Pray for Victor Manuel

Wow, it has been a crazy several weeks but thankfully Stephen and I are home in Honduras and back into the swing of things. We had a wonderful time in the states, spending time with family and friends. We are truly blessed and so loved by so many. I am so grateful for our Godly families that are filled with understanding, patience, hospitality, encouragement and love. Before break, over break and even now, God has really been working on me. While we were home in the states it would have been really easy to just stay there. To just say "forget it" its too hard and not worth it. Before we went home for Christmas break, I was homesick, exhausted and just plain tired of being in Honduras. But God has really been changing my perspective and my attitude. I just kept asking Him, "Lord, what is my purpose? why am I here?" and yesterday I had a GOD moment : ) On Monday I had really been struggling with the realization that I am here in this desperate country filled with searching people and I can't talk to anyone in Spanish well enough to deliver the message of the gospel. And I just began to pray, Lord please provide an opportunity to share YOU. And He answered that pray yesterday afternoon! I went with Stephen and his soccer team to their game on the other side of the city. The game was being held at a public field. When we arrived, there were some older men using the field, majority of them Honduran military men. Well after they were finished with their game, this older man by the name of Victor came over and sat down next to me! He must have heard me speaking in English earlier b/c be began to talk with me in English and that never happens b/c ppl. think that I am Honduran! At first just chit-chat you know, where are you from? why are you in Honduras? the basics. But as we kept talking we realized how small our world really is, you see he explained to me that every year he travels to PA to go skiing at Ski Liberty. Ski Liberty is not real far from my hometown and that is where Joel and Sarah got married. So we kept talking, we ended up talking for the entire soccer game. The whole time I was praying, "Lord make yourself real to this man, allow my words to be from you." I was able to basically do a walk through the Bible with Victor, to explain the corruption of sin and the holiness of God. To explain the urgency of salvation and the confidence I have in the one and only true and living God. Victor did not accept Christ there in that moment, but I believe God has been working on this man for quite some time and it is my prayer that the Holy Spirit continues to convict. It is my prayer that Victor will continually come into contact with people that can teach him the truth of Gods Word. I wish you all could have been there to witness my talk with him for yourselves b/c it was amazing to see the truth of the gospel begin to make sense to him. Please pray with me that God will do a mighty work in this mans life. I have realized through this blessing of talking with Victor that my purpose is to make the most of each opportunity that God has given me. I have a new found confidence about my role here in Honduras, and my role is to serve the ONE and ONLY true and LIVING GOD with all that I am in every way I can. The language barrier will not stop God, only my unwillingness to submit to HIS will, and ultimate purpose for my life.

Peace

God has me on a journey right now to seek out true peace . . . Sunday morning my quiet time was from Psalm 122, all about peace. The message Sunday morning was about PEACE and our pastor had us meditate on several passages in scripture that deal with peace. What I am learning is that I often pray for peace, but peace does not happen unless righteousness precedes it. How often do I pray for righteousness? Not nearly as often as I pray for peace. The Lord and I have been having a lot of talks lately about where I fit and where can I be used, what is my place here in Honduras? What I have discovered over the past few days, and especially now as I am sitting on the couch home from school with a kidney infection, is that it is not fair of me to ask God for peace if I am not willing to be righteous. It is really easy to be frustrated with God for not providing what we ask for BUT what I am learning is that peace is the end product of living for righteousness. The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness is a quiet assurance that produces prosperity and fruitfulness. What I have learned specifically today is that as I yearn for righteousness, seeking peace I can remember the deeds of the Lord in the past I can rest in the fact that HIS faithfulness endures (Psalm 77). Praise the Lord for HIS peace that does indeed pass all understanding.

Surprises

FOR SOME, SURPRISES HAPPEN QUITE OFTEN, FOR OTHERS IT’S A FAIRLY RARE OCCURRENCE. SOME REALLY LOVE BEING SURPRISED, OTHERS WOULD RATHER DIE THAN BE CAUGHT OFF GUARD BY SOMETHING UNEXPECTED. NOW THERE ARE BAD SURPRISES, LIKE WHEN YOUR BABYSITTING AND THE KID THAT YOU JUST PUT TO BED SAYS “MISS EMILY, COME SEE WHAT’S IN MY BED” AND THEY HAVE POOPED IN THERE SHEETS. THAT, I WOULD CLASSIFY AS A BAD SURPRISE HAHA! BUT A GOOD SURPRISE NOW THAT IS WHAT I LOVE, BUT IT HAS HAPPENED UM WELL NEVER UP UNTIL THIS PAST WEEK. I ALWAYS FIGURE EVERYTHING OUT, I WILL ADMIT I WAS SURPRISED A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN MY FAMILY ALL PITCHED IN AND GOT ME AN IPHONE FOR MY BIRTHDAY. BUT THE SURPRISE MY HUSBAND GAVE ME JUST SEVERAL DAYS AGO, WAS ONE TO REMEMBER! HE HAD BEEN PLOTTING WITH MY FRIEND TRINITY FOR WEEKS, WITHOUT ME KNOWING TO HAVE HER COME VISIT. I HAD NO IDEA, NONE WHATSOEVER, IT HAD BEEN A ROUGH WEEK, MY PARENTS HAD LEFT AND I WAS REALLY HOMESICK OVER THANKSGIVING AND HER COMING WAS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED. I HAD A TEACHERS MEETING AFTER SCHOOL AND THEN MUSIC PRACTICE FOR CHURCH AND WHEN I CAME HOME, STEPHEN HAD THE MOST WONDERFUL SURPRISE WAITING FOR ME : ) YOU DON’T REALIZE THAT YOU MISS REMINISCING WITH OLD FRIENDS UNTIL YOU DON’T HAVE OLD FRIENDS AROUND TO REMINISCE WITH. TO BE ABLE TO LAUGH ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED A YEAR AGO AND NOT HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT. TO LOOK AT OLD PICTURES, AND SHARE MEMORIES, TO NOT HAVE TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF TO THAT PERSON, BUT TO JUST BE YOU! I AM SO THANKFUL TO HAVE A HUSBAND THAT IS UP FOR THE CHALLENGE OF SURPRISING ME : ) AND I AM BLESSED WITH AN AWESOME FRIEND WHO SAVED UP MONEY TO COME AND SEE US! OH THE JOY OF BEING SURPRISED! EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE TIMES IN THEIR LIFE WHEN THEY ARE OVERWHELMED WITH THANKFULNESS AND JOY!

The Joy of Being Loved and Loving Others ~

The past ten days have been a joyous blessing for multiple reasons. First, I am married to an amazing man who loves me and loves the Lord. Second, I have awesome parents who love the Lord and love me. Third, I have the privilege of loving them as well. It was so wonderful to have my parents here, to share our life here with them, to prepare meals for them and provide for them. It was a joy to give back to them just small fraction of what they have sacrificed for me for so many years. It is a strange feeling, to grow up . . . to become independent of your parents and transfer that dependence to your spouse. To everyone here in Honduras we have always been married, but for my parents it was their first interaction with us as a married couple, and our first interaction with them as a married couple. It was so wonderful to just enjoy their company. It was also an encouraging confirmation to me that we are right where God wants us. I was sad when my parents left but at the same time I had an overwhelming sense of peace, a confidence in where God has brought us and what HE wants to accomplish through us. It is a strange sensation to grow up, to move on in life to new familiarities and habits. Stephen and I now have our own routines, our own way of doing things that is apart from our families and it is wonderful.  Not that we haven’t carried with us some of what we used to have with in our families, but we are now our own family. He is now my “home”, my rock, my faithful dependable ever caring “home”. It took me a while to process through what that looks like and how it all works, you know the whole leaving and cleaving thing. But by the grace of God I can now see it a bit more clearly; I can now better recognize God’s design for the family. I am continuing daily to grasp more and more what two becoming one looks like. I am nowhere close to having it figured out but one thing I have learned is that it is a process. The more I look to Christ through His word and prayer the closer I become to having oneness with my husband. I am a blessed girl to be loved my so many people, to have parents that care enough to “let go” in a sense and allow my husband to care for me. To have parents that love me on my good days and bad, to pray for Stephen and I and to still sacrifice for us. To have siblings that bless me beyond what I deserve. To have an incredible husband who is patient, kind, loving, faithful, encouraging, and always there for me, no matter what. And ultimately to love and serve a God who knows the worst of me, who sees the ugly and still forgives and loves. It is so humbling to have the privilege to serve a God who daily offers grace and encourages me in my weakness. And the best part is I serve a God who enables me to love, and that is truly an honor and a privilege, loving others is truly my greatest JOY!

TIH (This is Honduras)

T I H ( This is Honduras)
We have a phrase down here that your allowed to say when things just don't make sense. When the only way to explain it is by saying, TIH - This is Honduras
Like when the power goes out at random times - last week it was off from 9am to 4pm so you just learn to function without it. You still have school, computer class becomes an extra recess and hot lunch might be a little colder than normal but other than that not much changes. It was actually funny b/c that evening I was talking to Calvin and Amber on skype and they mentioned that their power had just come back on after the big storm and Steve and I were like so did ours haha!
 Or when your maid continually puts your duvet comforter on the wrong way, when she puts the buttons up by your heads . . . but she cleans our house so I put up with it and just switch it myself, dumb I know. Or when she matches Steve's socks, he has the dri-fit ones that have a left and Right on the toes. Well she matches the R with the R and the L with the L, makes sense to someone who doesn't speak english - TIH
Or the way they organize the grocery store, it makes no logical sense whatsoever, and then they change it all the time so you never know where anything is . . . Or when you go to the movies here, they are in english with spanish subtitles and it only costs $3.50 - it boggles my mind that people would pay to watch a movie in a language that they can't understand but TIH.
Then, the pot holes - instead of just paving the road . . . they keep filling up the same potholes with dirt, then in rains, the dirt gets washed away and the cycle starts all over again. It just doesn't make sense and yet goes right along with the traffic laws, or lack there of, people drive like maniacs.
Going to the pharmacy, shouldn't be difficult, BUT sometimes they might read your prescription wrong, and then you pay for an injection instead of an antibiotic,are put in a room to wait. Then when the mistake is finally figured out they don't give you your money back TIH!
Or when families in your school are being robbed by the city police, or when children are afraid to go home because of the increased number of kidnappings, here you have to choose daily to live in the security of Christ, or fear can easily overtake you. I am learning that yes THI but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.Yeah, Honduras has its quirks, and there happen to be a lot of them but it also has its blessings! I am surrounded by people who love and serve the Lord. I am blessed with an amazing husband who works so hard to love, encourage and support me, in this job that continually reveals my inadequacy.  I am privileged to interact with literally hundreds of kids on a weekly basis, most of which think I'm pretty cool! I have the joy of investing in their lives through the avenue of art and that is why all the TIH times don't end up being so bad, because at the end of the day I recognize this is where God has us and this is where HE is going to use us!

Tales from Guillermo

Guillermo – This little 3rd grade boy was the highlight of my day! Every week I have his class, he always comes in full of energy and full of a very exaggerated story/lie, call it what you want haha. Today’s story happened to be about his trip last year around Thanksgiving time to hunt a turkey. I said” hunt a turkey how do you do that?” He responded “well with a hunting pole of course” I smiled as he continued with his story. He then began to proceed into all kinds of detail “well you see Mrs. We were headed to Turkey, the country but somehow our tickets got switched” I asked him “turkey? Why turkey?” to which he responded “um, that’s where your supposed to hunt for turkey’s” Silly me, how could I not have known. He continued with his story “So our tickets got switched and we ended up in Africa, well my dad said, since were in Africa, lets hunt a puma instead (a puma is the school mascot). So we hunted a puma, but I realized that instead of bringing my hunting pole, I accidently brought my fishing pole” well I asked him “Guillermo, how exactly did you catch a puma with a fishing pole?” to which he replied “I just hooked him well he was asleep, right on the tail Mrs. And you see it’s a good thing we caught the puma instead of a turkey b/c the car ran out of gas and the puma had to pull us back to the town” Well then of course I asked, “so how did you get this puma back to your house? He said “oh, they wouldn’t let us take it on the plane, so we decided to go to Asia.” And that was the end of his story, it was then that we had a fairly lengthy discussion about lying haha! The most concerning part is that the kids in his class really think his stories are true!

Date Night

Date Night: Honduras Style
You see most couples when they plan date night, they have so many options, and its so convenient. You decide on a restaurant, there are lots to choose from and a movie for the theater down the street. Then you have to decide on the order, dinner then a movie or movie then dinner? Or lets have more options, Eat out or take out, movie theater, or redbox, or netflixs, or itunes, or ppv . . . or you could go bowling, mini golfing, to the mall, to a concert or sporting event.  And then the how of getting to any of those places, well you just hop in your car of course : ) Couples, don’t ever jip yourselves of a date night, b/c you don’t realize how good you have it till you oh, I don’t know . . . live in Honduras, on a mountain, without a car. The point in me saying all of that is to let you all know how awesome my husband is, you see we don’t have any of those conveniences that I just mentioned. So my amazing husband had to put forth twice the effort to have a special date night with me : ) He took me to a restaurant called La Cumbre, it is located down the mountain a little ways from where we live (too far to walk). So he borrowed a car for the evening and we just enjoyed feeling like a normal US couple haha! I can’t tell you how nice it was to be in a car with just him. Usually when you go anywhere here in anyone’s car you are packed full. So for a moment it felt like we were in the US, until we turned on the road to go up to the restaurant . . . it was at that moment when I felt as though I might bounce through the roof that I was quickly reminded of where I was!  But being up on the side of the mountain, overlooking the city lights embraced by my wonderful husband, made every bump worth it! We were able to enjoy an amazing dinner by candle light, sharing memories and sweet words with one another about the journey we have been on, the joys and struggles of marriage and our love for one another! Marriage is a joy, and a journey, you get to see the best of one another and the worst. You share your greatest accomplishments, and your most challenging situations. You learn how selfish you can really be and what it looks like to be the most selfless you have ever been. You live and learn together, you laugh and cry, have good days and bad days. But some of what I have learned over the past few weeks and through devotions that Steve and I have been doing is that it is not your love that sustains your marriage, BUT marriage that sustains your love. Marriage is everlasting, when we focus on our marriage instead of the love were getting or receiving, it allows the marriage to be the safety net and not the love. Yes there is security in love, but there is eternity in marriage. I am learning that the goal is not to show that I love my husband, but to show that I love my Lord. I am so thankful that we have a heavenly father that has all of this figured out, because I sure don’t. He is the creator of marriage, the sustainer of marriage, and most importantly He is the author of marriage. May God be glorified in and through our marriage.