Climbing Stairs

I keep saying that I am learning so much but I have not shared anything yet. One thing that has become very real to me is how God totally prepares us for our next steps. I have known this is true for a long time, but sometimes God can just make it so obvious and real as if I am learning it for the first time. He is such an awesome, big, sovereign Provider and Sustainer. Not that He makes everything easy for us to do, but I see it like we are climbing stairs. He prepares us to climb the next step, and though it is higher and harder, He uses and builds on what He has already brought us through. 


Being here at EFP, I have been able to have a little glimpse at how God has been equipping me for this. Taking from Deuteronomy 31:8 and one of Amy Carmichael's sayings, He goes before. He has gone before, preparing the way and preparing me to walk this path. 


Preparations: 


Though I had never been to EFP, I had been to Honduras before so knew what to expect in some aspects. Safety precautions, weather and bugs, clothing considerations, the Spanish language. 


Another way in which I was prepared that makes me smile is the countless times I have driven truck on the farm, and how comfortable I have become with driving "stick shift." (Dad, did you ever think I would move on from the little blue Fords?) Now I have driven a diesel busito(van) all over Puerto Cortes, and it has only died on me once (I accidentally put it in 5th instead of 1st after a speed bump! Oops!). To say you have driven in a third world country where a horn is used in place of blinkers, brakes, exchange of greetings, and venting of feelings is quite a feat.


The thing that is glaring at me, dripping with irony, is the fact that we will be moving to another house in the span of the 2 1/2 weeks that I am still here. Moving! I moved out of an apartment to a house in Emporia in May, and declared if I never moved again it would be too soon because of everything involved. Here I am, two months later, considering moving 15 girls to another house that is two hours away. (Doh, you want to come help keep me sane again?) I struggled with a bad attitude during moving in May, and I remember thinking that I needed to work on my attitude so that the next time, it would be better. Now, I have a chance to be stretched and grow again. I am really praying for strength, extra patience, and a cheerful, willing attitude. I really cannot do anything without God, but through Him, I can do all things. He has equipped me for this next step.


Also, this makes me realize that, if you are reading this, God has used you in some way to help prepare me for this too and for what is ahead. Isn't our heavenly Father so big and great to have orchestrated everything in each of our lives??? Wow, it is totally unfathomable!


Anyways, that is a little of what I have been learning and thinking about if you care to know. It lacks much eloquence and sounds better in my head, but thanks for reading!

Daily Occurrences

Especially during my first week here, there were a number of things that we did almost every day. Because the girls' schedule is so tight during the school year, summer is very relaxed without many plans. 

We try to do an hour or so of school work everyday to review what they have learned in school. It can be challenging when almost everyone is on a different level.

Picking cuertes (spelling?): they are the seed pods of some plant that pop like popcorn when you put them in water. Quite exciting! It is so cool to see so many different plants that God made! There is another plant that closes up as soon as you touch it. I am not sure if it is something like the Venus fly trap, but it is fun to go around touching them and watching them all close up!

Ballet, exercises, and gymnastics: the girls all love to do them and WOW! are they flexible. I'm trying to do the splits a little more each day so when I get back, maybe I can. ;) Haha.

Ouch!

Brushing hair every night and braiding it or putting it up somehow. All the girls have beautiful hair. Sarahi french-braided all the girls' hair one night, so the next night before showers, they all took it down for a picture.

Coloring: one of the girls' favorite things to do is color or do art. They can spend hours doing it.

"Picking" mangos: it involves hitting them multiple times with a long PVC stick. They get them when they are green, cut them up, and put salt and pimiento on as a salad. They also like them when they are orange. We have a lime, a guava, coconut, mini-apple-looking fruit, and 3 mango trees in the yard.
See the forest of grass there? We have yet to mow that with the push mower!

Brushing and doing MY hair. They can get very creative with their hairdos. So thankful for a haircut, no lice (at least not yet and hopefully not at all!), and a hard head. :)

Playing outside
Also, rain. It rains quite a bit here, often right after we put laundry on the line to dry.

It seems we do keep quite busy during the days doing all sorts of things. I really enjoy playing with them, teaching them, watching them, learning from them. 

The Girls

I am almost halfway done with my time here with only 2 blogposts and no pictures of the girls to show for it! This last week seems to have been busier than the first week. Two other volunteers have come, one leaving today already, and the other will leave in 2 weeks. This week we have been planning "camp" for the girls here at the house. Katie, the other volunteer, is a middle school math teacher so she and I have been attempting to plan activities for the girls, tying in Bible stories, math and reading, active things, and always a lot of art and coloring. It has been quite challenging, exhausting, and fun. I really love the girls and pray for more love for them.
(I'm sorry most of the pictures are blurry; I think I uploaded them the wrong way. I guess I will just have to put up more!)

Wild, fun Asli (4)

Giggly, teasing Jenci (5)

Hair stylist Michelle (7)

Creative, crazy Aracely (7)

Flexible, happy Yolani (9)

Quiet, artsy Sarai (8)

"Little mother" Denia (10)

Helpful, funny Paola (10)

Picture-loving Addy (almost 2) 

Teasing Belkis (17) and quiet Mariela (16)

I do not have a picture of Gaby (13), but these are the girls that I live with! More is written about each one at the EFP website along with better pictures. Soon I hope to post some pictures about "camp," some other experiences, and what is in store in the 3 weeks I have left here!

One week down!

Well, I made it! One week ago, I was trying to sleep before heading to the airport at 3:30 a.m. and now I have somehow survived to write another post. I don't plan on counting down the weeks that I am here, yet this week has been nothing like I expected!

I literally met Allison in the airport, then we drove for an hour out to the house that is the Eternal Family Project. It actually is just a large house and a large yard. They are renting this right now, looking for another place. 

The front of the house The front gate

As my sister Jenny put it in one of her sweet cards (I open one each week), the other times I have been in Honduras have always been a sprint, and now this is more like a 1/2 marathon (or something--I have yet to run one of those!). This week has been a bit faster paced than I anticipated. Allison, the mother of the girls here (for it is much more like a family than an orphanage or institution), left last Wednesday to go to the states for one week with one of the girls, Ruby, who needs to get fitted for a prosthetic leg. There is a foundation in Houston that pays for the doctors and the leg itself. 

So, less than 36 hours after arriving, I was left on my own. Thankfully, not completely. There is a woman who comes 8-5 Monday through Friday to cook and clean, and one of the older girls had vacation from school last week so she was around. Another girl, Sarahi, is studying at a university in San Pedro Sula, an hour away, but rides the bus after class almost everyday to come help out. She is the real person in charge. When she gets here, all the girls straighten up and even the littlest obeys very well. The girls behave fairly well, and know for the most part, what they should and should not do. I only wish I could speak better Spanish so I could know what to say when there is a problem. Perhaps by the end of my time here.

There are 8 girls that I am babysitting, for lack of a better term. Denia and Paola are 10, Yolani (Jo-lan-ee) is 9, Sarai (Sa-ra-ee) is 8, Aracely and Michelle are 7, Jenci (Jen-see) is 5, and Asly is 4. All but Asly, the youngest, are in bilingual school so they can understand and speak English to some extent and that is also the reason why they have vacation now, the same as schools in the states. Also in the house are Gaby, 13, who is a paraplegic, Mariela, 16, and Belquiz (Bel-keys) 17. Gaby and Mariela have summer camp during the day so they are not around until the middle of the afternoon. Belquiz is in a different school so her schedule is different. She has a daughter, Addyson, who is 16 months, who stays at the house while her mom goes to school. It has been an interesting week getting to know everything and everyone, more of which I will explain when I can think clearer. For now, I am thinking of things that I am very thankful for:

• Air-conditioning at night--I know it is about 10 degrees cooler here than in Kansas, but the humidity is incredible. I can sweat sitting still in about 1 minute. We are literally 3 blocks from the ocean, though we cannot see it. To go along with the AC,
• Bug spray--the mosquitos are terrible and seemingly very attracted to sweating gringas (white Americans)
• The upbringing I have had, though I wonder why I was so blessed
• The Spanish that I did know before coming, and how quickly I am learning more
• Knowing how to "drive stick" as I am the only who can drive to ballet lessons, the grocery store, and church (the diesel van in the picture is my sweet ride)
• Variety of food--We have some form of beans almost every meal, and often rice, but we have also had spaghetti, grilled cheese sandwiches, homemade donuts and, for those of you who know what baleadas are, I have had them for 5 meals! Que suerte! (I have not had any pop or pinguinos yet, but that is probably better for me anyway.)
• Access to internet
• God's peace and protection--I have not worried about my safety much at all, mostly due to God's peace and having other things to think about. For the most part, we are inside the gate unless we drive somewhere, and Puerto Cortes is much smaller and different than Tegucigalpa. Though the watchdog (he can be vicious if he does not know you), the locks, the gate, the razor wire are all there for safety and precaution, it is God who protects (perhaps through these things). It has been during this time on my own that I have realized I can really trust no other but God to protect me, yet who better to trust?

In the words of David, "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,  for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory;  my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him;  God is a refuge for us. " Psalm 62:5-8

Hopefully after Wednesday, I can post much more and a lot of pictures too with more consistency! Also, I want to share some of the stories of the girls and things I will write about for my school journal project. 

Beginnings

Well, after much contemplation and time, I have decided to start a blog. (You would think after so much thinking, I would at least have a creative title! Any ideas are appreciated!!) This is pretty scary for me to be sharing things, such as some personal struggles, emotions,  imperfections, etc., for many (well, that could be a relative term) to see. Ah, well, this is just to keep you updated on what I am doing for the next five weeks so on with it already! 
I fly out tomorrow, June 26th, headed for San Pedro Sula, Honduras. There I will be picked up and drive an hour to a girls' orphanage located near Puerto Cortes. It is located in the northwest corner of the country close to the Gulf of Mexico, but for those of you who question my geography skills (west and Gulf of Mexico=what?) I have included a map which may help explain better than I can.
As I said, I will be there for 5 weeks, helping out with the girls however I can, some cleaning, and maybe some updates on the website. There will be many more things that I will know about once I get there tomorrow. 
Thank you for your interest. I ask for your prayers. This is not the first time going to Honduras, but this time I'm traveling alone and into unfamiliar territory. Pray for courage and peace. Also, pray that I can show God's love to these girls and that my heart will be open to all I have to learn there as well. Above all, pray that God will be glorified.
I will attempt to keep this updated somewhat regularly, and once I get there, I will know more of what I am going to be doing. This is the website for the orphanage if you want to read more about it. www.eternalfamilyproject.org