Great News…

We have an opening date for the store… Monday October 1st!

Its amazing honestly… I went with the lawyer yesterday to do some more paperwork thinking that we still had miles to go.  And when we left she said, okay, you’re done, you could open tomorrow.  WHAT?!?  Awesome. 

So Saturday the girls will all be at the store pricing clothes, cleaning up, and doing last minute readiness kinds of things.  They’ll sign contracts and meet with the lawyer and get all their instructions.  Our two girls will work there plus a girl I met through Mike and Erin from Armenia and one of C’s cousins.  When we have more girls in the house we’ll be able to plug them in as well. 

Life is getting busy for the girls!  And really, the busier they are, the less busy I am :)  Funny, but so true.  It is a really big adjustment, I’ve seen that just in the getting ready process.  Being away from home in the morning to work, in the afternoon for class or vice-versa.  Less time with their babies, more effort to be a good mom in the times that they have with their kids.  Learning time management and what things are really important.  Its going to be a whole new set of things to learn.  But we’re ready.

Pray for them on Monday, it’s a big day!

This is what happens…

when I don’t blog for awhile.

I just have too much to say.  But I actually have time this morning to sit down for an hour and think about life and blogging and what I would want to tell those to care about our ministry here in La Ceiba.

The Lord is good!  That is the resounding theme.

The girls are doing so well.  I am feeling way less overwhelmed.  Not that there is less to do, but maybe I’m learning just a mustard seed worth of trust.  I am working on a fund-raising trip for November because we are getting near the red-zone need-wise.  I’ll be in the NC/SC area and hope to get to see some of you who read this blog in person!  I am really just thankful for the peace that the Lord has given me and the ability to delegate some jobs and not feel guilty about that.  And our new intern Jennifer is wonderful!  She is not with us all the time, but a few afternoons a one full day a week.  I could not ask for better help.  She’s been going English with the girls, helping get the school set up, playing with babies, and so much more.

The store continues to move along at a snail’s pace.  Although now that we have clothes hung up and a sign outside people are stopping in all the time because they think we’re open.  We’re not.  And won’t be… maybe forever :)  Just kidding… it will be next week I think, but when 10 people are asking me when, it feels like forever!

And I just started thinking about the girls this week and how far they have come.  They discipline their own children, for the most part, in a Godly and loving way.  They read the Bible and ask questions and want to know more about the Lord.  They get sad when we don’t have our Bible study times.  They do their own grocery shopping (remember when every shopping trip included an emotional meltdown?  I do.)  They go to school on their own and come home and wash dishes and clothes and help cook dinner.  They are involved in a small group at church and have volunteered to do childcare during some services.  They have friends and are busy and are genuinely fun to be around.  And I love it.  And some days I just can’t believe that this is my job :)

The Lord has done so much work in them.  I cannot take any credit for it.  I do the wrong thing all the time.  Don’t listen enough, forget to pay the phone bill because I didn’t understand the text message, discipline the wrong kid, forget to let the moms be moms, forget to bring over the food money, get our priorities mixed up, and so much more… but God is faithful and in the midst of my failures and our inadequacies, he is doing something really awesome in these girls.  I love it.

On other news…

Two months ago we started a process with little E to try to get him into a temporary foster care situation while his mom goes through some treatment and recovery.  It has been slow going!  We thought for awhile that it would be quick… but nothing around here is quick :)  I did the wrong thing a few times, we had to do some backtracking, things got all mixed up.  There have been trips to pick up paperwork and many conversations with the lawyer.  The lawyer has faithfully fought this for us spending many mornings in the courthouse with the family court judge.  But at last……… we have a court date! 

I have learned an important lesson… don’t too excited until it actually happens :)  And we don’t know for sure that E will go to his new home this exact day.  But, like I’ve said before, every little thing is one step closer.

I am begging you for prayers!  Please pray for G, little E’s mom.  She has to go before the judge and tell him that she is unable to care for her baby who she loves.  She will be asking the judge to place him with a wonderful family that we know and love.  She feels good about this and has expressed over and over again that this is what she wants.  I am just asking that you pray for her on October 10th at 10am as she walks into that room and feels like her heart is breaking in half… that she would be able to have the strength to do what is best for her and her son.  Its going to be a bitter-sweet day I think.

Growing Up

Jeffrey is 15, soon to be 16.  This year he has completed 5th and 6th grade and is getting ready to graduate in November!  I’m so proud of him!  He was one of the first boys that I met here and started doing ministry with.  He has been faithfully coming to church with me now for over a year!  Even when the other 2 boys waver, he is ever faithful.  This coming Saturday he is going to try a youth age small group for the first time and I am praying that will be an avenue for growth for him.  It is a huge blessing because the small group meets in the neighborhood right next to where he lives!  This means he can get himself there and back and it will be safe :)  And it is the only youth age group that doesn’t meet on Friday nights while he is in school.  I think the Lord knew all those details… so please pray for Jeffrey to learn lots and for one of the male leaders in the group to take him under their wing in a discipleship setting.

Monday we went to INFOP because Jeffrey is interested in taking mechanic classes next year!  The program is 2 years and starts in February.  We went and got his picture taken, a copy of his birth certificate, and he’ll be going with his mom to sign up this week!  I did not realize until now that this program is selective.  Just because he has the requirements doesn’t necessarily mean that he will get to go.  I think we were both pretty sad to hear that.  He will sign up with a group of kids and then they get selected out of that group.  The Lord knows better than we do what Jeffrey needs for his future, so please join me in praying that we will trust God’s hand in this.  It seems to me that mechanic school would be the perfect option, but if that doesn’t work out, pray that God will open other doors.

The lights are on!

Last night I was headed to dinner and passed by the store.  To my great shock and surprise, the lights were on!!!  We have power :)  The store owner had told me that he was going to go this week to get the power turned on, but when I was there yesterday afternoon there was still nothing.  So… this is great news!

We have two signatures of seven left to get before we can get our last permission from the government to open.  Random things like the judge for the police… umm okay. 

We started hanging up clothes yesterday and sorting.  Looks like a store, kind of :)

A Work in Progress

I think this blog post might be just to make myself feel better :)  Basically I just need to see some movement and that we are accomplishing something!

The windows are clean, the floors are clean, and we would have painted the name on the building, except it started to rain!

The girls kept joking that we don’t have a clothing store, we have a hangers store.  Its possible that I went overboard and that 1100 coat hangers may be too many :)  But we’ll see once we start hanging up clothes!

They talked me into buying this glass case, I honestly still don’t know why.  But… it was super cheap and we’ll put jewelry, new baby clothes, and stuff that Carolina sews inside of it.

Beautiful nails

In January Y jumped two feet the first time I turned on a hair dryer because she had never heard one before.  She was headed to beauty school although there were months that she had washed her hair with laundry soap because it was all she had.  I thought it would be quite an adjustment.  But she has done great!

She’s learned hair – cutting, dying, straightening, drying, styling… nails – pedicures, manicures, and most recently designs… facials… and more.

Here’s some of her handiwork…

Its hard to see, but they are actually beautifully done!  And she’s started making a little money charging the equivalent of $2.50 for a manicure and the same for a pedicure.

The first time she went out with her class to get paid for their work, she came back with almost $10 and was so excited!  She promptly duct-taped together a box for a piggy bank and started her new savings account.

I love seeing her learning and growing and getting to put her new skills to use :)

Ever So Slowly

This week had some rough “Honduras” days in it.  To be fair, I am positive that I had these kinds of days when I lived in the states too… they just seemed to happen with less frequency.  There are just some days when nothing goes right and everything seems to take hours or days or weeks longer than it should.  My overwhelming feeling by Friday afternoon was that everything is just going so slowly.  I have to focus on what HAS happened, not all the things that are still to do… otherwise I will get way to overwhelmed and frustrated.

The biggest thing right now is the store.  We’ve moved everything in, bought fans, chairs, etc.  But this week we went to clean and they hadn’t turned the water on yet.  Then we finally got the contract signed, went to turn on the electricity and needed 7 things that we don’t have.  Went to the bank to get my name on the store account and were there for almost two hours.  So slowly…

But the Lord’s timing is good, better than mine.  And we are taking steps forward, slow as they may be… we have a signed contract, we can go this week and start sorting clothes (be it without fans and lights!), and we have water now!  So… I’m learning to stop making start dates in my own mind, to stop trying to have a plan, and just to trust that God knows what we need more than I do.  But, it is HARD.  I told Mike this week that sometime I just want to plan something, do it, and have it be easy.  Is that too much to ask? :)  But what do you learn in that?  I guess nothing!

Another story of Faithfulness

Just in case we still didn’t believe that God is going before us in all things…

The landlord for the store property has been so wonderful.  He put in a bathroom, cleaned up the inside of the place, and in the process accidently took some shelves that I had bought from the previous owner.  Well, when I called to ask about it, he immediately offered to have his guys come the next day, put the shelves back together, and put them up wherever I wanted them.  Great news because I have no idea how to stick wooden shelves to concrete walls.

The place really needed a coat of paint, which I was planning to do with Jennifer and Ashley’s help.  There’s no electricity yet to have fans, and we own no painting supplies, but our spirits were willing!  But when the guys showed up to do the shelves, the offered to paint inside and out, including the ceiling, for $25.  And they’d be done in one day.  What?!?  Done.  They know about what we’re doing and wanted to help.  A friend from church owns a paint store and gave me a great deal on the paint… and by the end of Friday the whole thing looked great!  I’ll try to take a picture today :)

So, here we are, one step closer trusting that the Lord’s timing is the best!  And so thankful for all the kind people who He puts in our path to love us and serve us along the way.

Car Rides

Two year olds love car rides!  I take that back, it could be a lie.  But our little almost twins E and J love riding in the car.  Maybe its because they don’t have to ride in a carseat and get to ride on someone’s lap.  Or maybe its because when we get in my neighborhood I let them drive down my street.  Or maybe its because I always run the AC :)  I know that is E’s favorite part… he is really the sweatiest baby that I know!

But I am learning a valuable lesson.  There is a phrase they know well in Spanish and English… “let’s go”/”vamanos”.  Don’t say that within earshot of the kiddos if you don’t plan on taking them with you.  There are immediate shrieks of excitement and they go barreling towards the front door.  This is followed by tears, tantrums, and screaming when they realize they don’t get to go along.  :(  It would make me feel really loved if they cried when I left, except I know its not really me they are sad about!

And our 11 month old W has started in on the whole game.  He can now toddle around like a 11 month old drunk man and tries to make it to the door in time too.  When that doesn’t work he just hugs me really hard and cries every time I try to give him back to his mom.  You’re breaking my heart there little guy… if only you didn’t have an ulterior motive…

The good news is… they know a phrase in English!  And Juli tells me “I love you” when I leave.  Love that. :)

Wall around me

I read this article this morning from John Piper… its called “What to do if you Wake up Feeling Fragile”.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/what-to-do-if-you-wake-up-feeling-fragile

Well, sometimes I wake up feeling fragile, and overwhelmed, and like there are just about 8 things too many that need to get done.  And sometimes, okay often, I trade sweet time in the morning with Jesus for making to-do lists and shoving down breakfast before I’m out the door again.  And sometimes I fear that I won’t be enough and that I’ll let people down and that somehow my human mistakes will ruin God’s plan.  And some days I just don’t feel all that close to the Lord.

And this morning I read this…

To which God says in Zechariah 2:5, “I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord.” Yes. That’s it. That is the promise. The “I will” of God. That is what I need. And if it is true for the vulnerable villages of Jerusalem, it is true for me a child of God. God will be a “wall of fire all around me.” Yes. He will. He has been. And he will be.

And it gets better. Inside that fiery wall of protection he says, “And I will be the glory in her midst.” God is never content to give us the protection of his fire; he will give us pleasure of his presence.

He is protecting me.  He is running my life, not me.  And, more than anything, He is with me in the middle of it all giving me the pleasure of His presence.  Now I need to learn to rest, to enjoy being with the Lord, to really step out in faith and trust in him.

Bible Studies

This week I started a book study with each of the girls…

C and I are reading through The Passion of Jesus Christ by John Piper and Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.

Y and I are reading Lies Young Women Believe  by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

Thanks for those who sent these books down for us with the Peace Church team!  They are such great resources and the girls are going to learn so much!

It makes me laugh that both of the girls prefer for me to read out loud than to read themselves.  I’m sorry…. have you ever heard me read C.S. Lewis in Spanish?  Or John Piper language like propitiation?  Laughable.  But they are patient and pay attention and I’m learning as I read.  So, we’ll take it :)

Mostly I was just really encouraged as I sat down individually with each of them this week that they are learning and growing and really do know Jesus better now than they did in January of this year.  They are hungry to know more of the Lord, they ask questions, ask for Godly advice, and spend time personally with the Lord.  I am blown away that in the midst of the business and sometimes hectic mess that I feel like is our life, God is doing something amazing in each of their hearts.  He is changing them to be more like Jesus.  In that, He is also equipping them to be better moms who show Jesus to their kids.  I was talking to Y yesterday about the difference in how she treats J now versus when she first came to us.  Its amazing how much the Lord has grown her and changed her and given her ever-increasing love and patience for her little girl.  Its still a process, for sure, but isn’t that sanctification?  The Lord is working and I trust that every day He is whittling away a little more at their pride, anger issues, insecurities, and fears.  I love getting to watch it firsthand!

September 2012

September 2012 Blog