Welcome Home Parade/Living Without Power

S & Z on the Ark I helped build

Davis hanging out with a new friend

Smith got to hang out with some of the local demons

Squeezing the Ark down a narrow Tlaxiaco street

Wow! Do those legs go all the way up?

One of the other floats

Where bridesmaid dresses come to die

Davis crashed out after a long night of parading around town

The city of Tlaxiaco came out if force to welcome us home. Wow! Just kidding. However, it was great to be back in time to see the Ark float that I helped build this summer hit the streets. It was unlike any parade I'd ever been to before. Rather than shutting down a certain route and blocking off traffic, as the float moved along, we just had to work around any obstacles. Each float in the parade also had at least one man going ahead with a big wooden poll to lift up low hanging utility lines. It was pretty funny!

Because I had helped build the float, our family was invited to a pre-parade celebration. It was good to make more friends and build upon existing relationships. I met one of the local congressman and after repeatedly welcoming our family to Tlaxiaco, he invited us over to use his home and his swimming pool any time. "Mi casa es su casa!"

The next day as the GFM staff was leaving for their annual staff retreat, they invited us to stay at and watch the base for them. Good times! Unlimited internet use and free laundry facilities, not to mention a great quiet place for our family to retreat and regroup.

That was Thursday. Friday we awoke to a power outage. Something I guess you have to learn to live with in Mexico from time-to-time. We made the most of it. I finished reading a book while Rachel and the kids played games. We enjoyed a candlelight dinner and went to sleep fully expecting to have the power restored by the next morning. Wrong!

Saturday, mid-morning, we became concerned for all the food in the two deep freezes and the two base refrigerators. I went hunting for a back up power supply, which I found in the form of a gas-powered generator in the tool shop. Good to go. We spent the rest of the weekend lounging around in the hammocks, reading, taking naps, shooting Smith's new air gun, and playing a game of "Stick Ball" that we made up using a broom and a giant exercise ball. Rachel totally dominated the new sport!

So now it's Monday evening. Power was just restored a couple of hours ago. I think I'm really going to miss all the quiet candlelight dinners with Rachel and the kids. Maybe I'll go throw the breaker just for fun.

It's Good To Be Back

Our sleepy travelers

Almost there!

Paying one of the endless tolls

Standing in the Walmart in Harlingen, TX, Rachel and I looked at each other and with tears in our eyes, we started to laugh. We both knew that we were simply wasting time trying to get the absolute most out of our last few moments in America. We love America! We love how easy and convenient EVERYTHING is…and I especially love how smooth all the roads are. Simply amazing!
No one was forcing us to go back to Mexico, and we knew that if we stayed in America, no one would love us any less. However, it comes down to a point where you look at yourself in the mirror, you examine yourself deep within, and you realize that none of this is about us. It’s not about our comfort or our pleasure. It’s not about having everything we want or even being happy with the things we do have. It’s not about us.
Driving 6,703 miles gives you a lot of time to think. Over the next several days I’m going to try to get some of these thoughts written down and I’ll try to share them with you. One of the big ideas I’ve been thinking about is: Perspective. The trip to the States took a toll on us physically and financially. However, the return we’ve received simply in perspective is totally worth it.
Crossing the border was a breeze. Actually, we’ve yet to even have our passports looked at. The guards asked me to step out of the vehicle and they poked their heads in and said hello to Rachel and the kids. They asked me to open the back doors but I told them all of our clothes and food would fall out if we did and they said not to worry about it. And it was the same drill at every checkpoint along the way. They like to know where you’re coming from and where you’re going. I think mainly, they like to pull us over to practice their English. The longest stop along the way included a search of Rachel’s purse and my computer bag while the guard holding the huge rifle tried to get Ax to say, “hola.” Yet they still never checked our passports or looked in the back of the van.
When we were down here before, I always felt a bit trapped. A little bit of the “this is the end of the world” syndrome. Coming back I realize that a switch has been flipped. Things that made me feel threatened before, I now enjoy. Areas where I felt un-secure before…I now feel safe. I think it helps me to remember that at any moment we can drive or fly right out of here. With all that being said, I feel my level of love for Mexico and the people of Mexico has quadruplicated. Culture shock—gone! Fear of driving here—gone!
It’s good to be back.

We Made It!!!

Just drove 13 hours straight from Tampico to Tlaxiaco. It was an amazing journey with the blessing of God written all over it. I'm pooped for now but will try to write more tomorrow or the next day!

On Our Way Back To Mexico!

The weather matched our mood as we pulled out of Colorado on Friday morning. We had such a great time seeing our friends and our family. We love you all so much!
We've made it to San Antonio. The trip has been great so far. We hope to make our border crossing in the morning. Please pray for a successful crossing and safety as we hit the Mexican highways once again. Love, the NAGELS

Smith's Birthday!

9 years ago, after a long day of labor, our first little red headed boy came into the world via C-section. I was so diappointed that the natural birth didn't work out that I sank to the floor of the delivery room in dispair and cried out to the Lord to at least give me a red headed baby. As you know, He's now answered my prayer many times over. Little Smith was so small I could hold him in one arm and put his little wrinkly foot in my mouth. What an amazing miracle!
We had a full day celebrating his birthday yesterday. Smith got to help paint a house, play hard with his cousins all day, and then eat dinner at a Mexican restaraunt--per his request so he could practice his Spanish. We finally got around to the cake and presents around 10 o'clock last night. Smith was so tired by the end of it all...yet still wanted to end the day watching a movie with me. He made it about 20 minutes into Star Wars IV before he passed out. As I picked my little boy up to carry him to bed I realized he is not so little any more. He's quickly turning into one of the sweetest young men I've ever met. I love you Smith. Here's to all the years and memories to come.

My Favorite Person in the World

My husband, the superstar.

When I was single, I was advised to comprise a list of attributes of what I was looking for in a husband, so as to know exactly what I was looking for. I found all those things and more in Jon Nagel. #14-Musical. HA!!! I got the one-man band. #7-Funny. He would swim in a fountain naked just to get me to stop being mad at him. #1-Loves God. I remember distinctly having a clear conversation with the Lord about him. You know, one of those times when you know that the God of all the earth is taking time to pay attention to your life and speak to you. He let me know that He liked Jon a lot.

Ten years have passed. A lot of it was fun. Some of it was sad. Sometimes I wanted to move off the planet earth just to get away. I had to learn a lot about life and God and maturity and real love. I still have a lot to learn. But if I were to do my list over again, I think it might be a little different. #3-Good father. He’s not perfect, but perfect isn’t what the kids need. They need someone to point them to their Father God. You’re doing a good job, Jon. #2-Able to Listen to the Lord. That is a hard thing to gauge, because it is about his personal relationship with the Lord, but I think when he comes to me and apologizes for being wrong, I know he’s listening to the Lord. No other voice would tell him to do that.

Now, I know that my old list is still fulfilled, but so much more than I had originally imagined. Jon is not just “musical”, when he sings me that one song, he has a voice that makes me melt in my skin. #7-Funny. Sometimes, in the middle of all the stress that living in a foreign country and low bank balances and four kids and camping for five months puts on our relationship, he can do something to make me laugh until my abs ache. But #1 is still “Loves God”. This is why I love my husband. After ten years with Jon Nagel, I’ve seen him look good and, let’s be honest, I’ve seen things that make me want to throw up. But through everything, he’s the only man I know who would give up the security of friends, family, money, identity in a career, “good sense”, and reputation to have the chance to truly follow God to the ends of the earth. So, if I truly do major on the majors, He is still number one on my list.

I love you Jonny!!! OOXXoXx

10 Year Anniversary!!!

Holy crap! Have we really been married for 10 years? Where does time go? Any of you that were at our wedding will remember that it was a hot, sweaty event. We got married outside on a Dallas evening in the middle of the summer. Maybe not the best idea…but then again, when have we ever been known for always having the best ideas?
Getting married so young, I was 19 she was 21, has allowed us to do a lot of growing up together. Sometimes hard, but always covered in a hard-shell sugar coating of fun and laughter! One key to always remember: “Naked is funny!” Admittedly, Rachel has always been better at marriage than me, but that is mainly because Rachel is simply a better person than me. We read a book once that said something to the effect of, “What if marriage was not meant for your personal happiness, rather to make you holy?” With the divorce rate in the world as high as it is today, it would seem that many have bought the lie that if you’re not happy in marriage then you should get out as quickly as possible. What a bunch of junk!
With four kids and a move to Mexico to become full-time missionaries under our belt, we’ve had many opportunities to be unhappy with one another. However, as we each submit our own wills to the will of our Lord Jesus every day, we draw closer and closer. You see, it’s never really been about us. It’s always been about Him.
Men and women go into marriage with different perspectives. Women think they can change all their husband’s bad habits. Men think that the woman they marry will never change. Well, I have more bad habits than ever, and every change that Rachel has gone through has made her radiate with a contagious joy and beauty. Thank you for marriage Jesus. Please give us many more years together.