I'm On My Way To San Jose

And I don't mean California. Not that I have anything against San Jose, California. Matt, Nicole, and Haley Grace live in San Jose, Costa Rica. That is where I am going.

Tomorrow after Marc feeds the hungry at the dump, we will leave. We will drive to Managua, Nicaragua tomorrow and on in to San Jose on Thursday. I am so excited to see those kids. Calling Costa Rica is a lot more expensive than calling the USA. I do not talk near enough to Nicole. Two days from right now, I will be loving all over Haley.

In addition to spending a long relaxing weekend with the kids, I will get two new country stamps in my passport. I get excited when we enter a state in which I have never been, and within the next two days, I get to be in two new countries.

Terri

Dinner With Friends

Last night I was chatting with Nicole and Kim, when Timoteo popped up as well. I have never chatted with three different people at once, much less having to do one in spanish. Timoteo was asking if we could come to their house tonight for supper in honor of Milton's birthday.

Timoteo and his family have been our friends since 2001 when Marc and Nicole made that very first trip to Honduras. I quickly checked with Marc and responded yes we would come.

I have been with Marc when he has taken the boys home, but I had never been inside Timoteo's home. It is a very nice home. We were welcomed warmly. As we entered, wonderful smells filled the house and the tortillas were being prepared.

It was soon time to eat. It was insisted that I take this huge amount of chicken. There was enough chicken for me to have two or three meals. But I took it and I ate it. Every single bite. In addition to chicken and tortillas, we had vegetables and rice. And fellowship with good friends.

Sometimes, I am too tired at night to do anything, much less go to town, but I am really glad we did this tonight. It is always a good thing to spend an evening with friends.

Terri

Christmas Pajamas

Monday was November 1 and at Casa de Esperanza, that means time to put up the Christmas tree. Of course, Karen did not tell the kids they were going to get to put it up until it was time to actually begin.

After the lights were strung and each little ornament hung in just the right place, the kids got a big surprise. Some friends of Karen's, Brian and Joyce Foreman, whom we count as friends also, were visiting. Joyce had made all the kids new pajamas. She also made new pajamas for all the employees kids. Thirty pairs of pajamas. Joyce wrapped all the pajamas. Karen sent all the kids outside to get the clothes off the line. While they were out there, Joyce put presents under the tree. When the kids came back in, they were surprised to find presents already. We don't put presents under the tree until Christmas morning.

One by one, each child opened their new pajamas. One by one, each one was excited. I am not sure who was more excited though, the children or Brian and Joyce.

A couple of days later at morning devo, I got some pictures of the kids in their new pjs. Some were not smiling as big at 6:00 in the morning as they were when they opened the pajamas.

This is the fourth time Joyce has made pajamas for the Casa kids. Thanks Joyce. It is appreciated and the kids love them.

Terri

Brayan

Brayan has lived here three and a half years. At thirteen, he is our oldest boy. Most of the time, he is a pretty happy kid. But, when he's not, it can be pretty ugly. That happened this morning.

Sometimes he gets really angy, but this morning, he just cried and cried and cried. Exams started today. It was time to leave for school and everyone was in the van but Brayan and he was in the house crying. Karen told me to go on without him. I took the kids to school and came back. I was leaving again to go to the bank and the market. I told Brayan I would be leaving in 20 minutes if he wanted to go to school. He stood there like he didn't hear, and maybe he didn't. The tears streamed down his face.

After I brushed my teeth and a few other necessary things, I went to see if Brayan was ready to go to school. He was still crying. Our counselor had arrived and she and I tried to console and coax and whatever it took. Dalys walked him to the car and we left.

I told him sometimes I get up and start crying like that; that sometimes everyone has a bad day. I told him we loved him and he could tell us anything and we would not love him less. I took his hand and prayed all the way to school. I did not shut my eyes.

I thought he was ok by the time we got to school. When he got there, he just froze. Couldn't and wouldn't move. I asked him if he wanted me to walk him to class and he nodded his head. I got out of the car and put my arm around him and walked all the way to the classroom. Just as we got to the classroom, Brayan started crying again. The teacher asked what was wrong and all I could say was we don't know. The teacher began talking to Brayan and walked him into the classroom. I watched for just a minute and turned to leave. The teacher and Brayan came walking out into the school yard. I left.

I know Brayan terribly misses his mom. Most of the kids do miss their moms. I don't know if this meltdown was related to visitation one week ago. Whether it was due to the stress of exams. If something had happened at school. Or at home, even. Or all of the above. Maybe Brayan didn't know what was wrong.

Brayan, and all of our kids, have lived through things most of us cannot imagine. They are separated from Mom. Surrounded by people, they are probably lonely. I did every thing I could do for Brayan this morning. My heart hurts when one of the children is so sad and cannot even express what is wrong.

When I got home this afternoon, Brayan looked like he had cried all day.

Pray for Brayan. And for all the children. Pray for us that we have wisdom to deal with these situations. Pray for us that we have compassion for these hurting little souls. And that we love them unconditionally.

Terri

Refreshing Sights

This morning some of the kids were going on a field trip and had to be at the school at 7:30. I drove them to school and as the others were getting out of the car, Ana says to me that she left something very important at home and her teacher said she could not go on the field trip if she didn't have it. Kids are kids in every language.

I drove back home, not knowing whether I would return to the school or not. We usually let the kids suffer the consequences of forgetting. If we didn't, that van would be making a hundred trips a day to the school. When I walked in the door, Karen asked if Ana remembered her letter and I said no. Karen said she has to have it. So, on Karen's say, I returned to the school.

All the kids were on the buses. I got on the first bus and saw Antonio and he told me Ana was on the other bus. As I began to get on the other bus, I stopped. One of the teacher's aides was leading the kids in prayer before they left on the field trip. What a refreshing sight that was to me. The kids pray every day in school here. Wouldn't it be nice if that still happened in the USA?

After the prayer ended, I saw Ana at the very back of the bus. She saw me, too. Her face broke into a gigantic smile and she reached up and wiped her hand across her forehead. She ran to the front of the bus wearing that big smile. She hugged me and said thank you, Terri. Thank you,very much. As I was standing there, holding that letter, I was a refreshing sight to Ana.

Terri

Morning Traffic

Morning traffic in Tegucigalpa is getting worse. It is worse every day than it was the morning before. I know with the bridge still out on the San Pedro Sula highway that all that traffic that normally uses that road has to go somewhere, but this makes Atlanta and Los Angeles look good. And I always hated driving in those two places.

Most mornings by the time I get Rosy to school I feel like I have crossed a battlefield full of active land mines. And when I get to school and one hasn't blown up, then I am the winner. Rosy usually goes back to sleep and doesn't even know the battle I am fighting.

Fortunately, Rosy only has two more days of school this year and then she and I both have early morning dentist appointments on Monday. I might need to celebrate when this school year is over.

Terri

Pan American Lectureship

The PanAmerican lectureship is a seminar basically for Church of Christ missionaries that rotates among the Latin American countries. This year it is in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Marc went yesterday. Tonight we both drove into town to sing and hear the speaker.

We left early and went to dinner first. That alone made a wonderful evening. It has been a long time, too long, since we did that. I had fresh asparagus. My whole year was made with that treat.

I love worshiping in spanish. And as I learn more and more spanish, I sometimes discover the words in spanish are even more meaningful than in english. But as we began to sing, I soon realized I did not know how much this heart needed some english singing and some english lessons from God's word and some english fellowship. It was just lovely.

The speaker, Doug Peters, gave an absolutely beautiful lesson. I then learned he knows some of my friends in Arlington, Texas and in Topeka, Kansas. It is such a small world.

This evening, full of old and new friends and wonderful fellowship, was worth not seeing game 5 of the world series. When we left the Marriott, Marc wanted some ice cream and we stopped at McDonald's. We got to see the last three pitches of the game. So we saw the Giants win the world series after all.

I probably will go to the lectureship tomorrow night and then we will see what the rest of the week holds for me.

Terri