For those of you who were so incredibly kind to help with Carlos' surgery and the costs associated with that, this is a HUGE shout out of THANK YOU from the depths of my heart. He is incredibly grateful too. The patient is doing very well. We went yesterday to have his stitches taken out and the doctor said he's doing very well and in a couple more weeks should be back to doing everything normally.

Things could have been so different, and quite honestly are very different for so many families who do not have access to the resources they need to save people they love from something that we consider so minor as an appendix ready to rupture.

Thank you for being the hands and feet of Christ and reaching out to help us. I am aware on so many occasions how God has assembled a team here of which you are most certainly a part and how incredibly grateful I am to serve alongside you.

May God honor your every sacrifice and return it a hundredfold.

Love and blessings,
Jen and gang :)

I LOVE YOU ANNA!!!

I updated my blog just for you. Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Thank you all so much for those who sent money to contribute to things for the boys who are now in our home and hearts this Christmas. They were all like 5 year olds (even the biggest ones)...it was so much fun.

We gathered at Mami and Papi's house for Christmas Eve as is their tradition here. The table had been set beautifully, there were decorations and candles everywhere, and I got all kinds of sappy as I thought about how these boys had never ever in their life witnessed the special touches of "home" as we know it at Christmas time. It was so special. We each took our part in helping to prepare. I was in charge of Christmas cookies, David in charge of mashed potatoes, etc. We loved it. They open presents at midnight here and so the festivities of that began...I thought the kiddo's were going to die as they waited for the clock to get there. :)

Anyway, it was a beautiful night with family. We are so incredibly blessed to know them all.

As I sat around with Luvin and watched him settled and at peace, I thought about how far we'd come in just a little over a year. He's quite the little man these days, so polite and just inwardly settled. It's making my eyes tear up about every 5 minutes but I'm so honored to get to be a witness.

And the 3 guys who now live with us...Carlos, Eduardo, and Saul. Good things are happening, they are growing everyday in ways that matter. Funny how being surrounded by "good" people naturally kinda urges your goodness to ooze out. Watched Carlos stand for an hour and was the after Christmas dinner dishes with Mami the other night and thought, yep...beautiful!! They're all doing well and loved their gifts and loved getting to spend time here with terrific people.

Then yesterday we drove up the mountain to see our little guys and have a party with their family. It was a LONG ride as the rodes up there have been significantly damaged by all the rain we had here a couple months ago, but well worth it. They had made tamales for us and they were made with love in their kitchen as the holiday feast and so we prayed with every bite and ate them. :) So far so good, no effects as of yet, so I think we're safe.

The boys opened their presents and their parents watched with delight.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS. Seems that it makes us all better people in some ways. More about giving than receiving. We're willing to go the extra mile much easier than we normally do. We love from a deeper truer place in some ways as we sacrifice for one another. I like me better when my heart is focused on other people. Christmas somehow helps us do that in so many ways I think. Perhaps it's that Christ if Christ is in the middle of it, somehow we naturally become better people as we think and attempt to become more like Him.

I pray you all had a wonderful time with family and friends and that you are refreshed in both heart and soul.

I love you much. Merry Christmas from our whole "tribe."

LUVIN GETS TO COME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!

Just received word lately that Luvin will be able to be here for Christmas...he has gotten the grades and good behavior to get permission to leave the property for a bit. I AM SO EXCITED to have him here with me. I haven't gotten to spend much time with him since he went to the other facility because he needed to have time to adjust and rehabilitate some from his street life and get in a routine with rules and such. We have visited several times, but he's not been able to leave the property for weekends or anything.

YAY YAY YAY...gonna be a house full of boys this Christmas.

For those of you who may not know, Carlos, Eduardo, and Saul have moved in and are living here now full time as well. So we're having fun with a Christmas tree and lights and baking cookies and allowing them a home this Christmas.

I look back at the times I knew God was leading me to invest in these little lives and am so grateful that I listened regardless of how much flack I received because they were the "bad" kids. I can't imagine missing out on this with all of them. I'm watching God change them each day and I am humbled to be able to play a part in any of this for or with them.

Sometimes all it takes is someone to believe that you're better than the way you are acting. I know I needed someone to love me in spite of my actions and love me into being better.

By the way Carlos announced to us out of the blue the other night that he wants to be baptized, and Eduardo went away to a teen camp with the church this weekend. Good things are happening.

Please keep us in your prayers as we attempt to love on and direct them in ways that are pleasing to God. It's a whole new world, but we're loving it!!

I'm a firm believer that a house is made for filling up...guess God believes my house is for filling up too. I like that!!

Blessings on you this day.

Miss Betty...

One of my favorite people in all the world passed away today.

She's gone to meet Jesus and Heaven is no doubt having a party...but the earth (and more specifically my heart) are feeling a tremendous loss!

There are certain people in your world that have secured such a spot in your heart that even though you know when their days here on earth are over and Heaven is certain you would love to be a part of ushering them there you know??!! Holding their hands as they take their last breath, saying the things that you say in moments like those, rubbing feet or hands, just being present as the days on this broken planet come to an end. She is one of those for me.

She just went into the hospital a few days ago and since then has been basically unresponsive. They discovered she had multiple myloma and then her kidneys weren't functioning well and last night she had a massive heart attack and so the medical personnel said they didn't expect her to live through the day.

For the past few days I have faithfully been receiving text messages letting me know her condition and two things kept running through my head. #1 ... I am sooooo mad at myself because I was just home and saw Miss Betty and I kept being "reminded" in my heart somewhere that I needed to go spend time with her and take her to lunch or something and I didn't do it. I got busy, distracted, selfish, whatever and it got bumped down on my to do list until the days ran out and I missed my chance. I knew better, I heard better...I didn't listen well to what God was trying to warn me of at all. So I'm reminded again today that the moments matter, they way matter. #2...I want to be there. If I were home or anywhere close I would have shown up at her bedside and I would have sat beside her for a bit nad reminded her that I love her so much. I would have thanked her for praying for me every single day while I have been here and for her commitment to praying everyday without fail for the mister that God would choose to allow me to walk through life beside. I would have laughed (even if she couldn't laugh with me) about all the crazy things she's said and ways she's made me laugh. I would have reminisced with her about good moments, sacred moments that God allowed us to share. Doggone it, I may not have done a single one of those things, I may have sat there silently and not been able to do a thing, but I WOULD have been there.

Some days being far away feels like a chasm too wide to cross. I love here. I so love being here. I love getting to do what I do. I love feeling like it matters. I just hate it when being here means I can't be there for moments like these.

Tonight though Miss Betty sees the face of the one she's spent a lifetime serving. For a long time we've all talked about how we want to be like her when we're her age. She was in her late seventies and still went to ladies class always...she attended Kid City...she was just a cheerleader in the lives of so many. You would be hard pressed to find someone who didn't just genuinely like this sweet lady.

I had the privilege of getting to stay with her for a couple weeks a few years ago after she'd fallen and broken her hip. We watched movies together and I slept in the bedroom across the hall and listened for her to yell if she needed help in the night and I watched her hobble every morning to a chair by the window to read her Bible and spend time praying.

She was SUCH a sweet lady. I miss her deeply already and cannot wait until I get to see her face again.

Thank you Miss Betty for all you added to the lives of so many of us. Thank you for the memories, for your heart bent toward listening to Jesus, for your faithful prayers, for your sense of humor, and for your realness that made anyone and everyone comfortable in your presence. Thank you for your love and kindness to everyone who knew you. You have left quite a legacy dear one. We will remember you with grateful hearts and an abundance of memories that will forever be company on the days and times that we miss you most.

It's early Sunday morning and I'm in the den and there's not another sound in the house...it's still dark outside and to be quite honest I don't see mornings real often when the sun hasn't even come up yet. I lean more toward the staying up way after it's gone down not getting up way before it's come up, but every once in a while this delights me. Circumstances have beckoned me upward from my warm bed this morning :) I am speaking at my uncle's little country church this morning and so wanted to make sure that I had my pictures ready for their sweet little selves to see.

Finding myself this morning just kinda sappy about all I've been allowed to be a part of just in the past few days. Friday morning I woke up early (that's twice this week, but please DO NOT think a habit is forming:) and had the privilege and I mean that so sincerely to go and spend some time with some gals who are in college at OVU and taking my friend Linda's bible class. She had asked me a while ago if I would do that and to be quite honest I couldn't wait to be with them. It's an age group I certainly have a heart for as they begin the journey and start putting their own walk into action away from mom and dad or whoever influenced them at home daily. They were delightful.

Then got to go spend some time at the Frock's...Sarajane has been knit to my soul for several years now and she is so wonderful about sharing the blessing of her dear family with me. Her hubby has become my big brother and her daughters are my neices in deep deep places in my heart. So my time with them is ALWAYS cherished.

Then Steve and his sweet wife Marcy fixed Ash and I a big pot of stew for lunch yesterday and we got to visit with them and play with their little guy Isaac. Keep that little guy in your prayers. He's been diagnosed with a rare "syndrome" that makes him VERY sick every 2o days or so with high fevers and just horrible aches and pains and he's only 5 so it's way hard on a mommy and daddy to watch. They could use your prayers.

AND THEN...last night I experienced truly a piece of Heaven on earth. I got to sit around a campfire with some of my VERY favorite people and watch the moon come up over the river and my words will never be able to paint an accurate picture of what any of that looked like. It was absolutely gorgeous and I don't use those words lightly. Sometimes God just outdoes Himself even you know and last night was one of those times.

It's been a great couple of days and my time here at home is winding down quickly. I will be leaving in about 12 days and that is always bittersweet. I can't wait to get back to my little brown people I love so much. I am sooooo ready to hug Francisco's neck and cuddle with my boys, but I will so miss this den and my nephews and my mom's treats just to remind me she loves me, cups of tea made with love, sitting near my heart friends here and just sharing about our walk with Christ and what He's teaching us, fall leaves, fires in the fireplace...

What a blessing to have so much of your heart live in two places and both of them carry such rich treasures...help me remember that Lord when the leaving is difficult. This is a privilege!!

Blessings on you all...

Shout Out...

Well I've been back in the States for a couple weeks now and have gotten to visit my family a bit and be with people I love. That has been so nice. My sister is carrying another little bambino around in that tummy of hers and we wait with delight to watch God bring another sweet little being into our family. You've heard me say on here before probably that I have two absolutely adorably SWEET nephews, and one niece who has totally stolen my heart. I love being an aunt. love love love it...so the thought of one more does nothing but overjoy me.

I am so incredibly grateful that my brother and his wife and my sister and her hubby have been so kind to me in talking to the kids about what I'm doing so far away and trying to make that a good thing in their eyes. We all miss each other A BUNCH, but they know why it's important for me to live in a country really far away while I miss a lot of their growing up. That is a huge gift that they've given me to remind them that while I'm not here I wish I could be and that the reasons for not being here are ones that are important for some other kiddo's who don't live the way they do. (Just as a sidenote if I had to pick one of the things that is the hardest for me to give up it's that...being on the sidelines for their games, and getting to be a constant presence in the dailyness of their lives, I would love to be able to be around more for their important stuff.)

So I have gotten to go watch one of the boys football games. That makes me an absolutely nervous wreck. They are 10 and 7 and they love playing, but for crying out loud do they really have to like run at each other that hard hit each other that forcefully and oh goodness I needed a valium. :) It's important to them though and therefore it's important to me.

Have also gotten to speak at a few places and meet some new folks which is always one of my favorite parts of the journey. Spoke at the Ohio Valley Opry last weekend and it was such a tremendous treat. The family that has organized it and kept it going in our area for the past 8 years is nothing short of tremendous talent...all of them, and their hearts as big as Texas, so I will consider it one of the greatest joys of this trip home to get to meet them and be among them for a bit.

Spoke yesterday to a group of high school students at River High School near New Martinsville West Virginia. Met a teacher and advisor to their Fellowship of Christian Students program at the Opry last weekend and coordinated with him a time to come and share with them and we had a great time. I am always touched to sit in a room with young people and attempt to encourage them to start now with living lives that are passionate about the things God is passionate about. I wish I would have known how "rich" a life like that was at their age. I will continue to pray for them as they are in one of the toughest mission fields on the earth while among their friends and they are trying to do what's right. So here's a shout out to all of you sweet ones that I had the privilege to be with yesterday. You have tremendous potential...chase hard after HIS heart!!

This weekend we're headed to Indiana and then next weekend is the annual Women of Purpose Conference that I am blessed to get to be a part of so things are busy busy busy but filled with all sorts of good stuff.

Just wanted to check in and remind you all that you're loved by God and by me.

Keep on keeping on, there's a world out there that needs loved on and God uses our hands to do it. We are so honored God that You would choose to use us, may we have hearts and hands ready and positioned to be used by You today Lord.

Well...where to start...LOTS going on to update you about, so let's start here...

Spent a week with a dental team that came through Cadena de Amor and Medical Teams International.  It was fantastic.  I LOVED it!!  My job for the week was to sit by Dr. John's chair (a very gentle spirited dentist who came in from Oregon) and help translate, but truly by job title for the week was the hand holder for the scared little ones.  It was perfect for this heart.  I got to love on them a little bit, remind them that they would be ok, explain what was going to happen and hold their hands when it hurt.  I'm pretty sure if I could get paid to be an official "hand holder" I'd sign up quickly for the job.  Sorta ironic since I'm scared to death of the dentist as well.  I have NO idea where that came from exactly, but it's there nonetheless.  

The folks who came to help the kiddo's whose teeth are at times rotting out of their mouths were so incredibly special.  Their hearts to serve were so evident and it was humbling to have an opportunity to get to know them and serve beside them.  They treated 273 children in 5 days time.  Needless to say they worked tirelessly and served selflessly.  I am honored to know them.  

Shortly after they left, we moved into our new house.  It is near the city, in a very safe part of town, and it has space enough for us to live and to be able to allow Carlos, Eduardo, and Saul to come and live with us as well.  It's a beautiful place and we truly believe it was a gift from God. The way it all came to be is in fact proof of His providence.  I have two "interns" turned into "full timer's" living with me now and they are a tremendous gift as well.  I'll do a seperate post about them at a later date.  You need to know them personally.  I am excited to begin this journey with them and ask for God's guidance and figure out where it leads.  

We're gearing up for one of Steve's first teams to come down with his organization, International Agape Missons.  We'll do some work in Yamaranguila, help fix up a pediatric clinic which treats the street children and some of the least fortunate kiddo's in the city, we'll build a house for a lady who works for us at Casa, distribute food to a community or two, visit the boys home where Luvin lives and love on them, visit the dump and feed those precious folks there.  I am certain it will be a great trip.  

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we transition and fundraise and all that comes along with all of that.  The barrel is empty at the moment and in our humanness it is easy to worry and concern ourselves over where the electric money will come from, but God is always on time and when I am down to the last bit He sends help just in time.  It's such a HUGE lesson in trust and depending upon Him right now.  When all is said and done and I pillow my head at night, I am reminded, God is faithful and we rest there.  

I appreciate you all so much and your help that allows me to be here living out a dream. Blessings dear ones.  

One of the things I do almost everyday is log onto this page and go to the right with the links and hit the Beth Moore blog link...I'm a groupie, I am.

I would do every single one of her bible studies, listen to anything she's ever done, read anything she's ever written, sometimes two or three times. I believe with all of my heart that she is annointed and boldly and courageously speaking the word of God in profoundly powerful ways in a day and time when we need someone to stand up and speak it because it's truth whether we like it or not.

I could share so much about what I love and appreciate about her heart for Christ, but today I just wanted to highlight one thing from her that I continue to see her write and hear her say. She primarily ministers to women and in her bible studies, on her blog, etc. she uses this line often.

"I love you and I am so blessed to be your servant."

That hit me this morning. You know so often I am well aware that my "job title" for this moment in life is to be a servant to these little brown souls that I have the opportunity to serve, but as I read that this morning, I couldn't help but think how God has given me the opportunity to be your servants as well.

I know full well that so many of you wish that you could be here among the kiddo's and people you've grown to love. If some circumstances were different, many of you would be.

I just wanted you to know today that I love you and I am so blessed to be your servant.

Please know that I take very seriously and consider it a tremendous privilege to be here. I know it is a gift, and while I am reaching and touching it is for your hands as well and always propelled with more purpose because of your prayers and support.

Just a humbled and honored servant today...who loves them so much...and loves you too!!

Just a note this morning to touch base and say hello to all of you who are faithful to check this thing no matter how sporadic I am with it at moments...

Have a dental brigade here this week and am working with them to hold hands and tell these sweet little souls that things are ok as we are extracting rotten teeth and putting fillings in others. The doctors who come have touched me deeply already in just a 24 hour time period. Their gentleness and desire to be here is evident and even when they don't speak a word or cross the barrier with words they have found a way to do it in so many other ways already. It is beautiful to watch them use their talents to help some kiddo's who have pain from never using a toothbrush ever.

You should see their eyeballs when the needles and drills come out. They have never even had a tootbrush in there and then this big hands and instruments are flying into their mouth. The doctors do not have an easy job.

Yesterday I sat beside a little girl who was terrified and she would look at the dentist through tear filled eyes and say, "ok I'm ready." Then when the doctor started to open her mouth and put the needle in she would clamp down and shake her head no. Then we'd try again. She was so sweet you couldn't get upset. This is HARD stuff.

I mean seriously who likes the dentist. I have some dentists in my world now that I love, but I do NOT like them so much when instruments are being plunged into my mouth. :):)

It's a great way to spend a week. Loving on some kiddo's who need help in these ways. There are lots of moments I've learned too while they're sitting there in those chairs to talk to them about God as well. Got to hold that little girls hand yesterday and tell her that even now while I'm a big girl, I get so scared sometimes and in those moments I ask God to give me courage and peace. That these are opportunities for my heart to grow bigger because when I conquer my fear this time, my heart gets bigger and doesn't get as scared the next time because I know God was with me and I remember.

Sweet stuff. I love being with these people in case I haven't mentioned that lately!!

Much love and blessings all over your day.