Posted by Posted in adventures, gospel and outreach, Home, journal entries, Living for God, memorys, Mexico, missions, Rancho3M

Journal Entries- Mission Trip to Mexico- Day 8

So here is my last installment of journal entries from Mexico. Hope you enjoy!

Our last day there we had a prolonged devotion at breakast and we sang “10,000 Reasons” as a group.

After our breakfast, we packed up the vans and cleaned the dorms and kitchen.

Some of us ran to the Mexican convenience store and got Mexican coke and authentic Mexican candy. It was spicy, sweet, tangy and sour all in one. How does that happen?

Next, the kids got up and we spent the rest of the morning hanging out with them. I played some last soccer with Chuy, Manuel and Aline.

Soon, the call came to pack up in the vans and then well there was lots of hugs and more hugs and even more hugs and goodbyes. Goodbyes are so hard.

The rest is history, I guess. Drive out of the Ranch trying not to cry. Go to the airport. Unpack the vans and say goodbye to the team you worked alongside all week and split up to get to our flights.

We arrived at our gate, and took a flight to Dallas TX and then after a layover we flew to Charlotte, NC. I am not a city girl, but I must say it was pretty to see all the ligts of Charlotte, since we landed at night.

I said goodbye to the team I had flown with (yeah, this was a day of goodbyes) and went down the escalator to see my family.

I saw William and Dad first, they were at the bottom of the esalator and then farther back there was Mom, Celia, Jace and surprise! my best friend Abigail!

And now there were hello and welcome back hugs for once.

We dropped Abigail back off at her house and went home. To bed.

It was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to do it again! (hopefully)

your one and only,
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in adventures, gospel and outreach, journal entries, Living for God, memorys, Mexico, missions, Rancho3M

Journal Entries- Mission Trip to Mexico- Day 7

The week is coming to end. It is sad for some, exciting for some but the whole team is tired. But today is not a day of rest, it is finishing project day. There is a shed to finish, curtains to make, and trees to plant. We did not stain today but instead used the time to help finish projects.

At first, I helped with the curtain crew, doing the dreaded task of turning the sewing from inside out to right side out. After that, there wasn’t much more I could do so I moved to helping the tree planting team. I helped with that most of the day.

Planting trees in Mexico is not just sticking the tree in the ground. You have to mix up a special recipe of dirt which includes manure, ash and straw. Then you have to put equal amounts of the dirt mixture and water in the holes before putting the tree in. Once the tree is in, you fill in the hole with water and the dirt mixture. Then you build a type of wall around it with dirt and then you flood the inside. Then you rake around the wall to make it look nice. 🙂

We planted pistachio trees and I hope to see them growing strong when I go next year. 🙂

We took a break from planting for a quick lunch and then went straight back to work. We planted around 50 trees that day.

I had to leave mid afternoon to help with games. We did the same games as on Thursday and Daniel translated for us again.

After games, I planted trees again until dinner. After dinner, we served ice cream to the kids and gave them paracord bracelets that our team had made in our spare time.

Then our team took a hike to the “cross”, which is basically a cross erected onto a mountain near the Ranch. You can hike up to it and watch the sunrise or sunset. We stayed up for the sunset. The older kids came with us and we had a blast.

When we came back, the teens from our team and the Ranch played hide and seek in the dark.

After a while, we went inside and got into bed.

It was a long hard day of work but we had a LOT of fun! Serving the Lord is the best! 🙂

I can’t believe that tomorrow we leave. 🙁 Lots of the kids don’t want me to go. One of my little friends said “No, you are staying with me” and another kid wanted to have me pack him in my backpack. Sniff…sniff, I miss them.

your one and only,
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in Family, homeschool, time

School 2015

Yes, today the new school year started for the Bowers, and quite honestly, I was excited to get back into a routine and work filled schedule. I like to stay busy. I thought I would give you a little peek into what we do here at Pilgrims Ford Academy (our homeschool name).

Our mornings before school starts involve devotions, breakfast together, our chores, getting ready for the day and family worship.

After that, we start our school work at the table, usually around 8:30. This school involves our math, grammer, writing, Spanish/language, Bible study and personal topics we would like to explore. Sometimes there are things like book reports and science reports that happen in the morning too.

We usually take a break at 11:00 or 11:30 and have free time until lunch, where we do a read aloud.

In the afternoon, we do our reading, history, science, geography and possibly more. It varies where we do this school. On the couch, in the clubhouse, on the trampoline, up a tree (my favorite), we have a lot of options.

Usually, we end our reading schoolwork somewhere between 2:00 and 3:00. The rest of our afternoon is usually free time, work on project time or pleasure reading time. We try to help Mom with dinner somewhere around 5:30.

Our evenings include, books read together, Bible studies, library nights, and card games.

Then we go to bed, somewhere between 9:00 and 10:00 depending on your age. This year will include special times with parents in the evenings before bed too!

Then we wake up and do it all over again! Only because we are homeschooled there are always differences every day!

Your one and only,
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in adventures, gospel and outreach, journal entries, Living for God, memorys, Mexico, missions, Rancho3M

Journal Entries- Mission Trip to Mexico- Day 6

Another beautiful sunrise and devotion filled early morning. After breakfast, we got to work.

So today, Lauren and I were the only one who were staining. We both got a lot done though. This would be our last day of helping with that as you will find out tomorrow. But that is okay because other teams throughout the summer would be able to finish the project. Lauren had lunch duty so I cleaned up everything before heading in for lunch.

That afternoon, after siesta, I went and set up for games with Mikayla. Today we played a ladder/number race game and a game called Steal the Bacon. Daniel, missionary kid at Rancho3M translated today.

We stopped work and games a little early today so we could get ready for the staff dinner. We put on “Sunday clothes” (skirts and nicer shirts) and hung out with the kids until dinner was ready. I got one of the older girls to braid my hair. They LOVE doing hair! It was really pretty.

Before the staff dinner, I tried to call my family, but it was pretty stormy and the connection wasn’t the best so I couldn’t talk for long.

At the staff dinner, we had an authentic Mexican meal, including chili reino, Mexican rice, mole (I think that was what it was called), enchiladas, and peach cobbler for desert (peach cobbler provided by the Americans 🙂 ). It was really good. After dinner, Pancho and Valeria shared their testimonies. SO touching. There were several generations of Rancho3M staff there, which was pretty cool to see.

After that, we went back to our dorms, showered and went to bed. That night I knew, that I would miss Rancho3M terribly. I do.

Well, stay updated to catch the last two days of my trip and a sneak peek of what a school day looks like for us. Since we have started school, you should see regular posts, so stay tuned for more!

Your one and only,
Priscilla

Posted by Posted in faith, God, Jesus

The Incarnation: Why I Love It

The incarnation of Jesus is something humans can not wrap their minds around. As hard as you try. How could Jesus be fully God and fully man? But think about it, would you want it any other way? Here is why I love the incarnation and its mind bogglingness.

1. Jesus was fully God.
If Jesus was NOT fully God how could I trust HIm? How could I believe Him? Humans die and fail and there has never been a human in my life who has not sinned or failed. How could I trust in a God who was part human. Jesus has to be fully God. Because He was fully God, He never sinned and He had a perfect life. Because He was a perfect man, He was able to be our perfect sacrifice. Think about this, if Jesus was NOT fully God and He had sinned even just a little, He would not have been able to be our perfect sacrifice. And we would have lived in our sin and death forever. One more point: I could/would not believe in a God who I can fathom. I don’t want God to be able to be achieved in my thoughts. Because Jesus was not just fully human but fully God I can not fathom Him. He is better/above anything I can imagine. I am sooooooo glad that Jesus was fully God.

2. Jesus was fully man.
Just as Jesus had to be perfect (fully God) to be able to die for us, He also had to be perfectly human to be able to die for us. God can’t die. God is holy and He can’t look on sin. However, since Jesus was fully human also, He could come to us in our sin and live with us and then die as our perfect sacrifice. I love imagining how Jesus came down to us. He was fully human and He could relate to us in our lives. He came not to be served but to serve. I love how Jesus was fully human.

Let me know your thoughts.

Priscilla