almost there…

Published by amanda on November 16, 2008 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

One of Eli’s milestones this week was pulling up in his crib (I took all of these with my cell phone so I could send them to Mundo, so they aren’t very good):

Another milestone was his two front teeth grew in:

Happy boy:

As I type this, Mundo is on an 11 hour flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Amsterdam. He has an 8 hour flight from Amsterdam to Memphis and then he’ll be home (at 5:00 tomorrow night). Only one night left! This week has truly been blessed. Although I’ve been without my groom, I’ve felt that God has taken great care of Eli and me. Out of all of the times Mundo has been out of town since we’ve been married, I’ve never slept as well as I did this time and Eli has also slept better this week than ever. He slept through the night two times this week (11 hours straight without waking up).God was reminding me that as Mundo and I are obedient to His will, He will take care of us. I could literally feel people praying for me as I laid down to go to sleep at night-I’ve had so much amazing peace. It is awesome to know that my husband was able to be a part of such an awesome scouting trip. Our church would love to plant a church in the areas they were visiting, so they were “scoping out the land.” He also was able to spend time with an amazing missionary couple, Greg and Kristin, who I know really appreciated the visit. What an awesome reminder to them of how loved and appreciated they are back at home in the States. (Sending sweet hugs to you Kristin! Wish I could’ve been there to give them in person :) ).

On another note, we had a monumental weekend in church life that literally made me say, yet again, I’m so amazed and thankful for my church. Since our three lead pastors were out of town, they asked three of our young guys to preach at our 5 weekend services. Two of them are youth pastors and one is our worship leader and heads up our Servolution/community outreach ministry. None of them have ever preached in our adult services before, so it was incredible to witness a first for all of them! What an amazing opportunity! They all did an incredible job. I kept thinking that they seemed so comfortable it was as though they had preached many times before. I love that our church has such a vision for raising up the next leaders, the next generation. It’s SO awesome! I had the same revelation as I sat in our Next Generation Wide Open Leadership night tonight in a nursery/preschool breakout session. The entire front row was filled with kids from 3rd grade to 8th grade (about 15 of them) who serve at least two services every week in our 2 year old, 3 year old or 4 year old classes on Sunday mornings (with other adult teachers in the rooms of course :) ). Nicki Cooper, an awesome friend who oversees the nursery/preschool, reminded all of us that we are leaders. Imagine how empowering that must be for those kids! That’s how you raise up a generation of young people who know their purpose and have a passion for the things of God!

day 4…

Published by amanda on November 13, 2008 in life. 0 Comments

The team made it to Durban. Pastor John posted this beautiful picture on his Twitter of the view from their hotel:

What a beautiful place! I wish I could be there to see Greg and Kristin, but I know that God has me here at home with Eli for a purpose (and I can’t imagine all of that traveling with a little baby unless it was absolutely necessary!). This is a picture of a mall that they visited in Durban. Mundo took it on his phone, so it isn’t very clear:

I’m surprised at how modern it looks. He said they were drinking coffee, hanging out in the mall- sounds like something we do here in the states pretty often! Here on the home front, things are great. Eli is still pretty fussy (which is so not like him). He definitely isn’t feeling very well. It’s been a little difficult getting anything done around the house while he’s awake, because he just wants to be held. I figure the day will come soon enough where he wants to be anywhere else but sitting in my lap, so I’m going to enjoy it now while it lasts! Housework can always wait. We have a nice day ahead- we visited church this morning, so Eli had the chance to see a few friends, we have a lunch date with our sweet friend, Sonya Yamnitz, then piano lessons, and finally dinner plans with my teacher friend Tiffany Moore who has a little baby about 4 months younger than Eli. Wow! Thank you Jesus for great friends!

day 3…busy busy busy!

Published by amanda on November 12, 2008 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

Today was a very different day than yesterday, yet just as enjoyable. I basically spent most of the day in my kitchen, cooking some fun Cuban dishes- black beans and rice and ropa vieja. I also baked a chocolate cake. The meal was for some amazing friends of ours (the sweetest people you’ll ever meet!) Hugo and Elizabeth Perez. They just welcomed a new baby girl into the world, Johanna, and Eli and I had the privilege of meeting her today. She’s so tiny. It’s amazing how ENORMOUS Eli looked next to her! I don’t realize how big he’s gotten. He’s grown so much. It’s hard to believe that he was 2 lbs smaller than her when he was born! We enjoyed a nice dinner at their house. I’m so thankful that God has allowed our church to be a multicultural church. Hugo and Elizabeth have faithfully serve ever since they first began attending our church about 5 years ago. They have two other beautiful children, Elihu and Eunice, who are known all around their school for being the sweetest kids ever!

As for Mundo, I heard from him this afternoon. He had to endure an 11 hour flight that was anything but comfortable. However, they are now in South Africa. They spent tonight in Johannesburg and will fly to Durban, Swaziland, in the morning. Random fact- my dad told me that he was actually offered a job managing a Shell refinery in Durban. So random… anyway..the team seems to be doing well, although I’m sure they are quite exhausted. Pray that their flight tomorrow goes well!

rainy day

Published by amanda on November 11, 2008 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

Well, our second day at home has been pretty low-key. I’ve been in touch with Mundo throughout the day on our blackberries. Once again, I love technology! He spent the day shopping in Amsterdam and walking around the city. They are a little jet lagged. At 8 pm last night ( 3 am their time) he was texting me saying he couldn’t sleep. If you’ve never had to adjust to such a large time zone, at first, your body thinks your napping when you go to sleep for the night, because it’s so early back at home. So, it’s really hard to sleep through the night. But, after about 3 days, they should be adjusted.

Eli and I have been at home most of the day. Mundo and I decided to get Direct TV a couple of weeks ago, so we’re able to record our favorite movies/tv shows and watch them whenever we want to. It’s awesome! I recorded several chick flicks last week, knowing that I would have plenty of time to catch up on them this week. (I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that Mundo isn’t a fan of chick flicks!) I’ve been watching a series of movies based on books written by Janette Oke- Love Comes Softly, Love’s Enduring Promise, Love’s Long Journey…etc. They are actually quite well done and perfect for a cheesy chick like myself. In every movie, there’s some lesson to be learned about how Jesus gives strength, direction, peace, healing…It’s pretty awesome. Yes, I’ve found myself crying in a few of them. My little guy is teething, so he’s been cranky today. The tops of his two bottom teeth have come in, so it’s only a matter of time before he has a toothy grin! Despite his crankiness, he’s been willing to play happily with me throughout the day and he even was up for a little outing to my new favorite bookstore-Hastings. It has new and used books, CDs and DVDs, so its a fun place to visit (as well as a pretty decent coffee shop- although I bought a sugar cookie to eat with my mocha today and it tasted like a week old grocery store cookie-yuck). We browsed through all of the fun baby books. He got to pet rabbit ears, tickle a sheep and pet a horse’s nose all in one book! :) He’s napping now, so I’m off to fold laundry.

Pray for the team as they travel to Africa tomorrow. It will be a long day for them. Please also pray that all of the luggage they check arrives safely. They brought two suitcases packed full of fun things for our awesome missionary friends that they’re going to visit, Greg and Kristin, and it would be SO terrible if anything is taken!

eli sleeps…and eli, ugghhh, eats

Published by amanda on November 10, 2008 in baby, church, life and uncategorized. 0 Comments


This is a picture Mundo sent from Amsterdam. It’s the name of a clothing store in his favorite place in Amsterdam- the Dam Square

First, I have to fill you in on Eli’s amazing night of sleep. For our first night without Mundo, I must say things went quite well-actually, records were set! Eli slept…are you ready for this?…11.5 hours straight! That’s the longest he’s ever slept without waking up during the night. As many new moms will tell you, on those first few nights when your baby decides to sleep through the night you’re up all night long waiting for them to wake up (and checking on them to make sure they’re breathing!). So, needless to say, I woke up at 3:30, waiting to hear sweet little cries and it was quiet. So, I laid there, expecting him to wake up the minute I fell asleep. I dozed for about an hour and then woke up again at about 5:00. I’m still breastfeeding, so, I was quite uncomfortable and quite ready to feed my little boy. However, I kept thinking, “How interesting that I’ve been waiting anxiously for this to happen and when it does, a little discomfort is causing me to want to back track and have him wake up again!” I realized that this can often be an analogy for seasons in life when we’re believing God to do a miracle in our lives, but we’re not willing to make the sacrifices/pay the price to see the miracle come to pass. The reality is, my body will adjust to him sleeping through the night and I won’t be as uncomfortable with time. However, in this initial season, I will have to be willing to endure a little discomfort. Man, I will be glad when the season of rest comes and I get to sleep through the night for the first time in nine months! (okay, so I understood that babies might take a while to sleep through the night, but I didn’t realize that I wouldn’t be sleeping through the night either :) ) Eli is most definitely worth the sacrifice of sleep!

On another note…I am in love with technology these days. Mundo and I were able to video chat this morning on Skype. It was so much fun to see Eli jumping around and smiling at his daddy. He loved every minute of it! Mundo was even able to show me the view outside of his hotel room. I felt like I was there with him! They are doing great and are hopefully still sleeping right now. They are 7 hours ahead of us. They will spend their Tuesday hanging out in Amsterdam, touring the city before they head to Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday. I miss him, but I’m so thankful for the opportunity he has to go such an awesome trip with two amazing men of God. Eli and I were invited to a friend’s house for dinner and really enjoyed spending time with their family- (thanks Pete and Kristi for a great dinner!) It’s always a blessing to have great friends around you who are your extended family.

Okay…so you may be wondering what Eli ate…Eli was playing on the floor in our kitchen this afternoon while I was cleaning up. I decided I wanted to take a walk, so I left him there to play while I ran and got the stroller out of the car and set up. Let me back up just a minute…at the grocery store today I bought him those fun little Gerber baby star cereal thingys that are great as a baby’s first finger food. I gave him some at lunch and SO enjoyed watching him pick them up off his tray and eat them (I had no idea he had mastered this skill already!) So, I had basically spent his lunch time teaching him how to pick up little things and put them in his mouth…back to the story… As I walked in the garage, I immediately had a thought pop into my mind, “The dog food!” Our rat terrier, Dulce, still hadn’t finished her food, so I knew her bowl was full. I ran into the kitchen as fast as I could and, sure enough, Eli had crawled over to her bowl and had a handful of dog food! I whisked him up and took the food out of his hands. After washing both of our hands, I fished around in his mouth, but didn’t feel anything. I held him in front of me and started sniffing his mouth. He smiled at me with the biggest, cutest, almost toothiest grin ever. I kept sniffing and he kept smiling. Then, all of a sudden, a piece of dog food came drooling out of his big smile!!! I freaked, of course, and ran to the sink to wash out his mouth. The moral of the story: crawling babies and dog food don’t mix!

and he’s off!

Published by amanda on November 9, 2008 in uncategorized. 1 Comment

Eli and I took Mundo to the airport this week. He’s on his way to Amsterdam tonight. He’ll spend a few nights there and then fly to Johannesburg South Africa. From there, he will fly to Durban (sp?) which I believe is in Swaziland and then he’ll fly to Mbabane, Swaziland to visit our sweet friends, Greg and Kristin Evans who are missionaries there. He has a lot of traveling ahead of him, so please pray for him! He’s traveling with our senior pastor and another associate pastor, so it will be a great time for the three of them to brainstorm and just enjoy hanging out together. Eli and I will be holding down the fort here at home. I’m not concerned about the daytime, since I’m used to being home with Eli. However, the evenings are a different story. Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m pathetic. I was already in tears tonight just thinking about how I will miss him in the evenings! I’ll keep you all posted on things around here!

make room

Published by Mundo Meneses on November 9, 2008 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

On March 6-7 our church will host a conference called “Make Room”.  We started this conference because of all the church friends who we have shared ideas and thoughts about church growth the past couple of years.  Finally we decided to have a event in which we could share things we have learned and hear from others what has worked in their church to grow.  Every church bumps up against certain growth barriers starting with 100, then 200, then 300, etc.  Your average church in the US is under 200.  How do you break through that, well we believe it is a combination of prayer, fasting, faithfulness along with practical things we can do as church leaders to make our environments conducive to growth.  This conference is about making room for growth baby.  Jesus said the harvest is plentiful, so we need to do all we can to bring it in.  If you are a church pastor, team member, or leader this conference is extremely practical and uplifting.  Save the date, it will be here soon.  We already have christmas on the mind, man the new year is upon us.  JESUS!

fall is here

Published by amanda on October 31, 2008 in uncategorized. 1 Comment

I just love the fall so much! I’ve been training to walk the St. Jude half marathon in December, so I’ve been taking walks everyday with Eli. It’s been fun to watch the leaves change as the days go by. God was good to create trees to change into something so beautiful! Today is Halloween. We used to celebrate Halloween when we were little, but I’ve since learned so much about the true meaning of Halloween that I am not a fan of the holiday at all. Mundo went to our church’s youth retreat. I plan on attending tomorrow night- wanted to give Eli a really good night of sleep before a late night tomorrow. It’s awesome to think that over 100 teenagers would rather be in church than out celebrating halloween with their friends! I love it! Church should definitely be the funnest place to be.

I’m including a slideshow of a few recent pics. You’ll see Eli sucking on a plastic spoon that has become his favorite toy as well as a picture of him bundled up in his little snowsuit that kept him warm on one of our early morning walks around Shelby Farms- the most amazing park in Memphis! Our little family took an outing to a local mall and we decided to take pictures while we were there. They came out so cute. Our little guy is growing up. Mundo came to the realization recently that Eli is starting to look more “toddlerish” than “babyish” and it actually made him sad. We’re both excited to watch him grow and change, but it is a little sad to put away his infant clothes and his baby swing. Actually, I had the thought for the first time today that the next time we use that swing it will probably be for our next baby! That’s hard to believe. We definitely plan on having another baby in the future. Only time will tell…:)

Trip to Texas- and Eli is now 8 months old!

Published by amanda on October 23, 2008 in uncategorized. 1 Comment

Last week, Eli and I traveled to Houston, TX, to visit my parents and Mundo’s parents for a week. We had an awesome time. It was relaxing and so sweet to see our family. The flight was much better than our first attempt at flying together. This time, he played really well and then took a nap on each of the two short flights. He did great in the airport (despite crazy delays). Every flight was delayed- two of them for almost 2 hours! I’ve realized that flying these days is a little different than it was even a few years ago. Anyway…he definitely knew no stranger as it seemed that everywhere we went people were talking to him and playing with him. There was even an older Australian man sitting behind us on our first flight who made silly faces at him for a good 10 minutes to keep him happy! We sat  next to two sweet grandparents who loved the entertainment and let him play with their watches and tickle their arms. We only encountered one crazy person- a very negative lady who, when she saw me sitting across the aisle from her, said, “Shoot, girl, looks like you’re going to have a  harder time on this flight than I am!” and then she proceeded to tell me that she was going to sue the airline when she got home because of a mix-up she had in the airport…sheesh! It was great to go and it’s just a great to be home. Gives you a new appreciation of home whenever you go away for a while.

On another note, Eli is now 8 months old! Where has the time gone?! Just yesterday and today he has begun to push up on his hands and knees. This morning, I saw him doing the “shimmy” where he pushed up and rocked back and forth. Babies always do this before they start crawling. So, I’m preparing myself to see my little boy take off any day now! I’ll keep you posted! Here are a few pictures I took from my trip. He had the chance to go on a swing for the first time and absolutely loved it!

vision night

Published by Mundo Meneses on October 13, 2008 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

We had an awesome vision night at church.  Got these pics from Marna Nel’s facebook.  Great shots from our second night.  It is awesome to look forward and also talk about how to get in the mix now with all that God is doing in our church.




beginning of 21 days…

Published by Mundo Meneses on October 13, 2008 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

Read a scripture in the book of 2 Thessalonians that is really a prayer.  Great prayer for every believer.  As we start our 21 days of prayer and fasting it really gives us an encouragement to press into God and believe for big things.

“…We constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.  We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” -2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Every one of us has a calling and purpose to our life.  The sadest thing is when someone doesn’t live that to its fullest and short changes their potential because of tests and rough periods in our life.  I have seen too many believers living below God’s best for their life.  No matter what has happened in your life, God has a purpose for you.  Here are some other promises of good things in store for us as believers:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
- Jeremiah 29:11

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”
-1 Corinthians 2:9

God desires to do great things through us.  We cannot be dismayed by what the circumstances are in our life or merely by what the media, news, or any other source says.  I’m believing these 21 days of prayer and fasting will be great days.  If you would like to join us, check out our church web page for some tips to fasting:  www.thelifechurch.com.

bachelor for a couple of days…

Published by Mundo Meneses on October 9, 2008 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

Well, I’m a bachelor for a couple of days.  I’m left to fend for myself with food and the house.  Amanda is visitng our families in Texas. So she and Eli will be hanging out with the grandparents.  They will be amazed how big he is.  The best thing about our son right now is how much he smiles now.  It is pretty amazing how he has changed just in a couple of months.  So while I am alone for a couple of days, pray for me.  My wife does so much for me and means so much to me.  I don’t know what I’d do without her.

Jesus take the wheel!

Eli playing outside

Published by amanda on October 3, 2008 in baby and life. 0 Comments

The weather has been absolutely perfect here, so we’ve been taking advantage of it! We’ve been spending our afternoons laying around on a blanket in our backyard. As Mundo mentioned in a previous post, we are looking into purchasing a new house. God has really been impressing it upon my heart to be thankful for the home that we have right now and to use it to its full extent. So, although our backyard is very unsightly and, yes, smells like dog poop, I can still enjoy laying on the patio and soaking in the sun. Thankfully, we have a nice-sized patio that is partially covered, so it’s perfect for baby and me! Anyways…I am very thankful for our home and, even more so, for our sweet little boy with whom I get to enjoy every day at home. When I was sitting outside today at around 2:30, I was thinking, “Thank God I’m not in a classroom right now! This is much better!” Here are some pictures that I took on the lovely :) patio.

HURRICANE RELIEF??

Published by Mundo Meneses on October 3, 2008 in uncategorized. 0 Comments

Hurricane relief? Is that still going on? You better believe it. We have a team down in the Houston/Galveston area right now from our church working out of a church called The Fellowship Texas City. Pastor Nathan Keller, a friend of ours who pastors Sugarland Church in Houston connected us to Fellowship. The areas affected by Ike will be rebuilding and healing for a long time. I was on the CNN web page and could not even find a mention of the hurricane relief status. Please keep praying and believing God for those in the texas/louisiana areas. Time for the church to be the church and reach out baby.

timing

Published by Mundo Meneses on September 29, 2008 in life. 1 Comment

We’ve been searching for a new home the past couple of weeks. We go back and forth on whether we should move. I have to resign to God’s timing. Too many times we want things to happen in our timing. We miss it too often when we get impatient and rush things. I am convinced that we can try to force it or let God bring it to pass. I know what you are thinking, we have to do something for things to happen ultimately, we can’t just sit around on our butts, BUT I would say first we hear His voice in a situation and then we act. Can’t get ahead of Him. His timing is perfect for sure. I have been reading the book of Isaiah and in it we get a glimpse of what God thinks. Here are some verses from Isaiah:

Isaiah 30:21 - Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Isaiah 48:17b - I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.

Isaiah 55:8 - “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.”

Sorry, that was a long one, but good one. You know His way is perfect. We all learn one way or another to wait on His timing. Question for us is: What thing are we pushing hard and have not even asked God for His thoughts?

I’ll finish with this one thought from the word:
Isaiah 30:15 - …This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…