Now that we are here.....

Disappointment-

You are probably afraid that I’m referring to the Lord’s provision.  Rest assured; I’m not.  I’m referring to myself and how I am responding at times with my attitude.  You know, I think most of us assume that when we reach our goal (whatever that may be) that we’ll be automatically happier and more resilient under stress and pressure.  You’d think there’d be some benefit to finally reaching the “end of your rainbow”.

Melissa and I have had this goal (serving cross culturally) for a long time; over ten years.  I just assumed I’d be happier, less grumpy and overall a “jolly well big fellow”.  Turns out I’m just as grumpy as I was back home.  Furthermore, all the bad little things within my character that I hadn’t dealt with back home, got bigger down here.  It turns out that I’m the same as everyone else, and respond the same way as most people do to a big move in ministry.  So much for being Super Spiritual.  So, one of the lessons are, deal with your “junk” when you realize it.  Don’t put it off for a rainy day.

Melissa and I have been reading a great book and it’s been helping us clarify a number of things as well as our goals down here in Mexico.  It turns out in my own mind I had devalued our administrative role down here which lead to other negative attitudes.  Our admin role will offload our visionary bosses and grow the ministry.  Melissa and I are growing the ministry indirectly; which is an important role.  I guess I forgot that for a couple minutes J.  I’ll be responsible for the management of the vehicle fleet; and Melissa and I together will facilitate the work the short term teams will be engaged in while here.  Melissa is also going to be doing some health screenings and fitness classes as well as helping the kids with homework at night.  She’s busy!  But she loves it.

Secondly, we are going to start a discipleship program with the children from Grace Children’s Home (GCH).  We are going to call it “Camp Out”.  It will be on Friday nights, sometimes at our home; other times somewhere else.  Our hope is to do some fun stuff like camping etc but also have a time where these young people can connect with us or other mentors individually in a small group setting so we can get some issues young people face out on the table.  Yep, small groups; that’s what we are going to try to facilitate here.

Please continue to pray for us as we get into the swing of things down here and move past “transition mode”.  Home schooling is going great but can be a challenge at times.  Pray for Melissa and the kids as they work on their education together.  Pray for the spiritual development of our family.  We’ve switched churches and cultures and that stuff just doesn’t happen automatically.

Today was Sarah’s birthday.  We crossed over the border last night and stayed with our cousins in San Diego (The Linde's).  We went to the Zoo today and had a blast just relaxing and staring in amazement at God’s creativity in our animal kingdom.  What a blessing.

Thank you for praying for us and/or supporting us financially.  It is such a blessing to be here and the ministry can be so full of joy and encouragement as we try to bless others.  Thank you so much for partnering with us!

Blessings,

The Hanson’s