Playing with the little ones.....

Wow, I can't believe it has already been about two weeks since my last post...I have been learning some amazing things in my classes about the character of God, as well as what he calls me to live up to as his disciple. It is both challenging and convicting at the same time...I am also learning about the dynamics of spiritual warfare. I have been feeling personally attacked, but God is good! He is carrying me through it and teaching me about how to be a true warrior of His.

So our team has been going out to this village called the Colonia on Wednesdays. We play Mexican "football", with the children there and then give them a brief message about God. Our team desires to establish relationships with them by going there on a weekly basis and showing them who God is through our actions. I have a lot of fun playing with those kids! It gets pretty competitive kicking the soccer around. I usually play defense and try my best to not accidentally kick the ball towards my own team's gulley....they usually don't appreciate that too much.

Last Saturday, our team went out to the Colonia to help make a birthday meal for this older woman's husband. I had the opportunity to make home-made tortillas. To my surprise, the woman we were helping had us pinch the top layer of the tortilla right after it was taken off the stove...which gave the tortilla a more "decorated" look. It was quite amusing! My classmates would pinch a few times, then shake their hands and maybe scream a little from the burn, only to continue shortly after the sensation subsided. I believe it took about three to four sessions of pinching, shaking, and screaming to complete just one tortilla! It was awesome.....
My favorite part of the day was playing with four little girls and one little boy. Although I didn't understand very much Spanish, I was still able to connect with them through physical play. They would peep around the corner, smiling sheepishly at me....and I would pretend to not notice at first, only to dash at them suddenly with full force. The reaction of squeals and laughter was addicting to me. Some of them would allow me to catch them because they knew what was coming next....lots of swinging, twirling, and tickling. It was awesome!!! I was even able to communicate with them in very simple Spanish terms. I have found that practicing with children is a great way to learn the language, since they tend to speak in simpler phrases.

Our team will be going back on Wednesday to help build a room for the family...I know our desire is to bless the family, but honestly, I feel like I am the one being blessed most of the time. To know I did something to make a difference in someone's life in a personal way, such as building a room for them, blesses me back tremendously. It's pretty cool how God designed us to be in relationships with others in ways that bless both parties as a gift is being given. I really love that....