Day of the Dead

As I'm sure many of our friends will be finding opportunities to minister during this time, please remember us as we will be working the the Young Adult Baptist of Uruguay this weekend. Having some workshops and times of evangelism in one of the active catholic towns of the interior, Minas, Uruguay. You can follow this link to find out more about this day.

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Personality Test ...Do they show personality flaws???

You know this might be my problem. I'v taken personality test before and I'm not sure that it turned out like this. BUT!!! this is taken after being on the field for a few years. We were told that things change after a while.

Garrett's progress....

I thought I would post some news on Garrett. Even though I might be bi est on my comments. Garrett is doing well on his racing year. After placing second on several races. He has won his first in a exciting finish. I'll try to give a run down how it went. I will not be able to do it justice with words.
As they started out, one of the first obstacles was a down hill to a funnel section across a rough made bridge. It was a rapid decent with large rocks on the other side of the bridge. On the decent Garrett lost one of his bottles that contained Gatorade, the other he had was water. I was able to get the Gatorade bottle. Teresa and I set off to try to catch them at a intersection crossing. They were riding faster than I would have guest, so we missed him there. At that point I was just hoping he could hang to the group and I would catch at the last water stop. Teresa and I found the last water stop which left him with 16 kilometers till the finish. (it was a 48 kilometer race.) As were waiting, some of the race people said the elite racers would be coming by any minute. As we waited, we began seeing 2 man groups coming up after about 3 or 4 sets come by we saw a solo and what a suprize, it was Garrett. As he came by I passed off his Gatorade to him and told him that he had 16 kilometers of more or less gravel road but mostly up hill. As we left that point we are told he had a 6 minute gap on his nearest competitor. We continued on to see him at the finish. As we were waiting at the finish, we noticed that two others had joined him. To our suprize it was his rival. Later Garrett went on to tell us that he had run out of energy on one of the big climbs. He said that once the guy caught him he was able to stay on his wheel. The guy and another attacked Garrett several times but he said gain some strength back and was able to fight them off. Now if you don't follow cycling this is about as interesting as reading Greek. At the end Garrett was able to sprint to the finish and win his first race by half of a bike length. Come to find out later Garrett told me that he decide to pull a gutsy move by breaking away from the group early. This disrupted all the others in the group and Garrett was able to capitalize on it. It was a risky move but as many cyclist say you don't win if you don't take those risks. He is learning fast on how to race and how to train and I can't say enough how proud I am of him in his racing. Now saying all that, let me tell you that he is also living out his faith in front of these guys. I have had the opportunity to share with several of his friends. He is not shy about standing up for his convictions.

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Failure???

Is there such a thing as failure? How do you handle it? How do you counsel someone that seems to always experience failure? Is this something that God allows? How do we teach about personal failure? Did Jesus experience personal failure? I'm tired of personal failure!!! I'm not talking about other people, I'm talking about myself...How can I encourage some one to keep trudging on when I'm at the point of quiting? I'm frustrated and ticked!!! Dirty laundry you bet...we are always to told to watch what we say, people might think we are weak. WE ARE WEAK...HELLO!!! Now what? We'll see.

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I have just a thoughtful Wife!!!

I had commented yesterday that my 40th birthday was pretty much uneventful. Not complaining by no means. I didn't ask for any specific present. That is my norm. I admit that is hard to buy for me because, normally if I need or want something I get it. I'm not the waiting type. Anyway a movie came out last year I think, maybe earlier in the states. The name was "Cinderella Man". It shows just a small part on how the American culture has been shaped. Also I like the fact of how you can see how even the older generation can still endure. Anyway, it was on and I commented to my wife on how I really enjoyed the movie. She said, that is why I got it for your birthday...and I said, "Well where is it?"...she started laughing and stated she had forgot to give it to me until I said what I said. Well I'm thankful she started having senior moments and she hasn't reached 40 yet!!! October 3rd and I get my September 30th present. Better late than never. I'm so thankful for my wife. She keeps me laughing even when she doesn't feel like laughing. She is truly my soul mate. If she ever leaves me I'm going with her!!! I love you babe...
CAUTION...The movie has language in it that is not appropriate for young children...

A Late September update....

Well it's the third of October so I'm not too late. September was rather slow. We are coming out of our winter and it just didn't want to let go. Just to let you in on some cultural things. By the time September got here heating fuel was at a low. Wood was hard to find and if you did find some, they had jacked the price up it just wasn't affordable. The country had a shortage of heating gas. We ended up heating with gas and electric, we had to watched the electric, it gets a little pricey as well. We normally have two milk companies that deliver to our town. We are not really sure why but the one that we like is not delivering here any more and we think that they have stopped delivering to the country all together. That is yet to be confirmed. The other choice is pretty nasty and getting used to the taste is going to take a while.
It is funny how the interior part of the country is...well, when things are happening they are happening fast. But when things are slow, you wonder if you should check the pulse of the people and the town. September I was checking my pulse frequently.
September was a special month, for my 40th birthday was at the end. Really no big deal I feel just as old as I did at 39. What is special about the whole deal is that now at 40 all my run races, road races and mountain bike races, I can race in the veterans class. Divisions run from 30 to 39 yrs old 40 to 49 yrs old and 50 above. So my next bench mark will be 50.
The kids are doing good. September was the second month of home school. things seem to clicking along for them. Garrett seems to enjoying it a little better. CoraBeth is really liking the DVD system. Mama is as well.
CoraBeth is active in gymnastics. She is doing it all over the place, living room, and furniture.
Garrett has gotten serios about racing. He races in the 15 to 17 year old division. That is for road and mountain bike. At the moment he has won second on several mountian bike races and is leading the points race for one of the national outdoor orginazations. His road racing is improving as well. He normally has to race in the Masters A division. (29 yrs old and younger) So far he has taken second and third in few of those races. I believe his involvement has helped him stay motivated in school . Knowing that if school slips, cycling stops.
As you can see by the photos I posted below. We stay busy with Garrett and Corabeth. This also allows us to meet many new people. Build relationships with people we would not meet if would for our kids. Through these relationships we can share what we cam e here to share.
I'm still teaching English as a second language. They are not learning much...a lot of that is my fault but they keep coming back...so I'm still going. Trying to make an impact thier lives.
The ministries that we are involved in are still marching on. Minas is moving on there. Here in Treinta y Tres is doing well. It has had a good influx of new people of late so we are very thankful for that. Santa Clara is going on with only two beleivers at the moment steps are slow but steady.
This past 27th, 28th and 29th of September we had an evangelical event called "Mi Esperanza". This a county wide event that is televised on the TV. I don't have are results yet but as soon as I have them I'll let you know.
This next month I will be taking myself and two pastors from here to participate in a Timothy Barnabas Conference in Monte, Argentina. This is done by First Baptist Woodstock. I'm looking forward to this trip. So I covet your prayers of a safe journey, and that all three of us would grow closer to the Lord.
I know the grammar is terrible, please forgive me. My English might be going to pot but I feel my Spanish is getting better. (je, je)
I want to thank all that sent letters and care packages for my birthday. The kids loved all the candy. And a special thanks to Cindy and Bev for the Starbucks Colombian coffee.
We have a special church family back home and we apreciate you so much. For all our prayer warrior, thank you agian for your continue intercession.
May God continue to richly bless you.
Michael, Teresa, Garrett and CoraBeth.

Just a few pixs from September.

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