2 YEARS!

Puerta de Esperanza is two years old!  Can you believe it?!?

Here we are on January 25th, 2012 when we first opened.

Look how much this little guy has grown?

In the last two years we have had 6 moms and 6 babies come through the home.  We have celebrated graduations, birthdays, and so many other milestones.  We have run a clothing store, traveled, gone to conferences, studied the Bible, and gotten involved in a local church.

Psalm 126:3 "The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!"

A delight

Tomorrow he turns three!

He is definitely the baby of the family, but he is growing up.  Last night we celebrated his birthday with a new racetrack, typical Honduran food, family and friends.  He loves cars, is kind of obsessed actually.  He could sit and play with the new racetrack for hours.  Or with his train track from Aunt Bethany.  If it has wheels, its a hit.  Or if its a monkey, or a lion, or an airplane.  Truth is, he is pretty easy to please.

I say all the time that I am spoiled by this little guy because most two year olds are much harder.  But he is a delight.  Obedient, sweet, cuddly, hilarious, and an overall joy to be around.

The truth is we treat him differently than the other kids, we shouldn't, but we do.  We take more pictures and video of him, he gets to sleep in our room with us, he gets extra snuggles.  But there is a reason and slowly we are trying to find out exactly what it is.

We've known that he is delayed... he walked late, talked late, looked like a drunk man when running down the road because his motor skills are late in coming.  And so we celebrate.  Every new word gets a video, every new thing he learns how to do deserves a picture.  Because kicked a soccer ball took some work, saying his memory verse was a long-practiced event, being able to put two pieces of track together on his own is a milestone.

We know he can learn... goodness since March he has learned a whole new language and now understands everything I tell him in English.  He loves books and puzzles and coloring... anything that keeps his mind engaged.  But it comes with a lot of repetition and patience and practice to be able to do some of those motor skills that usually come easily by age 3.

He started having seizures, last September.  And we have been trying to figure out the cause.  After seizure number 9 we were finally able to see a pediatric neurologist last week in a town 3 hours away.  We got new medicine and will go back soon for an MRI and another consult.  We don't have any answers yet, but maybe soon.  We have done lots of hoping.  We had his tonsils and adenoids out and were hopeful that if it could cure the sleep apnea, it would cure the seizures.  Well... he sleeps through the night!!!  Praise Jesus!  But he still has seizures.  So we wait and test some more and go back to the doctor.  

The truth is that I'm tired of not knowing.  I'm tired of not knowing what is best for him and how to help him the most.  We are tired of hoping for answers and not getting any.  But at the same time I am thankful.  Thankful the my Jesus holds my little boy in His hands.  He knows him... body, mind, and spirit... and knows what is best for him.  And in time, He will show us.  In the meantime we love him fiercely every day, celebrate every new thing, and trust that God holds him in His hands!

The Search

This week we started the search for new girls for PDE.  This involves contacting lots of other missionaries around Honduras, people at the church, and prayer, lots of prayer.  Will you pray with us?  Will you pray for the two new girls that God already has in mind to come and be part of this ministry?

This is one of the parts of our ministry that makes it most clear that God is in charge and not us.  He brings us exactly the people that He desires to put in the home.  We never know where they will come from, how long they will stay, what they will learn... but he does.  And we just have to be patient and listen and pay attention.
Its exciting and a little nerve-wracking.  Its a walk of faith.

Now its just time to wait and see what God does!

Encouragement

God knew in the wake of B leaving that I needed some encouragement.  Its so easy to feel like we are failing when things don't go the way we had planned.  But we are working with people, not machines.  Its not as easy as putting in the right formula and then waiting for the proper outcome.  They are people, and sensitive ones at that with pasts I can only imagine.  And lets not forget a sin nature.  But I cling to the fact that failure looks different in the kingdom of God.  What seems like failure from our perspective is often what God uses most powerfully.

Last night I got to talk to Y who recently moved out to be with her birth mother.  For the two years that she lived with us we talked and went back and forth about theology.  She grew up with her grandmother who faithfully took her to a church that I can only classify as being a cult with very legalistic theology.  Its dangerous because on the surface they seem to have all the right answers and in fact, meeting her mom I really thought that she really knew Jesus because she gave me all the right answers.  But last night Y shared with me that they are going to the same kind of church now where her mom lives.

Y has spent the last 2 years defending her church to me, its theology, its prophets, its teaching that you must pray three times a day and attend church daily in order to be saved.  She was constantly worried about her salvation because we did not attend church every day and in her mind grace had no place.  And so we studied and I showed her Scripture.  We talked about grace and that it is God's grace that saves us not anything that we or don't do.  Nothing that you do will make God love you more and nothing will make God love you less.  He loves you, that it is nature, and He is faithful even when we are not.

Talking to her last night she is discouraged, but for the first time I hear a real desire in her to really know Jesus and God's grace in her life.  She is going to church with her mom because her mom tells her she will lose her salvation.  But for the first time she voiced that she doesn't agree... "that's not what I read when we studied the Bible" she told me.  A prophet came to church and said things contrary to Scripture and although she has always defended prophets to the utmost last night she told me that God's Word is more important than a prophet.  She wants to find a different church they let her bring her Bible and teach her from it.

So she's discouraged... but for a good reason.  God is doing something in her heart and she is listening.  She is restless and wants Spiritual change.  Wow.  And she had to leave (what seems like failure) to be able to get where she is.  And I can say this... the Spiritual life of each of these girls is more important than whether or not we have 4 moms living in our children's home.  I pray that God will draw them to Himself, each one, in His time.  Wherever and whenever that needs to happen for their good and HIS glory!

American Dream

Was it the promise of the American dream?

Was it the inability to let go of a man who is the father of your baby?

Was it a drive for adventure?

I couldn't say.  But I'm worried for her and about her.

Last week B started talking about going to the states.  She has talked about it for awhile, always as a pipe dream.  Or joking around with me... "when are you going to take me to the states?  put me in your suitcase!"  But she is exceptionally hard to read and this time I just couldn't decide if she was really serious... but it seemed like maybe she was this time.

Maybe I could have brought her to my house and locked the door and forced her not to go.  She's 25, an adult.  She has heard the Gospel plenty of times and knows all the right answers.  She is motivated and a good mom to her daughter.  I can't live her life for her, but I can challenge her on things... and pray.

We talked in circles.  We talked about what God wants for her life.  We talked about how God is providing for her by having her in Puerta de Esperanza and that this kind of education is more important than money.  We talked about trusting God and respecting the government.  We talked about danger along the way and cost of living in the US.  We exhausted every topic we could think of.  But when her mind is set, she hears nothing... she just nodded and laughed.

She doesn't have a plan, well, not a good one.  She didn't take much money.  Maybe we will see her again soon.  Or maybe she'll call.

So yesterday afternoon the father of her baby came by and they left.  Just like that.  Until she actually walked out the door nobody believed she was really leaving.  It just doesn't make sense.  But she is gone.  She left all her stuff, her clothes, the baby's things, and just left.

I definitely didn't write this into my ministry plan.  But God knew.  He always knew this would happen and he still brought her to us.  He knew she needed the time she had with us and I trust that He is going to continue to use it and remind her of the truths she has learned.

Please pray... for safety, for her to trust the Lord more than what she wants, for her boyfriend to come to know the Lord.  Oh... and so many other things.

A new year

My computer screen recently had an unfortunate encounter with the corner of a kindle and 2 young girls resulting in a month's stay at the computer hospital.  I cannot even begin to explain the helplessness of not having my computer.  Crazy isn't it that its such a little thing, but without it I feel like I cannot communicate.  Oh there are other electronics, but have you tried writing a newsletter on a smartphone?  I tried.  A few times.  And then totally gave up.  Its miserable.  So...welcome back computer!  And welcome back communication :)

This was a busy month for my family and for Puerta de Esperanza... I'll just start with some pictures :)

As a family we did a countdown advent calendar that my mom made for us!  It was so fun getting to start new traditions with our kids this year... our first year as a family.

Although the kids' visas fell through, Lesther and I still got to travel and be with my family over the actual Christmas holiday.  We got visit with friends and family, go to Amy's wedding, and just have a real vacation! But we missed the kids like crazy and were so happy to be home to see them!





The girls and babies spent Christmas together as a family and spent time with Jennifer as well.  A local Honduran family welcomed them in for Christmas Eve and they got to have tamales and traditional Honduran celebration.  We are so thankful for the people here locally who love on our girls and welcome them into their families.  It is a huge blessing.



They also got a Christmas box from a family in Cary.  It was SO fun to get to open it with them and see their faces when they saw all the wrapped presents in there for THEM!  They had Santa hats and stuffed animals and flavored popcorn and all kinds of goodies.  So Christmas morning with Jennifer the tree was full of fun gifts.  When I got back W went running to his room to get all his new toys to show me :)  And we even have some stuff to send on to J who is now living in another city with her mom.  She is going to be so excited to get some late Christmas gifts.

Both of our little babies turned one while we were in the states.  So last Sunday we celebrated!  Piñata, friends, cake, food, family... what more could you want?  It threatened to rain, so we moved from the beach to our house, but I loved having everyone here.  Both the little ones were scared of the piñata, but definitely had no problems with the cake :)

Please be praying for our girls.  It has been a good week, but a hard one.  Its been a week where they are coming face to face with what it looks like to really know and walk with Jesus.  He wants your everything... not just your Sundays and your empty words.  He wants to be a part of your decisions.  He wants you to learn from His love and mercy, grace and forgiveness and let that overflow to others.  He has healing in mind for hard things from your past.  He wants to chip away at your resentful heart.  He has a good future in mind for you, but that doesn't necessarily mean wealth and ease.  We've been talking around in circles about some of these things.  But praying every day for the Holy Spirit to break through the walls that time and sin and a hard past have put up.  We are praying for the Gospel to be more powerful than cultural norms and for God to bring lasting change.  And when He does... it is beautiful.