Cinderella Play

Nicole and I went to a Cinderella play. It was the cutest thing!! In our historical downtown, we have a beautiful theater. I had never been there, and was a little surprised at how nice it was. 

There was not a full house when we got there, and we noticed this suspicious young man hunched down in his seat. Looked like he was trying to hide. We figured he secretly adored Cinderella, but was ashamed.

The fairy godmother

Cinderella and her evil stepmother

At the ball, the started dancing to beautiful symphony music when suddenly it cut out and they started dancing "Gangnam style". It was funny because I had just barely learned what that even was, and here they were hopping around the stage like that. They whole play was in Spanish, but they also danced to "get your kicks on route 66".

The "handsome" prince and the hilarious king

After the play, we walked down to the Zocalo, which is the center of Puebla.

There was an ice sculptor exhibition, with actual ice carvers working and making the sculptures while people watched.

I think this was a seahorse. 

We then went out for something hot to drink...

This is the governor's palace, all decorated for Christmas.

So pretty!

~Bethany~

Bedtime Bibleing

Good morning everyone!!

Happy Monday :)

 

Well, this week ya'll get a glimpse of the "behind the scenes" of how Austin really makes his recordings--

In bed, usually before bedtime!

Wait... You really thought Austin made his Bibleing recordings while standing on the side of a highway? ....Oh my, sorry to pop your bubble... :)))

 

For those of you who want to listen to Austin reading Matthew 22:23-32, its right there to right on the sidebar! In this recording he sure does sound exhausted... I guess he just partied himself out at his birthday party!

 

If you'd rather go to the actual link to listen to the recording, here it is:

https://soundcloud.com/bethanyraquel/matthew-chapter-22-23-32

 

 

*Nicole*

 

 

My God, My Healer!

Let me start this post out by saying that God is so GOOD!

I’m going to tell you all a little story that you may or may not be aware of already…

I have struggled with health problems for years, without ever being able to pinpoint what in the world was wrong with me.  

But exactly a year ago, at this same time I went through the hardest time of my life. I got so sick that I had to go to the U.S. for doctor’s visits, just hoping to figure out what was wrong with me! I was losing weight so quickly, and I was tired all of the time... In just a manner of weeks I lost almost 20 pounds. At times I would lie awake in my bed at night, crying and praying, unable to sleep from the pain in my joints.

I've had cat scans, I saw doctor after doctor, I was tested for Lyme’s disease, for arthritis, and other illnesses—at one point one of my doctors sent me in for a CT scan to check for brain tumors.

(There's nothing like being told you might have a brain tumor to give you a good ol' dose of stress.)

....but everything always came back negative.

Sometimes I wondered if I was going to die from whatever was wrong with me...

I spent my 19th birthday in the E.R.

Being away from my family in Mexico also made that time extra hard and stressful...

Beth and I survived through video chatting <3 td="">

I wanted an answer-- I didn't care what that answer was. I was ready to hear the worst... Just anything but the unknown! I just wanted to know what I had, and how I could get rid of it!

Finally, in late 2011, we finally pinpointed what my problem was.

I was allergic to gluten.

Now, I was never diagnosed officially with "gluten intolerance", or Celiac disease. My doc said that it might be a type of gluten intolerance.

The ways of diagnosing that are too difficult, and would have required me to eat gluten; the very poison that would wreak havoc on my system and have me suffering for days on end. We reached this conclusion by eliminating all gluten from my diet… When I avoided bread and such, miraculously I felt a lot better.

I finally had my answer, and I did what I could-- I stayed away from gluten for the most part. In the beginning I cheated, but my body quickly reminded me of the consequences of that…

I became more and more careful of not eating gluten. But for those of you that suffer with this same problem, or any other food allergy, you know that accidents happen. Somewhere along the line you’re going to accidentally eat what you’re not supposed to.

But there is no cure for gluten intolerance, or Celiac disease.

The joint pain would mysteriously come back for a few days, and my stomach would be in knots… Even though to my knowledge I hadn’t eaten anything wrong.

I never felt quite right, but I adjusted to it. It became my “normal”.

Until last night.

 

On Thursday and Friday we had 2 special services over in the south side church. There is a couple that is visiting and will be with us in Puebla for a month. Bro. and Sis. Meredith are a sweet couple, anointed and are being used by God here in Puebla. Bro. Meredith preached for us on Thursday and Friday.

Whew! This is what our car looked like on Friday afternoon when we headed across town again, but this time we took a carload of eighteen people!!! Yikes! In our seven seater Caravan!

We were packed like sardines in there...

This picture doesn't really do the packed-ness justice haha. And what you can't see are the 4 boys in the trunk! LOL. Gotta love Mexico :) We get it done one way or another!

And this is Beth, me, and Judah smooshed into the front passenger.

It was painful! :)) But it provided lots of laughter!

And now, here we are with the good part!

As I type this I can't stop smiling!

We started with song service. (Beth and I did the music this night.)

In the middle of service my Tio Mario called his mother-in-law up to be prayed for.

You wouldn't guess it by looking at her, but the doctors have given her 6 months to live.

She has cancer in both lungs.

The spirit of God fell in that place in such a powerful way, and everyone started praying for this woman. It was amazing, you could feel the God moving and there was such a strong spirit of faith in the house. We prayed for several minutes, and then Bro. Mario got the microphone and told everyone to keep praying, that he could feel a healing spirit moving in the building.

So what did I do, along with everyone else? I kept praying for Hayde's mom's healing!

 But then the Holy Ghost hit me so strongly and I just couldn't stop speaking in tongues...

The next thing I knew Bro. Mario laid his hand on me and began praying for my healing!

I’ve heard of stories from people that have gotten healed, and how they felt a warmth, or strange sensation in their body…

But for me, when Mario started to pray for me, suddenly I just felt right. I felt whole inside. It’s hard to explain, but I felt something like I’d never felt before. It was like all the pieces finally came together from my head to my toes, and I had such a sense of peace and wholeness…

I couldn’t stop crying, but from joy.

God healed me.

God healed me—Nicole Marlene Wakefield. I’m completely free of any and every sickness in my body, whether it was Celiac disease, or who knows what!

I’ve never felt this way before and I know,

He touched me, oh he touched me!

And oh the joy that floods my soul!

Bro. Meredith preaching, Elder Wakefield translating.



Sweet little Julia praying for Monse

 

After church, we celebrated!

How? :)

With bread. Sweet Mexican bread and café de olla. Some of you may not understand, but this is a HUGE deal.

How could one piece of bread be such a big deal?

You guys, I got “glutened” just a month ago from a 1-inch piece of communion bread. I suffered with awful stabbing pains in my stomach and nausea for about 4 days afterwards. My body was just not able to digest gluten.

Eating this  piece of bread meant so very much...

Yikes, look at this very red, but very happy girl :)))

I got a few crazy looks, especially from my sweet gramma when she saw what I had in front of me!! The crazy look quickly turned into happiness, tears, and hugs when I told her what had happened...



This was a big deal. There really are no words to express the joy and the peace that I feel.



Celebrate :)

Visiting! I love all of these people!

And then we headed home! Here are where the 4 boys rode for the trip!

Nothing could take the smile off of my face last night...

God blessed me in such an awesome way!

God loves us, he really does. And His timing is perfect. Have faith and keep praying for your miracle! God can do anything!

I hope that this builds up your faith—It certainly has done that for me! I can’t stop laughing and crying! My God answers prayers! It might not happen when you want it to happen, but have faith and keep on praying!

If He did it for me, he can do it for you.

Our God is so GOOD. He is our healer!

Thank you Jesus for healing me!! And thank you to all of you out there, friends and family, that have been praying for me as well! It all has paid off! It’s time to rejoice!

....And time to eat cake ;)

God’s timing is very perfect—I’ll be able to have cake for my 20^th birthday!!! ;D

*Nicole*

Eleven! (And Dating Advice from Austin)

 

Guess who's birthday it is today? Austin's! He turned eleven today, and he is very happy to be growing up. Almost a teenager! I canNOT believe this. I was looking at pictures the other day of Austin when he was younger. I wanted to cry! Time is going by so fast; he is not a little boy anymore! We used to cart him around like he was a little baby...now he likes to show off how big he is and pick us up. (Scary!) He is growing, growing, growing...all legs--lol. He's a hunk! :D

The other day we were snuggling and talking. Mostly about girlfriends and dating...haha! He's a thinking little guy; he can be very quite for a long time then suddenly pipe up with some very interesting nuggets of wisdom.
It might be something from the Bible, something he's noticed about a family member or saint...or he'll just randomly say, "Beth, I think you should marry ___________." 

Usually it is for purely selfish reasons...the guy has a younger brother Austin is friends with, or it is a guy that has given Austin the time of day in the past. 

Anyways....

I recorded a conversation we had the other day...here is a little bit of it: 

Beth: "What are you going to do when you see the girl you think you want to marry? She talks to you, is really nice, you have a lot in common, she likes Legos, makes good food and loves kids...what will you say to her?

Austin: "...I don't know. A lot of people become speechless when it comes to that kind of stuff. I guess I'd try to be as polite as I could, be a gentleman. Win her heart in a proper way, not show off and show that I'm honorable. Don't be like a young man. Keep your head, try to think out every step of your plan like, 'Ok, this is what I'm going to do next..I'm going to open the door right now.' And as you open the door you have to think what you are going to do next. Are you going to pay her bill? Then have a conversation. See what you have in common with each other."

 "You try to be as polite as you can and you have to keep living that way so she doesn't realize when she marries you that you're a rude brute. A faker. You have to live it." 

Beth: "What are are some requirements you have for the girl you want to marry?"

Austin: "She has to learn how to deal with creative kids, kids who have disablities, definitely a lot of patience, otherwise I won't marry her. I want her to like kids because kids are the future."

Beth: "What if she doesn't want any kids?

Austin: Then that will be a BIG problem. But most people want kids. She might discover after she gets pregnant that her baby boy or girl will be the pride and joy of the family! That's how it sometimes ends up. And you cannot put your kids in daycare because they teach your kids bad words, they'll learn lots of bad habits, they'll fight, they'll argue and they won't grow up to be honorable men and women like they ought to be. You have to train them at home in one environment." 

I then asked him what he would do if his wife got bored at home...

He wins the prize for Best Answer.

"I'd buy her a Wii! Women LOVE Wii's!"  

 

So there you have it! A little wisdom from Austin. 

We love you, Austino! Happy Birthday! 

~Bethany~

The Joys and Horrors of Green Smoothies!

Alrighty, to start this post off, for those of you who didn't already know-- The Wakefield Family joined the green smoothie train many, many moons ago. Like almost 730 moons ago.... (That's 2 years of moons for those of you who aren't good at moon-counting.) :))

We are veteran green smoothie drinkers. We've had good smoothies and we've had baaad smoothies. We've tried spinach smoothies and we've tried cilantro smoothies.

(Spinach, guys. That's my tip for you. Spinach! :)))

There's been blueberry-mushroom smoothies and there's been delicious smoothies.

And then there's those smoothies that I'll call "Suicide Smoothies".

Remember as a kid, taking your cup up to the soda fountain and splashing in a little bit of every flavor of soda? 

Suicide smoothies = suicide soda!

...But instead of different sodas, you throw the last of all the random vegetables and fruits that you have lying around into the blender with some greens and water, and --voila!-- you have the most disgusting and nutritious thing ever to enter your digestive system!

I did just that the other day... We were running low on all the good smoothie ingredients.

So I figured I'd make do.

Alfalfa sprouts, pear, a bit of lemon, mushrooms, Swiss Chard, half an orange and maybe a few other things...

I took one sip of that and decided it was grocery time!!  

Good and gross smoothies aside, I believe in all of their benefits! It's kind of hard to argue with the fact that greens have so many vital nutrients, but are not normally included in the average American's diet! ...I'm always shocked at all of the examples of unhealthy living and eating that I see when I visit the U.S. I mean, Mexico has it's unhealthy ways too, but honestly, America is in a class of it's own when it comes to bad eating habits!!

Yikes... I think I'll step off my soapbox now before I get labeled as a health nut!! Because I'm not! Hahahaa :)) I enjoy junk food just like anyone else... But there is a balance, people!

Or at least there should be...... LOL.

So yada yada yada, all that to say-- we are indoctrinating the good people of Mexico with not only the Bible, but also with Green Smoothies!

Both are of very great benefits to your health and well being. ;)

There is an elderly lady in our church, Elisa, who has several issues with her health-- She misses a lot of church because of them.  For a while her skin was starting to turn yellow from her liver problems... This family is one of the poorest in our church, so that means no doctor's visits. But we did, and still do pray for her.

But one time my dad, Elisa, and her family got to talking about her diet and green smoothies. We found out that they only ever eat beans, rice, and tortillas. No meat, and no fruits or vegetables. Well, if you know anything about liver problems and what you should be eating, beans and tortillas don't cut it!

Bro. Dad, who also has liver issues, told them about green smoothies and how they would help Elisa. But like I already said, this family is poor.

Too poor to buy the fruits and vegetables to make the smoothies.

Bro. Dad came up with an idea-- He offered to go over every morning for 7 days to this family's house, fix them smoothies, and show Elisa how she could improve her diet.

Here's Bro. Dad, headed out the door, Vitamix in one hand, and a pitcher of clean, drinkable water in the other! (We'd never been to their house, and weren't sure if they would have clean water.)

Dad whipped up a smoothie for everyone-- Even the little girls.

Araceli and Mairi!

And guess what? They liked 'em! :)

Mairi is so precious. She is her gramma's little keeper. If Elisa goes to find a chair to sit down,  little Mairi is there holding her hand leading the way, and every now and then I've seen her reach up to feel Elisa's forehead. Just checkin' on gramma! :)) So cute!

And here they all are! (Besides Sis. Mom the photog)

Pastor, Elisa, Araceli, Mairi, and Lupe.

They've been keeping up doing the green smoothies for a couple weeks now and Elisa is looking so much better! Pray that she keeps on getting stronger!

God Bless, and don't forget to drink your green smoothies! ;P

*Nicole*

Highway 99

Good morning!

Here's another Austin update for you all!

He's still in the states, and all is going well. There have been in a few setbacks in the time frame we had set up for this trip, but really-- what's new. :P

 

Austin is still reading the Bible!

This week he chose to do it on Highway 99! :))

 

And this week we have a recording! Austin is such a trooper-- even when his mean sister made him record his passage a stinkin' second time!! I'm horrible, I know... But my magical powers don't reach into the realm of transferring voxer recordings to the computer...

And right now all you technical geniuses might be thinking, "Hello! Use your mic to record it off of your phone, Nicole!".

Yeah. Well. After doing just that I found out that my mic has a little person living right next to it, and after a couple minutes of the recording,  they decide to start crumpling plastic candy wrappers right next to to the mic, so that you couldn't even hear Austin talking! Imagine that.....

 

Sooo with a little bribing we got Mr. Austin to record for a 2nd time, but using a different program...

So here he is, with Matthew 19:23-30

 

Click on the link!

https://soundcloud.com/bethanyraquel/matthew-19-23-30

 

I love it when he gets so into his reading, sounding like a little preacher, and then messes up by starting to guess words. :))

 

Okay so the neat little widget isn't working inside the post, but thankfully Blogger will let me put it on the sidebar! So look to the right and you'll see the player right underneath Austin's picture!

Much easier!

 

 

*Nicole*

Sunday Church & How to Ruin Ice Cream

So what's up with the Wakefields? Everythings up!
We're so stinkin busy...
But not too busy to have church! :))
So here are just a few pics of Sunday church.

This is Bryan reciting in front of all the church the verses that he had learned in the past week of school. For the past week and also the upcoming weeks our boys will be memorizing most of, if not all of Romans chapter 8!

Little Fabian also said his verses, but no pics. They were the only 2 that learned all the verses given in that week of school... So, surprise! They received a Bible each as a reward.

Tio Mario, as always, preached an awesome message. He mainly spoke to the mothers and fathers about the importance of their work and involvement in their home, with their kids, praying with their kids, etc.

All the families came up and prayed together.

And at the end of the service, Bryan and Fabian got their picture taken with Pastor and their new Bibles!

Then we all headed upstairs for dinner!

Preacher and Evangelist ;P

Tio Mario was not quite what to think about our American sweet potatoes...

His verdict: "Ahh tastes just like camote!"

No, no, no, sweet potatoes do not taste like yams!!

All I gotta say is, if you don't like 'em don't eat 'em! :))

We hold sweet potatoes near and dear to our hearts beings that we can't get them down here!

Beth and I with the little bugger.

Oh and what comes after dinner? ...Dessert!

Cake.

That I can't enjoy.

But then I think,

"Oh well there's icecream in the fridge, I'll just have that!!"

Then my dreams were so rudely and harshly dashed...
A certain member of the Wakefield family, who shall remain unnamed (to save her the embarrassment of forgetting the ailment of her child), bought a big tub of cookies n' cream ice cream..... What's wrong with cookies n' cream, right?? Oh just the cookie part of it...

So then I went to my room and cried bitterly. Not really. :)))
I just got over it because really, it's okay-- I understand.... I'm the only person in the household that can't eat gluten, and mix ups and forgetfulness happen... And when they happen, I just zip my lip 'cause I'm so self sacrificial.
Hahahahhaa :))))
Actually, sometimes I complain. Loudly.
I mean really, for the love of Nicole, buy some vanilla Blue Bell!!

But I'm totally over it. Until the next time someone forgets me.
.....Beware of the scorned Nicole......
:)))
But while I'm on this train of thought, no accidents or forgetfulness is allowed at my birthday, okay folks? No cake, check labels for "May contain wheat", and no ice cream with cookies in it!!! LOL. Let's just have an gluten free ice cream party!
Okay, I'm done!


Later guys!

*Nicole*