priorities

I guess the blog gets a backseat when family is in town :)

There are so many reasons I love having my family here, you would be bored if I told you all of them.  But I’ll tell you just a few.  I love that my mom and dad have been learning some Spanish and are not afraid to try it out with all the kids.  Mom is actually confident enough to go in stores and do things on her own!  They do dishes, feed kids, play games, help cook, fold laundry, and they know me.  They came during rainy season so mom decided I needed a dryer, and bought me one.  Dad has fixed everything in the house and car stuff because he is amazing and I wish he lived nearby all the time.  Nan is frustrated that she can’t talk to the kids, but just keeps loving on them all the same.  She is full of energy for cooking and shopping and she is excited to the point of tears over the way things are coming along for the house!  Xan is a good sport and helped build beds and bookcases and shopped with us today… and of course beat us all at Ticket to Ride last night.

I am SO BLESSED that my family loved me, but more than that loves Jesus and supports what I am doing here.  I am so thankful for their servant’s hearts, their loving support, and their love for the Lord that comes out in everything that they do.

Here are some more pictures… more to come!  Please note… we have girls!  There are now some sweet little girls coming to our house in the mornings… we really love them :)

A glimpse of our week

Sunday night Mom, Dad, Rick, and Patti arrived in La Ceiba to a dinner of pupusas from a new found restaurant… they arrived without all of their luggage, but it has since been recovered.

Monday the guys went straight to work with John getting started building beds for Puerta de Esperanza.  They have been working near 12 hour days to get these beds done.  Each girl will have a bed/dresser that they made.  Here is the work in progress.  They look awesome and the mattresses should arrive tomorrow.

Monday night we were able to give the Clow girls some fun birthday surprises!  Becca got a massage table that Patti brought and massage lessons all week.  And Abi got a new sewing machine and sewing lessons from my mom.  She’s already working on a new skirt!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday I woke up to this game happening on the dining room floor.  I’m not sure the rules were ever spoken out loud, only communicated through actions… but everyone got to play.

Then the boys went over to help with the bed construction for a little while… and ended up helping some and doing a little bit of playing…

Yesterday and today, Caitlin, mom, Patti, and I did lots of shopping for stuff for the house, errand running, and loving on boys.  And mom and Patti are teaching their afternoon classes of course. 

We are tired, but really enjoying our time together!  And getting lots done all at the same time :)

Here we are!

Our team was finally all in the same place at the same time last week.  Well, that’s not exactly true :)  We now have one new family on our team who is starting support raising and another family that just needs a site visit before they’re official.

But the rest of us were here!  And by Christmas we will all be living in Honduras together :)

The new faces are Kate Defuniak and Mike and Ashley Troxell

Its that time…

Time to start thinking about a new school year.  I know you’re thinking “school just started”, but not in Honduras.  We are currently collecting school supplies for kids in Armenia Bonito who can’t afford them.  They kick off school in February, so we need supplies before December 31st to have time to sort and hand them out.  If you’re interested in helping, please mail donations to…

Mike & Erin Pettengill
P.O. Box 1090
La Ceiba, Atlantida
Honduras
Central America

It takes a village…

Some people say it takes a village to raise a child.  And I think its true.  I am so thankful for the many people that supported my mom and dad as we were growing up.  They really were like second parents to me and loved on me, taught me, and showed me Jesus.

I say this right now because my team is looking for some volunteers to come and help with our team’s kids.  I am not personally raising children here, but I can see from the outside that it can be difficult to raise kids outside of a big church (as in bigger than 3 families), safe neighborhood community, or extended family.  And sometimes we get sad for the kids that they are missing out on things like Sunday school and youth group.  We know that the Lord has put together our team, including these precious kids, and this is exactly where they need to be.  And we are also interested in their Spiritual growth. 

All that to say… Team Honduras wants to host a VBS for our kids!  Mike had a great idea to try to bring someone down with leftover VBS material to run a VBS for our 5 Missionary kids.  It needs to be December 19-22 when they are out of school.  Let me know if you are interested!

Forced Family Fun

This is what we used to say when mom and dad would make us do things with the family that we didn’t want to do… play a family game, eat dinner together, whatever.  But I think we usually secretly loved it.

I could not  be more thankful for my family, extended family, and psuedo family.  Yesterday Patti said, about me, “yeah we helped raise her”.  And its true.  They did.  And so did about 8 of my other favorite people in the world.  Not everyone can say that they have so many second sets of parents!

All that to say… I’m so excited that my family is here in Honduras to visit, safe and sound and ready to work and help me get the girls’ home ready.  Mom, Dad, Rick, and Patti are here for the week.  Dad and Rick will set out with John early this morning to get a good start.  So pray for us this week as we are diligently working on getting beds made and appliances bought and all that stuff that you need to live in a house.

Family picture from Christmas

Oh the bonding…

I am so thankful for these women.

Last week we were all in the same place at the same time for the first time ever.  And it was great.  Mike gave us a gift… some time off from ministry to refresh and rejuvenate, study the Word together, and just grow in unity and purpose through a time of fellowship and getting to know each other.  I would go so far as to say that it was much needed.  And I know I can say that we all loved it.  The new faces are Ashley (in the back) and Kate (front row).  Ashley and her husband are finishing up language school and will get here in December.  Kate is coming in about 6 weeks and will be my roommate!

In all honesty I’ll admit that the first afternoon we were away I was anti-social and napped for 2 1/2 hours.  If you know me, you know that is super weird.  But I guess I really needed it!  And I feel much better now :)

I’m just so thankful for the team that the Lord has brought here to La Ceiba.  I am truly blessed to be a part of it.