about

my world of blogging began in 2008 because my {super-uberly-awesome-seester} had a blog and i wanted to be just as awesome as her.  i was a 19 year old girl, living in iowa, with my family of 9, and i wrote sporadically about all the crazy-fun that were to be had in our home.  

{my family christmas 2011}

in the spring of 2010, i took a one week missions trip to mexico.  i volunteered with a church, at a week long camp for orphans, called Rancho Genesis.  the vision of the ministry is to match up volunteers from the united states with an orphanage to love on in order for healing to take place in their lives.   i had never flown in my life [ok maybe when i was an itty-bitty baby but that never counts], never seen the ocean, never been to another country, and never could speak spanish.  it was a simple camp.  no running water, outhouses, slept in tents, played in the dirt, hiked a mountain, walked on the beach, but it was a place where relationships were formed in a unique way.  this is where i met this little guy who helped me change how i look at the world and God.  even though we couldn't speak with each other, we spoke the international language of love.

{luis and me spring 2010}

that was only the beginning of my visits to mexico.  less then 2 months after returning home, i was packing to return from june through august as full time summer staff.  then in march of 2011, i came to live in mexico as a one year intern.  you see i am a christian and it's kinda hard to ignore a calling that God's placed so heavily on my heart.  but let me just say it wasn't in my plans, but i'm sure glad His plans are higher then mine!

{i had the privilege to see luis the following summer 2011}

i love how the ministry of Genesis is all about relationships which are not only vital in our interaction with people, but with Jesus.  it's all about a relationship not religion.

{nature hike with the community ninos}

currently we are working in local migrant communities. [communities of families who have come from further south to look for work.]  we have started a tutoring program for the ninos, that runs four days a week. we do lots of home visits, making sure the families are healthy, counseling and working through problems, and taking them food and other necessities.  we also run clothing drives, medical clinics, and saturday activities for the ninos throughout the year. 

so there you have it my beautiful friends.  that's a little bit about me.  

i love people, i love Jesus, and the rest...  well you'll just have to keep reading.