Jairo is away fishing so Lourdes and Walter picked me up. We had veggie rice with hot dogs for the kids today. It was an odd day because only 17 came for the morning group, but the afternoon group was bigger than usual. I think there were 32 kids.
I was so excited when Lourdes' phone rang on the way to the church and it was Marlin asking what she should start preparing. Her son, Misael, was very sick with a fever and vomiting since Thursday. Now is feeling better, so she was back at church. I was so happy to give him a big hug today! He is always the first one waiting outside the car door to hug Lourdes and me when we pull in the driveway. I grabbed him and picked him up and hung on tight to my little buddy.
As the rice was cooking I talked to Lourdes about the possibility of changing my budget to fit the funding I currently have. She immediately began to talk about my home. In her mind my rent ($235/month) is a lot of money. Compared to other homes in Honduras, it is expensive. Karla and Jose found me a place near them in the mountains for $157/month. But what I am paying for here is not only the house, it is my safety. I completely agree with Lourdes and Jairo that, although there are less expensive places to live, it is worth the extra $100/month to live within a gated community in a home that offers a lot of security. I'd rather live in the mountains, but this country is far too unstable for me to live in a different place.
Lourdes talked to me about things she would like me to do if I am able to be here long term. The kids here can earn scholarships if they get good grades, so Lourdes would like me to help the preschoolers prepare for school. The more prepared they are, the better their grades will be and the less their parents will have to pay for school. Lourdes said she is very happy with the way I am serving so far. She also said she can see that I am happy and that I will be able to live here. She said other missionaries have had to leave because they get very homesick. I haven't felt homesick at all, just excited to be here and now sad that my time here might be running out.
Lourdes also gave me the compliment that she sees me trying to learn and adapt to Honduran customs. I do work hard at that. The cultural differences are sometimes obvious, but other times more obscure. I try hard to observe and respect the Honduran culture. She said I don't get hung up on time. I've made an effort at that. I stopped wearing a watch and when things are running late I see it as an opportunity for quiet time to pray. It actually is a great way to get a lot of extra prayer time in! So I am getting a passing grade for adaptability.
I did make one social blunder today though. I was unaware that before you add soap to a dirty pot of leftover pieces of rice, you must take it outside and scrape the remains for the pigeons. I started to wash a huge pot of rice and Marlin gasped, then ran across the kitchen and took the pot from me. I looked at Eunice with surprise and said, "Apparently I just did something wrong," Marlin took the pot outside and scraped it out onto the gravel where the pigeons swarmed around. Won't make that mistake again!
After the breakfast program the pediatrician came and Lourdes took some ladies into a meeting for discipleship. I had heard that a local teen whom I know from previous visits had a baby about a month ago, but hadn't seen her or the baby yet. This afternoon her mother brought the 48 day old baby in for a check up. He is healthy and perfect. It was great to see Gladis. She is not thrilled that her daughter had a baby at such a young age, but she is completely in love with her beautiful Grandson.
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| Gladis and Roonier |
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| Beautiful Baby |
I got to hold him for a while. Haven't held a cuddly baby since my nephews. It was so sweet! Gladis asked me to take pictures, so I did. She didn't realize I am friends with her daughter on FB, so for once I was actually able to share the pictures. They will have photos of him as a baby now! I explained to Gladis that her daughter will have all of the pictures on her FB page. She asked a few questions and once she understood she was excited.
Other kids were hanging out, coloring or doing homework. Misael came back strong today, but by 3pm he was exhausted. Marlin, his mom, was in the discipleship meeting with Lourdes. He started crying and his sister tried her best to comfort him. Finally I picked him up. He whimpered a little, then immediately fell asleep on my shoulder. He's almost 3 years old and not small, so I plopped down in a chair, put my feet up, and got some more snuggles with a sleepy boy. I loved every minute of it. His mom came out of the meeting about half an hour later. When I handed him over to Marlin he never woke up. I hope she doesn't live too far because I bet she had to carry him all of the way home.
We came home about 4:30. I washed some thinner clothes and hung them on the line, knowing it hadn't rained yet today so it was only a matter of time... Sure enough it has rained, but NOTHING like yesterday. I think I made a good choice. Probably would have washed the jeans and heavier things if I had known we weren't going to get our daily downpour.
Jose was going to take me to watch the church team play fútbol, but he had too many things to do tonight and I was really thinking it was going to rain, so I cleaned up the house and settled in for the night.
I learned something really cool today. Two of my friends (Anthony from Salt Lake and Diana Brown from high school) had dreams that they came to Honduras to visit me here. They are both nurses and they dreamed they were serving here while they visited. Diana said her dream was very vivid and caused her to start researching Doctors and Nurses Without Borders. I told her she is welcome to come visit on her own. I am choosing to take these dreams as an awesome sign that I will be here long term, since neither of my friends has any plans to come in the next 3 weeks. I love that Honduras is so deep in their minds and hearts that they are dreaming about being here! Usually the dreams only come for those of us who have actually visited. When I'm in the states I dream about Honduras frequently. No matter where I am, this place is always a part of me. My prayers for funding are becoming more desperate. I am struggling at times to remember that God holds my future in His hands and He has good plans for me. I keep reminding myself that if God wants me to be here, nothing can stand in the way of that. If God doesn't want me to be here, then I will go back to the states. But I feel called to Honduras more strongly than ever. That is saying a lot, because this calling has been strong for the past 3 years. Whew! It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks unfold.
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