A missionary

Last week she came to my house to watch the twins.  She didn't just watch the twins.  She cleaned my house, straightened my hair, did Nicolle's hair, and loved on our family.  We have been seeing huge growth in her recently.  She could easily be frustrated because she is currently spending her days at home just waiting to find a job.  We've gone job searching and talked to beauty salons, but nothing so far.  But instead of getting frustrated, she has decided to make the most of her time.

A few weeks ago her small group leader from church showed them the movie, "War Room"and it resonated with her.  If you haven't seen it, you should.  Its a great movie reminding us that our problems, although they seem earthly, are really Spiritual.  C took this message to heart and decided that she could use this movie as a way to talk to her family and friends about the Lord.  So she has been going to visit her mom, family, and classmates to watch the movie and talk about what it means.  She wants people to know Jesus!

While she was at my house we were talking and she shared with me... "I want to be a missionary.  How can I do that?  What do I have to do/be/study?  I want my job to be sharing about Jesus." And I hope she gets the chance because she is bold and strong and understands what it means to really need the Lord!

A NEW new girl

I had told you about M who was going to move in, but it never happened.  That is so often the case that we think we are moving in a certain direction, and then...  It seems like Scripture mentioned this.  "Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" Proverbs 19:21

But trusting in the Lord's faithfulness and good plan, we are moving forward with another girl who is in need.  Her name is P and she is scheduled to move in the first week of March.  She is about 5 months pregnant and will be the first to live with us while pregnant!  Which means another little baby to love on :)  She actually comes to us from another children's home in the area where she has lived for some time, so she is used to rules and stability.  Hopefully this will make for a smooth transition.  Please pray for P and for the girls at PDE as every transition rocks the boat.  And they were set and ready for M and now have to ready their hearts to accept P instead.

C is having a hard time at school.  The other girls found out that she is a mom and that has made for a hard time making friends.  Her classmates are 13 year olds in relatively stable family situations, middle class, and think that being a mom is just weird.  So pray for her as she adjusts and continues to show love toward her baby, even while knowing that because of E her life is harder than it would have been.

Prayers

Man alive, I've missed so many things.  I wish I had the time to sit and write about all the many things that God has done and is doing in PDE here, but I will try to give a short recap.

Our 13 year old C has been with us for over two months now.  She is adjusting SLOWLY but surely.  She is mess and requires much patience of those who are constantly loving on her.  She has a lot of baggage and never learned so many of the things that a normal upbringing teaches.  We are still working on defining the lines of what is right and wrong as far as her past and trying to slowly prove every day that she has people who are for her, who are on her side.  Understanding God's love and grace is a struggle for her and she hasn't gotten it yet, but amazingly, God is softening her heart and she doesn't blame Him for her past as she once did.  So, we see Him moving.  She desperately needs your prayers.  In two weeks she will start in a private school in 7th grade.  I made the decision to put her private school because her needs are so great and she needs to be in a Christian environment where she isn't going to get lost.  She needs to know her teachers and be counseled and loved on and have people be able to really pay attention to her.  She needs a team of people who are for her.  This will cause a financial stretch and if anyone wants to help C have this experience, it will cost about $80/month.  Let me know.  I really believe this is the best and most healing option for her, so we are faithfully trusting that God will provide.

We have a new girl who we are planning to move in next week in time for her to start school as well.  Her name is M and she is 17 with an 8 month old boy.  I will try to get a picture soon :)  We met her through Beti who used to live with us who has been helping her as best she can although with her own limited resources.  She will be going to 8th grade an night, same as C, so they will be able to go together.  We will probably need to get her a bike as that is how the other girls get too and from school.  If you'd like to send $200 to buy M a bike, please let me know!  She is also interested in studying baking, so we're looking into classes at a local school for that as well.  They should be free!  We will just have to provide materials.  I have no idea where she is spiritually... and I am anxious to find out.  So please pray for her as well.

C just finished up her practicum in beauty and is out looking for a full-time job.  She will be working full time as well as doing the 8th grade.  We've seen this kind of schedule lead to short tempers, less time with her son, etc.  So we are starting now to work on the heart issues and talk with her about how her time in the house will need to look although she will be really busy.  She is still explosive in her moments, but learning so much.  She was able to write out her testimony for me this week to share at a pastor's conference here in La Ceiba and I cried as we talked it through.  God has done so much in her life in a year and a half.

K is ready to go back to school for 5th and 6th grade this year and just got registered for beauty school this year as well.  She has been doing sewing, but we are switching tracks because her eyes just aren't good enough for sewing.  She gets terrible headaches and it makes her unable to concentrate and then she gets very frustrated.  So pray that she will not feel disappointed or behind as she starts something new.  This will be a two year track and we are hoping that she will love it and feel very successful!  She was actually able to accompany me this week to share in person at the pastor's conference and I could not be more proud.  I felt like I was her mom as I beamed with pride as she was able to clearly share her testimony and the truth of the Gospel!

This afternoon I need to have a really hard conversation that I am dreading.  Its been months in the making, but its time to do it.  Please pray for me to be full of grace and yet to speak the truth.

So grateful for each of you who care about and pray for this ministry even in my long blog absences!

The Church

Recently we changed churches here in La Ceiba.  We are now attending a small Baptist church with my husband's family and it has been really good.  I liked our last church as well, but there is something about this small community that I really love.

I was so challenged yesterday by this family of believers as we arrived at church at 9:15am to the power going out.  Void of AC and fans, the building was HOT!  And even though it was a scheduled outage and people knew and could have stayed home, the building was just as full as it was the week before.  People still listened and just sat closer to the front to be able to hear the pastor better as he has a soft voice.  We sang some old faithful worship songs acapella as we wiped sweat off of our foreheads.  And the nice lady sitting next to me shared her little fan with me the whole service since I was unprepared.  My babies were passed around and loved on, even though they are little ovens when its hot.  And I probably had the worst attitude in the place.

I've been challenged to consider recently what church is really about.  I won't open that whole discussion, because I don't have the answers.  But I can say this... church can "do" a lot of things.  And they are great things.  Churches should DO.  We are called to that.  And yet, getting caught up in the doing can make us lose of sight of simply studying God's Word.  I'm to a point where I can give up a lot of the benefits of church to just sit under someone reading and speaking directly from God's Word.

So in our little church we sing to a tape.  Not ideal.  Its hot sometimes.  Boo.  I don't agree with everything the pastor says all the time.  No surprise.

In our church we read A LOT of scripture.  Responsive readings are just straight Scripture.  Sunday school is just reading through verses and talking about them.  The sermon is reading through verses and talking about them.

And I like it.

Never say I can't... always say I'll try

When I was a kid I went to these basketball camps with a group called Networks.  Well, more than just went :)  I coached for them for a little while and spent my high school summers getting up super early to go work out and train for two hours before starting my day.  But at Networks there were some rules they made the kids say at camp before getting started.  One of them was this...

Never say "I can't" always say "I'll try"

I've known Y for almost four years now and she is one of the most Eeyore-like personalities.  She is always down on herself and convinced that she isn't able to do things she wants to do.  The words "I can't" have been a constant coming out of her mouth.  The last four years have been full of encouragement and gentle and not so gentle pushes from myself and the house moms to TRY!  And she has been really successful.

The other night I was at her house while she was helping her daughter with homework and J's refrain was the same.  "I can't"  She was supposed to be writing upper and lowercase As in her handwriting book and it was just hard for her.  But I LOVED Y's response.  "No J, remember what I told you.  We erased I can't from our vocabulary. You can do it.  I'll help you.  We'll do it together.  Let's try it.  Great job!"

Wow... where did she come from?

She told me later that she is committed to seeing her daughter not have the same self-esteem struggles that she has had and she knows that it starts with encouraging her to try and see herself be successful.

God is changing generations..... :)

A new girl and a baby!

On Thursday I get to go and meet the new little baby girl who was born to this precious girl.  This is S and she is 13 years old.  Last Friday she became a mom!  She is a child, much too young for this new role.  But she will learn and we will help :)

In just a few weeks S will be moving into PDE and become our youngest girl to have ever lived there.  We need a lot of wisdom to figure out how to guide and direct her while still doing a lot of parenting.  It is going to be very different...

Pray for this girl as she adjusts to motherhood and a big life change in coming to PDE.

Oh M

I´m not very good at updating in a timely fashion, but a lot has been going on.  A week and a half ago I wrote about how M was coming back to La Ceiba to take her sick baby to the hospital.  She brought her and I met her there with food and some money to help with blood tests and medicine.

Thursday night when M got here I went to be with her for a little while up at the hospital.  She told me there weren´t beds and that she and the baby would be sleeping in the waiting room.  Have you ever tried to sleep sitting up in a chair while holding a 3 month old baby?  So I took her my most favorite Baby B'jorn that I use with my babies so that she could sleep while not having to worry about the baby sliding off of her lap.  I took some diapers and food and breakfast for the morning.  I sat with her and we talked about all kinds of different things.

Friday I took her some lunch and went for a visit with our two house moms.  We dreamed of how different life would be for her when she entered the house.  We talked about studying and job options and the future of her daughter E.  We left with promises to hear from her the next morning because they were supposed to be releasing her daughter.  E was looking very healthy and ready to go home, to a new home!

Saturday morning came and went with no phone call from M.  I started to get worried about lunch time that the baby had gotten worse and that they had kept her.  But no.  I made enough phone calls to find out that they had checked out of the hospital and are MIA again.  And I was sad.  Just sad.

I don't in any way regret the help we gave to her (although I wish she had returned my baby b'jorn) because the baby is not at fault in any of this.  They needed food and medicine and a listening ear.  But the deception kills me.  I know that it is scary to dream of change and make a decision that is so different from your past.  Its a decision to let others help you, to submit to new rules and a new style of living, its a decision to join a family.  But M just can't seem to make it.  And that's okay.  But I hate that it came through lies and deception and another disappearing act so that I cannot even follow up with her.

Will you pray with me that M will get back in touch with me?  Not to move into the house, but just to be able to keep following up with her and tell her more about Jesus and the great hope of future that He can give her.