I did have a great Christmas break in Oregon with my family & friends! On January 4th I flew back to El Paso, TX and met up with Amy.  Then we spent a day buying supplies for the year, we picked up a friend from the airport to take with us into Mexico, & we had to spend an extra day in El Paso to have new tires put on the car.  And then we were finally ready to head back to Mexico & when we arrived home we hit the ground running!  We started in on Spanish study again, spent time visiting our friends at church & in the city, and we got back into our regular crazy schedule including English class & visiting the Casa Hogar.  I also started learning Spanish with a new friend – Ana, and she is a great teacher.

On February 2nd here in northern Mexico the Big Freeze came to Chihuahua. And the next morning we woke up to snow on the ground and had below freezing tempuratures.  For most of us we can handle freezing temperatures & it’s not that weird, but Northern Mexico hasn’t seen that low of temperatures in more than 60 years!  The homes here aren’t built with insulation, and are built with cinder block or brick so they aren’t really built to handle these low temperatures.  Almost all of our neighbors had pipes break, some on their roofs, & quite a few pipes broke inside the concrete walls!  We had three breaks in our pipes on the roof.  Our apartment was so cold that we could see our breath & there was frost on the wall by my bed.  So we spent Thursday trying to stay a little warm in our house by having friends over and watching movies.  Most of the city shut down because of the lack of electricity in certain parts, there was no water, and some people were without gas to heat their homes.  The Big Freeze was a natural disaster here in Mexico.  Because of all the broken pipes, the hardware stores ran out of plumbing supplies, the gas companies ran out of LP (it’s what we use to warm up our houses a little), places in the city were without electricty for days, & most of the city spent quite a few days without water.  Our house was without water for 7 days!  But we were able to find a place to shower after 5 days.  For me, it was a very eye opening time to see what are the types of things that I can handle, the things that drive me crazy, & what is very hard for me to deal with.

In our Sunday School class that week in the book of John we studied Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well.  And it reminded me that during this time of lack of water at our house that I have the true and living water that Jesus offered me.

In the midst of the Freeze, I also had an interview in Spanish & my computer broke.  I just received the results from my Spanish interview, and for all the hours I’ve studied I’m right where I should be for as many hours as I’ve studied – Progressing-High!  Praise God with me!  I am going to start working at the Capable level – which has three sub levels – low, mid, & high.  To finish with the Spanish program I need to reach Capable High!  And now to the computer.  I’ve already gone 4 weeks without it, plus I think I’ll have to wait another 2-3 weeks while it gets repaired.  It’s currently in the US getting fixed, because we don’t have any computer support here this year.

Praises
:: A great Christmas break in Oregon & safety as I traveled!
:: One year anniversary here in Mexico!
:: God’s faithfulness & protection!
:: An excellent Spanish evaluation!
:: Surviving the Freeze of 2011
:: Amazing friends here in Chihuahua that take care of me!

Prayer Requests
:: Continue faithfulness & amazing times studying Spanish
:: Continued growth in my relationship with God
:: The new kids in the Casa Hogar – Jesus & Angel
:: For the guys at the Home Office fixing my computer