Retreat

This past weekend Jennifer and I had the chance to go away for a night with Oneyda and Aurora, our two house moms.  They work hard and we are so thankful for them!  They treat this as far more than a job… they love the girls, point them to Jesus, invest in their lives in all areas, treat the babies as part of their own families, and know that the Lord has put them in this ministry for a great purpose.  And yet… it makes a person weary to be fighting with and for these girls every day.  Some days we see great strides in their hearts and sometimes it is little steps forward or even backwards.  It was good to have a few days to be reminded of the big picture and what the Lord is doing. 

Also.. I forgot to mention, but the 25th was PDE’s ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!  More to come on that later.  But it was good for us to reflect on the last year… the changes we have seen and the blessings that the Lord has given to us.  I really want to share some of those things, so we’ll have to do another blog post!

We started studying the book, “Shepherding a Child’s Heart”.  I am so sad that I have not been able to locate the video series in Spanish, I’m not even sure it exists.  But the material is so good.  We were able to talk a lot about idols of the heart and how the affect the girls, and babies, behavior.  For me it is just so good to see the deeper issues and try to remember to speak to them as we counsel and discipline.  But oh there are days that try our patience and it is easier to just aim for behavior management.  But it doesn’t help, or show a heart change, or help us remember to point them to Jesus.  We want them to love and worship Jesus and know Him in a very real way.

Sunday was also Oneyda’s birthday.  We wanted to celebrate so I had made her a cake.  Sadly this guy came out in the middle of the night and nibbled his way through it… However as Oneyda pointed out… it cost him his life when he came out to try to steal cake the next night and found himself in a trap!  Jennifer went to buy another cake afterwards on our way out of town so that we could celebrate together.  But cake was not to be… this one got dropped on the way out of the car!  Alas… we still ate cake at the beach and enjoyed a good time together :)

So thankful for these women and the way they love on our kids!