A song I remember from childhood said, “Delight yourself, delight yourself, also in the Lord, & He will give you the desires of your heart.” That is straight from the Bible! In Psalm 37:3 to 5, it says, “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safety. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this”
Today, God did that for me TWICE ~ it had been the desire of my heart to see a particular movie before I left the states to come to Mexico. I had tried to go with my teenage niece, but it was no longer in the theaters. Well, today, I saw that movie. Also, one of the things I always miss the most when I travel to a different country is “good” pizza. Of course, the word “good” is relative to each person’s different tastes! Well, today, I had GOOD pizza, accompanied by wonderful, godly fellowship! The desires of my heart…blessings unexpected… Keep counting those blessings, brothers & sisters!!!
I woke up at 4-something, back to sleep until 6-something, awake again, back to sleep, stayed in bed until 9:00!
Breakfast was cornflakes with milk and sliced banana, and 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with sugar-free blackberry jam.
I went online for just ten minutes, but there were no updates.
I read 16 pages of a book I brought with me, Max Lucado’s Come Thirsty. Then, I started the workbook pages in the companion study workbook. Then, I wrote up a grocery list, because we would be going this afternoon (for my breakfasts & lunches). I updated my journal of my experiences here until 11:10. I started typing up my journal pages.
Just before 12, Julie took me to the grocery store. She helped me to find everything on my list, including tuna fish, sliced deli ham, sliced cheese, whole wheat bread, whole wheat tortillas, brown rice, multi grain pasta, skim milk, fresh veggies & fruit. I spent about 40 dollars & hope that it will last me a week or two! This was the second grocery store I had been in with Julie. They were both different names, but they were major grocery stores! They had groceries PLUS clothing, electronics, housewares…they are kind of like a grocery store merged with a Super Walmart. Here are a couple of observations: Yogurt is really big here! There was an entire wall of different kinds and sizes! Cottage cheese apparently is not very big here. There were 2 kinds, 1 size, no varieties of low-fat, sodium-free, etc… Carrots are less than 50 cents per kilo! They had a huge table displaying the most beautiful cakes & pastries I’ve ever seen! For example, there was a sheet cake, covered in smooth white icing, icing flowers designating each serving size, then a rainbow of fresh fruit slices on each serving!
We got back to the house at 2 & quickly unpacked, because we were planning on going to a movie that started at 2:35.
For lunch, we had hamburgers that they had grilled over a charcoal grill before & then frozen. They were SO delicious! We had them on buns, with mayo, ketchup, cheese, tomato, lettuce, & pickles. They were so juicy that they were dripping! SUPER YUMMY!
We left the house at 2:15 to walk to the movie theater to see Dear John, the Nicholas Sparks movie starring Channing Tatum. We met Nate & Abby there. He is the Office Administrator for SIL & she is the Volunteer Coordinator. Apparently tickets are much cheaper here than at home? Plus, Julie has a card for people their age, so they were 2 or 3 dollars each! Roy & Julie had planned on getting soda & popcorn. I wanted to get a soda too. So, Roy got a combo that had popcorn & 2 sodas for 90 pesos & they gave me the extra soda. I thought the movie was SO good! What a great story, with several unexpected twists! I didn’t know that it was a Nicholas Sparks novel (like The Notebook). Nate & Abby had taken the bus to get there & they had also invited us over for pizza for supper. So, we decided to walk to the house & all drive together in the van.
Here are some pictures of the views while walking between the house & the shopping center:
As we walked back to the house, we stopped at the local indoor market to buy flowers for church tomorrow. About half of the stalls had already closed for the day, but I got to see the flowers, the piñatas, & a couple other little stores.
So, yesterday, as I was sitting outside the house, waiting for my morning ride to school, the beautiful orange tree across the street was calling my name! I SO wanted to just go pick one & take it with me for a morning snack! I had noticed it before that too…but, yesterday morning, it almost got the best of me! I literally had to restrain myself from walking across the street & taking an orange! So, when we walked back to the house this afternoon, from the market, I asked Roy, “So, if a fruit tree is hanging into the street, does that make its fruit public property?” He told me no, but that he would go ask permission to get me one. A couple minutes later, he came back with SEVEN oranges! What a kind & thoughtful brother in Christ he is! And, what a generous neighbor we have! Personally, I have never seen him outside the house, but I’ll have to find a way to say thanks. Oh my goodness gracious ~ that orange, fresh off of the tree, was SO delicious! It was warm, it was sweet, & it dripped its goodness all over my fingers! YUMMY!
So, after a bit, the 5 of us got in the van & went to Nate & Abby’s house. I got to know them better over some scrumptious frozen pizzas! They’ve been missionaries here for a few years & in Guatemala before that. It was a really neat time of fellowship, with all of us getting to know each other better!!!
We left their house just after 8pm. At 8:15, I said, “It’s been a week since my plane touched down here in Oaxaca!” In some ways, it seems like it’s been much longer than just a week! So much has happened & I’ve met so many new people & gone so many new places!
When we got home, I spent 30 minutes sanitizing my newly purchased fresh fruits & veggies.
I uploaded my pictures & edited them. Then, I watched a Disney movie that took place in the 1950s at a boys’ school, while I was online, until 11pm.
I spent time finishing typing up the Day 5 Diary Page 4 the blog & played a cool trial version of Yahtzee on my laptop for an hour and a half, till 1:30am!!!! For the record, this was NOT a good idea! I couldn’t fall asleep right away, I had such an itchy throat! So, I took some NyQuill Sinus & let a Hall’s dissolve in my mouth, before I finally fell asleep, just before 3AM! UGH, stinkin allergies!!!!
Jennifer Thank You for keeping us informed!
ReplyDeleteGod bless you richly!