I (Amy) forgot what it was like to feel normal.
After the birth of Lily, our fourth precious child, I began a time of postpartum depression that lasted for about five months. This came on the heels of my third trimester of pregnancy, already much harder than with our previous children. Looking back, it’s as if I was in my house and everything outside was hidden by fog; I could hardly think beyond my little world. I would not have been able to study Spanish even if I wanted to! It was very hard handling my own needs – and the needs of my family and household – let alone accomplishing anything else.
As you can imagine, many things were challenging during those months. My need for extra sleep and lack of energy when I was awake greatly slowed Jordan’s studies. He kindly made himself available to help with our kids – which meant he could rarely leave home to participate in the culture, or study free from regular interruption. For myself, I was not officially in the language program during this time. Yet – by God’s grace – we both continued to progress in Spanish. I am so grateful to say that for the last two months I have been myself! The fog lifted, and it’s so great! I can think, I can study; I’ve been seeing people again and am blessed to remember all our friends around the world. Praise the Lord, he vuelto a la normalidad (I have returned to normal)!
So why just mention this now? As incredible as it sounds, sharing about this situation simply didn’t occur to us! There was no single moment when we realized something big had changed; instead, each day brought growing challenges which demanded all our focus and energy, and we just walked through one day at a time as God sustained us. Though our updates mentioned tiredness and difficulty returning to normal language study, we wish we would have thought to ask for prayer for these big-picture circumstances.
My health hasn’t been the only factor in a difficult season of life. Nine months (and counting!) without a vehicle has also complicated our routine – especially with our local church a twenty minute drive away. Thankfully, God has sustained us here as well – we have kind friends who take us to and from church on Sundays. Jordan has also become very familiar with how Uber works in Mexico! We are so grateful to God that we have all the money we need for our mountain truck, and continue trusting Him to make the right vehicle available in His timing.
Up next for us is our bi-annual field conference, where our Ethnos360 coworkers in Mexico will meet together and be refreshed by great Bible teaching. It’s a wonderful chance to reconnect with all the church planters from our field, and hear what’s going in their ministries. We’ve been looking forward to this since the day the last conference ended!
After this, Jordan and I will both have Spanish evaluations in June. If I test into the required level, I will actually be finished with my studies! Jordan will take the same evaluation toward the end of June, also with the possibility of testing into his final level (one higher than mine) and completing his formal study of national language and culture. We are grateful for your prayer as we make our final pre-test preparations!
Praise God with us!
- Amy has been feeling well for the past couple of months
- God has sustained us (and continues to do so!) through difficult times
- The way continues to be clear for the Nahuatl to hear the Gospel this July!
Ways you can pray:
- For a time of refreshment at field conference
- Both Amy and Jordan have Spanish evaluations in June
- That we find the right vehicle for family and ministry needs