Finally Feeling a Little Like Home

Well, we made it!

After years of preparation of the heart, months of preparation of the family, and weeks of preparation of the details.... We are actually here. In Mexico. In another country, 1000 miles away from our family, and 15 miles away from civilization,

This week has been crazy (needless to say!).

We left Roseburg at 7:30am on Monday July 12th- Landcruiser packed full- and headed South. We drover for 12 hours and landed for the night just south of Fresno in a town called Kingsburg. It was SOOOOO hot through California!! Ryan was wanting to get the best gas mileage we could, so the windows were down and the AC was off :-/

We went swimming in the pool at our hotel, grabbed dinner, and slept! Ahhh! :)

We hit the road again at about 10:00am on Tuesday. We drove to Spring Valley California, just outside of San Diego and had an awesome visit and delicious dinner with Ryan's Uncle and Aunt and Cousins whom we haven't seen in like 5 years. (Thanks Prince Fam for opening your home to us!!). We stayed the night there, and hit the road again Wednesday morning around 9:30.

We got to the Tecate International Border Crossing around 11:00, and rolled right through. Got the green light :) Didn't even have to stop!! Praise God!! I mean, we had ALOT of stuff packed on ol' Red, and they could have stopped us and gone through it all, or decided to tax us for it, but- nada! Amazing.

The instant you cross the gate from Tecate, CA, into Tecate BC, MX-- it is a different world. It is indescribable..... you will just have to come see for yourself ;-D

The road from Tecate to San Antonio De Las Minas (the small town where the Ranch is) is 61 miles, and takes 2 hours :) ...... They are doing a huge road improvement project right now, so it is even worse than it ever was before.... sections of the old road have been taken out to be recycled and used in the new road :), and so there are portions of VERY rough dirt road. However, it will be VERY nice when it is finished.... probably sometime in the year 2045 ;)

We arrived home at about 1:30 pm on Wednesday, July 14th.

It was just surreal. It felt very different from all of the times that I have been here before. The kids were so tired of the car (and we might have been too ;), and it was very very hot, and we were dirty, and the work had begun :)

We unpacked the truck, and fell asleep!

And the rest is history! We have been unpacking our things, and trying to make it home.... while also trying to get the ranch prepared to receive a team next week.

We went 3 days with no food other than what we brought-- which was minimal (beans, rice, and some canned stuff) before we got a chance to run into Ensenada (which- thanks to the last "road improvement project", is now only 15 or 20 mins away) and get some groceries and supplies. Then we just continued to get set up. We didn't know that it was Sunday until some time Sunday afternoon :), so we missed church. So we hiked up the mountain to The Crosses. It is an amazing view from up there.... you can see the whole valley! I took some pics, and I will post a couple of slides on the page if I can :-/..........so for now, most of our belongings have a place and all of the rooms and the Cocina (kitchen) are ready for the RCF team!

Yesterday we went back to the States (which took ALL day-- a 3-4 hour drive) to load up at Costco. We got plenty of food for our family, and TONS of food for the team :)

Now I feel very prepared to begin our job.

There is so much to tell, and I just can't think of everything to say!

Hopefully that has brought everyone up to date.

Keep checking in-- now that we have a steady internet connection, and most of our things are set up and caught up, I will be able to post more often.

"He raises the poor from the dust and lift the beggar out of the ash heap, to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory,' for the pillars of the Earth are the Lord's, and He has set the world upon them.'" I Sam. 2:8

T-Minus 18 days.....

I'm not freaking out, I'm not freaking out, I'm not freaking out......... OK..... maybe just a little.....

I feel a little overwhelmed this week! The kiddos are doing VBS, which starts at 8:30....... A M !!

OK, my kids get up at NINE-- so this is a stretch for us :)

We live 30 mins out, so we have to be up at 7:15 to get to town on time.

Then the kids are so tired all day, I feel like I'm not staying on top of my to-do list. Whew!.....

God has proven himself to us so many times, I don't know how I can once again find myself worrying about trivial things! How faithless we sometimes are.

So..... now that I've said that :) Here's the real update ;)

We have gotten all of our house stuff (our furniture and whatnot which has been in storage for 9 months) packed into a trailer, and hopefully Ryan and Nate are taking it down this next week. That will be a huge relief, just to know that our stuff is there, and when we have the kids with us, our crossing should go easier without a trailer. I have also been getting together all of the paperwork and legistic stuff-- like phone info, car ins., and PO Box stuff figured out this week.

Praise God we have sold 1 of our 3 vehicles, and possibly our motorhome!!! Keep praying that we would sell the others :) (We still need to sell the Corolla, and a work van).

I am busy training my Barista replacement (Dorie) this week too. She has been doing all of the work, and I have just been trying to answer all of her questions, and tell her as much as I can. She is going to do great! She is SO much more organized than I am :-D

OK..... so that is where we are right now-- if anyone has any questions, leave me a comment! I want to keep everyone informed. Also, if you are reading this and haven't emailed me to be added to the email newsletter list-- email me at steffensenfaminmexico@gmail.com. Just say "add me" and I will :)

Until next time-- " Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work." 2 Thess. 2:16-17

FAQs

* "What will you be doing there?"

~ Ryan will be working as the grounds keeper, maintenance man, worship leader, and outreach coordinator. I Will be working as the Hostess/ Hospitality person :) I will be making the ranch a place where everyone feels welcome and at home. We want Tres Cruces to be a wellspring of life. We want it to be an oasis. The property is 11 acres, so Ryan will have an endless list of To-Dos :).


* "Where will you live?"

~ The first thing I plan on doing when we get to the base is photo-documenting all of the buildings and the layout of the base. Over the course of several years, many people have visited the base and helped to build a triplex. Two of the sides are 3 bedroom, 1 bath apartments. They have a very open layout and are very cute and homey. The top is a studio apartment. We will be living in one half of the bottom.

PS- there are dorm rooms, and a 2 room guest house for all of you to stay in when you come to visit :)


* "What do you need?"

~ Here are some needs for the base:
- Twin sheet sets (x44) - These are because I would like to have a set of sheets, and a spare set for each of the bunks in the dorms and the guest house so that when you come to visit, and when the students are living there, we will have sheets for all of the beds.
- Also I would like to have a pillow and pillow case for each of the 22 beds.
(These sheets and pillow cases can be used, but still in good condition. They do not have to match or coordinate-- so keep your eyes open at the second hand stores :).)
- Spoons and forks. These seem to find their way into the luggage of teams, or into the trash-- so they seem to disappear :)
- The guest house (Casa de Juan) is a two-story building with one large room downstairs, and one large room upstairs. I would love to have some small furniture in these two rooms to make them feel more homey. They need a couple small end tables, a small table lamp in each room, and a large mirror in each room.
- The Chapel has big beautiful windows that look right out at the crosses on the hill. The sun comes up bright and travels right along that side of the Chapel. Some sheer curtains would be wonderful. I can make them -- I would need about 28 yards of sheer fabric (white or tan), or I would need 12 panels at least 72" long, and 4 panels at least 48" long.
- The dorm rooms for the students have bunks, and that is all. It would be great to have a small dresser in each one for them to keep their things in. There are 4 dorm rooms and 2 guest rooms.
- There are many landscaping projects that need done. The property has a lot of regular up-keep. So needless to say- we will need lots of shovels, rakes, hoes, brooms, and a dust mop. There are these type of things there now, but the shovels get old fast with so much use.


*Needs for the Steffensen Family :

- We do not have many material needs. We have furniture and dishes and everything to make a home. We will, however, need to sell some things before we leave.
~ We have a 1979 Toyota Corolla Wagon,
A 1981 Toyota 2wd Pick-up
A 1986 Ford Econoline Panel Van
And we will be selling our "Home" :) A 1983 34' Pace Arrow
Class "A" Motor home.
~ If you have any questions, email me.

I hope this is helpful for you :) I want to keep everyone informed and involved..... so keep checking in.


"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Bienvenidos!

Welcome to our blog! I will try (notice I say try ;) my best to get this up and running before we leave! (July 12th).

One question I have heard a lot: "what do you need?" - So I will be working on a list of needs, not only for our family, but for Tres Cruces itself.

I will also be trying to keep everyone updated as to our preparations, and what God is doing in our family, and on the Ranch as we get ready to leave.

I can't explain how excited I am to see what God is going to do in the near future. I am SO happy that our RCF family is getting excited about Tres Cruces! It is your base, and we want you all to be involved in it! We are also SO excited about the MBS (Master's Bible School) that is coming together.

I know this is breif, but I promise I will update again soon!-- For now: please be praying for our family (us and the family that we will be moving away from), and for the people in the Tres Cruces area that I believe God is preparing for big things!