The Sweet Faces of LILY!!!

Jackie, Berta & Beatrice all recived manicures. Oh the fun!!!!!




The new Riley family is in Chihuahua today registering their new birth certificates and applying for their passports. The passports will be overnighted to Mexico City and when they are ready...Mark and Jean will drive back down to take their children home. Should be only 5-10 days! Yippee!!! (BUT we are in Mexico...)




Alonda y Alondra flipping tortillas!




The Rileys minus Yazmine. Leslie (the oldest daughter) is not able to come since she is over 18. Help us pray about a visa for her!




It was fake...but it about did me in. Doesn't take much now....




Manicures help hide dirty fingernails! Es bueno!!!





Over 104 in the kitchen with the ovens on...and Luis is wearing his winter coat. I about fainted just watching him! No wonder he asked for a drink of water!!!!!





Angel was my Kitchen Aide. He will soon discover there are official Kitchen Aides that won't make you sweat!




A bad egg...that ALMOST made it in our brownies. YUCKY!




Eleaseo's ambulance. Thank you, Jesus, for giving him back to us! The 'hug line' this morning was a bit more precious!!! Why do we take eachother for granted? We need to hug and love more in this life.




...enough said!




Jean and Ismael




Nap time...




A beautiful little Princess!




Arturo carried Beatrice out of the bus. I love his servant's heart!




Lorena...I wonder what she was thinking about?




Rosaleo....I LOVE THIS BOY!!!




A true sleeping beauty! Fabiola




Tonito and Gabby...Bro & Sis




Gabby and Tonito again!




Perla and her limon smile




Jazmine enjoying her snack after church!






Boys will be boys will be boys....! I love them!




Pretty Marcela!




Me and Berta!




Adriana and Daniella




Ahhhh Jackie! You can't help but smile when you see her and hear her big raspy voice!




Alondra came in 2nd place in her school in an academic competition! You go girl!!!






Jean and Leslie





Jean and Lucinda...her shadow!




Julieta and Adriana




Lucinda




Ramon loving on the Virginia group pics! It was so precious to watch. He is SOOO excited for them to come!




Anastacio is so fun!




A very handsome Juan




Tonito




Geraldo




Jose Miguel




Talented Musicians! I love to hear them practice! Reminds me of when my kids were home! Could listen to it all day!





Cielo and Gabby




On Saturday morning we found Daniella walking down for devotions in her big fuzzy slippers. It was VERY cute!!!


Where do I begin? THANK YOU, JESUS, for our miracle boy, Eleaseo. He is still in the hospital for observation. The Dr.s still think there should be some major brain damage. We are just praising our Saviour!

You can sense the great spiritual battles that go on down here. I have thought a lot about this and I've come to the conclusion that it is because they are totally dependent on HIM and God is very real. God loves the orphans and Satan is fighting for all he is worth. Seeing God's protective cover on Lily is very touching. Like a mama eagle protecting her young...Lily is under the wings of our Saviour! It is not a place of rest...but a refuge all the same. You can see the storms and the fierce battle...but we are protected. It makes you want to snuggle closer and closer to God. I am thankful for the reminder that I really am TOTALLY dependent on God! It's a great place to be!

The children are doing pretty good despite the fact that they have a 'brother' in the hopital. They pray for him and ask about him, but there is a peace. In the middle of all the chaos and unknown yesterday, I decided it was time to make some brownies. (Comfort food, I know.) Anyway, it lifted everyone's spirit and helped to end the day on a sweet note! After you tell the Lord about your stress...a little chocolate always helps! ;)

This afternoon I am picking Ashley Sherard up at the airport. It will be so much fun to see her again. The friends you make at Lily seem to be life-long friends. She will be staying here a week and helping me with the Virginia team. I am also looking forward to my son arriving with the Virginia team. I haven't seen him in several months...and this will be a great place to meet! This will be his 2nd visit. I've told many of the children that their big brother is coming...and they can hardly wait to meet him! The excitement is so FUN!

Ed is scheduled to have his last 'test' done today before his surgery. Then he will be waiting for the phone call telling him that his new cornea is waiting for him. The sad thing is that someone has to die for this to happen. Jean Riley said that we need to pray for a 'christian' cornea so it would be a WIN-WIN situation! I have to agree!!!

Mark and Jean have been a blessing down here...as always. Mark is always busy...he even slays tarantulas. Jean is loving on all the children and serving in any way she can. She probably doesn't realize how much she has ministered to me. I've had such crazy situations and she was sympathizing with me all along the way. Last night for example. I wanted to go to my room, shower and go to bed. SO tired. But, while I was folding my clothes, a bottle of BRIGHT pink nail polish shattered all over the bathroom floor. Of course it did not end up in one little place. NO!!! It got the walls, sink cabinet, toilet, and about 12 big tiles on the bathroom floor. No bueno. Luckily I brought several packets of nail remover pads, but I have to purchase more polish remover today. The room I am presently staying in will be the apartment Gary and I will be remodeling...but he is not the biggest fan of pink...unless of course I am wearing it! ;)

The high school kids are officially finished with school but the graduates have some practices to attend. They are so excited and we are all very proud of them! The elementary and junior high schools are still running for at least another week. Mama and Papa are already getting nervous about having all the kids home every day during the summer. I remember feeling a bit anxious about that with my 4 kids...wondering what they would do all day to keep busy. Having 115 kids is a totally different story!

We have several boys from the mountain that are new since my last visit and now more will be coming! It is such a big adjustment for them. They are used to living quite differently...and eating differently. Everything is such a big adjustment for them. The children that we recently received mostly attended an elementary school. The only big difference is that they are not used to using bathroom facilities. The teachers have been shocked to see piles of pooh in the corner of the classroom. Ed and Rosa have been surprised here at Lily too. Then there are those who you send in to the shower but never seem to make it there...or don't use soap. Others don't know how to use toilet paper. ANYHOW...Mama and Papa need much prayer to figure all this out. I admire them so much for their genuine love and care for the children. I have been challenged in so many ways to go out of my comfort zone as well and make a difference.

I saw Silvia in church yesterday. She came to church and sat by me. My tears wouldn't stop flowing. I sat on one side of her and Lupita sat on the other. Lupita kept saying to her, "Hug me!" and it just broke my heart. Silvia was abandoned by her parents...and now she is abandoning her sister. The Lord has reassured me that she will return but for now I am praying that her rebellious time would end soon. Javier left and is now a strong warrior for the Lord. I am begging the Lord that this would happen to Silvia as well.

During the next 30 hours there will much spiritual warfare going on with the Virginia church (always happens for the groups...in fact usually happens a week before). Please pray that they will be determined to come and that the Lord will not only use them mightly to minister to Lily, but that their lives would be forever impacted for the Lord's Kingdom. Once you have looked into the eyes of an orphan...you are never the same!!!

God Reigns!

Today I witnessed one of the most horrific things in my life. Eliaseo, one of our 12 yr. old boys, choked on a hotdog. The boys were goofing around while eating (hard to imagine) and he stood up and grasped his neck. Mark Riley immediately saw the panic on his face and began doing the H-manuver (don't know how to spell it now). I thought Mark was goofing off with him and tackling him...but when Jean ran to him...I did too. 4 different people tried unsuccessfully to administer the H-manuver with no success. He lost consciousness and we tried for probably 5 more minutes to make it work...but it didn't. We rushed him to the hospital where they removed a piece of the hotdog...but his breathing was still very constricted and he wasn't regaining consciousness. He was rushed into Chihuahua by ambulance where they worked on him some more. Meanwhile 115 children were on their knees before God begging Him to spare their brother's life...and I am thrilled to report God heard their prayers and answered in a miraculous way! Elioseo is now awake, alert, NO BRAIN DAMAGE and doing good. When they asked him to identify Ed he said, "He's my wonderful Dad." The Dr. told Ed and Rosa that Eliaseo was a very lucky boy and they could not believe he was alive and no brain damage. They quickly told the Dr. that God answered the prayers of children. It is our latest miracle.

Satan is fighting...but God reigns! We were totally helpless...we cried out to the Lord...and He heard us and delivered us! Blessed be the name of the Lord!

I'm totally drained...will post more tomorrow. My Prince shared with me the great news of exceeding our mattress goal. Now we can purchase some bedding for the mattresses and possible a few more beds. Thanks be to God for abundantly supplying the needs of these precious children!

Mattress update

Thank you to everyone who helped with the mattress money we have exceeded our goal! As soon as I get the debit card thing fixed Linda will be purchasing the mattresses. Thanks again it's amazing to see God work through His people.

The LORD, He is GOD!!!

A sad Tonito




Cielo, Briza and Andrea! Cielo is getting tall!!!




I discovered that if you don't chew the hot peppers you bite off...and just swallow them fast...the burn is less! =)




Angels outside the Catholic church???




At the internet shop these 2 gals worked hard to install the software to make this internet work for us! They were my angels of the day!




Nancy is so beautiful!




Adriana...just for you, Dawn!!!




Little Adriana kissing Nikki! I love this pic!




'Nicó...remind me to give this letter to you...




A love letter in the making!




Mark and Jean and girls!




Luis and me! Marcos Moul...this little guy could be your little twin brother! He's a stinker too....!




Cielo and her stiff neck. She hurt it at school while sleeping. Go figure!!!




Adriana and Jovana...two sweet girls!




Father and daugher watching movies together during the movie night!



Where Mark Riley went! =)

 

Can't deny it Mark!!! (I probably won't mention this to him until he returns home. Might need him to slay another tarantula! Don't want to burn bridges down here!!!) =)


Jean and her new son enjoying some bonding time!




The Rileys at DIF. Oh the paperwork!!! The DIF building is getting remodeled...so it's all in a temporary warehouse to make things crazier!




Raphael held on to his box of poptarts for only a few minutes. He gave his treasure to Tia Lidia!




Manuel Riley with his poptart!!!




Alondra and Gabby serving breakfast. Very hard workers, indeed!




Irving flipping tortillas for breakfast.




TC Westside at Lily!




A happy Andrea




Andrea and Mama




Berta





Tonito loving on Jose




A hungry Jose




Julian and Nikki enjoying burritos! Bro and Sis!!!




Ewing!




Jean in the kitchen!




Nikki...my angel!




Lupita




Jackie and her hair! LOVE IT!!!



After just 24 hours we are having such a great response for the mattresses! I am hoping that within a few days I'll be announcing the goal of 30 mattresses will be met! It's up to Him! It's in His hands. So far I am humbled by the response. Thanks for loving the orphans.

Today I headed to Chihuahua to purchase and transport the first bunch of mattresses (via a pick-up truck) and was so pumped. I was driving and praising the Lord! When I arrived at the store the mattresses were stacked out in front and I was on Cloud 9. I went in to pay...only to find out there is a glitch with my credit/debit card. Talk about a deflated balloon. My Prince had it all cleared with our bank...but apparently something wasn't quite right. (You can be sure he'll be waiting for the bank to open Monday morning!!!) So...I left for the orphanage 'empty-handed'. I began crying out to the Lord, "Why is this so difficult? I don't understand!" It was then that He reminded me that Satan HATES orphans...because they are so precious to my Lord. Tears began streaming dowm my face as I was trying to wrap my mind around that horrid thought. This explains so many things....all the many struggles down here at Lily. That made me more determined than ever to not grow weary...I will be a strong soldier and fight to the end. I love 'orphans'...these children like they are my own. They are so precious to me!!!

I'm going to work on my photo upload problem again. If I am successful you will see new pics...if not you'll see maybe only a handful again without any remarks. Part of the problem may be that once I have an opportunity to get on my computer, my brain is on overload and I'm starting to shut down! I might try this earlier in the day next time. =) Thanks for your patience.

OK...I'm gonna date myself. Yesterday we had a great sudden rain. I was walking downtown Aldama with Fabiola, Nancy and another girl (can't remember now). Anyway, I was holding their hands and walking in the warm rain laughing and giggling! It was great. Couldn't help but thinking of the song, "Laugher in the Rain"..."Oh I hear laughter in the rain...walking hand in hand with the one I love." I'm sure that song wasn't written for that moment...but in my heart it was. How I love these children!!!!

Let me tell you...I take back anything I said about not seeing tarantulas! Here is my story: I fell asleep and woke up in the night to use the bathroom. Usually I don't turn on any light but I realized I had my anklet on still and couldn't figure out the clasp on it. So, I turned on the bathroom light and sat down...reaching for my anklet. Less than 2 feet in front of me was a HUGE tarantula staring me down. OH MY GOODNESS! I wanted to scream but nothing came out...and I ran to Mark and Jean's room. I pounded on the door and asked for Mark. He looked a bit dazed...but came to my rescue. I told him about this tarantula and pointed to where it was. Once Mark stepped in the bathroom I slammed the door shut...I didn't want it running towards my bed!!! After about a minute Mark opened the door and had a big wad of toilet paper...with what looked like a tarantula leg dangling out. Needless to say, I didn't fall back to sleep right away. I had been sleeping with the fan on me full blast...but now it felt like spiders crawling all over me...so I turned the fan off. I decided sweating was better than that sensation. I called my Prince and bawled. He lovingly said he'd pray for me. (He knows my terror of bugs.) When I hung up I realized that I needed to trust God on this issue too! So, I spent the next hour reminding myself that God will give me the strength I need. I can't do this on my own. I am totally dependent on God for EVERYTHING! As I look back on the situation, I am thankful for God's reminder to me. (I just don't want to learn that lesson over again!!!) =) The scorpions are out too, in this hot weather. I have been lazy on not shaking out my bedding...but not anymore!

The Virginia church will be here soon with FBC, my home church, arriving the following week. I met with Mama and Papa today to tweek the schedule and make sure we were 'blessing' Lily and not making more work for them. We made several changes and they are very excited. Everyone who has been down here realizes that schedules in Mexico are just a 'guide'. Schedules WILL change down here. "Blessed are the flexible...for they shall not be broken". That is the Mexican beautitude.

The teen boys prepared the afternoon meal today...which was fun to watch. They do most of the cooking at the boys's dorm under the guidance of Tio Willy and Tia Lully. To say the least...I am VERY impressed. It was great!!! Yay boys!

This early afternoon a policeman arrived from Aldama and told us they had found a young boy on the street unconscious. They were wondering if one of our boys had run away. He wanted Ed to go to the hospital to see if he could identify him. My heart sank. Ed can't drive yet so I was asked to drive him into town. Immediately Papa and Mama called for a 'bed check'. Within 5 minutes we were sure it wasn't any of our boys but we went to the hospital anyway. Sure enough, it was another boy and Papa told the hospital staff that is this boy does not have a home, he can live with us. I am not sure what the outcome will be, but it was very cool to see Papa visit the boy. He had regained consciousness (sp?) and was sitting up with an IV running. Papa told him that we love him and that more importantly God loves him. If he didn't have a family, he would be welcome to live in our home. It was very touching. I walked out of that hospital with a giant in God's Kingdom!

Mark is driving the bus (since Ed can't) so the children can go to the park and watch a game. That is their highlight! They LOVE going with their Papa on outings. I'm sure the bus will stop and they will visit several people along the way and food will be shared. That is life at Lily. Share everything that you have with everyone you can!

Well, Rog...I am glad you are finally cleaning out my car...that is WHAT you were hired for at the church fundraiser. Regarding the messy shape my car is in...it hasn't been touched since last year. I was saving it all for you!!!

It's ironic that the new picture I have as my blog header is one of Silvia. She ran away from Lily on Mother's Day. I am begging the Lord to bring her back. Will you help me pray for her?

Another place for your Lily fix: www.oneagleswingsministry.com Nikki Lopez and her family has began a great ministry not only for Lily but for the Mountain people as well. I am honored to call these people my dear friends.

Mom and Dad, I love you. It is because of your decision to adopt a baby girl who desperately needed a home almost 52 years ago that I am down here! Your loving arms have been extended to Mexico and you are making a BIG difference in the lives of orphans down here. Thanks for loving this orphan first!

I'm Home Again!!!

 

 

 

 

uY/sM2LNWhXXpY/s1600/DSC03698.JPG'>It's Friday and I have internet already! Yippee! As you can see...the problem is uploading the pics. I have been working on the pics for over 5 hours and I can't make things work right. Please help me pray about this. I give up for tonight.

Things are going great here at Lily. The staff is operating very well and the kids are doing fine. I loved their warm welcome. There is nothing like it!!!!

Mama and Papa have been busy getting Ed to various appointments for his eyes. He will be having a cornea transplant. Right now he is getting many surgery pre-tests out of the way so when there is cornea available...he can receive it. His last test will be completed Monday...so anytime after that he will be ready! Please help us pray about this.

I spent the day with Mark and Jean as they were at DIF. Alex and I were hoping to get in to see Naria, but she scheduled us to see her on Tuesday morning. The great news is the Rileys have a lot of their paperwork completed. It's a growing pile of papers, let me tell you! What do you expect for adopting 4 children? :) The children have been together several times and the reunion has been sweet. I am hoping to capture a pic of them all together Monday morning when they apply for the children's passports.

Please let me share with you something that is very heavy on my heart. Some orphanages are closing due to tough economic times and we are in desperate need of mattresses for the new children. DIF has asked us to take in many children and there is a desperate need. We have the staff, space and beds but no mattresses. If you would like to purchase a mattress for Lily, please send $65 American dollar via Paypal or check. For Paypal, send it to glbeggs@verizon.net. If you choose to send a check, please send it to Gary Beggs, 7282 W. Fox Rd, Mears, MI 49436. I am hoping to purchase 30 mattresses within the next few days. I have my debit card down here so I can purhase them immediately! (Thank goodness for technology!)

It's been warm down here but not unbearable. In the 100's...so far but not the teens. At night it cools down to the 90's. The good news is that I have not seen any tarantulas or snakes. Maybe it's too hot for them too! I can handle it!!!
Normally I am not a lover of cloudy days. But, they have been a blessing down here to prevent the temps from climbing higher. The past 2 days we had clouds and it kept it right around 100. Today is another story. Last I checked it was 106 and that was at 2:30. I'm sure it will reach about 110 today...or warmer. Whew!!!

A ministry team from Virginia will be flying down on Tuesday evening and the kids are SOOOOO excited! They are laying their hands on the pics and praying for them. Very cute!

I have been thinking a lot about the verses in the Bible that speak of God as our COVER. I love these verses. Since I have been here I have felt His protection...even with the clouds. I am safe because He is my cover. All of my strength cometh from the LORD!