A Heart Breaking Day

Today was visitation day.  It is about my least favorite day of the month.  Some of the kids don't have visitation and some don't have anyone to come visit them.  And, then some get all excited and wait on mom and she doesn't come.

It was a crazy day.  It was also pay day.  Fernando was graduating from Teleton and had to get back out here in time for visitation.  And one employee was leaving at noon.  We knew all this when the day started.

Karen called mid morning and said Maryuri and Cindy's mom was not coming.  This was not good.  Cindy and Maryuri went to school excited about Mom coming and then were going to find out she was not coming when they got out of school.  Karen and I both knew this good be a potential problem, especially with the employee that was on duty.  Cindy and Maryuri both could react rather violently.  I would definitely need to be up there during visitation.  They both like to help and work with someone.  I decided I would pull them out of the mix and we would work in the inventory room. 

I just wanted to love them to death this afternoon.  I knew their little hearts were broken. 

The three of us carried mops and brooms and disinfectant and away we went.  First stop was the store, for m&ms.  M&Ms can cure a whole lot of hurt.

Brayan's mom didn't come.  Any and Yair's mom didn't come.  Jackson's mom came 20 minutes before it was over.  He went running up there with a gift he had made for her.  Josue walked around on the cancha looking and waiting on his mom.  She came at 3:00, which is when visitation ends.  He and Nohemy went running up and got to say hi and hug her. 

It makes me so angry and I hurt for these kids.

Cindy and Maryuri were good little helpers.  We got a lot of things organized. We all swept and swept and swept.  It was so ditry in there.  We ate on our m&ms.  Cindy mopped more than once.  Both of them just wanted to please.  There was lots of praise for their tasks.  The two hours passed quickly.

Please pray for these little hearts.  No matter the reason that they have been removed from the home, everybody loves Mom and it hurts when she doesn't come on the one day of the month they are allowed to see their children.

OOPS!!

With 23 kids, there is a lot going on here everyday.  Appointments.   Several different school schedules. Employee's schedules.  To name a few.  Most of the time, between Karen, Nicole and I, everything gets done and works well, but once in a while, we forget something.

Maria asked me this morning if she could get her pay today.  Friday is payday and, after her shift today, she would not be back until Sunday.  I told her yes.  She gets off at 4:00.  I had plenty of time.  I had many interruptions today.  I thought about her pay a couple of times.

The group came at 3:00.  I opened the store.  And then, I was just sitting outside visiting..  At 4:15, Nohemy walked up and said,"Maria.""  I didn't even let her finish.  I jumped up and ran to get her time sheet and ran to my house and got her pay ready. 

That was the little oops and was easily fixed.

I paid Maria and checked her out.  As  I was walking across the cancha, Nicole says we forgot Any and Josue.  I looked at her and said forgot them where.

Any and Josue go to afternoon kindergarten.  Mirian leaves at 1:15 and walks them over.  They get out at 4:00.  I used to go for them all time.  Now, Karen goes some.  Doris goes some.  Dilma goes some.  The kindergarten teacher called Mirian and said is Karen coming?  Mirian said coming where?    The teacher said for Any and Josue.  Mirian then asked Karen if she was going for the kids and Karen said what kids.   Dilma and Doris were both helping with homework.  The end of kindergarten slipped every body's mind. 

OOPS.

I don't think any of us will get Mother of the year.

Yvette, the teacher took them home with her and then someone from here went to her house. 

We probably won't forget the kindergarteners again.

El Aguacatal

El Aguacatal is a mountain community above Ojojona.  Richard has been working up there for a long time.
He now has church in Ojojona on Sunday morning and then goes to El Aguacatal and has afternoon services.  He visits and has Bible studies all day Thursday.  Most Sundays and most Thursdays, Matt is helping, too.  Most Sunday afternoons there are between 80 and 90 people at church.  This summer a church building will be built up there.

Bibles and Sunday school material were recently purchased and today, the Ritzel team did a food distribution.  The people that live up there are really poor and they were  appreciative of the food today. 

Praising God for this growing community of believers.

Brayan

Today, Karen went to the high school to get report cards.  Brayan was the only one of the three older kids that had no red notes.  Karen talked to the teachers and they said he was trying hard and not causing problems.  The grades were not perfect and there is a lot of room for improvement, but he is passing everything.

Last year at this time, he was not passing several subjects.  He had a horrible attitude and was in danger of being thrown out of school.  There were many nights we fell on our knees and cried out to God on Brayan's behalf.

I am so proud of him.

Please, please keep your prayers going for him.  He faces huge temptations every day.

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago.  Brayan was leading singing in church.  Again, I was so proud of him.  He stood up there and led the songs with such confidence and a big smile on his face.

Working, Working, Working

Daily progress is being made on the mission house.   I am praying for quickly, safely, and correctly.

Tuesday morning I went to check things out.  And, I went again this evening.

Materials are stacked everywhere.

Haley is a bit upset that the sand is not her personal sandbox.

Tuesday morning this is what I saw.

This evening, Thursday, this is what I saw:

We have lights up and the men are working from 6:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.  I commented on how much change I could see from Tuesday morning.  Nicole said they could usually see a big difference from the time they got home each night and the time they leave the next morning.

The dining hall is nearing completion as the screen goes in the windows.

Can't you already hear the fellowship coming from the dining hall?

Thank you God, my making dreams reality.

Shopping .... And A Trip To The Doctor

Yesterday really had two parts.  After, Emily, Alejandra and I finished our shopping trip and had granitas, we went to Hospital San Jorge.

We went to meet Nicole and Baby Josue.  Josue had an appointment with the neurologist.  Nicole always has Emma Kate with her as well.  Matt and Haley had other plans, but they took Nicole and the babies to the hospital, leaving them without a way home unless I went to get them.

Josue is so scared of any unfamiliar situation.  He did well in the doctor`s office except for the actual exam.  The neurologist said he is progressing nicely.  Praise God!   We could not ask for more.  The doctor will see him again in 6 months and maybe we won´t have to see the neurologist any more.

The physical therapist told us to buy Josue some high top shoes.  I bought some that are the right length.  But, his little feet are so narrow and his little legs so thin that the shoes were way to wide and did not even touch his legs.  I wanted to buy some good shoes from Stride-Rite that fit correctly.  He needs some support for those weak, wobbly little legs.  Shoes from Stride-Rite are way too expensive to buy the wrong size.  We decided we would take Josue to buy shoes while we were in town with him.

I was dreading the mall with him.  Too many unfamiliar people.  Too many unfamiliar sounds.  Too much unfamiliar everything.  He started crying the second we got out of the car.  Considering other experiences with him, it was not too painful.  If he was being held by Nicole or me, he did fairly well.  He was crying and scared the whole time, but was not screaming at the top of his lungs

We got shoes that fit perfectly.  Nicole had to feed Josue and doing that in the car would have been far too messy.  We were all glad to be home.  And Josue, breathed a big sigh of relief when Nicole took him inside his house.  There is no place like home.

Please continue to pray for continued improvement for this little guy.

Terri

Shopping

I have a new friend.  Her name is Alejandra and she is 14 years old.  I don't know all of her story, but like many here, it is a sad one.  She was abandoned when she was five years old.  She has siblings and has tried her best to care for them.  I am not sure what all she has had to do in order to buy food for these siblings.

She needed some underwear.  So, I was going to take her shopping for those things.  Emily and I left for town and met Marc and Alejandra for lunch.  Then Alejandra left with us. She had decided she did not need underwear, but clothes.

I could tell she definitely needed shoes.

We decided jeans, shirt and shoes.  The jeans were easy.  She wanted a white shirt and there were plenty to choose from.  I would have vetoed some of them.  Emily and I each found a white shirt at the same time.  The one I had was cute, but the one Emily had was far cuter.    Alejandra saw it and just giggled.  She was so excited.  She went running to the dressing room.  Emily and I looked at each other and laughed as she ran toward the dressing room. The shirt was really cute on her.  Jeans and shirt were easy and fast.  Shoes not so easy nor so fast.

We walked through the underwear department and she thought everything was so pretty.  I asked her again if she needed some and she said yes.  She chose a couple of things.  I was going to pay before we went upstairs to look for shoes.

The cashier showed us a small tear in the white shirt.  There was not another.  It was the last one.  The disappointment on her face was heart breaking.  I looked at the tear and was quite sure Anita could repair it.  I asked if I could buy it for less since it was torn.  They said yes, but the amount they knocked off was so small, they should have said no.

We went up to look at shoes.  The first pair she liked was not in her size.  Then she tried on a couple of pairs and sadly shook her head.

There are other shoe stores in the mall.  So off we went.  In the second store, she walked around and shook her head and we left.  I was sure we could find something at Magic Shoes.  She squealed when we walked in and she saw how big this shoe store was.  She found some Puma running shoes that she thought were so beautiful.  She held them up in front of face, pleading with her eyes.  I knew that was more than I wanted to spend, but I was willing to splurge.  She was talking to the salesman about size and color.  I was looking at something else just to be doing something.  The price on this little pair of shoes at which I was looking was outrageous.  I feared the Pumas were far more than I first expected.  I asked the salesman and he told me.  Alejandra heard him and she said," too much.  Let's go."  We turned and left.

We looked in every store in the mall.  Sometimes she would shake her head at the window and not even go inside.  We all know how it is to shop for shoes and not find what we are looking for.

We got to the next to last store.  She looked in the window and motioned for us all to go in.  The ones she really wanted were not in her size.  There was a different color in her size.  She tried them on.  I had read her face all along, but this time I was clueless.  She raised her head, looked at Emily, gave a thumbs up and smiled.  Success.

She hugged and hugged me and thanked and thanked me.  Then we went downstairs and had a granita.

After I took Alejandra home, we saw Anita standing in front of the cafe.  We stopped and she said of course she could fix the shirt and would have it by tomorrow.

This was a delightfully wonderful day in Honduras.

Terri