Feliz Navidad & Feliz Cumpleanos Jesus Cristo

We are enjoying some lovely Santa Ana winds (warm breezes of 70 degrees) on this Christmas morning. It is a great day to be alive and celebrate the birth of our savior. I was blessed this morning to share this day with 32 kids and 15 great friends who I am privileged to serve with here at Rancho Sordo Mudo. We were also blessed to have Francis Chan and his family here for Christmas. The best thing about this day is that it fell on Sunday...a day of worship, praise, and remembering the best Christmas present given to us all. A gift that can change our lives and provide for us eternal life. This is the day that the Lord has made ... let us rejoice in it. We are all given this gift and I was reminded that today as I worshiped with my hands, as I watched all of the kids open up their Christmas gifts, and listened to Luke and Francis Chan share about thankfulness, grace, and what it means to be a giver. A giver of time, or a giver of love, or even a giver of joy. We each can share something with someone and by just taking a moment to help or serve or just be available is all it takes. I am thankful for my family and friends who not only support me personally, but who are present in my life and who love me no matter what. A love that is everlasting and unconditional just like our savior Jesus Christ who died for all of us on the cross that his love could be poured out as a living sacrifice for our sins. His love is eternal. Feliz Navidad to all my friends and family. Hugs from Mexico

5K @ RSM coming in a couple weeks

Hey everyone I have been leading a few of the older girls in preparing for a 5K race. We will be having our first race on November 18th. This November is already getting off to a great start and I am so excited for my three girls (Edith Marisol, Joselyn, and Dayan). They are doing an amazing job as we have been training since late September about 2-3 times a week. The course has been mapped out here on the Ranch property and now the final details are in the works....water station, t-shirts, medals, balloons, and other fun stuff to make the event a fun 5K run for all of us and a few group female guests who will be joining us. It has been a great to see how these three girls have grown in this challenge to run and condition, but I am seeing already great results. Prayers for continued health for us all as we have less than 2 weeks till the race date and that all the final details will fall into place. RUNNING IS FUN and what a joy to share it with the kidos!

LIGHT BRIGHT

Does anyone remember "LIGHT BRIGHT" boxes where you put colored transparent pegs into black paper to make a fun illuminated design. Guess what someone donated one to the Ranch and I recently shared the "Light Bright" with the kids. It was a fun night. They chose simple designs, but it was fun watching each one of the kids take there time placing each colored peg carefully into the paper, and when the images came to life their smiles were just as bright as the picture. It is the process that I enjoy most of all and with teaching these kids it is rewarding to see their "LIGHT BRIGHT" turn on inside as they share what they are learning in school or chapel classes. The Ranch illuminates so many things and what a joy to share Christ's love with them. Let your "LIGHT BRIGHT" shine in your work place, school, home, and all of your relationships. Enjoy the many blessings that each day brings.

showered with blessings

These past couple weeks at the Ranch we have been showered with blessings by the visiting groups from Northern California. First of all I want to thank everyone of our visiting groups who have already come to serve for a few days at the Ranch. All the groups thus far have brought us assistance with building(roofs, electric rewiring, drywall, cement work, carpentry), cleaning, organization of existing rooms, plumbing, educational games, supplies for school, snacks, lots of food, "HEARING EXAMS," clothes, sports equipment, and so many words of encouragement. The many hands that have helped this first month have been so appreciated. This past week we had a group that was deaf and hearing and that is always a blessing to see many of our older kids who know both American Sign and Mexican Sign Language be able communicate. God is so good and it is such a joy to share this experience with the many visitors that we get every year. I hope to see many more familiar faces from last years groups as well as new faces. We are blessed to have people pass through and also blessed to be in Valle de Guadalupe, which a very safe area just an hour south of the Tecate, California- Mexico boarder. 1 John 4:19 "We love because he first loved us." His love is like a fountain, and that source of love is the unfathomable ocean filled with His goodness that spreads to touch all creatures.

sidewalk chalk and bubbles

Sometimes it is the simple things that we need in life to remind us to just slow down and enjoy the moment. This past Sunday I brought out some sidewalk chalk, hotwheel cars, empty cardboard boxes, and bubbles. The little boys were who I was hanging out with and with such a small list of things we created a city and race course for our hotwheel cars to roam. We even had a boarder crossing from Mexico into the United States. All the 6 boys and myself were entertained for 2 hours. We created a city, bank, ice cream store, gas station, jail, soccer stadium, and the then the boys took over with each of their cars traveling all over the basketball court. It was a blast and it brought back so many memories of creating cities with my brother and all of our cars or micro machines. Keep it simple. How easy I forget. The boys all shared and played well with one another. It was a great day!

"complaining cards"

I always enjoy the teachable moments in class with my 4 students. We started with morning devotions reading through Exodus chapters 15-17. We just finished chapter 1 which talks about the Isrealites continuing their journey towrd the Promised Land. They were getting their manna (bread), and quail every morning and evening, but one thing they were lacking was water. They couldn't find water anywhere and were thirsty and began to cry out to Moses and God because all the Isrealites thought they were going to die in the desert for lack of water. God, however, proves his patience and love in this passage, giving the Hebrews the water they needed in spite of their complaining and their lack of faith. God had a plan all along. Well with this reading I played a game with my kids and had them create "complaining cards" such as "I don't like washing the plates, or cleaning the bathroom, or helping the younger kids." But what was great about getting these complaints out on paper is that not only were they visual to us all, but then I could challenge my students to think of the positive side of the complaint. I also reminded them (How did God respond to these complaints from the Isrealites?), Then I shared with them that we all complain from time to time. But God wants us to be contect, not complaining. So, we may not like to clean the bathroom, but when we do clean it then it doesn't smell and share the responsibility with others, or when we get a lot of homework we can try to remember that the homework is helping us learn more how to read and write. We have a lot to be thankful for. Psalm 23:1-2, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in grean pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters." Learning to change our attitude. Good stuff!

BACK TO SCHOOL! Bienvenidos a la escuela!

I arrived August 22nd almost 2 weeks ago now. The cob webs are all gone and so are the mice who created quite the resort in my supply cabinet. I am excited to jump into a new year with more kids, more staff, and more opportunities for our kids to get involved with our community. It is going to be a growing year for all of us. We are expecting 24 boys this year which is almost double from last year and 15 girls so the Ranch is a full house. Our staff this year welcomes a family of 6 from Hume Lake, CA, and two young women from Oregon and Thousand Oaks, California who will be helping in the school. Exciting times for those returning as well as the new staff as we prepare for our first day of school on September 5th. All I can say is that it is blessing to be here for my third year and be a part of this ministry where I can share my love for Christ with these deaf children for the next 9 months.

Another great year!

The Ranch this year was filled with fun, challenges, and lots of growth. I am on summer vacation in Washington for sometime away from teaching and have put on my resturant hat serving and managing. It is a different kind of fun. But, back to the year at the Ranch....it was so rewarding to complete another year and grow deeper in my relationships with all the kids. I had 5 students this year ages 15-17 and I enjoyed opening up their minds with spanish, reading, researching projects about the world and other cultures, cooking, money math, and challenging them with stories from the Bible. Each time I prepared for class and weeks lessons I found myself learning more and more about who these kids were and what makes this tick inside. It has been amazing to cheerish this growing year with them and that they let me into their world (Deaf culture). Incredible...really. I will take this summer to catch up with you and share some of my high lights with you. Thank you all for your prayers and support. more to come. Check out this slideshow http://gallery.me.com/christopher.michaels#100201 (copy and paste it into the website) A friend put it together for me.

unimaginable love

You are blessed! God’s desire is for you. And Jesus is the incarnation of God’s furious longing. He is your supreme Lover. It’s true. You are blessed. Your soul’s winter is over. The snows are over and gone. Flowers are blooming inside of you. The season of joyful songs has come. To you. You are blessed! The love of God is folly. No one is excluded. All (really!) are called to the banquet table. Come, and be filled. You are blessed! Be – YOU – ti – full. Be you. Just be. Love supports you. You are blessed! You have learned the purpose of life: LOVE. You are blessed! You can pray like a child, and enjoy God. You are blessed! Heal, and be healed. Reclaim affirmations for the kingdom of God. Amen. Amen. Amen. (by Brennan Manning “the furious longing of God.”) ... postmodern Beatitudes.

2011 has been a Happy New Year!

January has come and is almost gone, but we all have been blessed here at the Ranch. I started the new year with a few resolutions...1)Read one new book a month / so far I have read for January "Brennan Manning's :the furious longing of God," February's reading will be "A million miles in a thousand years," by Donald Miller. 2) Fun Run's this year...right now a SPARTAN RACE scheduled for February 26th and then my first triathlon (hopefully) April 16th. 3)Communication is key...so either through letters/prayer/face to face being available for people here at the Ranch, in the States, or even friends overseas. 4)Really loving on others no matter what...without casting judgment (Love). That is just a few of my resolutions for this year. The school year is going quite well with planning lessons and being able challenge these kids in their studies as well as their faith. I am blessed to have the Ranch as my home for another year. I wish you all a great start to your new year and send many hugs from Mexico. My your cup overflow with the richness of love.

Erin