Pain

Pain knocked upon my door and said
That she had come to stay;
And though I would not welcome her
But bade her go away,

She entered in. Like my own shade
She followed after me,
And from her stabbing, stinging sword
No moment was I free.

And then one day another knocked
Most gently at my door.
I cried, "No, Pain is living here,
There is no room for more".

And then I heard His tender voice,
" 'Tis I, be not afraid".
And from the day He entered in --
The difference it made!

For though He did not bid her leave,
(My strange, unwelcome guest,)
He taught me how to live with her.
Oh, I had never guessed

That we could dwell so sweetly here,
My Lord and Pain and I,
Within this fragile house of clay
While years slip slowly by!

More to come...

Rain!

Rain!!! I don't think that I have ever been so happy to see it pour rain like it did on Friday afternoon. We have been in the dry season here for the past few months and when I say dry, it has been dry. God is truly in control... It is clear. If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land Job 12:15

We were able to fill over 5 buckets. Thank God, because it would have been another weekend of unwashed dishes and unflushed toilettes. 

The children all had a blast running and playing in the rain while it washed away dirty little hands and feet. Not that they saw that positive side, they wanted to play soccer in the muddy water and put all the dirt back on. 

I am hopeful that this was the beginning of the end of the dry season. I only pray that as the rain continues to fall and we begin to grow weary of damp clothes and frizzy hair, we do not grumble and complain. 


More to come...

Feliz Cumpleaños

Today was Debonney's 13th birthday! She is one of the 13 girls living at New Hope. After our nightly devotion time we all sang a few songs to her including happy birthday in English and in Spanish.

Her personality is not of one who wishes to call attention to herself, so it tickled me to watch her truly enjoying the hugs and attention.
We celebrated with cake and ice cream, which is always a treat here. You can imagine what 26 children look like after enjoying cake and ice cream... right...
Now imagine it with no running water. We had zero water all weekend long, and today it came on for about an hour in the morning and not again until later this evening.

All I could say is, thank God for wet wipes!
: )

More to come...

Cost of living

This week started off with Nicaragua Labor day, May 1st. Kids were off of school and we did nothing but lounge around and watch television... in Spanish.
My son walk around the house that day squinting without his glasses on, he had lost them at the beach 2 days before. (Apparently everyone knew but me) Ugh! Third pair this year.
Tuesday morning we decided that I would get a ride into town with Moses and pick out new glasses. I had him excused from class and we left at about 10:30am.
Going to Managua is never a quick run. Mostly because it is about a 30 min ride down hill so usually we try to get a few things done for each trip. We ran errands for a bit then headed to the ophthalmologist. the glasses were ready in a few hours but we had to come back the next day for them as we had too many other things to do.
I will break down for you the cost of Antonio Jr.'s glasses:
Exam - 30 Cordobas = $1.36
Frames - 400 Cordobas = $18.18
Lenses - 500 Cordobas = $22.72
Look on Antonio's face with his new glasses and haircut - priceless. (smile)

As we drove around Managua those two days, I watched as Moses showed kindness to everyone he came into contact with. He stopped and shared his lunch with two different people sitting on the sidewalk. He slowed down for someone and gave them a ride on the back of his truck. His job here at New Hope is never really over as he works day and night. He and his wife are truly precious brothers and sisters in Christ.

After being out of the habit over the long weekend and out Tuesday and Wednesday, I thought that Emily would have forgotten everything that I taught her in our potty training. Thank God, as she came over on Thursday morning she got right back in the habit. She actually did better than I expected as she hasn't had an accident since. 

Hopefully after another week or so she can graduate back to the orphanage (in underwear) with her siblings and I can move on to Frankie. 

He is a sweet kid with a great disposition, it will be a pleasure spending time with him. 

A couple of days ago my girls found out about a beauty salon down the road and have entered the wonderful world of eyebrow detailing. Cost....15 Cordobas = .68 cents

Tony have been asking me to get mine done for years, but frankly I was too chicken to sit through the painful process. The girls said that the woman at the salon used a razor... painless. hhhmmmm... I might try it.... maybe.

As the girls left the salon,  Antonio jr (their chaperon) went to change some money. There was an old lady walking by them who looked sad, dirty and poor. She didn't beg for anything but it tugged at their hearts to see her. Chantell walked over to her without saying a word and gave her the rest of her money. 

An older gentlemen later walked up to them on their way home and asked if they could buy him one mango. Cost 1 cordoba = less than .05 cents.

They bought it for him and while he ate, he asked if he could follow them home. Ezekial, a young Miskito boy living here at the orphanage was with them and he told the older man that he could not follow them home. 

Ezekial later told the girls that he wanted to follow them so he can find out where they live and ask for  things later on when he is in need. 

The need is great here, I know that the Lord is planting seeds in the hearts of my children.

Water is an issue here. It is constantly out. We ran out the night before last and had to survive on our purchased 5 gallon purified water (for everything). Yesterday during the day, the internet went out because of a mix up with the internet/phone company. So I snuggled up on the couch with a book and computer game to later have the electricity go off. Oh for goodness sake... LOL! Thank goodness, it was only out for about an hour and we had plenty of flashlights and candles to keep us company. Thank God for his mercy because this morning we had all three; water, internet and electricity. Pray that the Lord will continue to show us favor.  

More to come...

Beach day!

We had an awesome time at the beach today. 28 friends, family and children boarded two different vehicles and headed to Playa de Pochomil. It's about a 45 minute ride from El Crucero driven by our friend and pastor Moses. (Thank you Moses!)Yes, we left two hours later than expected but it was well worth it. The kids had a great time in the water.

The beach was peaceful and beautiful and with the extra eyes, ears and hands of 3 other wonderful missionary woman, we were able to keep an eye on all of the children. 

We stayed out on the beach long enough to watch the sun set.

Thank goodness Tony decided to start the grill just before the kids decided that they would starve to death and we had our fill of hot dogs...Yummy... I haven't had a hot dog in over 3 months. 

As we were boarding the van to head back home a young boy of about 5 came up to us. He stood around and smiled at us all. I was so happy to watch Kyle, a fellow missionary here and brother in Christ befriend him with simple questions like What's your name? How old are you and How many brothers do you have?

Just before we left Kyle asked him if he knew that Jesus Christ loved him. The young boy shook his head no. "Well, He does love you and so do I" He gave him a hug and the boys face lit up. After Kyle fished in the van for something to give him, we waved at the smiling young man as he held on to his mango...smiling. 

I love to see the love of Christ shine through!

More to come...

Ayiti Cheri

Ok, I have been writing a novel for a while now. (Ayiti Cheri... I may or may not keep that as the title). I get excited, write for a few weeks, get discouraged  and move on to something else. I wish that I were not that way, but alas.
I am in my excited moment again and have begun reading, revising, re-reading and writing. I have decided to put a few paragraphs on the blog in hopes of getting some feedback on it.
Who knows, if I can get about 2 hours of uninterrupted quite per day maybe I'll - oh who am I kidding?!?
: )
To give you a little bit of the background, the main character is "Dahlia." She is a young girl who has the misfortune of being in the thick of the Haiti earthquake. She has a mom and a little sister who are in two different locations of Port au Prince during the catastrophe.

Chapter III

I could die in this store. Full of pastries and cakes, cookies and drinks. I wanted it all but didn't have a gourde to my name. The walls are bright and clean and the windows don't have a single smudge on them. There are pictures of the countryside along the walls and plants lined the shelving. It's cool in here and the drinks in the refrigerators are very inviting. In one corner stand tall stalks of sugar cane that could keep you company for hours. We walk around the store admiring and craving, the owner does not look pleased to have us walking around his store. I look down at my watch and it is 4:50pm, almost time to pick up Colette. “Marie, I have to go.” I say. “Not yet, come and look at this wedding cake” A three layer master piece. Roses made of sugar circled each tier. Red, yellow and white. Little silver beads sitting on the petals. “I want a cake just like that.” I say out loud not knowing Roudmy is right behind me. He let out a laugh and buckles over saying “And, Who is going to marry you Dahlia?”

I roll my eyes and begin walking towards the front of the store when suddenly I feel a sharp jolt that dropped me to the ground. Before I knew what was happening the shelves, coolers, paintings and ceiling are falling all around me. I can't move, I am terrified. I scream but the noise around me is overpowering. The tiles on the floor seem to jump up and down as the ground shakes violently. I could hear screaming but it seemed to be coming from all around me. It's  suddenly dark and I am aware that I was unable to move my left leg. I can't understand what is going on. Are the walls coming down around me? I am on my face praying for the shaking to stop. And then, just as quickly as it began it stopped. Coughing, crying... I can't stop. I am so afraid. My head feels heavy and the screams seem to echo around me. The sounds are muffled, like I am under water. My head aches. “Manma” I whisper in between coughs. She is not here, but I want her to be. I can't see, but something above me sounds like it is falling, slowly...creaking, then darkness.

I was on my fathers lap the day before he died. He was tired but allowed me to read to him pages from my favorite book. “Are you listening?” I asked. “Yes, dear continue” His eyes were closed but he opened them every time I stopped reading. “Ok, Dahlia. Enough” My mother said as she ushered me to bed. He reached out and grabbed her hand “OK?” He asked her. “OK” she replied and kissed my father on the forehead. Mom wasn't feeling too well lately and slept a lot. Dad said that she might have a surprise for me. Huh? They seem to speak in code about things they knew I didn't understand. They seem to enjoy this very much because they did it often. The next morning we had mais mouline (corn meal) for breakfast. My mother would not eat one bite. She frowned when I offered some to her which tickled my father. He left for work that day and never returned. I cried for weeks.

(3am)

How long? How long have I been asleep? How long have I been lying here? I opened my swollen eyes slowly, hoping that I would see something different. I can't quite move my arms, they hurt. 

Crying. I could hear crying and it sounded like Roudmy. Oh my God, we are in the pastry store. I can't see around me, but I remember. “Roudmy!” I don't think I was loud enough. He is still crying and did not answer. I begin to cry again. What has happened. Maybe a bomb has gone off and now we are all going to die. I think of Colette, she must be so frightened. Are we trapped here? Who will know that we are here? Where is Marie? Oh my God! “Jesus” I cry. I begin to recite psalm 23 to myself. “The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures...” I am comforted after saying this psalm and think of my mother. She would be sick with worry. I can't get out. I can't see.

(10:15am)

I'm not sure how much time has gone by, but I decide that I've done enough crying. “There is no point to all this crying” manman always says. I can hear others weeping, screaming. I'm not sure where they all are. There are things on top of me and I'm covered in dirt. My head feels heavy. I have to lift it. I want to move but I'm afraid. The skin on my face stings, its scratched. My lips and gums are bleeding and but I don't suck the blood off because they are also thick with dirt. I have to get up, I have got to get out of here. I struggle for a while, only to get a few heavy pieces of the ceiling off of me. I reach up and can feel some space between me and the two large pieces of wall forming a triangle above me. What if it falls?!? The thought terrifies me and I lie back down. I stayed there for what seemed like forever. I sang all the songs I knew. I talked to God and asked him to help me survive. The pressure on my leg makes it ache. I ask God to help my mom and Colette. I pray until I fall asleep.

Easter week happenings...

What a great Easter vacation we had here. I did fold and end up going to the swimming hole with the family, but I have to say that I rather enjoyed watching them splash around in the water for a few hours while I read in the shade.

The next day I finally had the pleasure of meeting Selah Grace for the first time. What a precious child of God! 

As I held her tiny body in my arms, I thought of the first time I met Jocelyin in Waspam. I didn't know what the outcome of her pregnancy would be or if I would even be here to see it for myself. But I am so very grateful that the Lord's hand was on this little one and I am believing that her life will be a testimony of God's love. 

Jocelyin by the way is doing great. She is healing up very well from her c-section and blending in with the other girls in the house nicely. (She is a character.)

On Good Friday our Pastor decided that we would do some street ministry. The plan was to pick a spot, bring a ton of plastic chairs and a movie screen and show the Passion of the Christ. What an awesome way to reach the average person walking down the street! Everyone got matching t-shirts and were very excited to get going. 

 I stayed behind to watch over five two year olds including Catiana, Ruby the 13 y/o and 7 y/o Louviana who is almost completely blind (she doesn't realize this of course and couldn't believe that she wasn't able to go).

From what I heard, it was a great success. The children as well as the adults were very touched by the movie and bible tracts and bibles were passed out. 

Easter morning was a bit different here for us as there were no sunrise services that I heard of. No New Easter dresses and suits for the kids. No Easter baskets or decorations to be found. But as I explained to my children begging for their ritualistic Easter candy, the day is all about Jesus. Not that there is anything wrong with the way we have celebrated it in the past, but if that is what they were looking forward to instead of the cross, then we have missed the mark. 

We did do one thing that we do every year. We had a wonderful dinner that Tony prepared for us all . (Lauren,the children at the orphanage and the Pastor and his family). I am always surprised that the food stretches to accommodate all 36 of us. Everyone said that his dinner was delicious!

 After dinner I braided hair for some of the girls as they wanted to get as cute as possible for school the following day. I think this week alone, I spent over 30 hours braiding, which I find ironic that I have voiced many times in the past that I do not like to do hair nor will I sit around doing it. I have not only had to do my girls hair, over and over again. But I have done many other young girls hair. Straight hair, curly hair, wavy hair, kinky hair, long hair and short hair. Even have braided boys hair! I just have one thing to say about that... Do not, I repeat, Do not tell  God what you will or will not be doing!

More to come...