Time Flies!

Hello to all our wonderful friends and family!

So I've done a horrible job this month of keeping you all updated on what has been happening in our lives. Hopefully I can rectify this with a nice long blog post! j/k...don't want to bore you!

On August 15, Raidel preached his last sermon at El Buen Samaritano. It went wonderful and he received many positive comments; some even said it was his best sermon yet. Last week and this week we have been visiting with family, which we hadn't had the chance to do much of all summer. Monday to Tuesday we took a mini vacation for ourselves. We have been running so much since we got here we took some time to spend with each other, and to relax! We both got burned from hanging out on the beach...but it was well worth it!

This Sunday, Raidel will be preaching at another Hispanic CRC called Buenas Nuevas (Good News). So a lot of this past week he has been preparing for that. We also, both, have been diligently working on the four workshops we are facilitating at a youth retreat over Labor Day weekend. The youth retreat is hosted by Buenas Nuevas as well. We will be talking to a group of youth ranging from 11 years old to over 20 years old; we will be discussing identity - personal identity in Christ, identity in church, and identity in the world.

On Monday, Sept. 6 we will take off for Orlando where we will be staying the night with one of Raidel's aunts. Then on Sept. 7 we are planning to start the drive back to Michigan. We may take one or two days to get there.

We are super excited to see everyone again. I just said to Raidel today "I think I'm ready to go back home"...to which he replied "me too". We have enjoyed Miami very much this summer and have met some wonderful people. We are thankful to all who have hosted us and accepted us as friends this summer. And a big thanks to all the readers of this blog! I know I haven't done a great job on keeping it up...but now we are almost home and can tell you the stories in person! :)

Winding Down: Our Last Month

Sorry that updates have been slacking over the lasts few weeks. A lot has happened and I’m excited to share with you.

From July 22 to July 28 my mom and nephew, Zack, were able to fly down to Florida for a visit. We had a great time, even though it was blistering hot! We did a lot of fun stuff like go to the Miami Seaquarium, the Miami Science Museum, we picked mangos and of course went to the beach! It was so wonderful to be around family again!! It was so hard to see them go…but knowing that we’ll be back home in a month helped.

Zack with all the mango's he helped pick!

Raidel, Marcy, Mom, and Zack on South Beach, FL.

That’s right! Can you believe it! We only have one month left! It still feels like we just got here. Raidel preached the last two Sunday’s and only has one more sermon to deliver. He will be preaching on the last day of his internship, August 15. It is bitter sweet to think about because we have very much enjoyed being a part of The Good Samaritan church this summer. The church is filled with beautiful people with a heart to serve God.

Our next coming adventure starts on Monday. Raidel and I are leading VBS (Vacation Bible School) for 11 to 14 year olds. I hope all goes well as we teach the Bible lessons and that the kids are receptive and have a great time!

After Raidel finishes his internship, on August 15, we plan to stay in Miami for a few weeks to visit with family. The internship has taken a lot of Raidel’s time and we haven’t been able to see his family as often as we would have liked. And since we don’t get down to Miami very often, we want to take advantage of the time we have before baby comes and school starts again!

Then, on September 6, Raidel (and I) are leading a youth retreat for another church here in Miami called The Good News. Please pray for us as we prepare four 45 minute workshops for youth ranging from 11 to 20 something years old. We are excited to meet with these youth because many of them come from Raidel’s home town in Jagüey Grande, Cuba.

Finally, we will be making our trek home. We are planning on leaving the 7th and want to arrive home on the 9th if possible. We look forward to seeing everyone upon our return.

Well! Keep me updated on how your summer is going?! We love the emails and phone calls we get…helps us stay connected.

Halfway!

It is so hard for me to believe that Raidel is half way through his internship already! He only has five more weeks left. That is not distracting him though or slowing him down. He has been very diligent in all his responsibilities.

This past Sunday he did not have to preach so he was a little less stressed. It was nice to have a mental break. We were able to spend some time with his 16 year old cousin and have a fun weekend. We went to the Miami Seaquarium, which was an awesome experience. It was the first time I had seen Killer Whales, Dolphins and Sharks in real life. For Raidel and his cousin, Obed, they were super excited to see a professional soccer player from Argentina: Javier Mascherano.

He wouldn't let us take a picture with him...so we took one from far away! ;)

A few days ago I was shocked at the little girl growing inside of me. I was feeling her kick and she was kicking in a rhythm. I was a little shocked at first and even checked my heart beat to make sure it wasn't just me. Raidel felt her too. We were both shocked, and I thought I might have a little musician on my hands because she was kicking on beat. Come to find out it was the hiccups...I still have hope though! hehe :)

Overall we are doing well. I find myself missing my friends and family more often, which has mainly to do with being pregnant and not being able to share it with those that I know and those that know me best. We are very much enjoying our time here and meeting new people. We are truly blessed!

P.S. Here are some prego pictures. This is me at 26 weeks:

These are some prego progress pictures:

:)

3rd Sunday Preaching and More Updates...

Sorry this post is later than I wanted it to be, however, we’ve been having a busy week. Raidel did another excellent job this past Sunday as he gave a sermon on what it is to be a good leader. The steering committee said it was one of his best yet!

This week Raidel and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary. We went to a Spanish restaurant while the World Cup Game: Spain v. Portugal was on. It was fun to sit around so many fanatics…everyone in the restaurant was wearing a Spanish jersey. Raidel, however, had on a green shirt (for no other reason than that’s what he was wearing that day); green happened to be the color for Portugal. Needless to say we didn’t get the best service (j/k).

It is hard to believe that we have been here a month already. Raidel will get a two week break from preaching after this Sunday; I can already tell his time is filling up with other pastoral things. He is starting/leading a group for young people on Friday nights and has many more home visits to do.Our first night with the youth is tonight! We are very excited!

I’m doing well with the pregnancy. The baby is healthy and kicking me all the time. I’m assuming it’s in the spirit of the World Cup – She’s excited that the Netherlands won today! Raidel and I are still discussing and thinking over names that we like. We are trying to narrow it down. The cool thing to me, though, is that God already knows her name and I think that’s just awesome!

Please continue to pray for us - for Raidel and his many responsibilities with the church and for me and the baby.

2nd Sunday Preaching and Father's Day!

Raidel did another wonderful job preaching this past Sunday. He is doing a series with the book of Nehemiah. It has been very interesting and I've learned a lot. He continues to get positive feedback as well, from the church members. He will also be engaging with the youth we have in the church because there is currently nothing set up for them. That will begin in July on Friday nights. Please keep that in your thoughts and prayers.

This past Sunday was also Father's Day - So HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the wonderful dads that read this blog. The church had all the fathers stand up, and while Raidel was reluctant the congregation made sure that he did stand up to be acknowledged. I took some pictures of the celebration after the service.

Miami is still HOT! But we are enjoying it here. It's hard to believe it's the end of June already! Time flies. Raidel continues to say "for the following ten weeks" ...but his internship is now down to 8 weeks!

I'm doing well with the pregnancy. My belly is getting bigger and bigger everyday. She is moving around a lot too which is really fun. I am having a problem with itchy skin so if you could pray that goes away, I would appreciate it!

Hope everything is well from wherever you are reading this! Keep me updated on how your summer is going! We miss you all!

1st Sunday Preaching

Hello friends and family! This past Sunday was Raidel’s 1st sermon in the church. He taught from Nehemiah. He did a wonderful job and seemed completely in his element while preaching. I could not be more proud of him. I received multiple compliments on his behalf from members of the church after the service. He seemed so comfortable in front of the church it was hard to keep in mind that it was his first sermon there!

Everything else is going well. We are settling in and are finding a schedule that suits us. It’s our first time working with only one car, as well, but we have fallen into that nicely. Miami is still HOT, if anyone was wondering. We have a high humidity every day and it gets into the low nineties everyday…although it feels hotter. We are still trying to figure out how to get from place to place seeing as how Miami is HUGE! Where as in GR it takes about 15-20 minutes to get somewhere, here you have to plan what time of day you’re leaving and know that traffic will always get in your way. Most places we have had to go are at least 30 minutes away. We are blessed to have the church very close to where we live, however.

Thank you all for your prayers, support, and emails! We appreciate hearing how things are going back home!

Hit the ground running...

This week has been very busy for Raidel. After a church meeting on Monday night he has hit the ground running with home visits and preparing his sermon for Sunday. I am so proud of him for all the work he has put in so far…almost 9 more weeks of internship to go!

We have begun to settle in a little more and are learning how to get around our neighborhood…although trying to get around the rest of Miami is a learning experience (one that requires a GPS and a lot of patience with traffic). I think we both agree on the fact that we would rather be in Grand Rapids 5 o’clock traffic any day over the traffic here in Miami. Just to have an idea, if you go out at the wrong time it can take you close to 45 minutes to go a mile…15 minutes (or more) to make a left hand turn at a traffic light. Oh the joys of a big city!

Made it to Miami

Raidel and I made it safely to Miami! Our travels were good, and we actually thought they were quite relaxing without having the pressure of school or work on our shoulders. We made one stop in TN and then continued on the following day. We visited with Raidel’s family in Deltona for a couple days and then made the final 4 hour stretch to Miami. We have settled in well to our new accommodations. Yesterday, the church (El Buen Samaritano; The Good Samaritan) held a commissioning service and welcomed Raidel and I to the church with open arms. I know Raidel is excited to begin his work there and put into practice all he has learned at Calvin Seminary.

Getting Ready to Go!

Raidel is in the midst of exams this week. I'm enjoying working a little more and relaxing with some free time since graduation. With all this, we have less than 2 weeks before we leave for hot Miami, FL. I think it is safe to say that we both don't feel as though it's real yet; but that will be short lived.

Hopefully we will keep up with this blog to update you on all the exciting changes that we look forward to! I also would like to use this blog as a way to communicate prayer requests and praises. Thank you to all the loving friends and family that have given us so much support and love.