I can see that immersion would be an effective way to learn a language.  You learn quickly out of desperation--like when the phone rings and no one else is around.  I actually forgot that the person calling might not speak English.  But I was able to understand that the lady was asking for Grant, and to tell her that I am Grant's mom, he is not here, and I don't speak Spanish.  Later she said to Grant, "Your mother doesn't speak much Spanish, does she?"  Or someone comes to the door and you are the only one home.  The problem with being able to exchange the niceties, like "Buenos Tardes," is that a long string of Spanish is sure to follow.  Now's the time to use "No hablo espanol."  She just smiled big and asked, "No entiendo?" (You don't understand?).  I smiled big back, and shook my head.  "No, no entiendo."

On Friday we had a memorable trip to Morelia.  We enjoyed walking through the historic district, eating Mexican cuisine (I with tostados de pollo, Dean with a cheeseburger), taking a long-cut back to the parking garage, getting lost in the middle of heavy downtown traffic with the gas gauge on empty, then into more heavy traffic where lanes on the road are only suggestions.  I did pretty well from the back seat except at the point I was pretty sure a big tanker truck was heading for my lap.  If Grant has some questionable driving practices when he is in the states, we will know why.  Our evening ended in a lovely way.  We went to the home of a believing couple in Morelia for a Bible study.  Afterwards, with Grant and Hannah interpreting, they shared the challenges of being Christians with so few other believers to fellowship with.  It made our hearts weep with them, but we were encouraged to witness their faithfulness and loyalty.

A big thank you to Grant and Hannah for giving us this opportunity to worship with the believers at Ixtlan and to experience the Mexican culture--you are great hosts!