Moms Near and Far

Thanks so much for your prayers on behalf of my mom. Amazingly enough, she was discharged from the hospital late this afternoon. A follow-up CT scan this morning showed the area of the hemorrhage in her brain was stable, and it is so tiny the doctor felt like she could return to the Assisted Living facility. They adjusted some medications and sent us on our way.

As I sat down to write this I checked the weather in South Texas, and it says Progreso right now is getting heavy rain with 47-60 mph winds. . . .

This is Laura. (Pay no attention to the gringo standing next to her!) In spite of the many years that have transpired since I took Spanish, and her very minimal English, God blessed our efforts and we were able to communicate. She had a very special place in my heart by the week's end. She rode with me when we took our youth and the Progreso church members to the beach (with her 2-year-old at her feet!) and so we had some time to get to know each other. What a testimony of how the Spirit binds hearts together even when there is a language barrier.

Laura is the mother of 10. Yes,
t-e-n. As in 5 boys and 5 girls. Her oldest is 23, and the youngest is the aforementioned 2-year-old. And Ernie, our accordion-playing worship accompanist, is one of her kids. When I told her how much we enjoyed him, she said it was very important to her for her kids to learn to participate. (Here, one of her other smaller sons - I think he was 5 - returns to his mom after quoting a Bible verse during the testimony time of the service.) She told me, "I can't go to church and just sit there. I have to participate."

She is an active leader in the tiny church in Progreso. And she is full of joy. It absolutely radiates from her, especially as the pastor preaches and during worship. In spite of the fact that one of her children, a 20-year-old daughter, has some mental and physical handicaps. In spite of the fact that I did not meet her husband and I'm not sure if he is a believer.

And in spite of the fact that when I drove her home, I discovered that the majority of her house has no roof. Last year they had a fire and it was destroyed. I believe a group from our church who went to Progreso this past spring did some reconstruction on part of her house. She said the area where they actually live does have roofing. It can't be very big, and 8 kids still live at home. Most of the house that I could see from the road was open to the sky.

Did I mention that Progreso is getting heavy rains and tropical winds tonight?