"Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days " (John 11:6)
This miraculous story begins with the following declaration: "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus (v. 5). It is as if He were teaching us that at the very heart and foundation of all His dealing with us, no matter how dark or mysterious they may be, we must dare to believe in and affirm His infinite, unmerited, and unchanging love. Yet love permits pain to occur.
Mary and Martha never doubted that Jesus would quickly avert every obstacle to keep their brother from death, "yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days."
What a startling word: "Yet"! Jesus refrained from going not because He did not love them but because He did love them. It was His love alone that kept Him from hurrying at once to their beloved yet grief-stricken home. Anything less than infinite love would have rushed instantly to the relief of those beloved and troubled hearts, in an effort to end their grief, to have the blessing of wiping and stopping the flow of tears, and to cause their sorrow and pain to flee. Only the power of divine love could have held back the spontaneity of the Saviour's tenderheartedness until the angel of pain had finished his work.
Who can estimate the great debt we owe to suffering and pain? If not for them, we would have little capacity for many of the great virtues of the Christian life. Where would our faith be if not for the trails that test it; or patience, without anything to endure or experience and without tribulations to develop it?
It is good to be back home at the ranch, although the first day we were back from Hawaii we so wanted to go back to the ocean water. The Lord is good and we continue to be amazed at all He does. We knew everything would be green when we got back home and it is so great to see the beautiful mountains and hills covered in green and gleaming with life. To Him be ALL glory and honor FOREVER!
Josie is back home with us!!! Thank you so much all of you that had been praying for this to come to pass. She will start 11th grade in COBACH Alamos (High School) on Monday. Please continue to pray for Carolina, she is visiting right now and so wants to come back to the ranch too, but her aunt she lives with will not allow it. Pray for the Lord to touch the aunt's heart. The environment at the aunt's house is really bad. Anahí spent the night here last Sunday. Monday, August 9th was her 19th birthday. Her due date is August 25th. Do pray for her too. It is hard to see the consequences of the life she has chosen. At this time we have two other girls from Navojoa visiting for the week, besides Carolina. Pray for us to be able to share the Lord with them and make a lasting impression in their lives to have a heart for Christ.
Dulce will be a senior in High School this year. Her brother Jesús, 13 years old from 'Las Minitas' will start 8th grade in Alamos this year and will live with us on the ranch too. I ask for prayers in that rewards too.
Elyott, Marilú's brother, is back at the ranch. CASA PROVIDENCIA, the place were he had been given an opportunity to live, go to school and learn to be responsible, brought him back to the ranch even before we got back from the US. He did not follow their rules or behave in the required manner so he was not allowed to stay. He was warned again and again of what was required of him without change. DIF Hermosillo gave Marilú 'custody' per se of her brother, ...Elyott has a history of not listening or really paying attention to things required of him. He does not make a conscious effort to follow instructions. Please pray for wisdom for us, and also for Elyott to start being responsible of his actions. We want him to work out!
Marilú's wedding is scheduled for Monday, August 30th. Hopefully, if it is God's will, it will be held here at the ranch. Things have been a bit stressful with all the paper work and changing of dates due to matters related to BJ's work & government requirements. Please do continue to pray with us for God's hand to be over all the details yet to fall into place. May the Lord open the door wide, or close it shut at He sees fit, according to His perfect plan and will. Marilú & myself are planning to leave for Cd. Juárez, (yes, you read correctly), if the Lord allows it, next Saturday. We don't know how long it will take to acquire the required documentation there, hopefully not too much longer than a week.
Cd. Juárez, border town of 1.6 million people. Reliable global crime statistics are hard to pin down, but a Mexican study says that the murder rate is about 250 people per month, this places Cd. Juárez well ahead of other notorious world crime capitals such as South Africa's Cape Town, Moscow, Baghdad, and Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby, Caracas, Venezuela, Medellín Colombia and the U.S. City of New Orleans. Cd. Juárez (a manufacturing city across from El Paso, Tx), already has a stained history with the unsolved murders of hundreds of young women in the late 1990s. 800 hundred women and students from working-class neighborhoods have been kidnapped, tortured, raped and killed since 1993.Nearly 23,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico since a US-backed military crackdown on cartels began more than three years ago. The year 2009 was the deadliest in the drug war, with over 9.600 people killed. The death toll is on track to be even higher in 2010. There are 130 murders for every 100,000 residents for year on average.
Okay, why do we want to go to Cd. Juárez then?...We don't, but are compelled to. Cd. Juárez has the American Embassy where Marilú HAS TO GO to get her visa. So, please, keep us in your prayers. I know you are and that you will continue, MAHALO! (thank you!).
Josh & Vicky have set their wedding date for Wed., December 29, 2010. Vicky just finished her bachelor's degree in 'Industrial engineering' this Summer. Josh will still have two more semesters to finish his school after he gets married in December, plus his internship. Please do keep them in your prayers. Josh left on Monday and already started his 7th semester. Pray for God to guide his life as well as Vicky's. Our prayer is that they glorify God with their lives and that the Lord will be the center of their lives.
Daniel's perspective: Last night in Tesia we were in Romans 12. I usually do a chapter a week but I was only able to get through 3 verses! Here they are: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (Romans 12:1-3).
What a blessing and encouragement last night to be able to speak about being a living sacrifice and to be able to look out at all the people there that are doing just that. I see the body of Christ here maturing and really paying attention and it blesses me to no end. It's so easy to be conformed to this world and to think that we are supposed to be like the Brittany Spears, Madonnas and singers, actors etc., of our day and age. I absolutely love that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. We don't have to keep up with what is in and what is out. (When was the last time you looked at the shorts us guys were wearing in the 70's?:)We just need to be renewing our minds and changing our way of thinking to conform to how Jesus thinks. He is our example and we never have to worry that He is going to show up and be different and us be out of step. He is our example, He is our goal, He is our role model!
So, don't be conformed to this world thinking that it's okay to do things like even other Christians might be doing them. Be instead, transformed be the renewing of your mind. Ask Jesus to let you see things the way He sees them, and if you pray for us, pray that we would always do that as well.
God bless you all,
Daniel & Ana
Kapuna Kane & Kapuna Wahine *Grandma & Grandpa!
P.S. Please continue to pray for our friend Michael. He had his surgery a week ago tomorrow and will be having radiation treatment later. Also our friend Linda Dew as she battles with side effects from her radiation and Chemotherapy. 'Come quickly Lord Jesus!
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