BUFFTRUCK of the Summer...

Didn't necessarily take a consensus except among 5 little boys before I declared this award, but I think it's safe to say it is well deserved. The term "bufftruck" I understand came about, here in Honduras, when someone went above or beyond what was expected and surpassed what most other people are willing to do. Such is the case with my like a brother, and my dear friend, otherwise known as "Tio Jeff."

It's funny, Jeff came here at the very end of May. He had a sales job in the states, but just felt as though he really wanted to spend some time serving. In his mind, he was coming here to build houses and help with teams and things like that. It just never really worked out that way, and I think God had other plans. What happened was when it was time to bring the kiddo's home from Casitas, these 5 great little boys walked into Casa and he became "Tio Jeff." Now the term really means Uncle Jeff, but to them he was the tickle master and the throw me high in the air guy, the guy with big muscles, and Superman who slept with his machete and would beat off all the bad guys if they came near. Which to little boys are all super important things.

Deeper than all of that though he was a male figure who modeled for them gentleness when they wanted to curl up on his lap and watch a movie. He modeled for them love every single time they wanted to hug his neck or kiss his cheek, and for little boys who haven't always had that in their world it was huge. Every single night he laid down with Francisco until he fell asleep, every night. No one asked him to sleep in the boys room with the other kiddo's, his heart just sort of found it's way in there one night and never found it's way back to his own room. For several weeks out of this summer, he has gotten up at the crack of dawn, because one out of the five had jumped on him to wake him up, or said those infamous words, "Tio Jeff, necessita pee pee." He never complained about getting up early and I never heard him begrudge going to bed late or runnig after little boys all day long.

Tio Jeff left yesterday and I watched him bend down and bury his face against each of the boys little faces and hold onto each of them for just a minute and give them a genuine I really love you hug. With tears clouding my vision, I watched one of the coolest sights I've ever been privileged to witness.

I've been begging Jeff to move here for a while since I moved here, just cause I love his heart and have so much fun with him. He's a goofball, and we laughed a whole bunch this summer. I saw a different side of him this summer though and if I appreciated him a bunch before, it grew by leaps and bounds in a couple short months. I am proud to call him my brother, and blessed to call him my friend.

Thank you Tio Jeff for all of your help this summer as we were adjusting and trying to figure out the beginning of all of this. You were an awesome supporter, encourager, and friend to us and a bufftruck Uncle to these boys. You went above and beyond and it was fun to watch you even be surprised at all that grew in your heart through this.

I love you buddy and we miss you here so much!!!