Princess for a Day

We weren’t sure if the birthday girl, Kiana, would be able to put on the “poofy” dress and hair, and at the same time hang a guitar on her shoulders to play the songs for the service.  But she looked great, played wonderfully and sang with an awesome voice.  As one friend said to me, “I’ve never heard Kiana sing before, but she has a gift.”  Glad that the party was unique and special in that way.

Making their moves

The youth practiced for several weeks to bring to a packed crowd – Kiana’s 15^th Birthday guests – several moves to music that were fun to watch.  I could see the joy, energy and confidence in their eyes as they hopped and slid to the music.  I’m not sure what the families thought, but this was much more tame than other 15^th birthdays that we’ve been to, and much more exciting.

Missing some…

A few weeks ago, we “lost” one of our families due to moving away.  Ivan and his grandmother left us for a border town where his mom lives.  He came to us as a rambunctious kid and left a very special place in our hearts.  “He was really beginning to do well,” commented Kiana.

Surprise

On our second meeting of the school year, we decided to combine the youth and adolescent groups which normally meet separately.  We did it to practice a choreography for Kiana’s 15^th, but also we wanted to celebrate a birthday.  Here’s the group before returning to their homes.  Our house is getting too small!

Looking ahead…

On Sunday, we had one of the men in our congregation stand up and deliver a message from the Bible.  Luis has been faithfully reaching out to friends to share about Jesus.  He isn’t shy about talking about Christ nor is he without words when referring to his past life which Jesus saved him from.  I am excited to see how God is creating a team to serve him in our community.

Just a second…

With the arrival of Tracey’s sister and her daughter, we decided to run down to a small town outside of Mexico City to give them and us a bit of rest from the summer’s activities.  The goal was to rest, swim, rest, swim… Well, you get the picture.  It was short.  We were only gone one night, but I think it helped to give us a breath of fresh air.

Looking back…

We’ll be celebrating Kiana’s 15^th come the end of the week, so I had to go through the old archives to see if I could find something cute to put up.  Well, we’ll see lots of her photos now and then, but this one in my mind is a keeper… “sisters.”