I was listening to a podcast of “This American Life” this morning entitled “Crybabies”. It was about, you guessed it, crybabies. There was something interesting that was talked about as a man recounted his time in Haiti this past year and in Indonesia in 2005 following the tsunami. He was talking about the rich people tend to complain when something bad happens a lot more than the poor people. He was saying how the rich in Haiti complained much more about the earthquake and it’s impact than the poorer people, who hardly complained at all. This was talked about in comparison to how Wall Street workers complain about the government, even though without the government’s bailout, they wouldn’t even have a job. 

There are only a handful of things I hate more than complaining. 

Now, my utter hatred of complaining could stem from the house I grew up in, where we learned to appreciate what we had. It could stem from the fact that I have always had a heart for those who have less. It could stem from my utter astonishment that I have anything, because what I really deserve is hell, and I have a Savior, Jesus Christ, so not having something or whatever just doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. 

It’s hard living in a country where the unemployment rate is 30%, where my husband and I make together each month less than what one of us made a year ago and take cold showers everyday. There is plenty of room to complain. However, complaining just isn’t a good use of my time. I think it is better to be grateful for what we have, knowing that there are many people all over the world, who have less.

So, before you start complaining because the restaurant you went to last night had a long wait and was out of organic gluten free whatnot, Praise God that you were able to go to restaurant. Before you complain because your kid talks to much and is sassy, be thankful that your child can speak and has the sense to be sassy. Before you complain about “having to workout”, remember there are many who cannot walk, let alone exercise. Before you complain about the uncomfortable months of pregnancy, praise the Lord you were not one of the women who cannot conceive children. Before you sigh because your parents are calling again, Thank God that you have parents who care enough to call you often. 

I am not saying that I do this all of the time. I complain, I get angry with my circumstances. I don’t want to be that way, though. I pray that God reminds me of the things He has given me. I want to be more aware of what I have, rather than have not. I want to remember that everything I have is from Him alone, nothing that I did or do or will do with ever be deserving of the gifts He has given, the most amazing of which is salvation. 

So, I leave you with a list of things I am particularly grateful for today:

1. Running water, even if it is cold.

2. A roof over my head and a floor under my feet.

3. A safe place to live, with a husband who doesn’t abuse me or cheat on me.

4. Food to eat.

5. Shoes to wear.

6. A body that works like it’s supposed to.

7. A job that I get paid to do.

8. Electricity.

9. Facebook, E-mail, Skype, Magic Jack, Digicel, and all of the others way I stay in contact with friends and family far away. 

10. Money to buy medicine when we need it, clean water to drink, and healthy food to eat. 

11. A family who loves Jesus.

12. A church family across the globe that prays for us. 

13. Cable so Jd can watch the NFL (even if it is in Spanish). 

14. A car that runs.

15. A God who loves me even though He has seen all the messy nasty parts of me. 

 

So, let us always be thankful for what we have, give our abundance to those in need, and remember the our debt that way paid for on the cross. 

 Here I am, being thankful for delicious corn on the cob, while the lady behind laughs because I am white…

Today our church got it’s new sound system. The flood destroyed the other sound system, and by the grace of God, we received enough donations to replace the things the church needed. We were talking with Arturo this afternoon, and he said the all that’s left is to get a machine to clean out the fields and level them again and then everything will be “back to normal”. 

I don’t know that things will ever be back to normal for me again. I can’t forget the smell of the dirt and water, I can’t forget what it looked like, the destruction, the devastation, the tears cried for all that was lost. 

In the old testament, after the Israelites have escape Egypt and wandered around for a while, God commands them to put stones down and make an altar. He tells them to make this altar so that they can show their children all the things that God has done for them. I think about this church that way. I will always look at the speakers and think of the things God did. The way He made sure no one who was in the church was killed, how He opened the hearts of many people all over the world to donate, how He brought an entire church together to work and clean and serve the community. I will see those speakers as a reminder of the new people who have come to the church because of the flood, how the story of how donations came in demonstrates greatly the way the church body works. 

So, yes, I wish the flood would have never happened. It destroyed a lot of our city, has caused lots of heartache, and just been a big pain in the butt. But, no, I do not want things to go back to normal. I do not want to forget what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do, as we continue to aid the people who have been displaced. All the things He causes to happen are put in place for the Glory of God. And, so this stinky, muddy, awful flood is being used and will be used for a long time to bring glory to the Lord. 

So we thank you. We thank the Village Church, Hillside Community Church, and First Baptist Church of Littlefield. We thank numerous private families and donors. We thank all the people who prayed, who cried, and who thought of us. We thank all the families who sent clothing, toys, books, and joy. We are so very thankful for you, more than you know. 

And above all, we thank the Lord. For without Him, nothing is possible, and with Him everything is possible. May it never return to normal, and may we always remember what the Lord has done.

 

Here we are, working together, to get it back to normal.

Everyday we do math at school. Hondurans are very bad at math. My kids in second grade struggle with any addition and subtraction that requires borrowing or carrying. So, we do math and then we do more math. We will figure math out, we will learn, we will grow, and by the grace of God we will change Honduras. Today, I noticed something, every single math problem I put up on the board had a seven in it. There were 25 problems on the board. I am oddly drawn to the number seven, and I am not sure why. 

I daily try to remember that these kids are the future of Honduras. They are who will run this country in just a few short years. I want to teach them a few things before my time with them is up.

1. Love God more than anything else, He is the only thing deserving of your devotion.

2.The government is not your mom, work hard to better yourself, don’t rely on the government to give you what you need.

3. You are only responsible for yourself, it is no one else’s fault if you fail. Take responsibility for your actions and you will go far.

4. Respect others. Whether they are older, younger, richer, poorer, your boss, your maid, your little brother, respect them because they were also made in the image of God.

5. When your teacher, boss, parents, or anyone in authority asks you to do something, it is never, ever, ever, okay to say “No”. (unless it’s illegal or immoral, then you can say no, but when your teacher tells you to sit down, you do not say “no”).

6. Reggaeton is ridiculous. There is more to life than sex, drugs, alcohol, and money. There is also more to music than the same beat over and over with different ridiculous and raunchy lyrics. 

7. It is not okay to whistle at women, hiss at women, or say nasty things to women who walk by. 

8. Just because someone does not have a lot of money does not mean that they are worth less than you. God asks us to give to the poor, so if you have extra, give it away. 

9. Americans are not all rich, party hoppin’, mansion living beautiful people. America is as messed up as any other country, you’re gonna find the same trash there as anywhere else, so getting to the US is not the end all be all of life. Be where you are, and if you don’t like, do something to change it.

10. Speak kindly to others, saying please, thank you, and May I. 

11. Love God. He’s more important than any name brand, more important than what country you were born in, more important than what language you speak, more important than how much you have, more important than what church you go to, more important than anything else. ANYTHING ELSE!

Update: Our little friend has been taken to her sister’s house about three hours away. Jd took her on Thursday. he picked her up about ten in the morning, took her to a bakery to get something to eat. She picked out a donut with pink sprinkles. Then, they hit the road. I packed her a bag with some crayons, paper, coloring book, and some toys, which were all kindly donated to us from the states. She fell asleep about twenty minutes outside of Teguc, and woke up when Jd pulled into the airport to meet our friend. Jd told me this was the only time she was scared. He told me she was okay after a while in the airport, and we hear that she is doing well at her new temporary home. Just wanted to update, as we know many people were praying. Thanks.

And now, onto to the new blog.

Well, we got a new camera a few weeks ago and wanted to put up some pictures of what’s been going on. Well, more like just regular old days at school, but that is what has been going on, so take a peek into our daily life.

On Friday, we had a Mr/Miss Sport contest at our school. Each grade pick two kids, who came and modeled their best sports gear and moves. I am proud to say that Carlos Anibal from second grade won Mr. Sport, most likely do to his karate gear and karate moves. Bear with me, I cannot figure out how to get these pictures to turn, which is annoying, but c’est la vie.

  Francia from First Grade, she’s only five and is a really hard worker.  Carlos Anibal Showing off some killer karate moves.

In Honduras, we consider jump roping a sport. 

Here are a few of the kids enjoying the show.

This is one of my favorite students, Ivan. He is really wild, sweet, and hilarious. 

 

Jd took the camera upstairs, and took some pictures of his High School kids. They are fun kids, a little wild, but most of them are generally enjoyable.

This is our view from school.

Tomorrow is October 1, can you believe it?!?!? We have been here almost nine months, and we will be heading home to visit in only two months! It has gone by so quickly, this first year. This year, we have missed a few things from home, like Valentine’s dinner with my family, Easter with family, 4th of July, swimming in the summer on Sunday afternoons, UFC watching with friends, and seeing precious friends get married. But these things have lasted only a day, and then I don’t miss them anymore.

I am, however, beginning to lament missing the fall. And fall lasts a lot longer. It has cooled down considerably here, as I have been wearing long sleeves and not turning on the fan in our house, so I can pretend it is fall, but it is just not the same. I cannot go to Target or Wal-Mart and walk down aisles of Fall home decor with cute towels and squirrels and acorn things. I cannot see my breath. We will not celebrate Halloween here, as Halloween is seen as evil, and so like dancing and drinking in public, we must abstain in order to avoid offending our church members and other people in our town. Everyone would see it if we tried, trust me. People know what we order at the coffee place, one of my students knows what I buy at the grocery store, so word gets around about the “gringos”. I am feeling left out, knowing that everyone is deciding what they want to be for Halloween, knowing that my mom has decorate our house like a “fall carnival” (in the words of Chris Gloria), knowing that at every store in Texas right now, there are those freaking delicious orange pumpkin things, and candy corn, and the caramel candy corn. And I know that my mom has a glass pumpkin sitting in her kitchen full of fall colored malt balls from Central Market, and candy corn, and those pumpkin things, and I miss it! And, we don’t get to carve pumpkins. 

 

So Autumn, I miss you. Not sure when we will see each other again, but know, you are remembered and you are missed.

Well, I need to make a confession. I am afraid. I have not felt fear much since moving here, especially concerning my own life and Jd’s life, but that changed this week. I never thought that we would be part of a conversation that goes, “if you do that, they will find a way to kill you.” That happened the other day. Our desire to help a little girl could have gotten us killed. So, now, I look at people differently. I look at everyone as someone who could hurt me, instead of as a human. 

Now, I completely understand that fear is normal, and is something that protects us. I am afraid to go out at night, which is good because it’s dangerous to go out at night here. I am afraid to run unprotected, which is good because I need to take something to protect myself with when I run, and I do. I am afraid to go into the pool halls or in certain neighborhoods alone, which is good because I would get attacked in a pool hall here, and some neighborhoods are better traveled in pairs. 

I do not want to be taken over by fear. I do not want to be so afraid to be killed that I do not help people in need. I do not want to be so scared of being kidnapped that I only stay in my home, and never venture out. I don’t want to be afraid to go running, to walk downtown alone in the day, to go to the grocery store. I want to walk in confidence, that the Lord will protect me from harm. 

So, my prayer is simple, it is one I have heard all my life. As a child, when my mom would pray with us at night, she would pray that angels would be posted around our home to protect us. Lord, protect us. Cover us in cloak of invisibility (Harry Potter style) to those who want to harm us. Place your angels around our home. Guard us, Lord. Place your angels around Ruth, Arturo, Noemi, Ruth, Jd, and me.  

I am reminded of “The Desert Song”, which I love,

I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Warning: This post deals with some adult content. Proceed with caution.

 

We received a call last night from a friend here in Honduras. He adopted his daughter from Danli, and his daughter has a little sister who still lives at home with her mother. The mother is a woman of loose morals, to say the least. The mom has many men at her house, at all hours of the day, and these men are of ill repute. Yesterday, the mom walked in on her boyfriend of the day/week abusing her youngest daughter. 

So, our friend called us to see if we could help. We agreed to talk to the family we live with, and our school to see what we could work out. We began to pray about taking her in with us, and what that would look like. 

Today, we spoke with Arturo, whom we live with. He told us he was not comfortable with her living here because he needed to protect his family and us. He proceeded to explain that the men whom the mother sees, have no heart. He explained to us that if they were to see her with us, with his family, or know that she lives at our house, after we have taken her away from them and condemned what was going on, that they would find a way to kill us. The mother and her men already have a problem with Arturo because he told the mom that they way she was living was not good for her daughters. She used to come to our church many years ago. The mother and her boyfriend were very awful to Arturo recently when he and another friend went to go help her find another place to live. She basically told him that he only likes the white people because he wants our money and likes the things we bring him. Needless to say, the fact that we live at Arturo’s would not bode well were the girl to come live with us. 

So, I am hurting tonight. I completely understand Arturo’s position and I know that he is right. I appreciate him looking out for us, as well. I am sad, however, because now our hands are tied. Jd is taking the girl to meet our friend on Thursday, where she will stay for a while, but who knows after that. We are praying that someone, somewhere, can take her in and keep her safe. 

I am angry tonight. Angry that men would hurt children. Angry that men would be so bitter that they would kill someone for taking away a child they are abusing. Angry that a mom put her children in danger. Angry at sin. I don’t really even know how to reconcile it in my head. It just doesn’t make sense. Why would someone kill us because we are helping a child? That seems ridiculous to me, but so does abusing a child, or letting strange men into your house around your children. 

I just hate it. It makes me sick to think that someone would hurt a child. I hate sin. I hate the repercussion of sin. I know that God has sent us here for children such as this. I know that I will encounter this, and things even more awful many times in the future as we build an orphanage. I don’t know that I will ever get used to it. I hope I don’t. I hope I continue to be enraged at sin, my own sin, and the sin of others. I pray that my heart will remain tender toward the victim and the sinner. I pray protection for these children, for our family here, and for the children we do not know yet. I pray that my heart will remain willing to pray for the men who commit these crimes, as I remember that I, too, am a sinner, and my sins are no less offensive to God. Rescue us, Lord. 

We have been here in Honduras for eight months, and during that time, I have thought often of how different this culture is from that of the US. Of course, there are the obvious things, like language, food, music, humor, ect. There are more subtle ones, however, like how in Honduras you do not open your presents in front of the gift giver, you wait until everyone goes home from your party and open your presents. Also, the sun is to be feared here, you do not want to become darker. Another new thing is that many Hondurans are racist against black people, almost like the darker the skin, the worse the person. There is also a lot of prejudice against poor people. I was raised in a home where I was taught to love and serve everyone the same. The color of someone’s skin wasn’t ever an issue, the amount of money someone had did not play a role in how we thought of them. So, it has been very eye opening for me to be face to face with prejudice.

It has been even weirder to be the victim of prejudice. I never been aware of any sort of prejudices against me, mainly because I am white, I lived in America, and I was middle class. Here, however, it’s different. Here, people think that because we are white, we are rich. That is very far from the truth, we are not rich. We are asked for money on the streets and then called names if we don’t give it. We are stared at, often. The police mess with us more often because we are white. People surround us and ask for things, just because we are white. Assumptions are made based on the color of our skin and our nationality. 

Now, I will not say that a racist/prejudice thought has never come across my mind, because that would be a lie. I understand more now, however, how irate it came make you. I understand how sad it is to know that some thinks something about you that is not true, and you did nothing to warrant it. I am saddened often when people come up to us, friendly, and then when they realize we don’t have anything, walk away angry. They don’t want us, they want our things. I get irritated when people we don’t even know ask us to help them get to the US, and then get angry when we say no, because it doesn’t work that way. 

My heart is saddened by how dark racism and prejudice is. I have been grieved over my own prejudice and judgmental heart, and I have grieved over the affect that prejudice has on the people around me. I heard a girl at school say that she “hates poor people and fat people”. It broke my heart. I pray that God gives me the grace to love her despite her words. I pray that God gives me the grace to raise children who do not say such things or feel this way. I pray that God can demonstrate His love in a mighty way to those affected by prejudice. 

Lord, give me grace to not judge others and be quick to forgive me when I do. Save those who do not know you, and be glorified in people from all races, all classes, all walks of life.  

Last week, Donna and David came to visit our beloved Honduras. We spent the week at two Independence Day parades, handing out clothes and medicine to people affected by the flood, visiting The Children’s World School, and going to the touristic city of Valle de Angeles. We enjoyed visiting with them and hearing all about the goings on in Littlefield, TX. 

We also have opened a YouTube account, which we will post videos we take here. Now that I have figured out how to do that, I could kick myself for not taking more videos, however, we will be sharing the ones we have. Some are absolutely ridiculous, some are important, and mostly they just give you a taste of the Honduran life style and the people we see everyday. 

We are entering the last month of school, as I learned today that there are a mere 22 days left. Silly me, I thought we had two months, but apparently there are a fwe holidays and party days and things like that. Needless to day, I am a bit stressed. On Monday, it felt as though a stress bomb exploded at school. The Principal came in and told me I had to give more homework (I am not a big believer in homework, in general, but I didn’t want to get into it, so I just said okay). She also told me that parents are complaining that their kids are coming home with low grades, which causes me to wonder how that is my fault. If you don’t do your work, listen in class, or obey the directions, you will get a low grade, which is not my fault, but the fault of your child. I know that this is something that all teachers face, but I just want to scream sometimes. So, the next month will be craziness, but sometimes the craziness makes the time go by faster. We are planning on returning to Texas the first week of December and staying until the end of January. Hopefully, we will get to spend plenty of time with our friends and family, and spend time 

 

So, feeling like watching some videos?….click here.

 

Here’s my Ribbon Dancers. They really made me proud!