Hills, Friends and A Toro

Tonight´s escapade  late evening jog was met by many hills! This normally would get me running the other way in search for an easier way, but a new friend and her sons wanted to come out with us tonight, so we tackled these hills!

Yes, I said "us". 

Typically, I jog with our dog, Toro ( which means "bull" in English), He pulls incessantly and is as stubborn as a donkey, but he keeps me company when I go jogging at night. Tonight, however, all three of my boys and their friends decided to take Toro out with me. Which means, we all were going to the park together. 

 " There goes my peaceful jog to think and listen to music!" I thought, but instead I joyfully  hurried the troop out the door to the great outdoors. It was, after all, getting late.

My new friend and I managed to do two big laps, (3Km) and some abdominal exercises, when out of nowhere our Toro comes running to give my new friend a kiss right on the nose!


"Hey, I don´t even know your name," she laughs out loud. 

Oh, thankfully she likes dogs. 

The boys are laughing, throwing each other around, swinging and zip lining as if it were a summer night! It was so hard to tell them it was time to go home. 

I love this park, where I used to take my little boys. It was as if I heard their laughter from a time past. 

What was only to be a quick 30 minute jog, turned out to be a fun, chaotic adventure! That´s what happens when the hills meet 6 boys and a Toro! 




Check out how you can also be strong in your fitness journey at my other blog www.faithfitnessandfun.blogspot.com
.........and
Check out our BE STRONG Ministry at www.bestrongmissions.blogspot.com

Joining every Monday with,

Some Major Heart Warming!

What makes your home run smoothly? What makes you happy when you come home? 

When I came home tonight from a meeting, this is what greeted me and just warmed my heart!

My dear hubby making his new favorite meal - shrimp tempura (with some veggie tempura to make me even more happy)



My middle son, Andrew, working on his last few lessons of math to get ahead. (yes, really, he decided he wanted to have a lighter day tomorrow)

My youngest son, Michael, doing all of his school work for tomorrow, so he can help his "Coach Daddy" paint their football helmets! 

My oldest son, Isaiah, with all his homework done! 

Working-out while watching one of our favorite series with my family. ( me working- out and the rest watching)

Bringing to my mind the verse my dear hubby and pastor preached yesterday,

"Therefore, my beloved brethern, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 

1 Corinthians 15:58 

Be Strong and Consistent,



Check out how you can also be strong in your fitness journey at my other blog www.faithfitnessandfun.blogspot.com
.........and
Check out our BE STRONG Ministry at www.bestrongmissions.blogspot.com

Joining every Monday with,

Mother´s day in Spain

You know, photoshop is getting easier and easier. I wanted to make a special bookmark for our ladies in church, but balked at using photoshop. So glad that it didn´t take all night. 

Happy Mother´s Day in Spain! 

What better verse than Proverbs 31?

Oh, that my boys will be able to call me blessed. 

They sure do like to goof around! 

We went out to play with the dogs and play soccer. It was a riot! So glad we chose to just hang out with the boys at the park. They are growing so fast. 

A gorgeous sunny day with my boys, makes for a happy mommy!

I know it´s not Mother´s day till next week but, Happy Mother´s day to all you Moms out there. Cherish your kidos while you can! What do you hope to do for Mother´s day?

Joining with, 

After the Storm ... I will Trust

Joining MYHM

A New Family Member!

I wanted to surprise the boys for all their hard work these last couple of months.

They had earned a lot of smiles on their smile charts for all their jobs, and this Saturday, they were doing their jobs pretty much without me telling them. It pleased me so much! I just was bursting to my mom on the phone, watching them clean their hamster cage all by themselves, all three of them together.


We needed something special!

Something to show them that Mommy was so proud of them.

It was time for a new member of the family!

May I introduce you to our guinea pig Reeses Pieces - lovingly called Reese.

She is only 6wks old  and is babied and pampered all day long. I wonder how she will turn out?

I´m NOT Dating Anymore!

I am joining the Completing Him Challenge and posting for last week´s theme, telling how I met my husband and a little about our courtship. Also, seens how it´s Monday, I will link up with Making Your Home Sing Meme, because without my hubby this home would not be. He is wonderful. Even when I am aweful to him, he forgives and keeps on forgiving.

I title this chapter "I´m NOT Dating Anymore!"

"Well, I guess I will go to the Revival service alone tonight." I thought, as I was getting ready for the start of my second semester as a sophmore at Pensacola Christian College.

My best friend was singing in the choir that night, and I just hadn´t gotten with anyone else for the evening´s opener. That was fine with me. I would just sit down front in the "spit pit" as we called it and soak in the message.


I was really pretty excited about this semester of college. I thought I had it all figured out. The rules, classes, guys. You know, the typical sophmore know-it-all. I felt pretty confident about myself. (in the Lord of course)


Going to church by myself was not a big issue. I just sat myself down, started to look around, found my best friend in the choir, and relaxed for a great start to Bible Conference. Little did I know, it would be the start of even more, the start of my life with a great man of God.


He turned and asked me how I was going to like our missions class, or something like that. I looked at him and thought, "Do I know this guy?"  He was saying that we were in the same class and that his name was Joseph Contreras. Oh, I must have sat in front of him or something. We kept talking about everything from classes to missions to Classical guitar to Spain. To think back on it now, it is so amazing that in our first conversation together we talked about Spain, which would end up being our future field of service!


He was an incredible classical guitarist. He practiced in the Communicative Arts building 3 hours a day. Would you believe that that semester the Lord put me in the same building for my work assignment cleaning the radio station? I had to walk by Joseph´s practice room every day. Or at least, I made a point to walk by it, slowing down just so I could listen. He had such talent!


I started to wait for him after my cleaning job so that we could eat supper together. We would talk and talk. I remember he had such a heart for missions. He had recently been called to serve as a missionary wherever God would lead and was praying for the country of Spain. I started praying for him too. We became friends and prayer partners.

There were other dates with other guys, but everytime I would ask them if they ever thought about being a missionary they stalled, they changed the subject, or they flat out said no.

"How can pastoral majors not have a missions burden?" I would ask myself.

So, I stopped dating. Dates at PCC really only consisted of going to church together or dinner, but I had had it.  I didn´t want to date anyone who didn´t share my burden for missions wherever that would take me.

"Dear God, I´m not dating anymore!" I remember praying about a month into that same semester.  "I will go singly to the mission field."  I had known from the age of 10 that I was called to be a missionary.

That´s when Joseph stepped up. He started writing me, and he sent me this sweet letter and this single rose. Of course, He knew nothing of my prayer then. It was all God.

We spent a lot of time together that semester. Praying and talking. Before I knew it, God was showing me, that Joseph was the one. God gave me a verse and I knew that I would go wherever God sent this man. I would serve by his side. We hadn´t even said "I love you" yet, but I knew.

The verse was 1 Corinthians 11: 9

Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man."

Here we are on a Fine Arts date. The year was 1995.  We were in love, but our love would be tested that following summer. Stay tune for the continuation.

We use to write to each other every day. Sending letters and notes through the college night- mail between dorms. I will try to write him more during this challenge and renew that part of our love life.

How did you meet your husband? What can you do to complete him more? Come and join in on this challenge. We can all work harder on our marriage. It always takes two!

Cleaning Frenzy Slower than Slow!

Getting only half of a room cleaned last week and only a couple of tests corrected, doesn´t count for a frenzy. Does it? I mean, I have a right to throw a Mama Fit!  ( My friend NINA and missionary neighbor in Portugal started these fits.)

Every time I get started working on something, I get interupted by something else. The boys needing something, needing to get dinner, English classes, exercise, well, just about my whole daily schedule gets in the way of this summer cleaning frenzy.

Today, I started with good intentions of finishing the grades before I posted this, but the baby cried abit more today inorder to sleep, the boys had Spanish class, I had to feed the baby, and I had to clean the kitchen. Well, you get the point.

I didn´t throw a literal fit. Just here on my blog.  It makes me feel a little better to vent. I didn´t take it out on my family, I promise.

Today, I am doing the Making my Home Sing  meme by going with the flow. Praying to be able to get to some more cleaning and grading done by this evening.

Here is my new list for the whole Summer:

Finish the boys room

  _X_ Clean under and behind beds

  _X_ Organize and sort their clothes to give away unused stuff

  _X_ Organize toys to give away unused stuff

  _X_ Make a list of things needed for Furlough.

We are going to visit the States August 9- January 13. Seven weeks and counting.

 the Schoolroom

  _x_ Organize all school books

  _x_Clean and dust whole room.

  _x_ Clean all the cupboards, drawers and under the bed.

  __ deep clean the windows

Kitchen
  _X_ Deep clean behind dryer and the corner shelves.
  _X__  Clean Microwave
  _X_ Scrub down dryer and washer
  _X_ Clean windows and curtains.
  ___ organize, sort and clean cupboards.
  ___ Clean above the cupboards.

Bedroom
 __ dust and deep clean
 ___ sort clothes in closet move them to Hubby´s side to make room for those who will be staying in our place while we are gone.
___ sort all drawers.

Clean the pantry and sort.

Living room:
 ___ clean and dust all
 ___ clean under and behind sofas and inside.
 ___ organize and sort entertainment center
 ___ organize computer cupboard

Bathrooms
 ___ scrub all tiles
 ___  organize cupbords - clean them out.
 ___ paint ceiling

 ___ Plus finish grading tests and recording grades.

I will keep plugging away at it. While taking care of my family and this new sweet addition. Yes, you read right.. A BABY!

Meet Ester. 

She and her mommy come to our church services. Her mommy had to start work, and I offered to take care of Ester so she didn´t have to go to child care. She is a good happy baby, and a joy to have around.

The boys love her!

How are you getting ready for the summer? Will you all be visiting family or going on long trips? How will you get ready for school next year?

Happy Mommy, Happy Home

They say "When Mama ain´t happy, ain´t nobody happy." Bad English ,but how many of you have experianced this? We as moms have a great responsibility. Don´t we?

Well, I am realizing more and more how my attitude and perspective affect my crew. Praying to be more possitive for them and to help them over come the complaining spirit that tends to destroy our good intentions. 

Last night after church, we got to go out for a lovely bike ride. Of course, as always, there was some drama. Our second son´s bike is too small for him and was having technical difficulties. I struggled keeping patient with the small interuptions that this bike posed for us, and having to stop more often than we wanted. We got them fixed, though, and had one of the best rides yet, biking for almost 2 hours together.

Here are some of our pictures.

The bike trails go by so many pasture lands and rivers. It´s like riding in a story book!

So Mommy was happy and we were all happy!

*** I am also  joining Nan on her Making Your Home Sing meme.***

She is hosting a summer cleaning frenzy. I plan to clean a room a week, so the house is clean for the new school year. I will start with the boys room this week.  Here is what I plan to do this week.

- organize toys ( throw junk, give away toys they have outgrown)

-clean closets (sort clothes and give away clothes they have outgrown)

-clean behind and under beds

X - clean and organize book shelves

X - scrub the ceiling where there seems to be growing some mold. uhhhggg

X -scrub the windows inside and out

Plus, I must record and average grades this week!

Ok it´s posted, Nan. Now I am accountable.

Let´s pray for each other. Is there an area in you home that needs a cleaning frenzy? Join us. We will encourage you and pray for you too. 

Staying happy, singing praises to Jesus,

International Dinner - Catching UP II

Staying with my theme of Catching UP, I take you to South America.

Paradise Falls, anyone?

Or how about Bolivian Food?

Pork leg, white corn, and special potatoes in a spicy rich sauce.

First International dinner of Bible Baptist Center

April 25, 2010

This was a very special day for all of us. We were doing a lot of singing and fellowshipping! We are really growing into a family!

Linking up with Making Your Home Sing Monday.

Building Your Home

This past weekend we had the privalege to be part of a mini-ladies retreat. I must admit it was a huge effort for me to get there and to be apart of it, but after being there it was a huge blessing! I am so thankful that I made all the effort to reschedule my English classes,  the boys schedule and took the train to get to the nearby city where it was held.

The theme was "Building up or Tearing down". Centered around how we as wives, moms, and daughters can build our homes for God´s glory. Not just the physical things like cleaning up the house and keeping it in order, but the spiritual side of edifying - or building up each member of your family. This hit home so hard that it was very difficult for me to resist tears. By the end of the second session, I was in tears.

If you are anything like me, you want it all done right "yesterday". I want my home organized, pretty, and running smoothly, but this doesn´t happen very often. It´s only by the grace of God that our homes run smoothly and when we are not connected to His power and strength it doesn´t happen at all. By the time we find ourselves running on empty, we finally stop and ask why. Why isn´t it running as smoothy as it did once before? We know the basics, so what is failing?  I think, these kind of evaluations are so neccesary even if you have done them before and continue to struggle, we need to keep getting back to the Power Source.

Building up our children is an area that we need continual work on. I know I do at least. The last session delt mostly with getting our house in order in our relationship to God, and our Family. The second relationship in the family that is so difficult and that is changing all the time is our relationship with our children.

Here are just a few of the points -

Mothers to your children-

• 
  
  love them  and make them know you love them (Titus 2:4)
• 
  
  Teach them (Deut. 6:6-7)
• 
  
  Correct and train them  (Hebrews 12:11)
• 
  
  Take care of them
• 
  
  Don´t anger them, Don´t take away their hope (Ephesians 6:4, Col.3:21)

There is so much to share, but this last point is key. All the other points, are ruined if there is anger. If we make excuses for our wrong behavior, how can we expect our children to behave correctly. If we are nagging and nagging without giving them hope of doing it right, they will give up. They won´t try to please us anymore, instead they will rebel. Oh, that we leave our children with the hope that the Lord Jesus has given us. That we are His children and we are made perfect in Him if we have accepted Him as Savior.

I was overwhelmed at how far we really are from the "Biblical Ideal"  I thought there is no way we can attain this level of order, but that is exactly what Satan would have us to believe. That we have failed and it is impossible to be perfect. During that last session on Saturday, it dawned on me that having discipline and order in our spiritual life is just like fitness and getting in shape physically. It doesn´t happen over night, of course. It takes training. You can give up on it and go backwards (getting fat and out of shape) or you can keep exercising what you know from the Word of God and keep on. So, I drew up a plan, made a list of things I wanted to change, and started to pray. I need to see it in action. It has to be visual or it won´t work.

Let´s keep building our home and keeping it in order not only the physical, but also the relationships within our home.

***Linking up with Making Your Home Sing Monday***