Celebrating our Miracle

Michy with her sister (Iris) and friends (Sammy, Chicky, Josue) just after opening her gift.
Michy blowing out the candles on her cake. She was excited to share with everyone--in Spanish and English--that she blew them out. I guess it was a big deal that she did it by herself. :)

Monday we celebrated the 4th birthday of our little miracle at NLCH--Michelle (Michy). Michy came to live at NLCH in January 2008. At 8 months old, she weighed just 5 lbs. After a number of doctor visits, feedings every 2 hrs, growth hormone injections, and even testing in the U.S., the cause of Michy's small size was finally discovered--she is a primordial dwarf. I still recall the night I saw pictures of Michy and her siblings posted on Daniel and Kara Harris' blog just after they'd arrived at NLCH. I was overwhelmed with amazement as I marveled the Lord's hand of protection over Michelle's life. According to the info we had at that time, Michelle's mom was an alcoholic and drug addict and gave birth to Michelle at 7 months. Even more unbelievable is that fact that Michelle only weighed 1 lb at birth, and despite the mother's unhealthy state and the severely dangerous and poor location the family lived in, Michelle survived. I recall telling my roommate that night and many nights thereafter as I kept up on Michelle's status that God had big plans for Michelle's life. There was no reason she would still be alive if he didn't.

The more I get to know Michelle, the more certain I am that God does have great plans for her. She may be little (she's weighing in somewhere around 11 lbs these days), but she has a very big personality! She's determined, almost to a fault; her small size won't keep her for doing great things. And as you might expect, she gets LOTS of attention everywhere she goes. I can't wait for the day when she takes that attention and turns it into an opportunity to share of God's great love, faithfulness, and grace. And what great examples the Lord has given her to learn from living with the directors of NLCH, Kendon and Wendy Wheeler!

I feel tremendously blessed to be a part of Michy's life and I can't wait to see where the Lord leads her in the future. Please pray for wisdom for Kendon and Wendy as they raise Michy, and for good health for our little miracle.

Semana Santa Snapshots

I promised more pics from Semana Santa but have been slow to post them...here's a few more that capture a bit of the traditional fun had during this special week at NLCH...
Traditionally we finish the week and our "Holy Week Olympics" with Tug-of-War played in a giant mud pit. It's always lot of fun and a big mess! :) A special thanks to Tommy Todd who dug the pit for us!
Melvin and Alejandro were a bit too small to participate in most the games, but they enjoyed riding around on their bikes while the big kids played the competitive games.
Every year the kids have a sleepover during Semana Santa. This year the little girls had a sleepover at Marilyn and Tommy Todd's apartment. Ashley (an old intern back for a visit) and I were invited to join them for the movies, snacks, and (lack of) sleep. :) I LOVED going to bed thinking in Spanish and waking up to Spanish again. I even dreamed that night that my parents had learned Spanish! This pic was taken just before the girls left in the morning.
Jenifer and me pausing for a picture while at the pool. Jenifer is a sweet young lady going to school to become a doctor. She has become a very good friend of mine and faithfully attends the weekly Bible study I lead with the older girls.
Sammy and Javier having a great time at the new pool we went to this year. We traditionally take the kids to a pool Monday or Tuesday, and then the "Olympics" begin on Wednesday.

Sneak Peak of Semana Santa

I will be blogging and posting pictures soon of all the fun had at New Life Children's Home over Semana Santa. Until I have a little more time to do that though, I thought I'd at least give you a glimpse of the fun with one of my favorite pictures from the week. The pic is of Noah (a 6th grade missionary kid) helping little Michy paint her Easter eggs. It was so sweet to watch! :)

The Joy of Serving

After a long absence due to a long illness and then a bit of busyness, I am back. Rather than ramble about that though, I might as well jump into what I wanted to share...

I was reminded this weekend how sweet it is to serve. I mean, as a missionary and a teacher, I suppose I do a lot of "serving", but I take great joy in serving in ways that are not necessarily the expectation. Yesterday, I was able to do just that.

The Wheeler's (directors at the Children's Home) finally got to move into the new directors house this weekend. They have waited very patiently for the funding and then building of the house, and it's exciting that the time has finally come for them to live in it. Having moved far too many times myself, I know the work it takes, so I offered my help in moving things. Upon arriving at the Home, however, it turned out there was a more pressing need...Orphan Resources was bringing a team in for the day so there was some "hosting" of sorts that needed to be done. As such, I got to hang out with the kids from 10-4 and help the team (h.s. students) with finding things they needed, translating, etc. It was exhausting, but tons of fun.

Once the team left around 4 PM, I was then able to actually help the Wheeler's move a few items, as well as move Michelita's clothes into her new dresser. It was really fun seeing little Michy's excitement when she came in her room and saw her clothes being put away and her toys and bed already moved in. I showed her where all her clothes were and she helped me put away the last few items. :)

In the end, I drove home around 6 PM, a little sore from lifting kids and household goods, exhausted from playing all day in the sun, and filled with joy from a day of serving a family that has blessed me tremendously this year. Couldn't be happier... :)

Sick...

Please forgive the long break in posts. I have been awfully sick over the last couple weeks, and it's been all I could do just to make it through a full day at school. I started on a medicine this week, but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. Please pray for complete healing. I will catch up on posts as soon as I am well again.

Also, if you receive my monthly newsletters, please excuse that coming late as well. So sorry.

There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

I have been feeling particularly emotional this Christmas season. Oddly enough, it's not because I miss "home" or family (though of course I'd love to be able to celebrate the holidays with them); rather, I feel overwhelmed with gratitude that God has made Guatemala "home" for me. I couldn't help but smile as I walked out of Guatemala's Wal-mart tonight and heard the intercom play, "Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays." Literally, I smiled.

Then tonight as I climbed into bed, I saw a note I received three and a half years ago. I'm so glad I held onto it then, as it's been such an encouragement to me. The note was from a very dear friend at my college who had spent most of her summer in Nicaragua the year before I spent mine in Guatemala. She sent me the note early in our senior year, just weeks after I'd returned back to the U.S. The part that amazes me says this:

"Your time in Guatemala has prepared you for what God has awaiting for you. You touched many this summer, and you have an experience that will forever be a part of who you are! May you be blessed by that and blessed that God has so much in store for you!"

Did I mention my friend wrote this note before we'd really even had the opportunity to talk about my summer? I truly believe that those words were not just from my friend, they were from the Lord. Though my first two years living in Guatemala were spent nearly 5 hours away from the children's home I love so much, I praise the Lord for those years and the experiences I had in Xela. I had opportunity to experience the culture and learn the language in more real ways than I ever could have, had I first moved right to the city.

And now, here I am, a half-hour drive from the kids that mean the world to me. Even in traffic, I think I smile each time I drive to the Home, just because I'm still so amazed that God has finally opened the door for me to be close enough to do that. Not only that, He's granted me a peace in driving to and from the Home. I've still hardly ventured out around the city--and certainly not on my own--as the thought of getting lost and dealing with all the traffic here makes me rather uncomfortable. But, the Lord has been good to me and made the trip to the Home one that I typically enjoy.

What a true blessing from the Lord to feel at home this Christmas. :) There's so much more I could say about it, but I'll save that for another blog.

Simple Trust

*Oops. Wrote this Saturday and just realized I never posted...so, here it is...

Yesterday was perhaps my favorite day of the whole school year! The only other day that compares is the 100th day of school. (What can I say, God made me to be a teacher!) So, what made yesterday so special?

Yesterday was our trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express!!! Though the trip only took about a half hour, it's such a special day that we got to do a few different fun things throughout the day. One of my favorite activities from yesterday was writing our spelling words in "snow" (aka powdered sugar). Thursday evening I had painted the windows to look like it was snowing (marshmallows and white paint are perfect for such decoration!). Then yesterday I told the students that it had snowed Thursday night and I'd collected some of it for them to play in. Almost none of my students last year had seen snow, so the majority believed me from the very beginning. This year, it was a little harder to convince the students but I'd estimate half of them actually believed they were playing with snow! Maybe it makes me a bad teacher--lying to the students--or maybe it makes me a good teacher--being creative, making learning fun, and getting kids to use their imaginations. Either way, it's interesting to think that any child would truly believe that they were playing in snow.

The Bible tells us to have faith like a child and we often contemplate what that looks like. I can tell you--It looks like believing in the impossible (we're wearing t-shirts and it's the dry season--snow is impossible!) because your trusted teacher tells you its truth. It's fighting for that impossible that you believe in because you so sincerely believe all that your teacher tells you.