Youth Group

~ posted by Rubia

Roma and I were first involved in a church youth group as 8^th graders, back at Legacy Bible Church in Texas. Under the leadership of 2 youth Pastors, plus other assistants, we were fed with sound teaching, fellowship, good friends, and fun activities through 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th grade.

It was especially a blessing to us to count on that one day a week as an evening to mingle with other students our age. Unlike Roma, I consider myself more introverted. So at first, I was very quiet and a little drawn back, since it was all pretty new. Yet that does not change how much I enjoyed my experiences. Roma eventually “came out of her shell” and got very comfortable chatting with friends and being herself. I am also quite comfortable with who I am….as the quieter one. J Maybe slower to make friends...yet able to cherish truly sweet relationships and memories in and with our Texan youth group. (Which could be a whole other blog post!) We do miss them!

Since moving to Oklahoma and getting involved at Grace Baptist, Roma and I have attended their youth group that meets both Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. We are excited to continue getting involved! Most of the kids have expressed undeserved interest in us, and extended warm friendship so quickly. I feel thankful and blessed.

Our youth group adventures have included taking an evangelism course on Wednesday nights, studying creation and evidence for God on Sunday mornings, watching “War Room” the movie, having a cookout on the river (canoeing and kayaking involved), a girls pajama party, and a road trip to Lincoln, Arkansas to go rock climbing. J Roma and I have had so much fun, and unfortunately may not even be able to keep up with everything this group does!

Grace Baptist Church

A nice time was spent with church friends on the Illinois River!

Mikaya and Noel get covered in sticky notes at the girls’ pajama party for being the “little girls.” :p

A beautiful spot on Lake Lincoln. The fall colors were great!

This is Kaitlyn and me J

The dangers of bouldering (featuring Kaitlyn, Kara, and the brave Maddie. J)

I was pretty scared! Roma and I each made it to the top with a little boost from our belayer. J We climbed about 50 feet.

The Past 10 Weeks of Being Okies

~posted by Roma

We have lived in northeast Oklahoma for almost 10 weeks now. I don’t know about the rest of my family, but I know I have days when I still miss Texas so badly. I’m having a lot of fun here in OK, making friends and making great memories already. But sometimes I have days where it would be amazing to wake up in my old bedroom, and look out the window to see an incredible Texas sunrise peeking up from behind the pecan trees. To go to our old church on Sunday, and hug people because you know them. To see familiar faces and sights. But we serve a great God who has provided for all our needs. Our Dad, Bianca, and Ben all have jobs now and all three of them work for Christians. Ruby and I are learning really well how to drive cars. Josiah has a basketball game coming up soon. And on and on.

This is a blog post that will go over all the fun highlights we’ve had here the past 10 weeks and what we’ve done. Enjoy!

So, I should start with some pictures of the moving process…

This van looked really familiar to us. It may look familiar to you too. The van that had just moved us 32 months prior (from MI to TX) was now moving us again! The funny part is they could never bring it up our narrow driveway so they always needed a shuttle. These guys worked hard! 

Great place to play hide and go seek!

Lots of neighbors and people from church came over to say goodbye, bring us Starbucks, give us gift baskets, or take away our basketball hoop. J (We didn’t need it.) I took some last TX sunset pictures that were gorgeous, and wrote about this whole journey in my journal.

The next morning we had cereal but no milk, so I ate cereal with vanilla ice cream. J The boys took one car full of stuff, Ruby and Bianca took one car full of stuff and the two dogs in the back, and Mom and I took one car full of stuff and the tranquilized, terrified cats. I took a video with my camera of us driving away. Ben was in New Mexico hiking 100+ miles with the Boy Scouts at Philmont, so he missed the whole moving process!

And then in just 3.5 or so hours, we were there!

The house is beautiful. It has a lodge/cabin/dark lodge-y kind of feel, with 10 acres, a pond, and woods with a small trail going through them. (The dogs were--and still are-- having the time of their lives!) The front porch is really wide and has been a great place for morning devotions. The driveway is super steep and crazy to bike or roller race down. We live on a big hill, so going down the hill is amazing and going up is a physical challenge.

One thing we’ve had to adjust to is all of us kids having our bedrooms on the first floor. (Except Bianca, who is on the loft on the second floor.) But now the boys and Ruby and I share a Jack & Jill bath attached to our rooms which has been nice! There are pros and cons about every house, but overall, we really like it here! We have pretty much unpacked every box now and cleaned up, so come visit us! J

Alright, some fun things we’ve done here the past 10 weeks…

…Found a Christian soda fountain and a job for Bianca on the same day….

…Visited with missionary friends that we’ve known for a whole decade now…

Bianca got a visit from her man J and we celebrated his birthday. We went tubing down the Illinois River one day, had a picnic by the river, went out to dinner, and explored the town. I’m thinking it’s about time to go on another photo shoot in this cute town soon!

Josiah’s got this. He doesn’t need help. J

We’ve been trying different restaurants, going for evening walks, visiting coffee shops, and more. There are a lot of festivals that go on here, with lots of activities. So after we ate we enjoyed the different tents set up outside—one tent had knives, so the boys were drawn to that tent right away. J

Just beyond the tents, two guys were playing  with fire—literally!

We look forward to the other festivals that our different towns here in Okie will have in the future!

Lots of families from our new church have so graciously invited us to their homes, or to different restaurants with them to eat lunch together after church! That has really helped us get to know the families better and we’ve enjoyed the fellowship so much! This home above is the R family’s home. Mr. R is a deacon at our church and while Mom and Dad were enjoying talking to them, Ruby and I talked with their grown-up son S and his wife M for probably an hour, about different hobbies, Lord of the Rings, and more!

Then there was that one time we went with our youth group to watch the movie “War Room.” If you have not seen this film yet, it is a MUST SEE.

Ruby and I went camping in our front yard one night; then a couple days later we started school, which hasn’t been bad so far. I enjoy doing and learning new things and so far it’s not crazy or hectic--it’s pretty relaxing. We also went back to the Illinois River a few weeks ago for a church picnic! We used our Youth Pastor’s canoes and kayaks, went swimming, and had hot dogs, homemade chips, and oatmeal cream pies. Bianca and Ben were at a college conference in TX, but the rest of us enjoyed that picnic! Recently, Ruby and I went to a girl’s pajama party with our youth group girls and we had fun doing that too!

So hopefully that kind of sums up EVERYTHING. Any questions? Just kidding. J

Our Traditional Resurrection Celebration

~Posted by Rubia

This year was the 11^th year that our WHOLE family (all 7 of us) celebrated Easter together. That is, counting all the years since Josiah was born! J We were blessed to have a very traditional celebration, even in our current circumstances…hence the title of my post. J. Dad has visited us from OK every two weekends and planned to come the weekend of Easter. It was so fun to see such a full church on Sunday morning!

Prior to that, we experienced our first Good Friday service in a long time. What a wonderful time—especially since the quiet, solemn service was contrasted with a high-energy worship service on Sunday morning! I was reminded that we rejoice because the resurrection is what changes everything.

On Easter Sunday, we awoke extra early because we young adults and teens still hunt for colorful plastic eggs. J And the only thing we’re likely to be on the hunt for every year is whopper robin’s eggs! Mom and Dad have enjoyed hiding those yearly to help us celebrate--especially after many of us gave up sweets for the season of Lent.

We also like to wake up in time to have a non-rushed big breakfast together before going to church. This year we enjoyed cheesy bacon strata. We also had fruit, orange juice, and toast with orange marmalade. (The marmalade has become more popular since the movie “Paddington” came out, apparently.J)

Our Pastor preached an in-depth sermon from 1 Corinthians 15, and explained how the resurrection had to happen, and really did happen. There are some amazing evidences that back up the truth that Christ really did die, and that He really rose. His body was not stolen. One thing I remember Pastor G pointing out last year was that it has been recorded that women were the first to see Jesus after He rose. If the disciples had concocted a lie about the resurrection, they would have said that men saw Him first. This is because women were of little importance in that culture, and their testimony carried little credibility, so who would have believed them? Thus, this is one evidence that screams that the resurrection was not made up.

Creationist and speaker Ken Ham likes to say, “Christianity definitely requires faith, but it is not a blind faith.” He says this when talking about creation versus evolution, and then points out that the faith of the evolutionist (or atheist) is indeed blind. They ask how we believe what we do, but I ask, how do they believe what they do?

Totally switching gears again, we all appreciate having Dad come often and on Easter, we all enjoyed a day of rest. Living all the way down here in Texas, we are *physically* far from extended family, so there was not present the excitement and adrenaline of a big family gathering…..however, having simply our own immediate family present for board games, visiting, a movie, and late lunch was a great blessing! Daddy headed back to his “other home” after we had lunch, with the promise that we could come to visit him soon.

To explain the food pictures J...we had honey-roasted ham with pineapple, baked redskin potatoes, peas with mint jelly, dinner rolls, Jello beans with whipped cream, and “grasshopper” pie. (This pie has a layer of crushed thin mints, covered with minty green frozen cream, and drizzled with chocolate sauce on top. J)

In closing, I would like to share from 1 Corinthians 15:16-22 as well as verses 55-57, (NASB). These verses assure us that because of the resurrection, lives are changed, and people become completely different when they believe! May these verses be an encouragement to you!

“For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Guatemala Mission Trip

~posted by Roma

Back in July, I had the wonderful opportunity to take my second mission trip! It was refreshing to be back on the mission field again, after 2 years. (In 2012 our family went to Haiti.) Our whole family didn’t go on this trip; just Bianca and I. Bianca went for an internship with other interns for 3.5 weeks, then the last week our youth pastor here in Texas led a team from our church. And I wanted to go! So after having a garage sale here with the help of my family, raising all the funds, packing my bags, putting my pigtails in my hair and grabbing my jacket, I was ready! It took a step of faith to commit to going even if I didn’t know where the funds would come from, and traveling without my family was different, but at least I had a team with me. J

The night our team got there, Bianca came up behind me, swung me around in the air, and squeezed me! It was great to be with her again after a few weeks. Her Birthday had been celebrated in Guat. over and over again, and in this picture we are having one of her celebrations.

Our team. There were lots of other dear people to me that are not in this picture—our translators, the missionaries, the fellowship Guatemala team, and the interns—but this is the team I came down with.

Guatemala was a great experience as all mission trips can be, and this blog post may end up being shorter than I’d like just because trying to share every detail could take so long. All the words and pictures can’t even do it justice. I would encourage you to go to Guatemala yourself. It’s eye-opening to drive past zone 3 (there are 25 zones in Guat.) where no one goes in, and no one goes out, because of the drug cartels. It’s eye-opening to walk along a train track where the people are living in absolute squalor and kids come running up to you to hug you even though you don’t know them and they don’t know you. We went through dirty places, smelly places, and big wealthy houses with sugar cane fields. (We went through a variety of places in 7 days.) There was poverty, and people were broken.

But on a happier note, Guatemala was also a wonderful place to experience Hispanic culture. I will always adore Hispanic culture, being half Puerto-Rican myself. Getting up late in the morning…drinking strong black coffee with cane sugar…never being in a rush…always being on “Guatemalan time” (which is really late)…going to bed at 2:00 a.m. so slap-happy and exhausted; your stomach hurts to death from laughing! Hispanic people coming to the mission house to visit you even though you don’t know them. They’re all smiles talking with you even though there’s a language barrier…it’s AWESOME! And when I got home, it was hard to do the “Texan routine” instead of the “Guat. Routine.” This trip also had plenty of inside jokes and funny memories that make the mission trip even more memorable. J

The things we did during the week were going door to door evangelizing, visiting different churches and a hotel with a church in it, and VBS with kids in zone 25. (pictured above.) VBS was awesome! Everyone took turns teaching every night, (including me J) we got our faces painted, and DANCED.

All these girls in the above picture are precious new friends of mine and sisters in the Lord! Two of them, S and M, have already visited my home in TX. All these girls are great. I’ll be seeing them again for sure.

Some of my favorite memories of Guatemala were: riding on the huge, colorful bus with blasting music on the way to touristy Antigua; shopping in the market for souvenirs for the family; getting a semi-permanent blue and black braid in my hair; panicking for a minute when two Guatemalan Police came up to me and I thought I was getting arrested. But they just wanted me to have my braid done outside of the town square. J So guess what--I was escorted outside the square!

In Antigua, with Mt. Agua in the background. Pastor D has climbed it! I want to climb it! J

Me with the missionaries Pastor D and his wife O. They are an incredible couple!

The most impacting part for me was the first day that we were going to zone 25 to evangelize. We arrived at pastor O’s church and everyone got silent when going inside because a prayer warrior was kneeling at the stage praying. I never learned this woman’s name or anything about her. I just know she was praying, singing over and over again “Gracias Cristo.” It makes me want to be more thankful. Looking around the room, I noticed that an American wouldn’t think there’s much to be thankful for. Pastor O’s church consists of a room, plastic chairs, a stage, and a bathroom that I won’t even get into. But this lady was absolutely grateful. She faithfully prays for her community every day. You can start praying for “the prayer warrior in Guatemala”, and pray God would hear her prayers and do miracles in her community.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures and captions, and Bianca will probably post more on her 3-1/2 week internship later. I hope I go to Guatemala again--maybe for June 2015!

Our Rite of Passage

~Posted by Roma

Bianca had her Rite of Passage when she was 13, a long time ago. Ben had his Rite of Passage when he was 14, a few years ago. Last Saturday, May 17^th, was a very exciting day: Rubia and I had our Rite of Passage Ceremony!

A Rite Of Passage Ceremony happens for us when Mom and Dad recognize that we are growing older and they want to celebrate that we are going through a doorway—a passage way—from childhood to adulthood. Age doesn’t matter so much—it’s more about maturity. So, before our birthday, we celebrated with 12 other ladies (including our Mom, Bianca, and our Abuela) at our church! It was small and simple; the way we liked it. J

We arrived at the church and found the most gorgeous decorations all over the upstairs youth room made by our sweet friend, Mrs. H! There was a table with all the food and blue, yellow, and violet plastic table wear, (we LOVE those colors) and there were two huge fancy chocolate cakes with rich white frosting! There were beautiful cookies, a table with punch, tables and chairs set up in front of the podium where the speaking was done, and a table full of gifts. We were showered and spoiled! J

My Mom made a speech in the beginning. Dad came up, read his letter to us, and showed Ruby and I the video he had made for us on the big screen. It was a wonderful gift from him. J After the video Mom spoke some more, and then Ruby and I stepped up to the podium and shared our testimonies. Then a few other ladies including my Grandma and Mom read their letters to us. We each received a binder filled with letters of affirmation from Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, and even Haiti!

After the reading of the letters, Ruby and I stepped up in front of the ladies, and we had the Passing of Blessings. The ladies each read a blessing over us that was written on cards for us to keep. That was special! Then everyone gathered around us, and we were prayed over. We then enjoyed a fellowship meal together and the men and boys joined us.

We had a big layered Company Salad, (Ruby and I adore salad) deviled eggs, Chick-fil-A chicken, pistachio salad, crackers with hummus and mockamole (like guacamole), cake, punch, and cookies. Ruby and I have loved opening the gifts, reading the letters from all over, and enjoying the new books, journals, music, gift cards, jewelry, etc

It was so wonderful—we felt so, so special, and blessed! We had celebrated our birthday for days. A few days before all this, we were taken to a very special restaurant for dinner and given purity rings by our Dad, then we had this ceremony, then on our actual birthday, Abuela made her amazing Puerto-Rican cooking…I could go on and on! We had a wonderful ceremony, birthday, and wonderful time with family. Praise be to the Lord for His abundant blessings!

2012: An Epic Year

~Posted by Ben

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I was going to post today. At the very last minute--with my sister needing the post--I still couldn’t think of what I wanted to do. So I started looking through pictures, particularly pictures from 2012. I’ve always called 2012 the “twelve month rollercoaster.” For some odd reason, more events and more change in our family took place in 2012 than in any other years of our lives. I could tell you all about it, but instead I will take you through that year chronologically and show you just what took place in our lives during that busy year.



Ironically, the most busy year of our lives started off very uneventfully. Almost nothing major happened for the first 4 months. In mid-April our extended family went on a week-long Royal Caribbean Cruise.

Although we don’t have many pictures from after the cruise until July, several things happened. In May our Pastor announced that he was moving to Houston, Texas; I attended a week long leadership summit (National Youth Leadership Training or NYLT); our church did VBS; and we attended the funeral of my late great-uncle R. The above picture is our Haiti mission team. We were in Haiti from July 22-29. This was perhaps the most significant thing that happened during that summer. Our lives and perspectives of global poverty were absolutely transformed during the week we got to serve in Haiti.

I might also add that before our Haiti trip our family gathered in the living room for a very serious discussion. My dad announced that he was prayerfully considering leaving his 18 year career and pursuing an engineering job at a smaller company. At that time he was in job negotiations with companies in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas. But he was still undecided whether or not to leave his current job.



My Dad and I at the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado.

In late August, my Dad and I attended Vision Forum’s annual Father/Son retreat in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Many great memories were made during this special time with my Dad. I’m so grateful we had the opportunity to do this together!

In September my Dad officially accepted the job in Texas and resigned from his current job. He moved down here in mid October while the rest of us stayed in Michigan waiting for the house to sell.



Our home sold in 40 days! We were so grateful that it did not take too long.

Our stuff leading the way!

During our last days in Michigan, we got to see A LOT of people to say our last goodbyes. Here are some pictures:

Our “Framily” (Friends/family) the B’s.



Some more “Framily,” the M’s.

The Bright Lights group.

And so many more great friends…..

Our dear friends and fellow homeschoolers, the R’s.



Our friends from church, Mr. C and Mr. R.

Our wonderful youth director from church, Mr. K.



Our assistant youth director, Mr. J.

Our Worship Pastor, S.

And then early one morning……

All aboard!!!

And we’re off!

And so we embarked on a journey, and that journey would lead us….



Home.

Christmas 2012.

 

And so our journey came to an end, as 2012 was gone and 2013 had come. Not everything in 2012 was good; our grandparents' health continued to deteriorate until their deaths in January and February of the following year. Our church in Michigan went through some difficult times in the summer and spring. And as often happens in the course of life, we had to say goodbye to some friends and family who had been ushered into eternity. Overall, 2012 was a big year of change. But through it all, God was with us. The year 2012 is no doubt a year that will be remembered by our family forever. God taught us so many things, and we made so many long-lasting friendships. I wouldn’t ever take back one moment lived during that epic year of our lives!