February 9, 2010

• Home

  A laugh is a smile that has burst.  -a church sign

  So we went home to Honduras for 2 and a half weeks. It was…well, there are hardly words. Bittersweet almost captures it, but then it doesn’t quite after all. There were amazing times of beauty. When we rounded up the kids who don’t live at the home and gathered them all together and had them living with us…for example. I had never hoped we’d all be together again as a family ever again…I’d actually cried about the hopelessness of everything. But then we had over two weeks of pure bliss when that dead dream of mine was actually made a reality. Even though not everyone was there, I was thankful for the ones who were with us. Orlando (the man in charge of the home now) even let Lidia and Ninfa come visit us for a night and a day. That was wonderful of him and we had a lot of fun with them…

  We went to the beach and it was amazing. Long walks on the beach with the girls and talks about life. It’s hard to be very involved in someone’s life and then have this long seperation tear us apart…and then we get back together and there’s a little over 2 weeks to get to know them again…to try and catch up…to try and pour the love of months into them…and…*sigh* It just doesn’t really happen. But it was worth it. The time flew by on rapid wings and before we knew it, we were saying goodbye again with tears in almost everyone’s eyes.

  Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we had rebelled and refused to leave the kids…where we’d all be now…what life would be like. What we’d have–what we’d miss out on… I think maybe sometimes people blame us for leaving too soon…for not fighting harder…sometimes I wonder why we didn’t. But then I remember…I remember God. The peace we had…even in the midst of all the tearing and ripping apart of our lives. I still don’t quite know how we survived it…and how the kids survived it…and then what came later for them. The passing around…the different families taking care of them…it all seems senseless to me. But then I look into their eyes and I see how much they’ve grown…how much more potential God has worked out for them through all the pain…and I again have hope. I believe that God can and WILL bring beauty out of this.

  For all of you who are wondering where all the kids are, I will list their new homes and where they’re staying.

  

  Harmony is living with her aunt Chena.

  

  JD is living in town (Leo paid for an apartment and other things…he’s working–translating with Jerry).

  

  Josseline is living with Wilma now…we actually arranged that while we were down there:)

  

  Cristian is living with his mom in Tegus.

  

  Yolanda just moved in with Andy Schmuckers:)

  

  Lidia and Ninfa are probably with Mamucha now…unless they’re still living with Orlandos…

  That’s all the little ones. The older ones are all kinda having to fend for themselves…living with relatives or apartments in town…you may pray for them if you think of it…all of them, actually.

  Here are some of my favorite pics:)

  

  Another one of Lidia and Ninfa:)

   

  Cristian and I:)

  

  Harjy and Yola…

  

  Me and the boyfriend:)

    

  A napoleon tree with my mountain in the background…

  

  A flower within a flower…

  

  I finally got some spiderweb pics…early one morning…

  

  La familia:)

  

  Me and JD…

  

  Love:)

   

  *drum roll*

  And THIS is my favorite pic of the entire trip! (I think…these are hard decisions, you know:)

  The end…

  me   

    

  • 6:46 pm
  • 15 Comments