"Love for God is not essentially behaviour but affection--not deeds but delight."
"If one of our human capacities finds pleasure in anyone or anything in such a way that this pleasure is not also a delight in God, then we have not loved God with all our capacity."
"The only way that we will love God is to the degree that we know him. And remember that only Jesus can make him known in truth and fullness. (Mat 11:27) Therefore, look steadily at Jesus and pray that he would reveal God as compellingly beautiful. "
~John Piper
Un Techo: A roof
A roof over your head to keep out the flies and the rain. The picture of a family of 6 living in two small bedrooms, a kitchen and basically outside with walls (no roof or floor) yet excitedly inviting guests over to eat as they bring a table outside tells my heart that joy is not found in what you own or where you live. Eating mole, rice and tortillas with 100 flies swarming all over yet laughing and talking like everything is normal tells my heart that joy is not found in circumstances or comfort. I am thankful today for a roof over my head to keep out the flies and the rain, yet put in my place to remember that joy is found in Jesus alone.
Quinciniera:I attended my first Quinciniera this past week. Güera (White girl) at the Quinciniera, nice. The Quinciniera here in Mexico is basically like a wedding for any daughter's fifteenth birthday. There is a ceremony, a dance, cake, dinner and it goes on into the morning of the next day. The birthday girl is dressed in an extravagant dress as well as the men being dressed in tuxes. A married couple and friends of mine here, Gus (pronounced Goose in Spanish) and Arika, invited me to come along as Arika has her own dance studio and coreagraphs the dances for the Quincinieras as well as teaches dance classes throughout the week. (I'm excited to learn how to dance like the Mexicans:) I think Mexicans are born dancing because everyone there could move around the dance floor with the live band and looked good. I have never seen a celebration like this for anyone's birthday!
Natacion: Swimming
Once a month we have"fun day" afternoons. This past Sunday we went "swimming." We arrived at the outdoor facility ready to go; however, quickly noticing that the large pool had no water and the kiddie pool had slides that were not working. There were a couple slides which the owner said didn't work, but we could try them if we wanted to. Let me just say that in the states, the pool that would have been a lawsuit waiting to happen. The price was the same with or without water in the pool. Nice thinking, a good business mind! I guess not many people go swimming here in Fresnillo. We ended up having just a fun day in the sun and bringing up buckets of water to dump down the slides so that we could make our own fun. Fun day ended up being a success and a learning experience for expectations.
Angelica y sus hijas:
Let's take a step back into my first week here in Fresnillo. I decided that I would go running one morning by myself after having gone with one of my roommates the day before. I wanted to feel a little bit of independence and get back into the routine of running. One would think that if you can get around New York City just fine that you would be able to navigate your way through the city of Fresnillo with less than 100,000. Let's not jump to conclusions just quite yet! I quickly discovered on my way home that the roads are a little more confusing than I thought as they twist and turn and quickly remembered that no one here speaks English. As you can imagine by now, I ended up taking a wrong turn and didn't know how to get home. Nice one Ashley!
Knowing not to talk to any men, I kept my eyes open for the ladies on the street. I found a couple of girls going to school and tried to explain some "landmarks" that I remembered: The gas station (la gasolinera) and the garden (el jardin). It turns out that there is more than just one of each of these landmarks and that the girls just moved to Fresnillo. They quickly pointed me to a woman and her daughter across the street.
I ran across the street in my running gear (including huge men's Steelers basketball shorts that I bought at Walmart in Zacatecas--bright yellow) and tried for directions again. This sweet woman, Angelica, and her daughter walked with me and sent me on my way home. Thank you God for watching over me!
However, the cool part about these story is that it is no coincidence that I have not run into Angelica and her daughters 3 times in the city and am looking forward to going over to their house to hang out with them soon. God works in fun ways some times and I was praying for an opportunity to spend time with them. Please pray for this family and their hearts if it comes to your mind!
Las graduaciones: GraduationsThe week of July 2nd-6th was graduation week for: El kinder, la escuela primaria, la escuela secundaria, la prepa and la universidad. The schools go in the same order as the states except that "kinder" is three years and there are not enough schools so one group of kids goes to school rom 9-1 and another group of kids going to school from 1-5. There were many kids graduating that go to kid's club during the week in our neighborhood or colonia so we went to as many graduations as possible to show our support and excitement.
The graduations run on Mexican time. This means that if they start at 9 am that really means 10 am. The ceremonies are outside and last a couple hours. Each child graduating chooses a "madrina or padrino" similar to a godmother or godfather to walk with them to receive their grades and certificate. Each graduating class also does a dance in costumes including Hawaiin dancers, rancheros with cowboy hats, boots, dresses, etc..The dancing starts at a young age and is so fun to watch.
It is a huge accomplishment for many of these kids to graduate through la escuela primaria (grades 1-6) as this is as far as many of their parents have gone in school or even less. There is a sweet girl Liz, from church, who is the first to graduate from college in her family this week. A huge accomplishment!
Please pray for these children that they continue in school and that they wouldn't be discouraged or go off into the wrong path. That they would be encouraged and motivated to complete their education.
Playing phase ten at the "albercas" the Mexican pool with our new Executive Director, Daniel Park, and his wife, Joy. 
Meredith and I set this baby up ourselves...and I managed to think I was locked in when I tried to open up the tent to go to the bathroom during the night...I think I slept about 2 hours that night....it was freezing!
On our way out of the Sierra about 30 cows stormed our camping area...good thing the didn't bump into us when we were sleeping the night before. There were also tons of wild horses.
