We've Only Just Begun...

Hello every one and hello 2010! Wow, I can't believe that we are offically in the final days of January. This year has already been a whirlwind and we've only just started the year. 2009 ended perfectly for us. Although I had doctor and dentist appointments, we were able to share Christmas with family. We had a wonderful time and I am so blessed to have a great family through Ryan. Jax had a wonderful Christmas. Each year is more and more fun with him. We read “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” every night. He’s a fan of candy canes and Santa Claus. Jax was showered with gifts this year and he’s a happy little boy. Of course Ryan and I were blessed in every way also.
Many may be curious as to what the doctor had to tell me during this check-up. Well, the lump in my throat has not grown, but it hasn’t shrunk either. He feels that surgery will be in my future, perhaps within the next year. I had a bone density scan done and have loss some bone, but nothing too bad that he wants me on more medication. He and I both feel that at my age he wants to keep me on vitamins and not introduce too many chemical medications into my system. He’s a great doctor and I am so lucky that he’s taking this conservative approach. I feel great and since I’ve cut out most caffeine from my diet, (coffee is the one exception…I’m just plain evil without it) my joint pain has gone away and I just feel better.
We are now in the midst of preparing for this year’s AIM (Adventures in Missions) class to come for their annual visit. It looks like we will have about 114 people joining us here February 5 -10th. We will have 21-22 girls staying in the house and then the rest bunk up at the hotel around the corner. This visit by the AIMers is one of our favorite things about being here. Since Ryan and I both went through the program in 199…uh humph….we get excited to see who God has brought to AIM and the passion they have within them. It’s also a great time to re-connect with old friends that make their way down here around this time. We know for sure, that if it weren’t for the AIM program, we would not be missionaries here in Mexico.
We will also host a small group from Texas in March. It’s a mixture of Abilene Christian University, Lubbock Christian University, and Texas Tech University students. They are coming down to simply serve the church here. With a smaller group there are some things that we will be able to do with them that we can’t necessarily do with a large group. Please be praying for these two groups. Pray that all lives will be touched in ways that we can’t imagine.
Tonight we have our leaders’ group. We will be talking about the renovation of our small groups. We’re trying some new things for the New Year. The leaders within the Benito Juarez congregation are very excited about it all. I’m going to start working on putting together a website for our congregation. This Sunday Ryan is doing a seminar on the importance of small groups within the Church. In fact, he’s isolated himself today preparing for it.
The beginning of the year is exciting and busy. Forgive me in advance if I’m not blogging as often during the next month or so. This just means we’re busy and “staying out of trouble”. I love you all and will post pictures soon from our Christmas trip.