so... the title of the blog. "yo entiendo" this means "i understand" in spanish. it is something i say a lot. my spanish has gotten worlds better than where it was. it is still AWFUL but it is improving. the amount of spanish i can understand has increased more than the amount i can actually say. we only have two translators. they are great but can't do it all. especially when the four of us all go our separate ways. organized things have not worked at casitas this month. some of the girls are in sewing classes, some are in classes (1st grade level classes) and some just want to sleep, so we just sit and visit with the girls. we paint fingernails and make bracelets and sometimes we just talk. i have enjoyed being able to sit with the girls and just talk to them. today i was sitting with katerine. she has been at casitas 17 months and has a little girl. as we sat together i asked her questions. she would talk slowly and after every answer she would ask me... "maria, entiendes?" and i would either say "sí" and respond or i would say "sí, pero no sé cómo responder." which pretty much means "yes but i don't know how to answer you." i am learning patience. i get frustrated with myself when i cannot respond to their statements or questions. i cannot wait to continue to work on my spanish. i love these people and i love the language. i want so badly to be able to communicate fully in words the love of Christ and the hope of the gospel without having to speak through someone else. (our translators are wonderful!) i just long to be able to do it on my own.
i am getting to put into practice what God taught me through the volunteers at the ctc in tegucigalpa here in san pedro sula. i learned so much about service from them. how our service is obedience. and that obedience is driven by the grace that we have been given. saving faith prompts obedience. i am learning that in order to call it service, we must do it selflessly and to the glory of God alone! service is not always comfortable. that is okay. we're not called to be comfortable.
i am learning a lot about rest. i am reminded of my sweet friend anne barron so often when i ponder on this word. over last semester she taught me a lot about rest. i am trying to remember all i learned from her... so often i spend my time thinking of my precious children in tegucigalpa, painting their faces over and over again in my head. and i think of the community of el eden and how i long to be back there. i think of the living conditions of the families we visited. i look in to the eyes of the broken girls at casitas. i watch little girls feed their own children. i spend time with the most beautiful, energetic, hilarious young boys. i feed two month old babies who weigh less than seven pounds. i cuddle with children who have lice jumping around in their hair... as i think i grow restless. i grow frustrated with their situation. i know that God is sovereign. i know that. i just need his help believing it. it is times like these that i am so thankful for his grace. times when my heart is so heavy. times when i turn to fleshly thinking... i am so thankful for his mercy. i am so thankful for his forgiveness. so thankful that he.. before the foundation of the world chose to call me his own based on his own will, not based on anything i would do or accomplish. free, unmerited grace. wow. how sweet it is to know that i am being loved and kept by my heavenly father. so... by his grace i am learning what Augustine said to be true... "our hearts are restless until we find our rest in thee."
last week i read in hosea all week. when i got to chapter fourteen i listened to a sermon my pastor gave over a year ago. (he's an amazing teacher...go read his blog). reading this book and listening to carlton's sermon made me so thankful for God's redeeming love. it also made me think about things. God's redeeming love is amazing!! and that redeeming love is the same in tegucigalpa as it is in san pedro sula... and the same in san pedro sula as it is in the united states and everywhere. our God is constant! he NEVER changes. people's circumstances are different, yes. but God's love is the same. i am so thankful of this reminder in my life.
okay... so now that i've given you a little update i have some pictures for you. :)
we have lice! whoo hoo... if you know about my time here last summer you know that i got lice on the second day and kept it the whole time. well... this year i made it to almost 9 weeks. that's progress. at this very moment i am sitting at our kitchen table with lice treatment in my hair waiting my turn to rinse. we took this picture right after we found out we had it. we are all excited to welcome our new friends for a time.
this week we have gotten to spend time with the little boys at nueva esperanza. they are so much fun. there are so many of them still there from last year. i made the mistake of getting the string out in front of ALL of them and so now sarah, rachel, lisa callie and i have about 50+ bracelets to make by friday. YES!
on sunday i asked dennis to take us to a "hole in the wall" restaurant. hole in the walls are my favorite and they always have the most amazing food. so... monday night dennis trumped every expectation i had of a honduran hole in the wall restaurant. he took us to a muffler shop. yes. a muffler shop. during the day these guys fix your mufflers and at night they fix your meat.
my plate... fried plantain chips topped with steak and a special sauce. corn tortilla, cheese, sausage and beans on the side.
they give you a plastic fork to assure that there is no way to eat this meal like a lady.
tire shop.
something from home... SNO BIZ. we went to sno biz today and it was soooo good. it reminded me of auburn and made me excited to get a snow cone on a hot day.
thank you again soo much for all of your prayers and support. i appreciate it more than you know. i am so thankful for the body of Christ.
"I will heal their apostasy; I WILL LOVE THEM FREELY, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon." -Hosea 14:4-7
2 comments:
I love this. Beautiful picture of grace poured out to others because it was poured out to us. Keep up the good work, can't wait to see you again and catch up!
I was only there for a short time with you guys but fell so much in love with the country and the people. I think about Honduras so often!
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