Team Time

We never get our whole team together in one picture, but this weekend we got pretty close!  This is current "on the ground" team here in La Ceiba.  Pettengills, Clows, Cains, Troxells, Ordoñezes, Kate, and Ahnalies.  We are 24 people that the Lord brought together in His perfect way!  I really am so thankful for these people, for their different talents and abilities, for their different personalities and ways of encouraging me.  I am thankful that everyone is back in the same place for a little while and that we have a chance to get updated on everyone's ministry.  

Its a little bit insane how many things are going on through this group of people.  God has given everyone such a different gifting so that we can reach so many different people.  And we just pray that God would continue to build His church here in La Ceiba and use us in the process.

One thing that makes me so happy is to look at this picture and see all the changes that God has brought about over the last 3 years that I have been here.  I mean, my family is a big one bringing 4 Hondurans into the group.  But there is also Dixi joining the Troxell family and Elias joining the Clows.  And new families and new interns and all the kids are way more grown up.  It tried to find a picture on my blog of the first team picture we took after I got here, but blogger has made all my pictures triangles... that's just sad.  Lets just say it was a much smaller team and the kids look really young :)

Thanks to you readers for being faithful to follow what God is doing here in La Ceiba and please remember to pray for us!

Worth it

Yesterday morning started just like any other day... meeting with the house moms while the girls take care of the kids in the other room.  And yet a 16 year old spy crouched under the window to hear everything being said about her in our meeting instead of watching her baby.  This is supposed to be our time to get on board with each other, make sure we as the leadership are moving towards a common goal of pushing the girls more towards the Lord.  We share good things and bad things and try to get on the same page as to how to handle conflict.  We pray for them and talk about having grace and patience in the hard moments.  We don't share anything that isn't true.  And yet the 16 year old had a absolute meltdown knowing that she was being talked about.  Enough of a meltdown to share with me that she had been listening from under the window.

So... what do you do with an emotionally distraught 16 year old who has been stealing and lying and is hysterically upset because she was being talked about as someone who is not 100% trustworthy.  She will not admit to ever being wrong and has a downward spiral of saying she is leaving or that she doesn't want to live anymore.

Welcome to everyday life for us.  Working with emotionally fragile teenage girls as they try to be moms is something that has no handbook.  Many days I spend the day putting out fires as new unexpected emotional emergencies pop up all over the place.  It is hard and so hard to have patience and wisdom in the moment.

Yesterday was a day of just being present.  Just sitting on the floor playing with her son while she ranted and raved and couldn't be still for long enough to listen to anything.  But then we had a breakthrough.  She was still angry and upset and frustrated and the K from a year ago would have flown off the handle at the house mom the minute I walked out the door.  But we have been working hard on self-control and having to learn that at 16 instead of as a child.  And she calmly left her room, put on a movie, and started a sewing project instead of looking for a fight.  Progress?  I think so.

At lunch yesterday I got to hear C give her testimony to the person we were having lunch with and the short version goes something like this...
"I grew up in the church and I knew about God for my whole life.  I grew up thinking that God's love for me depended on how much I did for him or how much I loved him or how much faith I had.  The biggest thing I've learned in the last couple years is that I love God only because He loved me first.  He is the faithful one and nothing that I can ever do will change that."

Are the fights with the teenagers under the window worth it?  Yeah.  They really are.

Moving Day is coming

Saturday is going to be a big day at PDE... we are moving to a new house!!!!!!!!

We have been in the current house since before PDE even opened in October of 2011!  It has been a great first house for PDE and we have learned so much there and made so many memories.  We got a new paint job last year that we have enjoyed and the walls are marked with the girls' paintings and children's scribbles.  I'm a little on the sentimental side and sad to leave, but excited about our new place!

The street in front of the girls' house floods and they have had to walk to work and school in knee deep water, which is no fun.  There isn't a really good place for the babies to play and some steps that all of them have fallen off of and bumped their heads at one time or another.  The water goes out all the time, which makes washing dishes and clothes for 9 people a challenge.  So although it was a great first house, its time to go.

We aren't moving far, just about a mile away.  I like that its on the side of town closer to my house, the neighborhood is a little more secure and the house is not on a high traffic road.  They can still walk almost everywhere and the house has this big patio in the back where the babies can play!

So pray for us Saturday that we can get everything moved and everyone settled in!  Then I'll post pictures :)

wedding :)

Jennifer got married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were all there and J even got to be a flower girl.  She was so cute and fancy, but when the time came, she wasn't so sure about actually walking down the aisle.  She waited and walked in with Jennifer and her dad and would not be coaxed to come a moment before.

The wedding was beautiful on the beach and we love Carlos and Jennifer, so it was a great day!  Carlos has really become a part of the ministry in the way that he just loves the kids so well and they all love spending time with him.  As a couple they are so good about including the girls and making them feel special, even though Jennifer doesn't officially work with us anymore.  They gave them jobs and made them a special part of their wedding day and it is just fun to see that the girls really are part of a family.

The kids all looked precious and the girls dressed up nicely, so of course we tried for a photo shoot.

 As you can tell it was a complete success :)  But such is life with little ones!  We did manage to get two really cute pictures...

Generosity

When I was at a Missions Conference in NC I heard Dr. Paul Kooistra speak on giving within the church.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear him speak about tithing not as simply as just giving 10%, but really asking the Lord what He would want you to give.  Usually it is more :)  I have struggled with the idea that it is just strict obedience to give 10% when maybe your heart isn't in it or really feeling prideful when you decide to give more.  So... it really got me thinking, especially about how I would talk with my kids about tithing.

About 3 months ago I challenged Angel, Nicolle, and Dixi that if they could say all the books of the Bible in English, in order, that I would give them $10.  They have listened to the songs over and over again and practiced and practiced and practiced... and last night Angel could finally say them all!  He was so excited and we all celebrated for him!  $10 is a lot for my kids, so we talked about what God wants us to do with our money.

Basically I just said that God wants us to use our money first for him and then for others and then for ourselves.  So each of the kids as they get their money needs to choose a way to give money to God and do something for someone else and then something for themselves.  Angel decided to give some money to the Troxells because they are missionaries.  He decided to give $2.50!  Imagine if I had explained that we only give 10%... and then he decided to take his Uncle Romer out for hamburgers because he does so many nice things for him.  I think he's starting to understand generosity and I love seeing it!

3 Years in Honduras!

Today is "Happy Shannon Day" according to Evan :)

3 years ago today I arrived at La Ceiba airport with no idea what the future would bring!  This was our team at the time.  Wow.  Things have changed!!!

Today I had the best "anniversary" phone call with one of the PDE girls.  Well, it had nothing to do with being my Honduran anniversary, but it was such a sweet reminder of why the Lord called me here and what He is doing!

M has been wanting to study beauty for the last month, but we've run into some problems with her paperwork.  So when I heard about a class being offered once a week that she could take, we signed her up.  Today I called to ask how it went...  she was so excited to tell me what she learned, but then she interrupted herself...

"Susana... I want a Bible."  "A Bible"  "Yes a Bible, one just for me.  Do you think I could have one?"  "Of course!" "And are you feeling better?  I've been praying every day that you would feel better..."

This coming from a girl who a month ago knew nothing about the Bible or about Jesus.  And I mean nothing.  Rarely had she graced the doors of a church and didn't know any of the basics of the Gospel that we often take for granted.  God is doing something in her life... and I'm so glad that He brought me to Honduras to be able to see it!