Hola everyone! We are back in the USA!

Sorry it has been so many days since my last post. We were doing so good! Leyna has been busy on her Facebook, and with pictures, and I fell down on the blog. But, the last few days in San Miguel were a whirlwind, with many wonderful things coming to a head, and we just got behind. Each of the last few days were spent in school during the mornings. We were very tired of thinking in Spanish, but we finished strong. I got sick on Tuesday night and could not get out of bed on Wednesday due to a high fever, but we did go and say goodbye to everyone at the school on Thursday. (I am still pretty sick, so please pray for me.) We delivered gifts and hugs. On Monday night we went to a bible study and met a lot of Americans in San Miguel that prayed for us. We had a potluck. I made ghiradelli cookies and a cold shrimp salad. It was wonderful to have that fellowship and a wonderful variety of homecooked food! The girls were thrilled. Interestingly enough, the people that owned the house knew my husband's family in Fairhope, Alabama. Another divine appointment! Amazing what a small world it is. Sara from http://www.forgottenchild.org/ is who invited us to the study, so we had, and made, lots of friends there. We also delivered all of the craft pieces that we made for her VBS camp they are having this week in one of the small communities in the countryside around San Miguel...Jalpa. On Tuesday morning, in class, I had the opportunity to share about my relationship with Jesus Christ with my teacher and one of the other students, Alex. It was an amazing opportunity. My teacher, Lily, seemed very touched by what I had to say, and Alex seemed challenged, but both appreciated me telling them and they were asking me questions. The door was opened, and God was good. Keep praying for both of them! The way it all came about was a miracle in itself. On Tuesday afternoon, on the way to work on the website for http://www.giftofenglish.com/ I left my purse, with all my cash and credit cards in it, in the taxi. It was a confusing cab ride, and circumstances led to the cab driver turning around the cab and me forgetting I had something in the back seat...he was waiting for me to be sure I was at the right place. He had convinced me that we were NOT in the right place. At any rate, not sure what the end result was, but someone got ALOT of money, so I hope that it blesses SOMEONE. That was the beginning of a long string of negatives, that the Lord will turn into positives. It reminds me of what Granddaddy Earl used to say, "No good deed goes unpunished," which, I know, sounds very negative, but it reminds me that you always have to be on guard when you are putting yourself out there for whatever it is that God has called you to do. He is my provider. The girls tutored English lessons on Tuesday at the school and we had Tom and Lou over to our house for a farewell dinner and some games of spoons! It was fun. We wanted to thank them for everything that they helped us with while we were there.

On Wednesday we had to say goodbye to the girls at Casa Hogar. We brought some gifts and we played and played with them until a storm came in and we decided we better leave. It was a long tearful goodbye, but we had good quality time with them while we were there, and we hope to see them again next year...which is a hard thing to say because ideally they would NOT be there next year and would be adopted out to some wonderful family that would love them the way Jesus wants us to love one another. It was tough. Go out in the next few days and click on the pictures on the blog and you will see lots of pics from our last day. We wrote them love letters before we left in English so that they can work on their English. Josephina will help them. It was a wonderful goodbye. We were all pretty somber that night, came home and packed, and tried to rest so that we were prepared for the long trip home. Sarah Beth and Melissa were feeling bad, along with me, during the trip, but we made it! We are grateful to be home and live in the greatest country on the face of the earth!!! Thank you, God!

We have done everything that we could do in San Miguel. God showed us who to minister to, who to love on, who to help, who to befriend, who to stay in contact with, and who to pray for. We accomplished all of our goals, and we all worked so hard. We are exhausted and tired, but in the best way possible. There is so much more to do, so please continue to pray for the orphanage, for the two organizations that I told you about here, and for all of the people that continue to push those two groups along. We have been blessed, once again, by this experience, and we appreciate you all who have prayed and have sent us. We will be working on a letter, but know that it would be impossible to tell you everything wonderful that happened.

Oh, and we adopted two cats from the animal shelter where the girls volunteered. One is for the Hymans, so don't freak out! Our little "Plata" is so sweet...she is greyish silver and very, very fluffy. We will try to post a pic. She is our sweet reminder of how God used us in Mexico.

Love y'all,

Leyna and Pam