Rest

The Lord is good and knows exactly what we need.  Its true.  He knows my breaking point and when I need some time to be and rest and not have the doorbell ringing or papers to fill out or meetings to go to or hungry mouths to feed.

Tomorrow I am going on a retreat with the women on my team.  Its such a huge blessing that we can all be here together, even those who aren’t on the field yet.  Kate is here and Ashley is here and Erin and Kathy… its going to be great.  And with all those amazing women, I think I’m going to need one afternoon to talk to no one at all.  Yep, I need it.

I have been preparing for the session that I will share this week with my teammates and I was assigned the topic of the Lord’s sovereignty and perfect will.  Light and easy :)  But its been so good for me to prepare.  I’ve been reminded of the Lord’s character and His great goodness to His children.  What a blessing it is to be called a child of God and to be able to delight in knowing the Father.

Its been an overwhelming week.  We’re in transition like crazy and I’m preparing for a really busy fall.  We have more boys coming to our door every day and are trying to seek the Lord’s wisdom in every step that we take with them.  There is so much to do and teach and get set up for the boys at the house, Puerta de Esperanza, etc. etc.  But I have to say…

I love my life and wouldn’t trade it for a thing.  Yesterday I paid three of the boys $1.50 to wash my car.  We had to run by the mall on an errand and the boys saw ice cream for sale for about 45 cents and were so excited to use their hard-earned money to buy some!  Except that one of the boys with us hadn’t been there for the car washing and was just standing by my side as others ate their deliciousness.  Well, not much time passed before Jeffrey noticed Jose’s plight and without so much as a word handed him the other part of his money to go buy ice cream.  I could not have been more proud. 

I want these precious boys to know Jesus and to want to give their lives away for each other and love each other the way that the Lord has loved them.  And its starting… we see glimpses.  Tonight we took 8 of them to church with us.  And people think we’re crazy I’m pretty sure.  Anytime they see the gringa girls with a car-load of Honduran boys.  But we’ll take the title if it means we get to love on these kids and talk to them about Jesus.

All to say.  I love my life.  But I’m overwhelmed and so thankful for a break :)  I’m praying for rest and good time with Jesus this week!  And I’m so thankful for those of you who read this blog and keep up with our crazy life here.

Goodbye to Bethany

Although TACA tried everything to keep Bethany in the country (you would have thought we were paying them to cancel the flights), she flew out yesterday to return to life in the US.  It was a stressful couple of days trying to get flights sorted out, but in the end she got home safely with all her bags and big hugs from her family.

Leili and Sairi came to town on Wednesday to help us shop for baby stuff for Puerta de Esperanza.  It was a huge help because they know exactly what the necessities are for having a baby here.  Afterwards, we took some goodbye pictures.

I know all the kids are going to miss Bethany.  She has really invested in the girls in Armenia, but also in the boys that come to our house every day.  The boys are already talking about talking to her on the computer (they think skype is the best thing ever and I agree!).  I’m really going to miss Bethany’s sweet spirit and servant heart that balanced me out so well in the time that we were roommates!  She’s a blessing, no doubt about it. :)

Wendy’s Dance Party

Remember how I always talk about Jeffri and Kevin?  Well… I’d like you to meet Kevin and his real personality that we’ve seen come out in the last couple days. 

The funniest part is that he was dancing in time to the music playing in Wendys, you just can’t hear it in the video :)

This was our goodbye breakfast for Bethany this morning.  We took Jeffri, Kevin, Ever, and Christopher with us to Wendys and the airport to say goodbye to Bethany.  But her flight was cancelled, so we get one more night with her :)  

The Pit

Yesterday I, not so affectionately, named my car.  I’m not really a naming kind of person for inanimate objects, but this one is so fitting that I just cannot help myself.

Introducing… “The Pit”

As in, the money pit.

Seriously… as I was sitting on the side of the road again yesterday waiting for the mechanic to come rescue me, I found myself really asking the Lord what the lesson is that he would have me to learn in the face of constant car repairs and a dwindling bank account.  I’m ready to learn it and move on.

Or could it be that the Lord is working to bring my mechanic into the family of God and this is just a very expensive evangelism experience?

I will say.  I’ve taken quite a hit financially and emotionally while dealing with this car that seems to be in the shop once a week.  It really makes me anxious whenever I hear a pop or a squeal or see smoke rising from the hood.  How much is it going to cost this time?  When is this going to end?

Although maybe I’m getting used to it… yesterday all I could think of while I sat baking by the side of the road was…
“Why did I take this compost from Erin’s house?  Is this basil plant worth it?  It smells SO bad in here!” :)

All that to say… please pray.  It has been one thing after another with “The Pit” and I am just praying that the Lord would allow me to trust Him to provide for all of my needs.  And praying that the Lord would send mechanic-type angels to guard all the working parts and keep us out of the shop for awhile.

So very proud!

I’m like a proud mama.  This was the best part of yesterday…

Sadly, I taught Christopher to spell his name in a very English fashion and didn’t realize it ‘till it was too late.  I’m pretty sure its more like Cristofer.  But I’m not sure…

And also Caitlin was a hero and brought this home…

So a close second to the best part of the day was our 3 on 2 soccer game in the garage :)

Revolving Door

I think the reality is… I don’t know any other way to be.  My family has shown me an amazing example of what hospitality looks like and I think its just ingrained in my heart.  One of the most frustrating things about my time in Costa Rica was not having a home where I could invite people in and cook them and meal and just visit and be together.  I am LOVING that about living here in Honduras.

Recently the Lord blessed us with an amazing house.  The spaces are perfect and exactly what we needed.  There is plenty of space in the kitchen for multiple cooks, not to mention little hands trying to help and/or supervise.  There is a good dining room with a table for playing bananagrams or Uno or Jungle Speed.  Today the living room was a cinema, a schoolroom, and a place to rest all the in the space of two hours.  The garage is huge and this week its been a dining room and a place to take a nap when it’s the safest place that tired street children have to go.  And the upstairs… well, that’s mostly ours. :)

The Lord just keeps bringing kids to our door.  New kids every week, sometimes every day.  Right now we have 7 regulars and then the others who come by at times.  All boys for now.  I’d love to have a little girl to hang out with, but maybe the Lord knows she couldn’t take all the boys!  We have 4 that went to church with us Sunday, for 3 of them it was their third time.  I just found out there is a Sunday school program, so I’m going to see if they are willing to try it next week… but they might rather sit with us.

I’m determined that apart from learning about Jesus, learning to read and write is one of the most important things that these boys can learn.  So to that end, I bought some school books.  I don’t teach elementary school, never have.  I don’t really know what I’m doing.  But today we wrote letters and tried to learn all of the letter names.  The boys today were 10,11, and 13 who were learning.  Can you imagine not being able to write your own name by that age?  I need some pencils… mechanical pencils don’t cut it when you’re learning to write.  Found that out today.  Also found out drawing circles and straight lines has to be taught.  So that’s the next order of business. 

You can pray for me.  I’m overwhelmed.  I cannot possibly teach these kids all that I want them to know.  I cannot possibly give them all the attention that they crave and ever get another thing done in life.  And then I’m a little overwhelmed in my personal life with a hectic fall schedule, finances, and so much transition.  But… there are so many things that I know.

I know that the Lord is GOOD and perfect in His timing.  I know that every day he brings these boys to our gate for a purpose.  I know that ultimately their hearts are in His hands.  And beyond that… their education and emotional state and family life… that’s all in His hands too.  And I know that He is using us.  Even on the days that I feel I haven’t done enough… its true.  But He is using us and He is doing it… everything that needs to be done.  And He has ALWAYS proven Himself faithful. 

So tonight I can go to bed and rest and trust that the Lord is enough.

Welcome to Honduras Caitlin!

Its possible that we were more excited about finding funfetti cake and rainbow sprinkle icing in Honduras than Caitlin was about eating it.  But Bethany I have been saving this treat for a special day.  And this was definitely it!

We are so excited that Caitlin is here to love on the people of Honduras with us!  She’ll be working a boy’s home in Armenia Bonito and a small private school.

One of my favorite things about new people coming to Honduras is hearing all their random insights about things that have become so normal to us :)  So… to hear from Caitlin’s point of view, you can read her blog.