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.