July 29-Day 3

**so sorry it is taking me forever to add my journal entries. Everytime I go to add them, I begin to reminisce and then I need to walk away, cause I am missing it so much.**

This mornings devotionals were on Psalm 24. The scripture talks about how everything in the earth is God's, the whole earth and the people who live in it. This totally relates to the time we are experiencing at this very moment. Time to share love and compassion with people who need to feel the love of GOD- not my love- but the love of God through me. God placed these people on the earth for a reason-knowing one day that I would come here to share HIS love one day. It is truly amazing to think that the beauty of HIS earth was made to go out and seek and save the lost. He gave us a Beautiful place to explore and then filled it with people so that we could touch their lives. It truly is a beautiful thing when you take a moment to stop and think about it. Just about time to go do more construction!! GO TEAM DIRTY MATTRESS!!

On the way to construction there were some funny moments...I want to share them, but be forewarned you just had to be there:
"Turtle power" "turtle in a half-shell" (upon seeing an open sewer grate)
Felipe saying to me "you're going to turn into a brunette" My reply "but I am already a brunette" after seeing me with tar and dirt particles all over my arms and head.

I had the opportunity to pray over the family whose roof we fixed today. It was pretty amazing, the daughter asked us to pray for her mom. Felipe translated for me as I prayed. I just asked God to allow the love that we poured into the house to be mulitplied even after we leave this place, and that God would bless the family just as we have been blessed through the work we are doing.
This afternoon we headed out for our last day at this particular VBS site. We were uncertain of what the day would hold or what kind of turnout we would have. Well, God certainly showed up, and He brought 65+ kids to us. Lives were touched, and there were many smiling faces. We gave the children salvation bracelets and shared with the children what each color meant. Hopefully they will keep that in their hearts. It was definitely God's hand in the midst of it all, none of us would have been able to do any of it without His overwhelming love and grace. When we went to leave, one of the girls "Barissa" gave me the biggest hug and then leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. It amazed me that even though I couldn't really communicate with her all that well, she still felt the love of Christ. She truly touched my heart. I was talking with the Pastor's wife and she touched her heart and said "gracias" and was saying how we have touched her heart and how she is grateful to us for being there. It was truly God who had placed us here in Juarez and is opening many doors for us. Praise God!! One of the most touching moments of my day was after VBS. One of the moms asked to be prayed over and although I have no idea what was prayed, I had tears running down my eyes because I knew that we had touched her heart. It is awesome to witness-because of what we are doing lives are being changed!
Later in the evening we went out and invited community families to the Tapias for an event. We were showing a movie in Spanish, Miami prepared a skit, some praise and worship, and some breakdancing! Yes- I said breakdancing!! God is bringing people out of their comfort zone and it is all being used for His glory!
One moment that brought another tear to my eyes was the drama by Miami. (I totally know God is softening my heart on this trip because I am not a public cryer and I have already cried multiple times where I can be seen). The drama was about how when God sent His son to die on the cross for us, He died to take all our sins, not part but all. The skit went on to show that even Christians get tempted but Christ is always trying to get us back to Him, but it is up to us to break free from those sins. In the end, Christ spoke to the heart of the girl despite many temptations, and that He is aleays ready to take us back with open arms. Christ then takes those sins on to Himself simply because our debt was paid when He died on the cross for us. It was very powerful to watch. I pray that those watching would feel the same thing I felt- the love and compassion of God given to us in the form of His son. Then it was time for some breakdancing...a bunch of locals started dancing, and it turned into a dance-off between some Miami people and the locals. It was quite funny to watch.
After everyone left a bunch of us sat up on the balcony and sang praise and worship songs for 45 minutes. No one complained that it was late, they all enjoyed hearing His name be praised. It was truly a blessing to be apart of.