j.p. serrano

This past weekend my family joined our extended family in a trip to Joshua Tree to watch the Perseus Meteor Shower. This gave us the chance to do some hiking/light bouldering with the children and work on some values that I’m trying to instill in them–namely bravery and an attitude of adventuring.

There is a rule one must learn quickly when parenting children. They are sponges and mirrors. Meaning that they pick up information and words very quickly and they also mimic the attitude of the adults around them.

Two Stories:
When walking up the side of a rock pile, I called out to the children to be careful because the path was getting a little “Sketchy.” Immediately Caedmon (my 5 yr. old daughter) looked behind to Levi (my 3 yr. old son) and said, “Be careful, it is getting a little catchy up here.” Very Cute.

The whole time we were on the hike/bouldering expeditions, I tried to touch and help the children as little as possible. I did this mainly in order to help them feel confident in their ability to climb and give them a sense of accomplishment at the end of it. I think it worked because of what I saw and heard from Caedmon the next day.

We were in the middle of a rock formation with towering sides about four feet apart and a narrow walkway that we had to use both our hands to balance on. It was a steep climb that required everyone to have full awareness of their bodies. I stood under my daughter, arms out in case she fell, as she was climbing up. Her legs began to shake and I told her “you can do this.” Her legs began to shake even more and then she started to repeat “You can do this, you can do this, you can do this.” Just at the point where I thought she was going to give up, her knees were knocking, she took a big risk and used one foot to push herself up to the next hand hold. Inside I was exuberant. She pushed through the shaking and didn’t let it stop her. She used the adrenaline rush as a tool to move herself forward. She could have easily let the fear and shaking stop her, but she didn’t….she used it. This is exactly what I want for my children to push forward despite their fear.

I want my children to get scrapes, bruises, and scuffs while doing these types of things. I wouldn’t even mind if they broke an arm or something (I’m always mindful of their head and core though). I would be more unhappy with the inconvenience it would cause than the break. Because for me……They are adventuring and exploring and this is an important trait I want them to have. I want them to be self-sufficient with the firm belief that they can push through anything. I want them to look at problems and say I can solve them. These traits all start now with the kind of adventures we take them on.

I am so happy to have a brother in-law that feels the same way. I heard him impart some good wisdom to Caedmon who wanted to take the same route over and over. He said, “Here’s something I want you to learn, when you are on an adventure never take the same way twice.”

My wife spent a good deal of time on a video from our El Salvador trip.  It is 16min long, it will take a while to download.  I hope you enjoy, click the link below.

El Salvador

Jeremy

Well today was a great day at the nywc. I skipped the first general session, but went to the break out seminars–Sometimes sleep is more important, and yesterday was a long day.

Tonight we heard three speakers all were very good. What I took home that was most meanigful is this–we must all keep in our minds the difference between the ends and the means. The end in youth ministry is having kids be radically involved with the mission of Jesus and loving God while carrying out that mission. The means is youth group, mission trips, games, fun, talks, coffee fellowship etc. The problem comes when I forget that the means are not the end, they point to something beyond and that is Jesus. I forget this sometimes and in turn the congregation forgets it.

Here is a photo of Tic Long. He is the guy who puts this all together.

Today is our first day at the National Youth Worker Convention in Sacramento. We have yet to leave the hotel, but the wonders of the Embassy Suites is amazing the children. I am really excited about the convention, it is rejuvinating for me and in turn my ministry. I’ll keep y’all updated throughout the day. Here is a photo of the children eating our FREE breakfast.

This past weekend, my family and I had the opportunity to go away to lake Isabella.  We decided to begin our vacation on Thursday and come on on Monday.

We left in the late afternoon, which means that we put ourselves in the position of setting up a tent in the dark.  Thanks to the campsite we used the headlights of our vehicle to illuminate the area and it gave us a good amount of light for the task.  On the other side of that coin, it also made everything outside of its direct beams pitch black.  It gave everything an erie glow, which put the children on edge.

The first thing we did was put down a huge green tarp in order to keep our tent’s bottom relatively clean.  The children thought it would be fun to sit in the middle of the tarp, and they had a good time sitting in the light from the car playing on the massive tarp.  Just as Jess and I began to empty the contents of our tent bag, a huge wind came and picked up one end of the tarp. The wind was loud and with a train like sound you could hear it coming. It took the huge tarp and made it into a canvas wave that swept over the children.  Levi my son who is 15 months, heard the wind coming and l looked to see where the sound was.  Low and behold, all he saw was a huge green monster coming at him, and in vein, he tried to crawl away–the look on his face was pure terror. Caedmon was there with him and pretty scared as well, but before we could even get to pull the tarp off the children, we could hear Caedmon, who is 3, talking to her brother.  She said, “Don’t be scared Wevi, Jesus is with us, Jesus gives us the power to be brave.”  

I was very delighted.

About three weeks prior to this incident, Caedmon and Levi attended the Vacation Bible School at our church.  Levi is too young to really get the concepts, and I thought Caedmon was too, but I was wrong.  The theme of this years VBS…Jesus Has The Power.  We covered topics like Jesus gives us the power to help others, Jesus gives us the power to live forever, and Jesus gives us the power to be brave.  SHE REMEMBERED!  My 3 year old daughter not only remembered, but in the midst of her own fear, tried to consul her brother.  

I am tickled pink at her faith.

-peace

jps

I have finally uploaded all my photos from the El Salvador/Guatemala trip.   You can find them by following the link on the right side of the page that read El Salvador / Guatemala.

-jps

Despite the kids and I not feeling well, today turned out to be a great day. We went shopping, took photos, and ate at a very nice Italian restraunt. We are all packed and ready for the flight home. We are leaving here tomorrow at 5:00 am. Our plane should arrive tomorrow night. Stay tuned we will be adding more pictures and photos.

Here is a photo of the place we are staying in Guatamala. It is quiet, peaceful, and beautiful.

Here is a photo of Aristides and his two children. This is from the iphone so our messages will be short. I will follow up with a picture of the Centro Luterano.

Dear Friends,

I apologize for the lack of posts in the last few days.  Internet access is a little trickier here, and we’ve had a rough few days so far.  Our trip to Guatemala from El Salvador was anything but easy, we had a 7 hour van ride through the mountains.  Caedmon threw up at breakfast before we left, and she has been sick ever since.  Levi started throwing up yesterday morning, and he is still sick.  Jeremy has not been feeling 100%, and I am playing nurse to them all.

Despite all of that, though, I am enjoying Antigua immensely!  The weather here is perfect!  Nice and cool in the mornings and evenings, and about 75 to 80 degrees during the day.  And there is NO HUMIDITY!  The Lutheran Center where we are staying is also gorgeous.  It used to be a hospital, and it is in the style of old colonial housing.  It is clean and safe, and the bugs are not too big (except for the spider that was on Jeremy’s pillow this morning.)

Yesterday, a good friend of mine traveled by bus to see us.  His name is Aristides, and he lives here in Guatemala.  About 15 years ago, he came to live with my family in California while he had surgery on his heart.  It was a real joy of mine to travel to his country to see him.  We visited for about 5 hours, and I just loved every minute of it!

Tomorrow around 5 in the morning, we are leaving Antigua to travel by taxi to Guatemala City to the airport.  God willing, we will be in LAX by nightfall.  It has been a pleasure to make this adventure and take you all along with us.  We are anxious to see you and share our stories.  And thank you to all who prayed for our little Rae Sunday morning.  We would appreciate continued prayers for the children’s health restored and safe travel tomorrow.

See you soon!
Jessica