Back in Honduras

Today we safely, uneventfully arrived back in Tegucigalpa. I was ready to be back.

We had a wonderful time in Texas and enjoyed sweet Camille. She slept in the room with the computer so that severely limited my blogging time. There was no early morning or late night sitting at the computer. I would not have taken a chance on waking her.

I was ready to come back to Honduras. But last night, when we were saying bye to Camille and she was crying and saying "why do you guys have to leave?", I might have been persuaded to stay. I promised we would be back for Christmas and her birthday. She is too little to understand that. And as we prayed before we ate today, I missed her singing "God Our Father."

As we left Little Rock this morning, I reflected on leaving Little Rock last September. Then I was moving here; this time I was returning home. Last year, I have to admit, I was just a little bit scared. This time I was eager to get back; start working again. Start learning spanish again.


I have learned so much about Honduras and the people here. I am learning their customs and their ways and even learning to negotiate the dmv and transito. Obviously, by dealing with these things, I am learning patience.

I still struggle with spanish. I thought I would be pretty good after a whole year. I have come to realize the importance of speaking the language. Not knowing the language limits the number of people I can help. I have a strong desire to conquer this and am sure by this time next year I will be much better. Not fluent, but better. Not to say I haven't learned any spanish. There are several things I can do by myself.

I am driving and getting around well. Better than I ever dreamed I would. I now back up and down roads on which I never thought I would drive forward. I am still not driving a stick on these hills. I learned to drive a stick in Lubbock, Texas. No hills there. Driving on the hills is just another goal to accomplish.

I have seen poverty, despair and hopelessness that my American mind could not even comprehend. A child not going to school because he does not have school supplies. I have seen sickness and hurts that do not exist in the United States. A baby dying because her parents did not have three dollars to buy her medicine. Not only have I had to learn patience, I have had to learn compassion. In huge doses.

So much learned. So much accomplished. So much to learn. So much to accomplish.

Do I have regrets? Absolutely not. This is where we are meant to be. For now at least.

The future looks busy. Busier than the past year. Only God can give me strength to do that. I can hardly wait to see just what God has planned for the next year.

It has been a great year, a hard year, a year with a huge learning curve. I would not trade it for anything in the world.

Terri