thoughts...

well... it is august 22nd. i have been back in america for a little over two weeks. i am excited to be here. i am excited to see what God has in store for me this semester. i am eager for school and ruf and football to pick up. i am excited to be here but... i think of honduras often. how can i not? it is the place that feels most like home to me. i miss it. though i miss it more than one might be able to imagine, i am thankful i am here in auburn alabama for now. here is where God has me and i am excited to use what i learned this summer here. and i am excited to try my best to bring my Father glory in all i say and do.


i cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers over the course of my summer in honduras. thank you thank you thank you for loving me and being such a picture of the body for me. 


i am sure i will blog about things i learned over the course of the year but for now i just want to share a lot of pictures with you. i feel like pictures are a good way to experience things. 

 this is maria eleyna. last june when i was in sps she was still in casitas. she is now at the transitional home Buckner has in sps. it was so sweet to be able to look at maria eleyna's life last summer and then be with her his summer. to see God's faithfulness and provision in her life has been truly a gift. 

 this is katherine (or kathy). katherine has been in the transitional home for over a year now. she is doing great. katherine is shy until she is comfortable with you and then she will talk until you tell her to stop. she is learning and growing so much.  

 sarah and i attempted to take a super college/artsy picture. it was probably a fail with the m$m's in the corner. 

  the girls at the transitional home LOVE the jo bros so... after bible study, we popped some pop corn and watched camp rock 2 together. 

 this is obensio and billma. billma likes to be held. she doesn't play with toys or other children very often. she just likes to be with someone holding her or in her bed. obensio is one of the special needs children at nueva esperanza. he has the sweetest spirit. he loves to play. he will play with any toy you give him and he shares with anyone and everyone.

  this is estefani. estefani is twelve years old and came to casitas in mid july. she was taken away from her mother, again... when estefani was younger she was in nueva esperanza (the government orphanage i worked at) for over three years. she is so young and so beautiful. we were talking one day about her situation. the way she talked about it, she wasn't shocked that she was taken away. it breaks my heart that she is in this situation.

  margarita. oh... sweet girl. margarita has been in casitas well over a year and will most likely stay in casitas. she is severely special needs. she has to have someone dress her and she will not go to the bathroom or eat unless someone takes her or gives her something. her brain doesn't send out cues for basic necessities. and yet... she is still full of joy. she and i laughed a lot over the course of my month in san pedro sula.  

  this is karla. she too, much like the others in this blog, has been in casitas for over a year. when i met karla last summer, she barely spoke ten words to me all month. she was bitter, she was angry, she was shy, she was intimidated. this year karla seemed in much better spirits. of course she cries and longs to get out of the misery she is in but she i really believe she is beginning to find joy in our God. she is one of the most precious young women i have ever had the pleasure of getting to know. she is selfless and she loves to learn.  

  this is emerson... he and this mother claudia were in tegucigalpa at casitas kennedy. they were transferred to casitas in sps on june 30th. the facility at casitas kennedy is much nicer than those in san pedro sula. it is still heart breaking, any orphanage is but for claudia and emerson it was a big change. in tegucigalpa, claudia got to live in the toddler room with only two other young mothers her age and their children along with the toddlers. the three mothers helped the tia with whatever she needed help with and took care of their children. it really was a good situation for the young mothers. at casitas in sps claudia is with 80+ other girls her age and has nothing of her own. towards the end of our time in sps the administration was threatening to take emerson away from claudia because she was trying to run away. please please pray for them. 

  well... as you already know sarah, rachel and i got piojos (aka lice). this is what we look like when we do a daily check. 

  i got sung to, given a sombrero, bottle and huge piece of tres leches cake for my birthday at the restaurant we went to for my birthday. it was wonderful. 

 dennis, jansy, luis, sarah, lisa callie and rachel sang happy birthday to me at exactly 10:57. they made my 21st birthday awesome!! they definitely spoiled me the entire day! baleadas for breakfast, birthday song at the exact time i was born, pica for lunch, posters, an amazing day of work and an awesome dinner.

sarah's mom sent us birthday gifts with the team from dallas. sarah got a really cute shirt to wear for her birthday and i got a tote bag from market in peru. thank you ms. kathy!! 

we blew up over 100 balloons for sarah's birthday and filled up our kitchen and living room. it was awesome!

 we girls at the church. this is where we worshiped on sundays. at church we celebrate birthdays every weeks. sarah and i got to go to the front of the church, they prayed for us and we got put 21 lempiras in the offering basket. 

 this is pastor victor and his family. pastor victor is the pastor of our church and also the principle of the school where buckner is developing their ctc in san pedro sula. the ctc should be up and running soon. 

 this is our AMAZING team from park cities baptist church in dallas, texas. they were with us for our final week and we could not have asked for a better team. i got to see erin again (redhead in the bottom right. she lead a team in tegucigalpa earlier in the summer) and get to know so many other wonderful people. they made our last week of work so joyful and so meaningful. i am so thankful God allowed to serve his treasures together.

  this is emerson again... one of the girls kissed him so hard it bruised his little cheek. emerson is definitely loved by the other girls at casitas. 

  this is maria... she is one of my girls from last summer. we bond over having the same name. she gets to help out around the center a lot more than she did last summer. maria is really close with another of the girls from last summer, glenda. they really help each other out. they are so funny and such a mess. 

  this is yerlin yaneth... she will hopefully be going home soon. she and sarah shared a birthday. yaneth is in casitas because she brought herself there. she had been being disrespectful to her mother and so she decided to see what life would be like without her mother to learn a lesson. she was originally not supposed to be in casitas for very long but because of paper work it has taken longer for her to be able to leave. the way she talks about all she has learned is phenomenal. 

  this is morelia. she is another one of my girls from last summer. morelia was born with a cleft lip and palate so she speaks with a speech impediment. she has severe self esteem. self mutilation is a huge struggle for morelia. the Lord hasn't given morelia a trusting heart yet. oh how i pray for her. pray that she will seek the Lord. pray that he will reveal himself to her. pray that she will realize that he is the only person who will never leave her or forsake her. 

 this is maria...(there were a lot of marias at casitas) maria is special needs. from talking to her and interacting with her my guess would be autism. she is very sweet and very smart. i told her the first day i was there that i would make her a bracelet. she did not forget. she hounded me until i had made the pattern and color bracelet she wanted.  

 this little one is guata. she's a mess. she and her twin nathon are nothing alike. nathon is so sweet. he plays but is more quiet and reserved. guata is ninety to nothing all the time. as soon as you walk in the door she is running to you. guata started walking a little too early. this is common for the babies growing up in an orphanage. they start pulling up and walking before their little bones are ready. as a result guata is very very bowlegged. her cute little walk is much more like a waddle. 

 this precious baby is two months old and less than seven pounds. i fed her almost every time we worked in the baby room. feeding her was a battle. she does not have a very good sucking reflex and all the nipples on the bottles are too large for her little mouth. a feeding lasted so long. as i held her i would pray for her. pray for her to grow and strengthen. pray that one day she would come to know Christ as her Father. pray for the Lord's provision in her life. 

 this is elder... he is one of my favorites. he is such a cool kid. i loved getting to play fútbol with him and make a bracelet with him. he doesn't smile all that often but when he does it lights up the room!! 

 this is the precious wilgus family. their whole family came on the mission trip to honduras. the team was originally set to go to guatemala but the trip was changed due to political unrest. they were so flexible, and ended up with us in san pedro sula. getting to know this family over the course of the week was such a privilege. 

 on their last day the team went to tela (the beaches) and sam came back with braids. i love this picture because it captures my initial reaction to sam's new do. 

this is sandra. sandra has been at casitas well over two years. she is a mess. i pray for her often. it is so easy for her to become discouraged. she has been in this center well over two years maybe even three (she's lost count) and as of now there is no hope of her leaving until she ages out. despite her situation sandra is joyful. she loves so well. she is so loyal an she lets everyone know that she is your friend and she loves you. sandra is a mess. she may be one of the funniest girls i know. not all of our humor translates but we make do and i think she is hilarious. 

once again... thank you. thank you for loving me a praying for me. the Lord was so faithful to teach me so much while in honduras this summer and i know that he will continue to teach me so much throughout the course of the year. i am so humbled that my God would choose to use me in such way. that he would choose to use me as a tool to advance his kingdom and share his good news. 

"In every condition, in sickness, in health,

In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth,

At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea, 

The Lord, the Almighty, they strength e'er shall be."