Tap Jr. and Katie Hornor

I’ve been struggling a little this week with all the juggling that goes on in the life of one wearing the hats of wife, mother, cook, laundress, teacher, counselor, nurse, secretary, etc. I was sitting at the computer tonight thinking of all the things I could be doing, while holding 16 mo. old Tre and looking through some of our most recent family photos. The Lord gently reminded me that one day I’ll be sitting here getting lots of things accomplished and thinking of the days when I used to be holding my baby. I’m determined to make the most of each moment with my children and ask God for grace to handle whatever else has to be done.

Karina and Kirsi’s newest hat acquisitions on our recent trip to Phoenix

Enjoying the hammock “together”

cleaning the window

playing dress up

We were quite cramped with six people (including three in car seats) and all of our luggage in our seven-passenger mini van during the many miles we traveled this fall. Here are some pictures of our return trip to Mexico in January:

And with 175,000 miles on the car, we knew it wouldn’t make many more such trips across the United States.

We are praising God for providing a 10-passenger Sprinter van for our family through the gifts of some of His people! Karina calls it our “Super-Bus,” and we’re all delighted to have a car with lower miles and more room to carry the most important asset in ministry—people! God truly is good to us!

We left early and the kids traveled in their PJ’s the day we met Daddy with the new van.

Our record in the 7 passenger (in Mexico) was 17 people. Our first night at church (in Mexico) with the new 10 passenger, we fit 24 in with room to spare! Praise the Lord!

Tre enjoyed a lengthy conversation with the Library Dragon

whoo hooo! The fender looks as good as new!

We have traveled well over 6000 miles since September 23rd. Our current support level is 71%. It’s amazing to us over and over again how our Wonderful God protects and provides for us each step of the way, when we walk by faith. Here is the latest proof that God is a God of forthought, detail and master orchestration. Glory to God! He alone could have arranged the following events to unfold just as they did:

Our van has been having some funny noises lately, and increasing more constant and louder. It didn’t necessarily affect how it was driving, but we were concerned none the less. Sunday night when we arrived at the next church on the schedule, the prophet’s chamber wasn’t available as they had said it would be because someone else ended up needing it longer than expected, so they had asked a family in the church to host us this week. It turns out that the pully on the water pump for the van broke completely on Monday (something very rare, we’re told), but the brother we’re staying with is a mechanic and auto body repairer and even had a car lift in his garage! They were able to find the part, and replace it the same day, and he tells us he may be able to repaint our fender (repaired from a fender bender a few months ago, but never repainted) before the week is over. God is good ALL the time, but this week we were reminded again of his graciousness in caring for even the little details of our lives. There is no coincidence in life, just the sovereignty of our great God!

Kirsi (2), Tre (10 mo.), Karina (4)

Dress code for church on Wednesday night was a little out of the ordinary. We were asked to come in costume as part of our celebration of Mexico’s Independence Day. After the service we shared a pot luck dinner and enjoyed such treats as: Mole, tamales, flautas, menudo, frijoles, and arroz con pollo, washed down of course by Coca-Cola.

the 3 banditos, I mean, Hornors

Back: Ariadne, Loida, Vianey, Katie, Kirsi, Martha, Claudia, Gabby, Chayito holding Rachel
Front: Zemy, Rossy, Mine, Becky (Eunice in front of Becky), Abi, Karina

Vianey, Abi, and Mine

Martha and Tre

Rachel Luna (12 mo.) and Tre (10 mo.)

On September 16, IPE held a special patriotic Chapel service and then cancelled classes for the rest of the day. Immediately following the Chapel hour they adjourned to a local ballfield for several hours of games between the three teams making up the student body. Faculty were invited as well and watching the students fellowship together through the games was definitely just as much fun as playing ourselves. The games were followed by a traditional dish of Posole back on campus, and then everyone had a day of rest until time to leave for Wednesday night church services around town. Here are some pictures of the excitement:

green, white and red teams in the stands

a game for the men

teachers sticking candies to packing tape to be used in a game

Tre even got to participate in the Green Team’s impromptu drama

Karina and Daddy

Kirsi, la Mexicana

Roel and Patty are one of several couples who are both enrolled in the Institute. The have two little girls.

Blow the balloon until it pops, then your teammate on the other side of the fence can pick up the candy that was inside. Candy = points.

Tre was not real excited by the games.

a new way to play tug of war.

Would you crawl through a mud patch on your hands and knees to earn candies (points) for your team?

Classes began at IPE on September first. The Lord blessed us this semester with 25 new students! We have a total of 82 dormitory students this semester leaving only 5 or 6 empty beds on campus. Praise the Lord! Katie has enjoyed getting to know the freshman ladies and was able to give a devotional to the dorm girls one evening during the first week of classes. Here are pictures of our new freshman ladies: Annajely, Victoria, Melissa, Lilia, Cristina, Cinthya, Lola, Blanca, Sofia, Jazmin and Rocio. We would appreciate your prayers for each of them as they adjust to college life and responsabilites, and as they continue to grow in their understanding of our Saviour and the application of His Word.