>

Thursday, December 27, 2007

It's 80 Degrees Outside

At Roca Blanca that is, it's 80 degrees outside.....84 to be exact. But instead of wishing I was there, I will live in the present and this Holiday season. So to commemorate this Christmas season, I wanted to bless everyone with the picture that we used this year for the Sullivan family Christmas card. It's wonderful. But please, try to not be too jealous.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Too Much Ice, a New Ride, and More US of A

I apologize at the outset for my lack of updating recently. Last week was kind of a lost week with the ice storm that hit Tulsa because I couldn't find an internet connection aside from pirating one from my car in random parking lots. So here I am (still in the US) because of the amazing blessing of a car for the ministry in Mexico. But before I continue, here are some pics from the famed Ice Storm:

Now the story on my new vehicle. I was given an older 4Runner by a very wonderful guy from Fayetteville and it has been an amazing blessing! Here's how it happened. I saw this vehicle sitting on the side of the road in Fayetteville about a month ago and decided to call the number advertised on the window. My plan was to explain who I was, what I was going to be doing, and that I wanted to know if they would just give the car to me. I spoke with a nice lady at first who told me that she thought I was doing a really neat thing, but that she and her boyfriend were a young couple and not in the position to be able to give away the car. That really was the reaction I most expected, and so I simply thanked her for her time and thought to myself, "That was a bit of a crazy idea anyway Stuart." So fast forward 2 weeks after that to my blog post where I was talking about reconsidering whether or not God had it in the cards for me to have a vehicle to bring down to Mexico. Literally 3 hours after I posted that particular blog entry, I received a phone call from a guy telling me that he was the man who owned the 4Runner I had called about only a couple of weeks earlier. He told me that after initially thinking I was crazy, his heart had changed and the audacity of the request had left him feeling compelled to do just what I had requested: give the car to me. How amazing is that?!

So after some talking with people who know a lot about bringing vehicles to Mexico I found out that I need to have a clean title before I cross the border. Herein lies the small price to pay for getting the car: I have to wait another 4-6 weeks for the title work to come back. So because of this mind-blowing blessing, I will be stateside through Christmas and into the new year. I am still forming my plan for the interim, but I hope to find some temp work and offset as many moving costs as I can.

In closing, I want to ask that you continue to pray for my patience. I was already emotionally/mentally disconnected from the US and now I am here for a bit longer. I know I will be fine, but I would appreciate your continued prayer as this journey is already quite different from what I had planned.

I will leave you with a pic of the wonderful car.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Sitting, Waiting

So I'm in my parent's house in Tulsa and freezing rain has been covering the area for almost a day now. Actually, the blanket of ice is supposed to do nothing but thicken for the next 10 hours or so. I hope everything remains in working order but when it's 28 degrees and the rain is coming down it's unlikely. WOW! The electricity just surged through the house and a transformer nearby exploded, but the power came back on. Anyway, enough about the weather.

Despite the dreary conditions outside I am relatively sublime heading into what I hope becomes my last week in the states for a while. If you noticed, the countdown timer that has been so prominently displayed on the upper right corner of my blog has disappeared. 2 reasons for that: [1] I messed up the code fiddling with it and [2] I'm not sure exactly when I'm leaving now. I have had Monday the 17th as my leave date for some time now, but I may have to adjust that slightly. I will explain. I may have found a vehicle!! I won't give the whole story right now because I don't have it in my possession yet, but God seems to have moved someone's heart to give me a vehicle to take to Mexico. If it happens in the way I anticipate, I could possibly need to spend up to 2 weeks getting all of the title transfer, tagging, and other things done before leaving. God is really blessing me with this and I am pretty humbled at how He worked this situation out. Details will come forth as this unfolds further.

Well I am going to bid this post adieu before a power surge claims my computer. To those of you in the area, drink a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the winter weather. If you're not in the area, enjoy your week anyway! Thank you for praying.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

In Tulsa

Well, I'm in Tulsa after a week of tearful goodbyes, quick packing, and pure craziness. The next 2 weeks will be really great as I will have to opportunity to be still and prepare myself for the big move to Mexico. Quickly, I have an edit to a previous prayer request:

I need that God grants me wisdom and discernment. Obviously this statement can cover so many things, but what I'm referring to specifically right now is the whole truck question. I have felt for some time that I truly need a truck to take me to Mexico (see previous post for reasons). It isn't happening at all to this point and so I'm beginning to ask God if in His wisdom He has a plan for me that doesn't involve a truck. It's not a lack of faith in His provision, rather responding to how He's leading me.

Oh, and just for all of you that can appreciate some good people watching, there is currently a gentleman in front of me that is waiting for the bathroom to open up in this coffee shop where I'm sitting and He is so put off that someone else could have the audacity to be occupying the bathroom. I think he thinks the bathroom is his. I may cut in front of him....