Christmas 2005

A decade ago our family was prepping to depart for Mexico for Christmas.  It was a little strange as to how we got there, but we were going to be spending Christmas at an orphanage in Juarez.  This would be our first international missions experience.

10-years ago we were busy as we were gathering gifts for the children and we were going to have the vehicle packed full.  Well, about the vehicle; we didn’t have a big enough vehicle to pack all that we had gathered for the children.  I had contacted several local churches, but it was no go on a van.  I didn’t know what we were going to do up to two days before we were supposed to leave on our trip.

We had gathered gifts for 20 children and many supplies for the orphanage –to include food for the children.  My family continued to gather supplies, and I simply wondered how we were going to get all of this stuff to Mexico.  Two days before we were scheduled to leave I received a call from a friend.  He explained that he knew someone that wanted to help and gave me his name and phone number.  I called Rick Realsen for the very first time and we talked for about 5 minutes and agreed to meet the next day when he’d give me the keys to his suburban.

The fact that someone would loan their vehicle to me, a complete stranger, was an awesome thing.  Really!?  We had gathered all of these things for the children and now we could transport these supplies without a problem.  The process of how so many people came together to bless these children was a supernatural experience for me.  There is always so much happening behind the story that we don’t see.

The time with the children in Mexico was awesome and they were so appreciative for the blessings that we were able to provide.  I will never forget Marco, Sergio, and Alfredo, three brothers we met for the first time, and so many other children that we shared Christmas of 2005 with.  It was supposed to be Faith’s first Christmas as part of our clan, but rather our Faith was shared with so many children so far away and they were blessed.

It is a beautiful thing…..  Blessings, Scott Nordstrom