Ok here's another picture of the children's side of the Casa project. These are the walls for the rest of the building. It's moving right along! 

Today at the Property

Ok I'm gonna post a few pictures from today at the property. This is Karen and I's apartment and they are working on putting a closet in one of the bedrooms in this picture. It looks great out there. The block will be done by the end of the week and it is sooooooooooo exciting to watch all of this happening. I love being able to be a part of what's going on as it goes up! It's so fun to watch it being born!

Ok for some reason can't get multiple pictures to post here so I may just have to do a few more posts. Hmmmm... 

Ok City Here We Come...

Well today we're going to visit the lawyer once again to work some more on this residency thing and then will meet a gal who is involved with the Mi Esperanza project for lunch and then we're off to tackle the city for the first time alone in our new van. Should prove to be exciting!

There are new adventures every day. It really is kinda fun just to do a little more new everyday. This is so my personality though I realize that. I have always been up for a new challenge. This is just one right after another. Good stuff!! Makes me feel like I'm living for something you know...like I'm involved in something bigger than me and I LOVE that feeling.

Like I'm just along for the ride and God is the creator of this whole adventure. It really has taken away my need to worry or fret or be in control. I just feel like ok God it's a new day what do you have planned for today.

Having fun, loving life, feeling humbled to be a small part in His grand epic. May we each play out our parts of the story He's writing well.

Van Needing a Name...

Well these are the new wheels that we'll be sporting around. Not exactly my dream car but great for hauling beautiful brown eyed children around, which does happen to be my dream. It's a diesel engine and it just sort of putters along up these hills. The name of the game here is patience because these mountains are definitely speed busters for little van's to climb. It makes it and it runs very well. So we need a good name for this little cargo van which will cart children. We are open to suggestions. (By the way when offering yours please keep in mind that "Mildred" is already taken...it will be used to lovingly refer to another piece of equipment that we are going to carry that begins with a "g".)

Tim just told us we're going to look at puppies today!! Oh fun fun fun fun fun!!!! All this new stuff is about to make me bubble over thinking about those sweet kiddo's coming in there and being loved on and getting a puppy to play with and oh dear............ 

First Day in Hondo

Well today was our first day to wake up in Honduras. (By the way girls, I pillowed my head last night with your hands under my head, listened to lullabies from two of my favorite sisters, read sweet notes that hugged my heart, and rested in peace. Thank YOU!!)

Started out the day traveling to Santa Ana to worship and see the property as we hadn't been there since July to see all that has developed there. It looks GREAT! They have been working so hard to get the duplexes and the church building built and the ground for the children's home is all level and the blocks are going up one by one. They will be finished with the block within the next week and a half. Things are going to fly now. It's awesome to see all that's been done just since we saw pictures like a week ago. I'll share some pictures with you from the day and try to explain them a bit. It's difficult to see and visualize from a distance I know, but promised I'd post some so I'll keep updating these throughout the various stages.

This was at the new church building this morning for worship. There were so many kiddo's there. CUTE kiddo's. Oh dear, so I got to sit beside two sweet little girls who were drawing me pictures in my journal of gato's and perro's and various other things I have no idea how you say in spanish. :) Hopefully that will change soon. My brain definitely hurts from concentrating so hard on trying to understand what they are saying. I will be so glad when that improves!



AND HERE IT IS...the blocks that will house these two gringo's and 20 little nino's/nina's of the Lord's choosing! These walls are actually the walls for Karen and I's apartment side of the building. They will be putting up the walls for the other side soon. It looks great, walking around you could totally picture where things were going to be and we had sooooooooo much fun with that. It was a bit emotional to get here and see it and know that in just weeks from now there will be children with a place to live where they will be loved and wrapped up in God's great big arms. Mmmmmmmmmm sweet thought.

This is the kiddo's side of the building and just a bit of the absolutely beautiful view out the back. They are being so kind and building us a small deck off the back so that we can sit out there and have some quiet time in the morning or whenever. (Just so you know it'll never take the place of my favorite deck in the world...but I am glad to have one...so you make sure you save my space on that one too ok??) The blocks that are running through the middle of the dirt which you can vaguely see are the outline of the kid's bedrooms. There will be 4 of them, two smaller ones and two bigger ones.


The property is beautiful and it's gonna be good. I did drive around Tegucigalpa today and we're trying to get oriented so we won't get lost. Went to a Price Mart which is somewhat like Sam's and got membership cards there today. Lots of errand type stuff to do in the next couple days so guess that's what's on the agenda, depending upon the weather. We'll see how that goes. It's raining and blowing here right now but not too much rain yet, so we're still praying God will just literally move it. These poor people on the mountains have no hope if it rains a lot because their houses are built right into the side of the hill and they just collapse and so it's devestating. Please pray for them.

Alright will close this one for now. Off to have a little down time and some rest, which is much welcomed and appreciated after the past few weeks of getting ready.

We love you all and will talk to you again soon. Miss ya much already!

Safe and Sound

Hey all...just a very very quick post to let you all know we are in Honduras safe and sound. We will write more very soon! Love you all!!!

Countdown Over...

Well it's here that day we've talked about and prayed over for so long and later this day I'll ride to Columbus with some dear friends and early early early tomorrow morning I'll board a plane that will take me to a country I've grown to love deep within this heart. It's still sort of feeling surreal in some ways like I keep having to have conversations with myself about the fact that this really is happening and I really am going to go live for a while in another country. I'm sure it will feel real sometime over the next couple weeks as we settle in and things feel very different.

I will continue to covet your prayers as I attempt to transition and walk in a manner worthy of this calling. Please pray for God to steady my heart and my mind over the next few weeks as I'll be homesick at moments I'm sure. Pray that God will continue to remind me how worth it this will be.

I could not have asked for Him to be any kinder over the past few weeks as I have needed to spend time with and say goodbye to people that I love very very much. He has arranged my schedule and my calendar to make that possible in beautiful ways and I will forever be so grateful to Him for that. I am walking away feeling as though the people in my world who matter know it. I've gotten some sweet moments with my family. I've gotten cherished memories with friends. I've gotten some really tender moments with Father. He has been so faithful.

Our legacy is not mediocrity as Beth Moore says. I pray to leave one that's more than mediocre. I'm praying you do too because people the world over are depending upon a Jesus who is worth way more than mediocre. Please Lord help us to do you justice.

Keep praying and I'll update you all when we arrive in the country. Updates will come regularly now from Tegucigalpa Honduras. How cool is that??!!

Blessings!

It's Thursday...

Well you've heard me say probably a few times how much I love Thursdays. They've come to be precious precious parts of my world as I gather with 9 other sisters and we study and pray and praise together. Those are the spiritual words that we can all relate to but as I have been reflecting (and all of Heaven knows that these times certainly are prone to a whole lot of that) there are some other words that represent what we've done together too.

We've wrestled together over the hard things life throws at moments and we've not been afraid to say whewww I don't get this. We've been broken together and by now we know not only the wonderful things about one another but the blemishes as well, because we've exposed them to each other. We've been vulnerable, we've been honest, we've been less than honest at moments with God with ourselves and with each other, we've fought the devil together from our knees, we've lifted God together with our praise, we've surrounded one another with His arms and heart, we've become a small microchasm of what I believe God created the body of Christ to be.

It's been a place free to express your questions and your doubts. It's been a place where I am not limited by my age or my experience or less valued because of those things. We all come together with what God is teaching us and we walk away richer after sharing it.

These girls help take care of my "Jesus heart." I pray you find some folks who do the same if you are not already blessed with the gift of them. Of all the sacrifices this move requires in some ways, Thursdays will be near the top of the list of the most difficult ones to lay on the altar, because of all it's come to mean. Thursday nights with my girls...how blessed we have been to have had at least 100 Thursday nights together by now. They will go down in some of my most treasured memories of all times.

I do love you so my sisters. Thank you for helping to grow me into this! This is as much yours as it is mine. These words are for you...

The gate is wide
The road is paved in moderation
The crowd is kind and quick to pull you in
Welcome to the middle ground
It's safe and sound and
Until now it's where I've been

Cuz it's been fear
That ties me down to everything
But it's been love, Your love
That cuts the strings

So long, status quo
I think I've just let go
You make me wanna be brave
The way it always was
It's no longer good enough
You make me wanna be brave

Brave, brave

...

But if You believe in me
That changes everything

So long, status quo
I think I've just let go
You make me wanna be brave
The way it always was
It's no longer good enough
You make me wanna be brave

As cheesy as this is you all will be the wind beneath my wings when I'd rather land and nest than fly! You've taught me that soaring for Jesus is the only option. How could I possibly say thank you for that? Let's be BRAVE, whadayasay??!!!

GOOD GRIEF!!!

Well if I've said this phrase once I've said it a hundred times and I have no idea where it originated. We say it in moments of unbelief, in moments of disgust, in moments of shock, you know it works for a myriad of situations. You hear people say it often as I do I'm sure.

In the past week or so those two words plopped down beside one another I suppose sum up this couple weeks in my life. I didn't know before there was "good" grief. Doesn't feel good. Doesn't look good with snot running down my face. Doesn't sound good as we weep loudly. But somewhere deep within my heart there is this knowing that this grief I feel way down deep in the pit of my stomach IS good because it represents the loss of something. That's not the good news. The good news is that to lose something you had to posess it in the first place. So in the middle of this grief it provides prime opportunity to look at all the Lord has blessed me with over the past few years of my life.

You know people have said to me often, "Oh you are sure giving up a lot, all the comforts of home and the safety of this country and just so much." Which I suppose in some ways is true. But what I want to say in response and usually can't get past the knot in my throat is this...I would take a cold shower anyday if I just didn't have to give up those smiles and tears from hearts that know mine and know what I'm thinking and feeling without saying a word. I would never flush my toilet paper again if it meant I could hang onto moments to see every single milestone as my nephews and my neice grow up. I would put my life at risk moment by moment if I just didn't have to give up hugs that speak value and acceptance and love to deep places in my soul. I'd just well I'd be willing to give up the "comforts of home" if it didn't mean giving up the people who represent home to my heart. Meals around the table with my family, den and deck time, colored water moments, sifting with my soul sister, hugs and kisses from the two cutest little guys in the world, calling Mary Ann once a day and hearing her sweet spirit, worshipping beside the people who know what's in your soul...and the list goes on and on and on.

So you wanna know the things that are good grief moments in my world. It's tears all over my face and snot running everywhere right now as I leave, which is a beautiful representation somewhere in my soul of all I've been given. It's moments with people I love and hurting, literally aching in your gutt because you can't imagine living the "daily-ness" of life without them.

Yeah I'm certainly convinced there is GOOD GRIEF...it comes from a hole in your heart when you realize how full the Lord has filled your blessing box. It comes from a heart that He has stretched so wide which contains so many missing chunks of your heart that you've given out to so many people in so many places. It comes from holes left because those chunks of your heart you never get back in quite the same way and as you're going around to attempt to collect them so you can walk away with at least part of your heart you end up with so many chunks of them within you because they've sort of all run together. It's grieving for sure. It's hard. And yet I wouldn't trade the hurt if it meant I would have had to miss a second of the blessings.

I am one lucky girl. I love you all. Please keep praying. We covet and appreciate them more than you know.

Another Good Day...

Well God's smiling on me again today because I get to travel for an overnight retreat and be the cheerleader for Momma Grose as she goes to minister to some sweet ladies in Alliance. Please keep her in your prayers that God will sustain a weary one who has not gotten much rest as she's sat beside the bed of her hubby who broke two vertebraes earlier this week. She's a trooper and she'll go and proclaim God's word boldly but a few extra prayer warriors this time would be good! :)

Over the past year or two being a cheerleader as she goes to minister has become one of my favorite things to do. She lives out a ministry I believe in with all of my heart and it's a delight to encourage that and learn from it. I will treasure the memories of the privilege of doing this one more time immensely!

Have a great weekend! Remember that the King is enthralled with Your beauty...how cool is that??!!!