Wouldn’t want the last blog post entitled “The End” to be the last thing you think of when you think of us. So…we’re beginning here in San Juan del Rio once again.
I have to admit…we’re not really beginning much of anything today. We’re mostly unpacking the mounds of clothes (we buy enough for the four of us for the next year or so…probably less for the boys since they seem to grow out of everything we buy them within hours of the purchase). Even with leaving 6 boxes of books in Dallas, we managed to bring about 100 books with us! Wow…the office is now a wreck once again. I’ve got mail, cords, cables, shoes, auto oil and filters, yarn (not mine!) all over the floor in piles and the table tops are indescribable. I’m working on it, ok?
Anyway, thanks very much for praying for our border crossing and trip. We needed your prayers! The crossing went awry on our part b/c we were up rather late…all week long…including Wednesday night. We planned to get a few hours sleep and wake up in time to get to Kohl’s at 9 a.m. to spend our free Kohl’s cash. We earned $60 worth and we wanted to use it up and unfortunately, the first day we could use it was yesterday.
Well, Beth set the alarm on her iPod but forgot to turn the sound up! We didn’t hear a thing and we woke up at 9 a.m.! So, we hustled up and still went to Kohl’s but not till about 10:30.
We finally reached the border at 11:30 and were greeted with a green light. They still waved us in to be checked but Beth is a miracle packer and can make a very organized and efficient packing look very disorganized and like something you wouldn’t really want to touch or look into very much. So, after about 30 seconds the military customs guy with the predictable flabbergasted look on his face that says (“Why don’t you people pack right?!?”), we were done with that potential complication.
Next, we went inside the building to get our car sticker and check our papers back into the country and there were no lines at all. Just some soldiers getting some photocopies of documents and the copy guy worked me in around them. No hurry there…those guys have real weapons all over them…rifles, pistols, knives…I can wait just fine!
We made it out of there in record time and were happy that it was only about 12 noon when we were heading into Reynosa. Despite being super careful about sticking to the speed limit and in the process being run over by ever semi, bus, car and even old ladies with walkers, we found ourselves being flagged by two cops on foot to pull over. They made a big deal about how I was speeding…I was not and was risking our lives just by driving the unbelievably slow limits…I realized that these guys probably weren’t even real police! What a scam! So, I held my ground and finally protested that here we are as missionaries trying to help the Mexican people and we give free classes and….oh what’s that? We can go now? OK. Adios! No way was I giving those two any money. Had I realized they weren’t real cops, I wouldn’t have stopped…however…they had picked their spot very well and had I not stopped, I would have had to run one of them over and that’s not a good idea.
Anyway, other than that and my ensuing paranoia of speed limits and police cars all the way home, we had no other problems. We got home at 11 p.m. and I was up till about 3:30 a.m. unpacking stuff and mostly sorting it out. It’s unbelievable how much stuff we cram into the truck when heading home. Of course, we get home and thing of stuff we should have bought…you know some people are never content! Ha-ha! No really, we’re quite content with all that we were able to bring and that God graciously provide the funds to purchase all these things. Many of them inexpensive, but still, it was a great couple of months for us (as these trips go) and we’re thankful that we survived and are home safely.
Well…time to get back to work. Lots to do!
Knowing Your ABCDs 