Part of normal life

This week my mom and Cheryl Mize are here visiting.  I love having them here, especially letting my mom see life here, which is so different than last time she came to visit.  They are just doing normal life with me this week and trying hard to communicate in Spanish :)

Yesterday was a really full day.  We tried to relax some in the morning, but Jose ended up coming by with Daniel and spent the morning grocery shopping with us.  My mom spoiled them with donuts and ice cream and corn flakes!  She and Cheryl have decided they would make excellent grandparents… and they will… one day :)  For now I’m giving them lots of needy kids to spoil here!  Jeffrey, Kevin, and Ever came over to go eat at Pizza Hut for lunch, their favorite!  We looked over their school books and are excited about how much they are learning.  The two little boys can write, “mi mamá me ama”, which is pretty good since in October they couldn’t write their names or draw a straight line.  Cheryl has a connection with Kevin since she helped out with his uniform and school supplies this year, so she brought a soccer ball and a watch and tshirt for him.  That sentence may as well have just said SOCCER BALL and nothing else b/c he is over the moon excited to have his very own ball.  And the other boys are jealous!  But they’ll have other chances, and he’ll share :)  So Cheryl got lots of snuggles and hugs from a beaming 10 year old.  They also brought strollers and other presents for PDE, so we headed over there later on.  The girls are really really excited about the strollers and loved being able to visit.  The power went out, of course, so we sat outside talking and laughing and just enjoying each other’s company.  Then all the sudden it was 7:30 and we couldn’t make dinner so we packed up with the new strollers and took everyone to the mall for a hamburger.  E found the joys of ketchup in the arms of his new favorite person, Cheryl… we may never get him to eat anything else!

Overall it was just a day of normal life, and I loved it.  This morning we’re headed over to PDE for the day.  We also find out today if G is going to be able to get into school, so pray for that!  She desperately wants to go!

Caitlin… please don’t go!

Saturday night we had a goodbye party for Caitlin.  I’m sure she is thrilled that Barnabus made it in the picture :)

Sunday Jansen came with us and we dropped her off at the airport in San Pedro Sula.  We were SOOOOO sad to see her go.  My only consolation is that she is working at Camp Willow Run, one of my favorite places on earth, this summer.  So I know she’ll be loving on kids and doing ministry and learning more about Jesus.  But we are going to miss her and so thankful for the time we had with her here.

Campamento

It’s a week late in coming, but I wanted to share a little bit about the retreat that we went on with our church here.  I was able to get some pictures to capture it for you.

Here we are with some friends that rode there and back with us… and by that I mean Jansen drove Kate’s car the whole time while I tried to keep up behind him :)

The worship music was excellent.  We were excited because the band from the La Ceiba church opened the first session.  We were excited to be there and pray for them and support them as they led in front of such a big group.

As you can see, this was no little conference.  There were between 3000-4000 people there!

The teaching was really good.  It focused on three concentric circles, the glory of God, faith, hope, and love, and spiritual disciplines, evangelism, and discipleship.  They taught on how all these things are connected and brought everything back to living for God’s glory.

I was so excited to be able to take the girls to this conference and have them experience such rich teaching from God’s Word.  I would be lying if I said I was able to pay attention in Spanish for 3 days straight.  I may or may not have cheered when one speaker started in English and it was translated.  It was such a brain break for me :)  But it was great.  Please join me in praying for the girls that what they learned from the Word will take root and grow in them.  I long to see the Lord change their lives and show them real joy and hope in HIM!

Babies, babies, babies

I hate that I can’t show these babies sweet faces, but I tried to get some pictures to share. 

Yesterday it was just me and babies hanging out after naptime when I sent all the moms to get their birth certificates and other papers in order.  They look like they are playing so sweetly, but the play telephone gets taken away more than they get to play with it.  Amazing… one year olds aren’t good sharers :)

These two are four months apart and I take my hat off to anyone who is the mother of twins.  They are the best of friends until they punch each other in the face.  J is such an instigator… she takes E’s toy with no regard for the fact that he is bigger, stronger, and likes to push her over.  In a second she is crying and he is looking at me with his big eyes that say “What?  What did you expect me to do?” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tried to catch a classic example for you.  J is using Elmo as the classic head hitting tool and when easy-going E tries to crawl away she follows him.  The girl is a glutton for punishment.  She doesn’t give up until she’s been pushed over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last night W was inconsolable.  He didn’t want to eat or be held or lay in the hammock… all his favorite things.  I went in the kitchen to watch my hands and he was mesmerized by the running water.  Babies are so weird.  But I gave in and we spent 3 minutes watching running water because at least he wasn’t screaming :)

Seriously, these little ones have stolen my heart.  Can you blame me?

Jesus has overcome

Its been a sad week in some ways because it brought some unexpected grieving and goodbyes.  And this coming weekend we’ll be saying goodbye to Caitlin too.  And I’ve been confronted with sin and brokenness and sadness… so many reminders that we are not made for this world.  Broken relationships, hatred, spite, pain, greed… this is not where our hearts will ever find rest.

But today is Easter, my favorite day of the year!  I was sad to not be at home singing “On the first day of the week…” with my dad at the sunrise service.  But regardless of where I worshipped today, the message is the same.  He is Risen… He is Risen indeed.

And I needed this reminder today, God has overcome death.  He tells us not to fear because HE has overcome the world!  He is taking death, sin, sadness, brokenness, pain and making all of the hard things come untrue.  He is redeeming His people, His world by the power of HIS mighty hand.  And we can trust that. 

I praise the Lord for the glimpses of this redemption that I get to see everyday in the girls and babies.  A girl who is starting to understand grace and experience freedom from guilt and shame, a sweet thank you that is finally comes unprompted from a thankful heart, a hug that says I trust you, hands raised in worship to our redeemer… the list could go on and on.  But its redemption, and I get to see it.  And all of this because our Lord conquered sin and death and sadness and showed once and for all that HE will have the last word.  Praise the Lord for that!

This song has been in my head all day, so I thought I’d share it…

"I Will Rise" – Chris Tomlin

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise, I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"

behavior modification

Behavior modification.  Its what I so often teach without meaning to do it.  In fact, change of behavior without a change of heart is the last thing that I want to see happen.

Yesterday I had a hard day with Y.  She pushes me to my limit of frustration and then pushes me again.  Last week I explained the phrase “pushing my buttons” to her when she was in a good mood and she admitted that she knows she does it.  Great.  So, now stop :)  Not likely.  So yesterday was attitude problems while shopping, attitude problems at church, you get the point.  (You will not hide those bras on the shelf after we just spent 45 minutes finding 2 that fit you!  Ugh.)  Together we had previously decided on a consequence that she would receive for having a bad attitude so when we got home from church last night I kept her in the car with me after the others to explain that she would have to receive that consequence.  She tried to fight it and excuse away her behavior, but the consequence was firm.

And then I watched her face as the Lord softened her.  “I’m sorry Susana” she said, and she meant it.  She explained that she could sense that day in the mall a real battle going on in her head between what she wanted to do because she knew it was right and the temptation to throw a temper tantrum.  She really desires to change and be respectful and kind, but just can’t always make it happen.

Oh, I get that.  More than she knows. 

Today I realized that too often she has heard that if she doesn’t behave then people won’t love her, or she’s going to make people angry.  I never want that to be the motivation for her behavior.  Of course poor behavior has consequences and she’ll have to face them, but I want her to learn to pray and ask Jesus for a new heart that desires to love and respect and serve those around her.  I want her to see that it is God that will change her heart as she trusts in Him.  I don’t want her to live out of the fear of making me upset.  I want her to know the love of Jesus that doesn’t change no matter what we do or don’t do.  And I pray that she sees that reflected in some small way in me.

Tomorrow starts a week of fun and learning as we head to a retreat with the church.  Please pray for good teaching, good learning, and a chance for the girls to really make some friends and feel connected with the church community.

bye for now.

A few things from today…

I love watching the girls love on G on her first full day!  They are sharing their clothes, helping her wash the lice out of her hair, and just so excited that she is there!

I’m so thankful for G’s maturity as she beat me to the punch in gently correcting Y a few times today.  She is going to be a huge blessing as an older sister figure.

There is still room at the hotel and for the conference, so G gets to go with us!  She smiled from ear to ear when I told her today, she is SO excited! 

Last night E slept through the night for the first time in his 15 months of life because he went to bed with a full stomach!  Thankfully it’s the first of many nights to come.

Today little E let me hold him and tickle him and he even laughed some for me… yesterday he just cried.  So we’re making progress.

G came with the clothes on her back and not much more, so we’re working on getting her settled.  She is so thankful for everything and it was just sweet to see her excitement over her new things today.

Tomorrow we go to church together… the Lord is good!