In Good Hands

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power  that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.  Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. Ephesians 1:19-23

I came to the passage above a couple of days ago, and words cannot describe how much I needed that reminder. Though I would never pass up the opportunity to visit Raul in Mexico, stepping foot in that country amplifies my fears regarding our situation. No matter how hard I try to just relax, I find thoughts about what would happen if I had to live there creeping into my mind. How would I adjust to the cultural differences, learn the language, and find a job? What would I do if I had to leave my friends and family? Yet, I know that if God's plan for the Gizzos includes us living in Mexico, then he already has the details figured out as well. Sometimes, though, I need a reminder of this fact.

If only I could really understand the "incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe in him". Nothing is impossible with God. My God is the same God who raised Christ from the dead. Is anything too hard for him? Certainly not! God pays no attention to our odds of Raul getting his residence or being denied. Whatever happens is his plan because we have placed this in his hands, not only Raul and I but also the hundreds of people (yes, I really believe we have that many people) praying for us. Whatever happens, will be his plan for us. But, more than that, it will benefit his Church. Our happiness is not his number one goal, though I am sure that he will continue to bring us peace and joy. We are here to bring glory to God and to benefit His body here on earth. We were created for a purpose. That knowledge is truly a comfort and at times it is all I can do to cling to that so that I don't have a complete meltdown. 

All of our paperwork proving (or at least trying to prove) our "extreme" hardship has now been turned in and all we can do now is wait. I do have to admit that part of me was hoping that I would somehow be slightly injured or get robbed while I was in Mexico so that I could send that in as "proof" that Mexico was too dangerous for me to live in. Yes, maybe you should pray for my sanity! :) The letter we got in April said we may have up to 12 more months to wait. We're hoping it will be closer to 6 like our lawyer suggested it may be. It would be great if Raul could be home for our first snow storm of the season. 

Though each trip is hard for me for the reason I stated above, it is also a reminder of how truly blessed I am to have Raul as a husband. Though we are polar opposites in some areas, he balances me out perfectly. He is so patient with me and my insecurities. He can always make me smile, even when I don't want to. His love of life and people truly challenges me to do the same. Who would've thought that the guy I started dating because I was his GED tutor would teach me so much?! I must admit that sometimes I feel a bit sorry for myself that I don't get to come home to my hubby after work.  But then, I realize how blessed I am that I even have a hubby that I love and miss so much. 

Some of you have asked how Raul is. Well, Raul is still Raul.  Wherever he goes, he finds a friend. He has his guys he plays basketball with, his guys he plays cards with, and his fellow comandantes that he fights crime with. :) He has been spending a lot more time in the Word (thanks to not having a T.V.), and I can see the work that God is doing in him. His faith in God and his plan for us really is an example to me. Though he feels at home in Santa Monica now, his heart is still with Waukegan. It's hard to explain, but even though Raul has been living in Mexico close to a year now and his Spanish has improved tremendously, he still has a Waukegan "flavor" to him. In fact, we were often asked by Taxi drivers where we were from and no one believed him that he was living in Puebla until he had gone through our whole story. While we were in Mexico City, some guy on the street even tried to sell him a fake Mexican I.D.!  So...Raul is doing well, but he misses "home". 

I miss my honey a lot and am actually looking forward to the start of the school year since that seems to make time pass more quickly. I will be doing my practicum this Fall and taking a modular course. In addition, I have a discipleship course called VP3 that I will be leading at church.  I am secretly hoping that Raul will be home before the semester ends, but I guess that's up to God. Thanks again to all of you for your prayers and support. Please take a listen to the song in the video below. It's a great encouragement!

 

Friends, lovers, and...activists?

It is strange to think that it has only been a few days since I last saw Raul as we said goodbye at airport security on Tuesday.  As I look forward to hopefully hearing "good news" sometime in the near future, the days cannot go fast enough it seems. However, the 13 days that I got to spend with Raul did fly by much faster than I wanted them too. 

Raul in his new Journey Church t-shirt

We both greatly enjoyed my latest visit to Mexico. (Well, at least I think Raul did as well!) I flew in to Mexico City on the 4th of July and we stayed the first 3 nights of my visit there before we headed to Puebla. For the first night, we found what the person at the airport called a good hotel for a reasonable price. I will say that it was pretty cheap and the location was good. In addition, the room was clean. However, when we opened the door to our room, I was surprised by how tiny it was and the fact that the wall that divided the bathroom from the bedroom did not go clear up to the ceiling. I know we're married and all, but I guess we're enough of newlyweds yet that I wasn't too keen on the fact that what was done in the bathroom could be heard (or smelled) by the one who was not in the bathroom. Needless to say, we only stayed there the first night. The second night, we stayed a Hotel Marlowe. We ended up getting a good deal on it from hotels.com. It was a good location, quiet, clean, had a purified water faucet for drinking water, and the bathroom walls went clear up to the ceiling. What more could a girl ask for?!

Raul being a good Samaritan in Puebla 

We took the bus to Puebla for the next two nights and ended up staying in the same hotel that we had been in before. Why mess with a good thing? The highlight of this brief stay in Puebla was marching in a protest regarding the recent election of Mexico's next president. We mainly joined the crowd so we could move down the block and across the street to our hotel, but Raul did vote for the same guy that this movement was supporting so we joined in the chanting as well. :)

  

Raul's Street

On Monday, we traveled 4 hours by bus to Raul's town, Santa Monica. Because it is the rainy season there, it was not quite as hot this time around. In fact, after the evening rain, we were probably a little cooler there, than my friends and family in the Midwest. The rain knocked out our power on Monday afternoon, but it came back on Tuesday. Though the rain prevented us from being out and about visiting relatives like my last visit there, it was quite impressive to see it approaching over the foothills. Eventually, the rain completely hid the foothills. On Tuesday, I did get to "meet" all four of the pigs that Raul has been caring for. He is lamenting the fact that one of them is getting almost big enough to eat. For those of you who know Raul, you know he's a softie when it comes to animals and not even living in Mexico can change that about him. 

Our favorite waiter

Sportin' our 20 peso sunglasses on the balcony.

On Wednesday we headed back to the city of Puebla and again stayed in the same hotel. One good thing about it is that it is right across the street from our favorite restaurant and bakery. In the evening and early morning, the smell of fresh baked goods wafts in through the balcony doors. The hotel is also very close to the town square (zocalo) and cinco de Mayo street, where all there are a lot of shops and fun things to look at. We spent most of our time just walking around and looking at things (and people). It rained some in the afternoons and evenings, but that usually didn't last that long and it kept the temperature pretty cool. While my friends in Illinois were experiencing 90 degree weather, we were walking around with our jackets on most of the day.

We stayed in Mexico City my last two nights there. We again found an amazing deal on hotels.com and we stayed at the Gran Hotel Ciudad Mexico. It was much nicer than any of the hotels we had stayed at before and was only a block away from the square. 

I will spare you the smaller details of the trip as this is already a pretty long post. I was truly blessed to be able to take this trip, yet it made me long even more for the day when the end of vacation does not mean saying good-bye to the one I love.  I will be doing a second blog post to bring you up to date with all of the immigration stuff and the waiting in the mean time. 

Thanks again to all of you who made this trip possible by your support--financial, emotional, and prayer.