Making a cake and eating it too...still in Chahuites, Oaxaca

back to Our Walk of Faith

Make sure you check out the 4 latest posts...I've been able to catch up a bit this week in between making cakes!!


Our family this week...l to r...Taly, Salvador, Samy, Esther, Emmy, and Chavita (Emmy and Chavita are twins!!)




Sunday (6/3) morning we woke up to the smell of cakes baking. Oh, what a smell! Huge bowls of icing, cake batter, and milk to pour on the cakes. I told Chris that I thought we had made it to Peru and that we should stay for awhile (ha, ha, ha!!) Leche y Miel (Milk & Honey)'s specialty is Pastel de Tres Leches (Cake of Three Milks). They bake the cake, then pour the milk mixture over the first layer. Then they put icing then either peaches & strawberries, carmel & pecans, peaches & pecans, pineapple & coconut, or pineapple & peaches. Next the 2nd layer of cake soaked in the milk mixture again. Finally, the icing on the top and outside and the decorations. The cakes are refrigerated and served cold!! (See pictures below of the process!) We don't have the recipe yet, but I'm hoping to get it before we leave. Chris isn't a huge fan of sweets, but even he loves these cakes. They make all of the cakes at their house for the 3 stores that they own...the newest in Tonalá, Chiapas , another in Arriaga, Chiapas, and one in Chahuites, Oaxaca . Some days they drive them over to the other stores and some days they send the cakes over in a taxi. Sunday was a taxi day!










After the work on the cakes, we sat around the table and fellowshipped. We had no idea how much wisdom and knowledge Salvador has of the Bible. He talked to us about sin--staying blind to what you know is wrong and falling into the devil's trap instead of recognizing it for what it is and avoiding the pitfall. He also shared about heart attitude and our free will to obey or not to obey God's commands.

Monday (6/4)
Chris washed Vico (the dog!!), and I helped clean around the house. Then we worked on the cakes again--it takes many hours daily. Thirty+ cakes taking a ride to the other two stores in the Cake-Mobile!! We played baseball with Emmy, Chavita, Daniel, and Miguel. Daniel and Miguel are kids from the neighborhood. Miguel basically lives with them because his mom is an alcoholic. There are days when she's with it, but most of the time she just leaves Miguel for days at a time. We also taught Samy y Frida how to play Rummy.

Tuesday (6/5)
We cleaned again, helped make cakes, and washed dishes into the late afternoon. Then we watched Goal! the movie about the soccer player who makes it big from the barrio of LA to the Newcastle United in England. At night we played cards again...this time with Taly too!









Wednesday (6/6)
We worked on cakes and washed dishes most of the morning and early afternoon, but then it was time for a break. (Normally they work from morning to night 7 days per week, but this week has been a little lighter on work. Perfect for hanging out a bit more and talking about the Lord. Also Polo (pictured hard at work hauling water when there was no running water), the guy who works with them, is on vacation this week, so our being here has taken up some of the slack. (Not to mention Tropical Storm Barbara dropped a ton of rain on the towns we would have been walking through.)





All 11 of us loaded up in the car and headed towards Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas. (the capital of Chiapas--2 1/2 hours in the car means good talk time...we sang, shared testimony, and laughed a lot!) (Frida, Karla, and Juan Carlos are Esther's neices and nephew...their parents live on a ranchito, but the school isn't very good there, so the kids come to stay with Salvador and Esther during the week to go to school.) They had used up all the cream (for the cakes) in town so they had to go to Tuxtla Gutierrez to find some more as well as a few other items that they could get a lot cheaper in bulk. But making a supply run means going to Dominoes for pizza and to the movies!! We had pizza!! It was so good...not that the food here in Mexico isn't wonderful because it is...we just realized again that we really like pizza too! Then we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (in Spanish...and we haven't seen the 2nd one yet). It was a ton of fun! We had a real date night!!! (Mexican style--with the whole family!!) It was a great day!!



Thursday (6/7)
Back to work...we made cakes, washed dishes, washed our nasty clothes, and helped clean the house. We also caught up on our journals and played some with the kids.

We had "class" again with Salvador...he talked to us about God's timing. We've talked with them about how we haven't been on the direct route to Peru, but we've known we were where we were supposed to be. He explained to us that this walk was about building a deeper relationship with the Lord. God is teaching us about His character and transforming us through this process. So by going the way that He shows us whether it's the direct route or not, we are learning the lessons that He has prepared for us. If we went the shortest way according to the map, we'd arrive back in NC without the knowledge, wisdom, nor depth of relationship with God that we need to go on to the next thing that He has for us to do. So we'd end up in a holding pattern learning things that we should have learned on the road, but that we missed. What encouragement to keep following the route that God outlines for us!!!

We taught eveyone how to play spoons...(thanks Alabama crew from Pearlington for teaching us to play) The kids loved it!! Then we played Rummy again with Frida, Taly, and Samy until it was time to go to bed.

Friday (6/8)
We worked on cakes, washed dishes and finished up writing. We aren't sure which day, but in the next few, we know it's time to move on. It's going to be really hard...God has really given us time to renew our strength and to rest in Him while we've been here, but at the same time we've been about to help with their business as well.

In the afternoon, we all went to the beach...the Pacific Ocean is less than an hour away, so we went to Puerto Arista to swim and play. I was shocked at the size of the waves and the force of the current! I've never seen waves like that except on TV...Chris said that he's seen them like that two other times, but both times were in tropical storms or hurricanes. According to our friends, it was a calm day at the beach. I couldn't believe it. Chris went out really far, but I was too afraid of the waves to go out that far. I stayed with everyone else...the waves were huge there...over my head at times. We all had a really good time though!!

Saturday (6/9)
They are making a cake for a 50th wedding anniversary today, so we are going to get to have a part in that!! I just found out that someone else came this morning to order a wedding cake for TODAY. So we get to help with 2 big cakes!! Could you imagine waiting until the day of your wedding to order the cake...and that some one would actually agree to do it?!! Welcome to Mexico!! I love it! When we were delivered the cake to the wedding, the car wouldn’t go into gear…we had to push it to the corner and leave it there!!







Frida has also invited us to her birthday party on Sunday...looks like we'll be staying at least until Monday. We'll be in touch again soon...maybe next time from Guatemala...we're really close. Please be praying for our safety...apparently all border crossings are dangerous to some extent...Mexico is a rich country compared to Guatemala, so just keep praying for us! You're in our prayers. We love you! God bless you and keep you!

More pictures...1)RE with Vico...the family's mastiff...he's a big baby...he even followed Chris and me to the store one day!! Kinda makes us miss Minnie!! 2) Emmy and Chavita ready for their karate lessons!

3) Rosita in the traditional dress of Oaxaca...she's on her way to a birthday party! 4) Salvador had to rescue the iguana from the neighbor's moped.












5 & 6) Scenic overlooks from our drive to Tuxtla Gutierrez...









7) The 50th Wedding Anniversary Cake 8) The Wedding Cake










The cake making process...from beginning to tasty end...don't be deceived by the pictures of only RE eating icing...CE takes most of the pictures, so I was the only one who got caught on film!!