Today I walked on the wild side. Before my Mom starts having a heart attack, let me explain. Today, for the first time ever, I went to the pulperia after 5pm. It's dark here by 5:30, so I like to be sure I'm in the house with plenty of time to spare. The pulperia is only about 1/2 a block away. I was back home safely before dark. That was my walk on the wild side.
Lately I have a special knack for bringing the rain. I wait until there is not a cloud in the sky, and start washing laundry. By the time I have clipped the last clothes pin and walked into the house it begins to rain. This has happened three times in a row. Except today it started raining before I got all of the clothes hung, so I took them all inside and hung them around the house. I tried twice more to hang them outside. The last time the skies were so clear I figured they could hang outdoors all night and be dry by morning. Nope. Within 7 minutes I heard thunder and it started to rain. The skies turned black that fast. I grumbled to my neighbors that the laundry had only been out for 5 minutes and was never going to dry. Santos asked if it rains a lot in the states. I said, "In the states I have a DRYER. I don't pay any attention to the rain!" He laughed at me. Spoiled gringa.
Santos and Fany are amazed at how their daughter, Laura, has gotten so comfortable with me. She is 10 months old. She saw me across the church on Sunday and was reaching out for me. Today when her parents were holding her in the yard she reached for me too. She laughs a lot. I've only heard her cry once in 6 months. Today she was laughing as I yanked my clothes off the line for the third time. I told her it was not funny. She still laughed. She is really darn cute.
Jairo left today to go fishing. I told Lourdes, "Good for him!" She said, "Good for us, too. He needs to go fishing. We need him to go." He has a difficult job. Especially this month with an event every Saturday because of the 30th Anniversary of the church.
Last Saturday was the Womens' Conference. Next week we will have a talent show. Every Sunday we have special guests too. This week was the best church service I have been to in a long time. Jairo's sister, Ruth's church came to celebrate with us. That meant the church members came and they brought their musicians. It was incredibly powerful. We sang and sang. Let me tell you - God was ROCKING THAT CHURCH! First our regular band played four songs. Then Ruth's group was supposed to play 7, but I don't think they made it that far because at the end of "The Revelation Song" I saw Edward, the drummer from our church, signal to the sound guys.
Edward is normally the quiet type. However, he took the microphone and began to speak passionately. He spoke straight to the "jovenes" (ages 13-29). He said the Lord called him to speak out. He said he needed to tell the jovenes to stand up, honor and praise the Lord. He said the Lord has been so wonderful to this church for 30 years. He said we all must rise up, be strong, and glorify the Lord. He said especially the jovenes cannot be quiet because they are the future leadership.
Ruth asked everyone to stop because Edward had just had a prophecy. She called all of the jovenes to the front and asked Edward to pray over each individual. He did. We continued singing The Revelation Song as he prayed. There were over 30 jovenes spread across the front of the church. I forgot to ask any of the kids what he said to them. I am curious to hear, because everyone could feel God's presence. It was a very intense and moving experience. Here are some pictures.
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| Edward is on stage, on the left, in the brown shirt. In front of him are all of the jovenes lining up. |
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| Kenia, Lolita, Yarely went up front to recieve |
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| Lolita receiving God's word for her from Edward |
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| Maynor, Luis, Kevin, Emilson |
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| Edward praying over Emilson |
After all of that Walter spoke. I don't think I've heard him actually preach before. He was really, really good. It was a great message, delivered in a very straight forward, easy to follow and sincere way. It will stick with me past Tuesday. (I remember hearing once that most people can't remember the message from the previous Sunday past Tuesday.)
The 3rd Annual Women's Conference was really good on Saturday too. We got all dressed up. Lourdes read the letter that she wrote for Paula Winter's birthday book. When Paula passed, Eric asked Paula's friends to write a letter about their memories of Paula. He put all of the letters into a book for the family to read every year on Paula's birthday. The strange part was that Lourdes wrote about how Paula is a woman who represents all that Psalms 31 says a woman should be. Jairo asked Lourdes to honor Paula without knowing that the other speakers at the conference were all speaking about Psalms 31. So Lourdes' letter fit right in. That was another God thing.
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| Lourdes, Clara (looking GREAT!), Me Clara was just diagnosed with Leukemia. She is out of the hospital but needs $200/week for chemotherapy. Only God knows where we will get the money for her treatment. |
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| Lourdes with her disciples - Marlin, Clara and Jacky They are all very special to me. |
After the conference Jairo loaded 18 women into the van at a time and began a shuttle service from the church to La Tigra, which is a good 45 minutes. He was shuttling from 4 pm until 8 pm. By the time he and Lourdes got home, we had cooked the whole meal for Joss's birthday party and had everything ready to go. That was a good thing because Jairo had a headache and needed to eat to balance his diabetes. We ate carne asada, chismol, bean salad, queso fresco, and tortillas. I even drank coca cola at night. Lourdes said I am turning into a real Honduran when she saw that. Then we had Joss's cake. The picture stands for itself.
Joss told me it was going to be a small party - just me, her Grandmother, her Aunt and her family. Over 30 people were there. It was very nice and she got the cake of her dreams.
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| Making a wish with Mom and Dad cheering her on |
When I started this blog 200 entries ago, I never, EVER imagined I would be a missionary in Honduras. I started writing in 2009 as a way for me to keep in touch with family and friends on a daily basis because I was coming to live to Honduras to learn the language. I thought that in three months I could improve my Spanish enough to pass a fluency test and get a better paying job. Well, I don't have a better paying job. At least not in dollars, but living as a missionary in Honduras is more rewarding than any amount of money could be. I love to serve God. I love to put my life in His hands and see where He leads me. I thank and praise Him for leading me here, to Honduras, where I get to experience things that are more beautiful and fulfilling than anything I have ever known before in my life. I am grateful for every person He has brought into my life. I can't imagine what He has in store for me next, but I am excited to see!
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine." Isaiah 55:8-9
My God is faithful.
