Sunday Sermon

Taxi. Church. We thought about having the group over for pizza but we hadn't been able to go to the grocery store, besides, there was something else on the menu that Jose had mentioned yesterday. Amor (one of the sisters from the church), wanted to speak to the jovenes group after church. In class we sang songs with the adolescentes, it went okay; it's hard to remember the old tunes with Spanish words.
For whatever reason, I felt strange and apprehensive about this little event. I had no idea what she was going to talk about and I felt as a sort of guardian for the group, like whatever they hear about Scripture should be passed by me first (oh boy my first power trip!). Amor shared some of her story. It was powerful, the whole emphasis being an encouragement to pray more often with each, get together and praise more often, be more intimately involved in one another's spiritual walk. I sat down and shut up. Internally I was so embarrassed at the unfounded skepticism and sense of authority I had felt toward this time. I am shamed by the humility of my sister baring her heart and sharing some of the struggles of her life in order to speak to a group that she knows better than I do. What an incredible and uncomfortable lesson to learn.
We made it home and had plans to go for coffee with our neighbors, Gerardo and Bella Sara. I took a nap. We walked down the mud road to their house where they both greeted us. We sat down in the living room to chat with Bella Sara while Gerardo finished up a few things. We got a quick tour of the house and got in the truck to make a run. We talked about lots of things, our future plans, how we met, our interests, our time in Oaxaca. They took us to an overlook of the city up on the side of a mountain next to the road. The sun was setting and the city was waking up, lights coming on illuminating the network of veins and arteries. We stopped at the Italian Coffee Company (a branch very similar to Starbucks), and got a table outside. We ordered and chatted more. I asked about their work and they shared. Like all good Mexican evening outings, it ended with one final stop: the taco stand. We ate 8 tacos (5 and 3 off course) arracheras, grilled to perfection, salted with lime, chilled with guacamole and flamed with picante. It was delicious even if it was one and half too many.
The drive back was interesting and probably the most important. We continued talking about this and that, but they could get over how young we were. They asked us to guess their age and we both said late 20's. Gerardo is in his early thirties and Bella Sara in her late thirties. I couldn't believe it, they look much younger and have (what us young people would call) a youthful swagger (or manner) about them. They asked us how many kids we wanted to have and Kimb said 5, I just agreed. They opened to us how they weren't able to have kids but had thought about adopting. Bella Sara asked about God's role in all of this both with her not being able to have kids and the prospect of adoption. I tried to emphasize that God knows more than we do and has a perfect timing to events and plans (as we will see in later posts), we must trust and work where we are and with what we have. I also tried to encourage them with the perspective of sharing the good things they have in life. They are a couple who love each other, have a beautiful home, good jobs and a puppy that is full of energy. Could it be a wonderful thing for a child who had none of these things to be blessed with a family who does and who would more importantly love and provide for them consistently? It was just some thoughts and perspectives for them that Kimb and I share, and I could tell Bella Sara was grateful and would take them to heart in consideration. We said goodbye, having had a wonderful time, with promises to do it again soon.