Rest

The Lord is good and knows exactly what we need.  Its true.  He knows my breaking point and when I need some time to be and rest and not have the doorbell ringing or papers to fill out or meetings to go to or hungry mouths to feed.

Tomorrow I am going on a retreat with the women on my team.  Its such a huge blessing that we can all be here together, even those who aren’t on the field yet.  Kate is here and Ashley is here and Erin and Kathy… its going to be great.  And with all those amazing women, I think I’m going to need one afternoon to talk to no one at all.  Yep, I need it.

I have been preparing for the session that I will share this week with my teammates and I was assigned the topic of the Lord’s sovereignty and perfect will.  Light and easy :)  But its been so good for me to prepare.  I’ve been reminded of the Lord’s character and His great goodness to His children.  What a blessing it is to be called a child of God and to be able to delight in knowing the Father.

Its been an overwhelming week.  We’re in transition like crazy and I’m preparing for a really busy fall.  We have more boys coming to our door every day and are trying to seek the Lord’s wisdom in every step that we take with them.  There is so much to do and teach and get set up for the boys at the house, Puerta de Esperanza, etc. etc.  But I have to say…

I love my life and wouldn’t trade it for a thing.  Yesterday I paid three of the boys $1.50 to wash my car.  We had to run by the mall on an errand and the boys saw ice cream for sale for about 45 cents and were so excited to use their hard-earned money to buy some!  Except that one of the boys with us hadn’t been there for the car washing and was just standing by my side as others ate their deliciousness.  Well, not much time passed before Jeffrey noticed Jose’s plight and without so much as a word handed him the other part of his money to go buy ice cream.  I could not have been more proud. 

I want these precious boys to know Jesus and to want to give their lives away for each other and love each other the way that the Lord has loved them.  And its starting… we see glimpses.  Tonight we took 8 of them to church with us.  And people think we’re crazy I’m pretty sure.  Anytime they see the gringa girls with a car-load of Honduran boys.  But we’ll take the title if it means we get to love on these kids and talk to them about Jesus.

All to say.  I love my life.  But I’m overwhelmed and so thankful for a break :)  I’m praying for rest and good time with Jesus this week!  And I’m so thankful for those of you who read this blog and keep up with our crazy life here.

Goodbye to Bethany

Although TACA tried everything to keep Bethany in the country (you would have thought we were paying them to cancel the flights), she flew out yesterday to return to life in the US.  It was a stressful couple of days trying to get flights sorted out, but in the end she got home safely with all her bags and big hugs from her family.

Leili and Sairi came to town on Wednesday to help us shop for baby stuff for Puerta de Esperanza.  It was a huge help because they know exactly what the necessities are for having a baby here.  Afterwards, we took some goodbye pictures.

I know all the kids are going to miss Bethany.  She has really invested in the girls in Armenia, but also in the boys that come to our house every day.  The boys are already talking about talking to her on the computer (they think skype is the best thing ever and I agree!).  I’m really going to miss Bethany’s sweet spirit and servant heart that balanced me out so well in the time that we were roommates!  She’s a blessing, no doubt about it. :)

Wendy’s Dance Party

Remember how I always talk about Jeffri and Kevin?  Well… I’d like you to meet Kevin and his real personality that we’ve seen come out in the last couple days. 

The funniest part is that he was dancing in time to the music playing in Wendys, you just can’t hear it in the video :)

This was our goodbye breakfast for Bethany this morning.  We took Jeffri, Kevin, Ever, and Christopher with us to Wendys and the airport to say goodbye to Bethany.  But her flight was cancelled, so we get one more night with her :)  

The Pit

Yesterday I, not so affectionately, named my car.  I’m not really a naming kind of person for inanimate objects, but this one is so fitting that I just cannot help myself.

Introducing… “The Pit”

As in, the money pit.

Seriously… as I was sitting on the side of the road again yesterday waiting for the mechanic to come rescue me, I found myself really asking the Lord what the lesson is that he would have me to learn in the face of constant car repairs and a dwindling bank account.  I’m ready to learn it and move on.

Or could it be that the Lord is working to bring my mechanic into the family of God and this is just a very expensive evangelism experience?

I will say.  I’ve taken quite a hit financially and emotionally while dealing with this car that seems to be in the shop once a week.  It really makes me anxious whenever I hear a pop or a squeal or see smoke rising from the hood.  How much is it going to cost this time?  When is this going to end?

Although maybe I’m getting used to it… yesterday all I could think of while I sat baking by the side of the road was…
“Why did I take this compost from Erin’s house?  Is this basil plant worth it?  It smells SO bad in here!” :)

All that to say… please pray.  It has been one thing after another with “The Pit” and I am just praying that the Lord would allow me to trust Him to provide for all of my needs.  And praying that the Lord would send mechanic-type angels to guard all the working parts and keep us out of the shop for awhile.

So very proud!

I’m like a proud mama.  This was the best part of yesterday…

Sadly, I taught Christopher to spell his name in a very English fashion and didn’t realize it ‘till it was too late.  I’m pretty sure its more like Cristofer.  But I’m not sure…

And also Caitlin was a hero and brought this home…

So a close second to the best part of the day was our 3 on 2 soccer game in the garage :)

Revolving Door

I think the reality is… I don’t know any other way to be.  My family has shown me an amazing example of what hospitality looks like and I think its just ingrained in my heart.  One of the most frustrating things about my time in Costa Rica was not having a home where I could invite people in and cook them and meal and just visit and be together.  I am LOVING that about living here in Honduras.

Recently the Lord blessed us with an amazing house.  The spaces are perfect and exactly what we needed.  There is plenty of space in the kitchen for multiple cooks, not to mention little hands trying to help and/or supervise.  There is a good dining room with a table for playing bananagrams or Uno or Jungle Speed.  Today the living room was a cinema, a schoolroom, and a place to rest all the in the space of two hours.  The garage is huge and this week its been a dining room and a place to take a nap when it’s the safest place that tired street children have to go.  And the upstairs… well, that’s mostly ours. :)

The Lord just keeps bringing kids to our door.  New kids every week, sometimes every day.  Right now we have 7 regulars and then the others who come by at times.  All boys for now.  I’d love to have a little girl to hang out with, but maybe the Lord knows she couldn’t take all the boys!  We have 4 that went to church with us Sunday, for 3 of them it was their third time.  I just found out there is a Sunday school program, so I’m going to see if they are willing to try it next week… but they might rather sit with us.

I’m determined that apart from learning about Jesus, learning to read and write is one of the most important things that these boys can learn.  So to that end, I bought some school books.  I don’t teach elementary school, never have.  I don’t really know what I’m doing.  But today we wrote letters and tried to learn all of the letter names.  The boys today were 10,11, and 13 who were learning.  Can you imagine not being able to write your own name by that age?  I need some pencils… mechanical pencils don’t cut it when you’re learning to write.  Found that out today.  Also found out drawing circles and straight lines has to be taught.  So that’s the next order of business. 

You can pray for me.  I’m overwhelmed.  I cannot possibly teach these kids all that I want them to know.  I cannot possibly give them all the attention that they crave and ever get another thing done in life.  And then I’m a little overwhelmed in my personal life with a hectic fall schedule, finances, and so much transition.  But… there are so many things that I know.

I know that the Lord is GOOD and perfect in His timing.  I know that every day he brings these boys to our gate for a purpose.  I know that ultimately their hearts are in His hands.  And beyond that… their education and emotional state and family life… that’s all in His hands too.  And I know that He is using us.  Even on the days that I feel I haven’t done enough… its true.  But He is using us and He is doing it… everything that needs to be done.  And He has ALWAYS proven Himself faithful. 

So tonight I can go to bed and rest and trust that the Lord is enough.

Welcome to Honduras Caitlin!

Its possible that we were more excited about finding funfetti cake and rainbow sprinkle icing in Honduras than Caitlin was about eating it.  But Bethany I have been saving this treat for a special day.  And this was definitely it!

We are so excited that Caitlin is here to love on the people of Honduras with us!  She’ll be working a boy’s home in Armenia Bonito and a small private school.

One of my favorite things about new people coming to Honduras is hearing all their random insights about things that have become so normal to us :)  So… to hear from Caitlin’s point of view, you can read her blog.

The man with the giant umbrella

Thanks to my new camera that Caitlin brought down for me

I was able to document the following…

Yes, he is walking us to the car holding a lawn umbrella so we didn’t get wet.  Very thoughtful… so random.  Where did that even come from?  I paid him 50 cents.  Although, he speaks PERFECT English and should really go and get a real job.

Sidenote: Randomly, Caitlin and I have exactly the same camera, down to the color.  I spent 4 hours researching mine and she picked out the one she liked best at Walmart.  In the end, I think we both made a good choice.

No I will not marry you…

Today Caitlin got to Honduras!  And I got a marriage proposal.  It was a big day.

On the way to the airport I got stopped by the police because I didn’t have my front plate on my car, but I had it in my car, I think that should count.  He didn’t care about that, but did inform me that my registration was expired, but told me to just go pay it at the bank, no big deal.

On the way home from the airport I got stopped by the police because I was going to drive through their cones (which I was not going to do, by the way).  So he also tells me that my registration is expired and makes a huge deal out of it.  Tells me I’m going to have to leave my car there until I pay for it.  Tells me that it will be super expensive… and about 99 other things I didn’t understand.  Then he gets bored waiting for the other guy so decides to look around in the back at all of our suitcases and pricesmart food… awesome.  So we get to talking and he’s being super nice.  He wants to learn English, wants to go to the states.  So, of course, he has a proposition.

“You could help us get to the states.”
”I live here in Honduras for the next couple of years”
”Well, after that”
”How would I help you”
”Well…… you’re single so you could marry one of us”
”I don’t think so”

Yeah… I’d rather pay the ticket.  Which I did not end up getting.  I paid them $15 to put gas in their car and they let me go.

Poor Caitlin was in the car sweating the whole time.   But they did try to get her to help us communicate b/c apparently she looks Honduran… it was a great welcome to the country :)

Before and After

One thing that I find interesting about working in the areas we do here in Honduras is the before and after pictures.  If you could see these girls on a day to day basis, they look nothing like this.  They don’t have their hair up or make-up on, they are wearing old worn-out clothes that look like pulling one loose string might unravel the whole thing.  But when its time to go downtown… well, this happens…

On the other hand… maybe its not such an anomaly… I mean my favorite clothes are my pajamas and my old worn out grey sweat pants.  I just have to leave the house too often to stay in them all day… well most days :)

Anyway… back to the point.  Meet Dunea.  The girl on the right in this picture is one of the girls that I’ve been talking to about joining Puerta de Esperanza.  I almost didn’t write this post to introduce her, because I have no idea whether or not she will end up walking this road with us.  But I decided that whether or not you ever hear her name again, you can pray for her and the sweet little baby that will soon be making an appearance.  She’s convinced it’s a girl… but never having had an ultrasound makes that a little hard to confirm :) 

If I could show you a picture of her house and the other kids who live there you would understand that this picture doesn’t do her situation justice.  They are suffering malnutrition and neglect.  They have never been to school and cannot read or write.  Their moms have less than honorable professions and are never around.  And she’s supposed to figure out how to be a mom herself in the middle of all of this?  It’s a cycle… a terrible one.

So we talked a lot today about an opportunity for change and a different life.  But when you’re living the life that you’ve always known in the house that you’ve always lived in its hard to see that you could have anything else.  Our whole conversation reminded me of this CS Lewis quote…

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

And I know that this is my life.  I am slow to give up what I know to follow the Lord in complete obedience trusting that what He has for me is so much better.

So I get it.  I know the fear.  But I do pray that the Lord would lead Dunea to whatever He has for her, whether that be Puerta de Esperanza or not.  But more than anything that she would know HIM and learn to give up the life she knows to experience infinite joy!

Church

Last Sunday I was in my room getting ready for church when I heard a familiar shout outside the front gate… “Buenas!”  There were Jeffrey and Kevin waiting to talk, get some food, and hang out with us.  We didn’t have much time, so I gave them food and invited them to go to church with us.  They came, and really loved it.

I think this was a turning point in our relationship with them as we showed them that we wanted them to really enter into our lives.  Its has led to dinners around our dining room table, games of uno, paper airplanes, and requests for a return visit to church.

So tonight the group is growing and Kevin’s brother Ever is joining us for church.  They have asked about at least 3 times… “what time are you coming?” “We’ll see you tomorrow for church right?'”  I love it.  I love that they are excited about going to church and that they get to hear the Word preached in their heart language and see that people in their city love Jesus and worship the Lord.  So pray for the Gospel to penetrate and for them to really know the Lord in a personal way. 

New House!!

We’re settled :)  Its so nice to be in our new house and feel like it is really home.  Its safe and in a quiet neighborhood.  And its cooler than our last house!  What more could you want? 

So here are some pictures so that you can get an idea of our new place…

Living room where we can actually enjoy our old-school box TV.  In the old house you had to turn it up so loud to hear it that it was scratchy all the time.

For the first time in a year and a half I got to hang these verses back up on the wall… they are 5 of my favorites, my most favorite being… “I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free!” Psalm 119:32

Of course, the hammock and the huge garage!

We’re obsessed with the nice big kitchen where we can both cook at the same time without bumping elbows…

Dining room and Bethany talking on skype

Attempted creativity hanging trivets on the wall

Upstairs office/music room/miscellaneous… basically we don’t have furniture for this room, so it holds everything that doesn’t have another place to go :)

My bedroom!  Mama J… please note the starry host blanket that you made me forever ago.  Its is still well loved and used every night… sadly its starting to wear holes in it, but I just can’t stand to let it go!

Things I know about  myself… I’m not a home decorator, or a good home photographer, or good at cleaning up the house for pictures :)  But you get the general idea!

Yard Sale

This is for all of my blog readers in NC…

Nan, my wonderful grandma…

is putting on a yard sale THIS WEEK to raise money for…

We are going to use the proceeds to furnish the first home here which will hopefully open in mid-November.  And… my grandma will actually be here in October to help me buy things and make curtains and all that fun stuff!  I’m really excited for her visit :)

But… all that to say… if anyone who lives near Cary is interested in helping, please consider doing one of the following.

1. Donate stuff!  They are taking donations throughout the week, but also on Friday after 9:30AM at Peace Church (1777 W Chatham Rd. Cary, NC 27513).

2. Help at the yard sale or help price things on Friday

3. Buy stuff!  The sale will be this Saturday, September 17th, at Peace Church (address above) from 8AM-1PM.

I know they have some beds, bookcases, dressers, couches, etc. as well as small stuff.  I’m excited… wish I could be there!

*** sidenote… I really need to collect another pack and play for the home that they can bring down when they come.  So if anyone has a pack and play that they don’t use anymore, please consider donating it.  Thanks!

Back in my comfort zone…

Who would ever think that being surrounded by 11-14 year old girls could ever be someone’s comfort zone once they have passed that terribly awkward stage of life.  But surprisingly, it’s mine :)  5 years in youth ministry and I just really love these girls.  I have missed teaching Bible studies more than I realized.  It just love seeing the looks on their faces when something clicks for the first time and I love getting to know them and see them realize that God wants to be a very real part of their lives. 

So… change cultures… but I’m back in my comfort zone, although Spanish is far from being comfortable.  I’m doing a 4 week Bible study this month with these 8 girls where we have banned Abby and Bekah and I from speaking any English.  Its been so much fun!  We are going through a study on the character of God and how our lives are changed by what we believe to be true about the Lord. 

We will be trying to get a better picture :)

Over the last two weeks I’ve also… learned a Spanish version of Pig Latin (FYI, I thought my Spanish skills had regressed to nothing when I couldn’t understand a word they were saying!), taken a very teenage trip to the mall riding escalators up and down about 8 times, and gotten set up with a pro-soccer player.  Yep… back in the comfort zone :)

The Big Move

Yesterday Bethany and I moved into our new house.  We are SOOO thankful for our teammates who helped us all morning move all our stuff from one place to another.  With 2 trucks and 1 SUV it took about 4 trips and we were done by lunch.  YAY!

Bethany and I spent the rest of the day unpacking and we’re almost done now :)  We’re starting to really feel settled and enjoy our new house.  We love all the windows and nice breeze that we get and the big kitchen!

These are three of our kids who we love!  Jeffrey and Kevin and Ever helped take a first load over on Monday and then spent the day helping us on Tuesday as well.  We’ve been spending more and more time with these boys and are getting to see more of their personalities come out!  It was really fun to see them interact with the men on our team yesterday because they don’t have good male role models in their lives.  So keep praying for these guys!

Unexpected Friends

Bethany and I were pleased to realize on Friday that we have friends in this city.  We were driving through the neighborhood when we saw some of our friends out and about collecting bottles.  How exciting that Erin had just given us a load and we could stop right then and give these boys a bag of bottles to add to their collection.  We kept on driving and saw our friend Jeffrey with the guys who always go car to car asking for money at the stoplight.  His face lit up when we rolled down the window to say hello and offer him some work this week.  Then yesterday we were driving one of the kids over to show him our new house when we passed two of our favorite little boys who jumped right in the backseat and came with us.

Its not conventional perhaps.  We didn’t see any people we knew inside buildings or meet friends for lunch.  But I think my heart rejoices even more knowing that we can be friends with these sweet kids and show them that somebody loves them enough to learn their names and spend time with them and tell them about Jesus.

Speaking of names, I have to tell you about our little buddy Kevin.  He usually comes around with his brother or his neighbor, but his smile and manners have won our hearts.  He gives us a grin and looks like he wants nothing more than to just run up and wrap his 10-year old arms around us.  I drove them home the other day and he waited by the side of the road for me to go down and turn around so that he could wave to me one more time before I left.  He loves when I read to them, and doesn’t know how to read himself.  Yesterday he learned about Noah for the first time, he’d never heard that story before.  Just this week we let him come inside and he got to meet Gary Hodge and Bethany’s mom via skype.  Its like a whole new world when you’ve maybe never seen a computer before.  He thinks its pretty cool, although he got frazzled when Gary talked to him and told him he was 15 instead of 10 :)  Pray for us to love this little boy well and that he will grow up to love Jesus.

Taste and See

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.  Fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.  The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”
Psalm 34:8-10

I found myself reading this verse over and over again this morning just delighting in all the things that it doesn’t say.  It doesn’t say that I will always get everything that I want.  It doesn’t say that God’s job is to make me happy.  And it doesn’t say that I will always know what “good” looks like.

But it does remind me that the character of God is GOOD.  He is good, all the time, and by His very nature.  And His goodness overflows in the way that He loves me and provides for me.  And He knows me… so much better than I know myself.  So He knows what is good for me and that’s exactly what He gives me.  I will never lack that which is best for me.

Another step forward

I’ve been praying for the Lord to provide a house for Puerta de Esperanza before the first of October.  My mom and dad and Rick and Patti are coming down to help get the house ready… but we didn’t have a house…

until today!

Patient Lester, my realtor, has shown me quite a few houses and I have found something wrong with all of them and reasons why they really won’t work.  Well… Monday he told me he had a house coming open on Friday that he was sure would be perfect.  So we went to see it… and it is! 

We’ll be able to start moving things in and making small repairs by the end of this month.  Dad and Rick are going to make beds and small bookshelves, Patti and mom and I can paint and shop and it will be great :)  The goal is to have the house ready for girls by mid-November when I get back from pavement project training.

Here are some pictures for you!

Obviously it will look better with stuff inside :)  But this is a great start!  And there are some great things about the house…

1. only .5 miles from INFOP so they can walk to take classes
2. only a little over a mile from IHNFA where there are also classes and childcare
3. a security system
4. some outside space for kids to play
5. the perfect number of rooms and spaces… just enough without being too much

I’m excited about this answer to prayer!

Still more great news…

I’m moving :)

This didn’t originally sound like great news, I’ve just moved so much recently.  But our landlord in this house has been difficult, the rent is too high, etc., etc., etc.  So after fulfilling our 6 month lease, we’re moving next Tuesday.  We signed the lease yesterday… and I’m so excited!

Our new landlord is repainting the whole house for us, doing other household repairs, and even put up electric security fencing because it will be just girls living in the house.  She is taking care of us.  She had been praying for North American Christians to move into her house… and we had been praying for a good landlord.  I think the Lord probably had something to do with it :)

As we were looking for houses, we were sad that it would probably mean moving away from all the sweet children that come by our house for food and conversation.  But our new house is about the same distance from where they live, just the other direction.  So they are excited to come and visit us there!  And just today I hired a few of them to come on Tuesday and help us with moving day.  For $6 each they will help carry boxes, appliances, all kinds of things.  And they may even get pizza for lunch!  We’re excited to start to really become friends with them and know more about their lives as well as trusting them with little things like this.  Please keep praying for ways to be invested in their lives and that these sweet kids would know Jesus.

Great Great News!

I got my car back! :)  About 5 weeks after “The Incident” as I will call it.  My car is running better than it has since I’ve been here.  It was a costly endeavor and tricky to find all the parts we needed and arrange getting them to the mechanic.  But in the end, Raul the Mechanic was very generous with a low labor cost.  He has been so kind and gracious to me, patient with my Spanish, and really skilled in his repair job. 

I would like to take a minute to report on the upsides of having a huge car mess for that last month.

1. My Spanish car vocab has improved a ton!

2. The Lord provided a generous personal gift from a supporter that helped with costs, reminding me that He knows all my needs before they happen and I can trust Him with them.

3. I’ve been on the receiving end of so much generosity from my teammates as they have driven me home, lent me their cars, gone to pick up parts for me, etc.

4. Raul gave me a lesson on driving through water (and on honduran driving in general, but since he basically said none of the laws matter, I think I’ll try to forget the part of the lesson that didn’t revolve around puddles)

5. I’ve been loved and supported and helped by the short-term teams as they did what they could to help while they were here… especially Joseph who spent hours working on my car for me.

Basically it’s a lesson of dependence.  I said when I got here that my favorite thing was having a car again.  For me, a car gives me a sense of independence that I love.  Being able to selfishly go where I want to, when I want to, making as many stops along the way as I want to :)  And it is hard when that is taken away.  But it’s a good reminder that life is not about me and the when and where of what I want.  So… maybe I can continue to learn this lesson and drive a car at the same time :)