"You Invited Me In"... Matt. 25:35-40

9 weeks along

2011-03-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

Today I am nine weeks pregnant. Each Tuesday brings excitement, a joy of a growing child (and a growing belly!) Tomorrow Steve and I go to hear the baby's heartbeat...that will be sooo cool! We're not finding out the sex and not spillin' the bean on names either, so y'all will just have to wait! Already someone gave us a highchair and Mama had an extra car seat, and Phil & Martha gave us their extra crib (Martha's due any moment! I'm going to be Auntie Bekah!).

I recently found out I had low progesterone, so am taking Prog. suppliments for that to get me up to normal levels. It's important in your first trimester and eventually I'll wean off of it. I'm feeling very fatigued lately even though I'm at the tail end of a cold. Allergies might play a factor, too. But anyway, I am happy to have many of the normal pregnancy symptoms minus the nausia (praise the Lord!).

I pray I can be a good mother to this new child, and be a better mom to Palmer... I fall so short!

Bekah

New Adventures

2011-02-02T20:30:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 31st we found out we're expecting! Eight months after the miscarriage we are rejoicing in the goodness of our Lord. I feel fine and am about 3 weeks along. The fears of miscarriaging again are there, but I pray my faith continues to be fixed on my loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Another concern is for Palmer to feel loved even with the addition of a sibling. I really want to be on top of it with planning his school schedule and having fun things for him to do.

"May the Lord give you increase, you and your children! May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth" Psalm 115:14,15

One Year Anniversary

2010-11-18T20:39:00.000-08:00

Can't hardly believe Steve and I have been married a year come this Sunday! Time moves so fast and so much has happened since the "I do's". I still have wedding pictures I want to print (takes awhile to go through hundreds of photos from different folks) and one of these days I want to do my Creative Memories Wedding Album that Julia gave me. Right now I try to make sure I have a small slide-in album each year for Palmer.

Home schooling is coming along. It can be hard to gage sometimes when to keep reviewing a subject and when to move on. I always am encouraged after meeting with other HS-ing moms and hearing their experiences and what tools and resources they used. Palmer's smart but I also want school to be an enjoyable experience, not wraught with angry words and frustration. Math seems to be what gets us. But we're going to try a curriculum called "singapore math" and see how he does. I was never good at math and am concerned about making it fun and understandable; it's hard for me to push him because I know how frustrating it was for me growing up.

The discipline of the boy has been better thanks to the book "Don't make me count to 3!" by Ginger Plowman. We started this Fall going through it in my moms group from church. We have good conversations and it's nice to have a place to ask parenting questions. But mostly the I've enjoyed the practical ways of approaching "training up your child in the way he should go", and I love the simple verses she's compiled for different areas of instruction. I feel I've been more calm, and hopefully more consistant, in my discipline which helps Palmer, too.

Angel Tree season is upon us and I realize how much goes into just giving a gift to a child from the parent inside. So much behind the scenes admin., calling, going by the home just to get good info. Plus this year we're having a Christmas Delivery Party at the Church instead of church members delivering the gifts. It's a little stressful to think how everything has to fit just right for a good experience and building relationships with these families. But no matter what does or doesn't happen, God is in control and will work it all out for His Glory!

We still pray for another child in His time.

Bekah

Ten mounths in brief

2010-06-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a year since I last posted, and even now I must be brief. Don't have much time to journal online, hardly have time to hand write it, but I do so want to have something for posterity.

Steve and I have a lovely Wedding in Nov. surrounded by family and friends..Joyous! I was wisked away to my surprise Honeymoom destination of *drum roll, please*...Townsen, Tenn. to a rustic cabin in the Smokey Mountains...so romantic! Good job, Hun!

Since our return we've learned many things about communicating, what is helpful and not so helpful (I have need of much growth in this area), learning a little more of what it means to be one, and for me to be a help meet to my husband as God designed me to be.

Also upon our return we have been watching our 5 yr old nephew, Palmer, during the day, and now (PRAISE THE LORD!) we are raising him full time! This has been a prayer of ours for a long time and are thankful for this ministry, tho difficult, so joyful to be able to raise him to love the Lord and give him a good future, to the glory of God! I have much to learn about parenting, home schooling and being organized, but God has been so good and is taking care of our every need.

The end of March we found out I was pregnant and there was much rejoicing! May 17, the Lord saw fit to take our child home. The miscarriage has taught me (and I'm sure Steve, too) a lot about what it means to celebrate life at any stage, to declare God's soveriegn care and goodness in the face of grief and to feel God's loving arms around our family in the Body of Christ. I still have moments of sadness, but will myself, by the help of the Helper, to look to Christ, "For you light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness." Ps. 18:28 We pray God grants us a child from my womb in His perfect time.

Not it is summer and I'm winding up my nanny job with the Smitherman family whom I've been with now for two years. It has been a great fit and I know come Aug. it will be some adjustments for them and myself. But I am excited about homeschooling Palmer and being a mom more and more to him. I feel I don't really know what I'm doing with homeschooling, but know I have a good resource in my mom and Steve is excited about it, too and willing to help. So with much prayer and trusting the Lord to guide me to the right curiculum, schedule, etc. I can smile at the days to come.

Right now P and I enjoy reading books, our daily Bible reading, field trips, and now swimming!

The Lord is good and does good!

In Christ,
Rebekah

2009-08-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well, the summer has flown by! So much has happened since last entry.

Steven and I are very much in love and grow moreso as the weeks pass and the Big Day gets closer. We're so excited! We're still sinners, tho, and have our hard talks and don't always see perfectly eye-to-eye. But by God's grace we work it out, laugh afterward, pray together and look forward to being Husband & Wife! Please be praying for our communication to continue to improve, that our words would be seasoned with salt, and that we would, "seek not only our own interests but also the interests of others"...remembering Christ's example.

We've been working a lot on the house putting up tile in the bathroom, painting the inside of the house and brainstorming on what each room will look like. We've also cleaned out a lot of junk from the garage that the previous owner of 50+ yrs left. The house needs a lot of improvements having been neglected for so long and I'm glad Steven is so handy! There's not much he isn't willing to at least try himself, one thing, though, is plumbing...and I don't blame him!

Another of God's humbling gifts to us has been our church offering to paint the outside of our house, replacing some rotting boards and even putting up a wall enclosing our back portch so we can have a little more room in the kitchen once the refrigerator is moved onto the portch!! This was a HUGE boost in our morale with the house (mostly with Steven who is feeling the weight of responsibility as the provider of the home and accomplishing some goals he set to complete by the wedding).

I am loving the house God has given us. It's 2 bdrms, 1bath, a dining room, living rm and kitchen. I nice managable size for one starting off in married life. It also has a good size back yard (prob in the spring we'll tackle some of the landscaping) and a healthy front yard with a big shade tree. Steven loves the St. Augustine grass and is trying to get it so thick and green in the front where you can go bearfoot.

I think I'd go crazy with all the "to dos" and infinate details with all thier deadlines if it weren't for BF Leah. She's an old pro having been just married last Nov. She calls me up asking if she can meet with me to help with wedding planning, and I just say, "Yes! thank you so much for calling. How about this tue?" I'm not naturally organized in that way so I get this burst of energy to knock out a bunch of stuff after meeting with Leah or my mom on wedding stuff.

One of the many things I love about Steven is his desire to serve, to be mercy minded, meeting the needs of the Body of Chirst which pleases God. This can take on many different forms, some of which are Reformed Prison Ministry at our church, helping believing ex-convicts like himself get back on thier feet and get plugged into a church where they'll grow and mature in thier faith. Also, Hearts and Hammers, another ministry of Fort Wort PCA, which helps widows, single moms, and others (they're helping paint our house) in practical ways like house upkeep, yard work, and much more. Another ministry the Lord has placed before us, which Steven is very passionate about, is ministering to his family. Three of his nephews and a niece are in temp. costody with his older brother, Jason, and sister-in-law, Amy while CPS looks into whether thier mother who's not married is able to get them back. This is a large undertaking for Jason and Amy who already have two teenager sons, and are now taking care of four more children ages 4-9. So Steven and I come by and get the kids some weekends, take them to Burgers Lake or a road trip to my aunt & uncles in The Woodlands, or to church with us. I also helped in VBS this summer where all four kids were able to attend. Because of thier lack of proper care and nurture growing up there's different issues with them, even now where thier basic needs are being met and there's routine in thier lives. Steven and I continue to pray for them and seek to immerse them in an atmostphere of the love of Christ.

So much going on, not much time to update. I probably will be married the next time I post and then have another lengthy letter!

Abiding in Christ,
Rebekah Ruth Sneed (Smith)

2009-03-29T23:12:00.000-07:00

Steven proposes in Nacadoches, TX... I say yes! Sunday March 8, 2009

Me, Leah and Steven at the Engagement party at Drigger's home Sunday, March 29th.

A man plans his way, but the Lord directs his step.

2009-03-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

I've been dormant for months, but hybernation time is over...Spring is here!

With the smell of Spring in the air, so also Love has sprung...I have been surprised by a "Tender Warrior", a godly, caring man that loves me for my faith...I have found a friend I can be myself around and rest in, knowing his heart is fixed on Christ. My friend/lover is seeking Him as a deer for streams of Living water, I can trust God's hand on his life to guide, to grow in the knowledge of God and lead our future family in a relationship with our heavenly Father.

How the Lord can intervene, stepping into my Mexico plans to open my eyes to my future husband is an awesome and humbling thing. January 7th Steven Smith and I began talking after much distant admiration at church. There was no messing around but purposeful seeking to see if we might be called to marry. I knew after a couple weeks that this is the man I'd been praying for, and Steven knew he wanted to marry me on our first date, Feb. 2nd. Christ has grown that love, nurtured it and caused it to blossom into an engagement...One month after Steven asked my father to court me, he proposed to me on March 8th in Nacadoches, Texas. It has been amazing to see God bringing two people together in such a beautiful way, far beyond our boldest prayers...what a loving and good God we serve!

The two shall become one on November 21st, 2009! Praise be to God.

2009-01-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

My presentation at church this past Sunday went well. I get nervous in front of all those people, even though I know most of them. I didn't feel as organized as I'd like, but hopefully my vision for going to Mexicali came through.

The Sonship class at church is great for helping me to see the ways I'm not trusting Christ and acting like an orphan. Old habits die hard, and I still find myself relying in my own strength and wisdom instead of my heavenly Father's. "What love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God"!

2008-12-18T20:36:00.000-08:00

Just came across this!

Vision Trip - Mexicali, Mx, Dec. 4-8, 2008

2008-12-10T18:07:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

I'm back from my trip out west. I and my mom were able to visit Gary & Carol, who are BEAMM missionaries in Las Playas (The Beaches), a distric of Tijuana, and got to know them better. There were workers at the house they rent when we arrived. There was a hot water leak somewhere and some guys were drilling holes in the walk way on the side of the house trying to find it, which they eventually did. They fixed the leak and said they'd be back on Monday to patch up the holes, which meant Carol couldn't accomlpany us to Mexicali. There were also men putting new roof on the house. Gary says something like 60% of their time is taken up with living related things. Carol says she still has room for growth when it comes to being flexable and not complaining when God has something different in mind than what we planned. Here's Carol in the kitchen after us ladies went food shopping. Always close by are Socks, the cat, and their border collie, Dallas, who is trained to detect when Carol blood pressure spikes (it never does when he's with her).

Friday afternoon Gary drove Mom and I to see some of the PCA churches in the area. Tijuana is very hilly, with bright patches of pink where the bugamvilla bushes were blooming. Gary reasured me there are no hills in Mexicali since it's in the desert. I drive a stick so the less hills the better, especially those that give you the best view from the top!

Next stop was to a new developement on the other side of the city where the Roe family lives. Morgan, Patti and their five children have recently joined the BEAMM team there in Tijuana, where Morgan is a Mercy Ministries Coordinator. Patti homeschools the kids and once a week they cross into San Diego for a full day of co-op classes. The kids are very polite and are learning Spanish well, with aditional practice from some neighbor girls who like to come over to play. After visiting for awhile, Morgan followed us back to the Nantt's where Carol had a yummy lunch ready for us. It was from a local restaurant consisting of rotissary chicken, fresh tortillas and salsa blend of salt and jalapinos! I didn't touch the stuff!

Afterward we sat around and talked some and then took the five minute walk down to La Playa (the beach) and walked along the boardwalk and watched the sun set. Actually, there's no dusk and goes straight to dark, so we headed back before then. We said goodbye to Morgan who had to get ready for a medical team that was coming in the next day.

In the evening we watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. I finished reading "Same Kind of Different As Me" while on the trip and highly recommend it. Mexican pizza is really good!

Saturday we bade farwell to Carol and the animals and hit the road for our 140 mile ride east to Mexicali via US highway 8 throuh El Centro, then south through Calexico. After dropping off our bags at our motel in El Centro, we went to Mision Dios Soberano (Sovereign God) where Julio Navarro is the lay pastor. He and his wife, Arlette have two children, Paula and Isaac. When we arrived most of the congregation were working hard to finish fixing up the place before church tomorrow. Because they are a growing group of people, they had taken out an interior wall which devided the adults from the children. Now they have the kids in the courtyard at the back of the storefront they rent. When the weather's nice they will have a tent with benches and tables where the kids meet for Childrens Church. Arlette is going through the catechism with them right now.

My mom and I met those who were there and were warmly welcomed. There were people painting, putting up dry wall, and hanging curtains, so we didn't stay long. Gary wanted us to see some of Mexicali so we tagged along while he and Julio looked at lots for the meatal building being stored in El Centro. The first lot was just big enough and closer in town, whereas the second one was further out, larger and cheaper than the first. The city is growing so fast, thought, that if they took the lot farther away, the city would come to them in a couple years. They still have a few more places to look at before they make their descision.

The next morning Gary took us to Denny's for a late breakfast since church didn't start until noon. Church was really nice and I picked up words here and there from the songs we were singing and from Gary's sermon. They have a time in the service where folks can give thanks and prayer requests. I liked that. I know I need to be giving thanks to God more than I do and it blessed me to see my brothers and sisters praising & petitioning our heavenly Father, even though I don't know what they said. After the service the children sang happy birthday to Alexandra who was working the power point (in red). She turned 21 and her mom baked her a cake.

Church ended around 3:00 and Mom and I with broken Spanish conversed with some ladies whith broken English. They were a lovely group of people and am excited about coming back to live among them and learn from them. There's about 6 or 7 youth in the church and no program for them other than Sunday morning. So that's one area they said I could really help with. Also there's some other local churches that support a couple orphanages in town giving me another possible opportunity to work with children. Other things might be speaking English with people, helping when teams come in, and assisting the Call family who will be joining the BEAMM team
in Mexicali. They have five children on the youngish side. I was very glad to hear that I'd be kept busy because I don't want to have much time alone to think about getting homesick. It looks like the Navarros will be finding me an apartment near the church. When some of the people there heard I was to come in August, they kept telling me how hot it will be. Gary says because it's in the desert, in the Summer it can get up to 120 degrees but drastically cool off at night.

For lunch most of us went to a chinese restaurant. It was funny to have an asian waiter speaking Spanish! Just like the evening before at the Toqueria, it was good food shared with new friends. I need to be more bold in speaking Spanish, though. Mom and I are resolved to learn it better and speak it more around the house. "Not by strength nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord"...that's the only way I can do it.

Well, here's me with a bunch of the kids from church. Cutest little girls you'll ever see! We said goodbye and headed back over the border. Which brings me to another new experience: walking through border security. Gary has a Century Pass on his car (like a toll tag) so he can zip on through, depending on the line. Only he's registered for his vehicle so he told us where to meet him when we passed through security. There's really not much to it. They ask you a few questions while looking over your passport..."why were you in Mexico?", "do you have anything to declare?", "where are you going?" and you answer and that's that. Mom did forget about her Yemen stamp and had to explain why she was there. So after what seemed like a long time we were through :-) We ended back where we started at the seaside San Diego airport. We said adios to Gary and thanked him again for hosting, driving, housing and feeding us. I enjoyed good mother/daughter time, too!

So in conclusion, it was a really cool trip with many new experiences in a new land, meeting new friends. There's many things to be done before I leave, but I believe God is in all this and He will get me there they way he sees fit at the time that He wants me there. I'm so glad it's not up to me to make these things work smoothly. I know this was really long, but I hope you enjoyed it and know better how to be praying for me...and boy! do I need your prayers!

Signing off!

Bekah

2008-11-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a better map I found from BEAMM's (Border Evangelism and Mercy Ministry) web site: http://beamm.org/index.htm

I'll be working with missionaries of BEAMM, but the agency I was approved through is MTW (Mission to the World). Please check out BEAMM's site to find out more of what the Lord is doing along the US/MX border and specifically in Mexicali.

2008-11-16T19:42:00.001-08:00

This is the city where I'll be living just over the border from Calexico, CA.

Facts about Mexicali, Mx:

pop. - 1,000,010

State - Baja California

founded - March 19, 1903

Chinatown, Mexicali
The city claims to have the largest per capita concentration of residents of Chinese origin, around 5,000. While this does not compare to U.S. cities like San Francisco or New York, early in the 20th century Mexicali was numerically and culturally more Chinese than Mexican. The Chinese arrived to the area as laborers for the Colorado River Land Company, an American enterprise which designed and built an extensive irrigation system in the Valley of Mexicali. Some immigrants came from the United States, often fleeing anti-Chinese policies there, while others sailed directly from China. Thousands of Chinese were lured to the area by the promise of high wages, but for most that never materialised.

ABSA shopping center near Lopez Mateos Street
Many of the Chinese labourers who came to the irrigation system stayed on after its completion, congregating in an area of Mexicali today known as Chinesca ('Chinatown'). During Prohibition in the U.S., many Chinese laborers and farmers came to the town to open bars, restaurants and hotels to cater thier American clientle Chinesca eventually housed just about all of the city's casinos and bars, and an underground tunnel system to connect bordellos and opium dens , Calexico on the U.S. side. Bootleggers also used this route to supply the U.S. with booze purchased in Mexico.
By 1920, Mexicali's Chinese population outnumbered the Mexican 10,000 to 700. A group of 5,000 single Chinese males started the Asociacion China, a Mexicali social organisation at least partly devoted to finding Chinese wives from overseas, which remains active today. In 1927, a series of Tong wars here and other parts of Northern Mexico erupted over control of gambling and prostitution rings. Mexican alarm over the Chinese organised crime led to the government-encouraged Movimiento Anti-Chino. In the late 1920s, a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment that swept the country and led to the torture and murder of hundreds of Chinese in northern Mexico--similar to what happened on a larger scale in California in the 1880s. However, the Chinese in this city were numerous enough and politically strong enough to protect themselves. After anti-Chinese sentiment faded, more Chinese arrived here, and it became the Mexican headquarters for the Kuomintang, or the Nationalist Chinese Party. After events during World War II and the Communist takeover of China, a large number of Chinese refugees came to Mexico in the mid-century. The town was the site of the Taiwan consulate in the 1960's until Mexico withdrew its recognition of the island nation, ending immigration of ethnic Chinese to this area.

Plaza de la Amistad (Friendship Plaza) pagodas, located just outside the border crossing to the USA
The percentage of Chinese was so high here that in the 1940's the town had only two cinemas, both of which played Chinese movies almost exclusively. However, in the latter half of the 20th century, steady influx of Mexican migrants here diluted the Chinese population, until once again they became a minority.
La Chinesca, or Chinatown, still survives near the border close to the intersection of Avenida Madero and Clle Melgar,although it is much smaller than in the past. However, Mexicali still boasts more Chinese restaurants per capita than any other city in Mexico, more than 100 for the whole town, most with Cantonese-style cuisine. Local Chinese associations struggle to preserve the arts and culture of the homeland through the sponsorship of Chinese festivals, calligraphy clubs, and language classes. However, much of Chinese cultural life here has blended with local Mexican and American traditions to create a unique, hybrid culture.
Like many Chinese restaurants outside of Asia, cooks here have adapted their native cuisine to local tastes. For example, restaurants here serve thier dishes with a small bowl of a sauce that is similar to a generic steak sauce, common in Northern Mexico. In many of these restaurants, it is not uncommon to see Chinese men wearing stiff straw cowboy hats, meeting over hamburgers and green tea and speaking a mixture of Cantonese and Spanish. Along with burgers and chow mein, many restaurants here also offer shark-fin tacos.

2008-11-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

Martha and Philip are engaged as of two days ago and are blissfully happy :-) Martha celebrated her 19th birthday today, too!

2008-11-09T21:19:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited about my year-long internship next summer to Mexicali! Mom and I are going out there next month to meet with the team and hash out the details. It is a continual struggle to not worry or be fearful about it though. I know God has called me to this internship, but I feel ill equipped and get home-sick thinking about a whole year away from all that's familiar. I know He is faithful and will give me the grace to persevere, yet I feel sure I will be terribly lonely at times. But I am convinced that if it brings me to a closer walk with my Jesus, it will be all worth it. God is doing great things along the border for His kingdom and am thankful to be a part of it!

"For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increading in the knowledge of God..." Col. 1:9 & 10

Welcome to my blog!

2008-11-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

Greeting friends and companions of the faith! I hope by having a blog so that I can better comunicate what's been on my heart and mind for those who care to peek in. Blessings!