We are now averaging one church member per week who gets held up in a collectivo (shared taxi). A man got Karla on Tuesday. Glad I don't have to take collectivos. Wish Eunice didn't have to - she takes 4 every day. I don't like those odds, but I know God rides with her.
This morning I as I pulled out of the driveway I looked both ways for cars. There were no cars, but I did see this:
Men on horses are a very normal sight in Honduras. Even on 6 lane highways or deep in the city. I wanted to get a better close up, but I also want to be respectful. The man was chilling out, riding to work I would guess, in his cowboy hat. He seemed to be enjoying the start to his day.
At the Breakfast Program I was talking to the ladies about trying to refine my rice pudding recipe with a cold yesterday. I couldn't taste a thing. One of them said she made rice pudding yesterday too, so I asked her recipe. She boils the rice in water first, then adds two cups of milk, sugar and raisins. Her friend asked how I made it. I told her I used 7 & 1/2 cups of milk. She asked if I boiled the rice in the milk. I told her yes. She said the rice absorbs all the milk that way, only rich people can do that. She said she and her friend boil the rice in water first because they are poor. I didn't know what to say.
(My neighbors just called again to remind me to call them if I need anything.)
It is sad that simple things like rice pudding can segregate people. They could not imagine wasting so much milk. I purposely made the pudding to use up my milk that has an expiration date of tomorrow, but they would never have extra milk on hand. The lady who said I was rich didn't have anything to eat yesterday. She came to the church today to ask for a bowl of cereal. I don't think she meant to be rude, but it was hurtful when she said I am rich.
I think of all of those ladies as my friends, but as we watched one of the moms leave today with her four kids Lourdes said, "Wow. Her life is hard." Lourdes is right. I can't comprehend what the ladies of Los Pinos' lives are like. I have never had a day in my life where I had to go without food. I will never tell anyone if I use 7 1/2 cups of milk in my rice pudding again. But I can't promise that I won't make it that way again. It's healthy for me to have milk in the house and if it is about to spoil, I may make some more rice pudding.
Lightening is crashing all around. The kind that makes the ground shake. I hope the rain is coming down hard enough that no fires start from the lightening.
Yesterday Lourdes called and asked me to come over and be her private secretary. That is our little joke. We like to work together on written things for the church and for her family. Good things seem to be happening for the Sarmientos. I am excited for them!
Lourdes rode home with me again today. She gave me some more feedback that can be helpful, but was hard to hear. What she said is true - that only God's opinion of me matters. That I will make mistakes and I shouldn't always seek others' approval, especially in places where I should know not to expect approval. As long as I am straight with God, I should be okay with myself. I think that is harder when you are single and don't have a partner to bounce ideas off of. When I make decisions, sometimes I just want someone to tell me that I am doing the right thing. She advised me to seek harder after God, not after people in those times.
We still only had a few kids in the morning at the Breakfast Program today. But more came in the afternoon than usual. I know we will get a big group again. I just don't know how or when.
From now on if someone tells me I am rich I am going to say Yes, I am. Not financially, but I am richly blessed by God in many ways.
