Our Evening

Update on Carlos: The men from church found him in the next town over from Ojojona. He was "visiting" with some friends. He is back at home now and in a lot of trouble. He is pictured here helping paint the church almost a year ago.

Tonight we had a simple meal because of the heat. We ate chicken nuggets and french fries. We also let the kids watch "Follow Me Boys" an old Disney movie staring Fred MacMurrey. It was so much fun. That movie was one of my favorites as a kid growing up. We bought it on DVD for the boys for Christmas, but this is the first time we had actually watched it. Audrey, Jason, Joey, and I watched the whole thing, but Jordan fell asleep about half way through it. I think he had to much fun out in the sun at Baptismal service today. I am sure he just wore himself out like Joey did. Joey took a 3 1/2 hour nap this afternoon which was a pleasant surprise for everyone.

Please pray for Esperanza and her kids. She left almost a week ago to have a test done in preparation for her surgery on the 11th of May and hasn't returned. She left her kids with her sister-in-law, but she doesn't want to keep them and resents even being left with them. We don't know if she ran away, was hospitalized, or worse. We are trying to check at the hospitals, but as tomorrow is a holiday (Honduran Labor Day) nothing will be opened. Also the hospital where she was to have the test done is right by the American Embassy where they are scheduling a march tomorrow. We have been cautioned by the US Ambassador to stay away from that part of town unless it is absolutely necessary. I am hoping that for some reason she was hospitalized as that would be a better scenario than her abandoning her four kids and running off with what little money she had managed to save up. If we cannot find her we are going to have to turn her children over to the Department of Children and Families (INHFA) and try to get them put into a Christian orphanage. I would hate to see that happen as the kids are so cute and just love Sunday school and church. They are so faithful. I would take them if I could, but I don't have the patience to take care of 7 kids ages under the age of 6. That is not a gift God has given me nor is it one I really want at this time. Please pray that we would find out one way or another what is going on.

Baptism Sunday

Today was baptism Sunday. God really blessed and we were able to see two baptized and one accept Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour. Tatianna and Teresa, a mother and daughter, were baptized today and were so excited to come to that point in their lives. Teresa was saved many years ago, but until she was able to see her son's baptismal service she didn't understand what we were talking about when we tried to explain baptism. Last month she was able to see her son get baptized and Jason talked to her and she finally understood what we were talking about.

Karen accepted the Lord Jesus Christ this morning. She went to camp with the teens and had a lot of questions when she got back. She was able to see the baptism today and afterward told Jason she wanted to get baptized too. Then as I was occupied with keeping kids out of the lake, Jason asked one of the Honduran workers that came with us to talk with her about salvation. She was shown from the Bible how to be saved and realized that she had never done that before. She prayed and accepted God's gift of salvation. Praise the Lord that we were able to see this young lady come know Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour.

Please pray for Armando. He is very discouraged as his wife, Adelaida, is very backslidden. She won't come to church and hardly ever comes home. His children are suffering as well. This morning his oldest son, Carlos, ran away again (this happened a few months ago as well). Jason and a few men from the church are out looking for him now. He is 12 years old and very bitter with his mom right now. Please pray that Armando would be encouraged in the things of the Lord and would trust the Lord to heal his family.

Tired and Hot

So much has happened today. I had tried posting my blog earlier, but the cable went out just as I was finished with it. Today has been very warm and muggy and I am so hot and tired now that I am not sure how much of my day will be written about tonight.

Oscar, the young man who ransacked the church building a few months ago, was standing outside my door today after Jason had left for visitation. We live in Tegucigalpa which is a big city about 45 minutes from Ojojona where Oscar lives. I was so scared to see him at my house. He is the one person that I don't want knowing where I live. When he is not in his "right mind" he has hurt his mother and sisters with a machete and threatened others. His parents can't do anything with him legally as he is over 21 and considered an adult. Anyway, he had come with another man from Ojojona to look at the truck we have for sale. We are trying to sell the Chevy as it only has seats for four and we are five and also because it is a gas vehicle. Gas is scheduled to rise above the $4.00 a gallon in the next few weeks. I was so scared of what he could do that I put the kids in the house and told them don't open the inner door for anyone but me. I took the outer door key and the truck keys. Praise the Lord he kept me safe and Oscar stayed on the other side of the street from me.

Not long after that while the kids were behaving and playing outside nicely, I went to do a little of my catch-up computer work that has piled up since I got sick. I had asked Audrey to keep an eye on Joey. A few minutes later she came in and told me that Joey was eating the pool chemicals. Sure enough he was out there with a spoon and an open bag of soda ash for the pool. I smelled his breath and it smelled bad. As there is no poison control here in Honduras, I had to take him into the emergency room. Thankfully he did not swallow enough to cause harm. The doctor said that the taste of that chemical is so bad that it is highly unlikely that he would have eaten enough to do harm. All it would have done is burn his esophagus. We are supposed to keep an eye on him to make sure that he doesn't start throwing up in the next few hours and then he should be fine. If it did get worse they were going to hospitalize him and put a scope down his throat to make sure there is not permenant damage. I am so thankful we do not have to do that. I don't know how he got into the bucket where we store the chemicals, but they are not there anymore. It is amazing how things that are supposedly "kid proof" are only difficult for the parents to open.

Blessings

These past few days Jason and I have been helping two families from the states who are adopting children. While Jason has helped much more than me, this afternoon was my turn. They were supposedly just having a short doctor's visit, but it turned out to be long as the doctor was late and when she got there she sat and talked with the lawyer for a while before doing her appointments. Needless to say, while there should have been enough time to make it home before church, I didn't make it.

Just yesterday while packing I found two CD's of preaching that I had never heard before. They were from West Coast Baptist College and were so great. There is something about hearing preaching in your own language that talks to your heart like nothing else. The sermon was about how God uses things to make us better Christians. It was a great encouragement to me. Instead of going to church and watching the nursery, I got to hear preaching. YEAH!! Afterward it was so great to have a time of prayer without kids interrupting me. As there is no one but me to watch the nursery I do it, but many times I long to be able to sit in the service and hear the preaching.

Church tonight was low in attendance as the rainy season is upon us and it was raining so hard that not many people showed up. They had to have an abbreviated service tonight as it was raining so hard the preacher could not get his thoughts straight or for the congregation to even hear what he was saying.

Rain

Praise the Lord it finally rained. Yesterday it rained all afternoon and evening. I cooled the air off at least 10 degrees. It was so refreshing. I even had to let water out of the pool as it was getting to full. This morning our pool is filled with dead bugs. They look like ants with wings so I don't know what they were, but the rain chased them out of the trees and now many are dead in the pool.

Computers are a wonderful thing, except when you can't do what you want. It has been two days since I can get the internet to work for more than a few minutes. I am not sure how long it will take me to post this blog, but I do know that I will be copying it to a word document just in case it won't post.

Jason has been spending the past few days helping a couple with an adoption. Today they are meeting with the judge to file the petition. He is going along as translator. I would like to be doing that, but Jason does not have the patience to watch the kids all day and homeschool at the same time. I am glad that I get the opportunity to be so involved in the lives of my children. What precious treasures they are.

Why

Do you ever wonder why we learn things so quickly and why other things take so much time? For instance, why do toddlers learn to say words like "why", "candy", and "no" before they can say "yes", "please", and "thank you". This is what I have been pondering ever since Joey started saying "why" to every request. You tell him to go to bed and you hear, "why". You tell him to sit down and he says, "why". I do not know if he has grasped the understanding of "why". I don't even know where he heard it from, as Audrey and Jordan have never really asked "why" when we ask them to do something. But from somewhere he has learned that it is so much fun to ask,"why". I hate to punish him for being inquisitive, but somewhere along the way I am going to pull my hair out if he continues with his asking "why" all the time. :-)

I have one question that I would like to ask. Why does one or two little letters make so much of a difference in the meaning of a Spanish word? Today I was trying to explain, as my nails were being done, why I had not been in for over a month. I was telling them how I had contracted Hepatitis A and was placed in the hospital. Only I didn't say I was put in the hospital. I said I was buried. Talk about a two letter difference making all the difference in the world. Thankfully I was there so they knew I had not been buried and they graciously explained the difference. We all had a good laugh about it. In Honduras they use the word "internado" for being admitted to the hospital. The word "enterrado" means to be buried. While there is a two letter difference in these two words, when you say them they sound almost alike so I get them confused at times. I am just praying that I never call someone in Spanish and tell them that their loved one has been buried instead of been put in the hospital.

Monday

Praise the Lord for the great day at church yesterday. We have over 40 in attendance with several people missing. Jason had a hard day though. He was greatly embarrassed in front of many of the church people when he opened the bathroom (outhouse really) for Jordan and while Jordan was using the facilities, he spaced and locked the door. We have to padlock the door so the neighbors don't steal the toilet paper and lights. After he locked the door he ran up to the neighbor's house to see if they were coming. Poor Jordan was in there just a crying until we found Jason and the key to unlock the bathroom.

Today we met some people from the states who are coming to start the adoption process for two children. The children are currently in their homes in the states while on medical visas, but these families want to be able to keep them in the states. Before they were living in an orphanage so there is no family in Honduras to come home to. After we helped the Smales with the adoption of Carlos we have become known as the missionaries to ask if you need help. We pointed these couples in the right direction for a lawyer, but will not be able to help beyond that as we are going to be in the states.

Yesterday I rearranged my living room with Jason's help. I seem to get the urge every few months, but as our house is so small it is the first time that I have rearranged it. I really like it. I makes the living room a little smaller, but gives a separation to the living and dining rooms. I think is certain aspects it seems bigger.

Please continue to pray for Esperanza as she needs to raise 600 Lempira which is about $35 for her operation. The church helped her with raising the money for the ultrasound that she has to have before the operation. We would love to just give her the money, but we don't want to get in the way of God providing. Esperanza is growing so much. She genuinely wants to right with her life. Even in great pain she has been faithful to church and is not letting her family stand in her way. Please pray that the mass that is in her uterus is a cyst and not a cancerous tumor. We will not know until after the surgery which is scheduled for May 11th. So please keep praying!!!

Another Good Day

Praise the Lord for another day of feeling good. I have been feeling so good that tomorrow I am planning on going to church. It seems like so long since I have been able to attend. I am so excited. I had planned on staying in until Wednesday, but since today went so smoothly, I am going to try to go.

Today I looked up the cost of schooling for Audrey next year on Abeka's website. It is a lot more than this year as she will be in first grade, but I will be able to save some money if we can find a way to order them this month. We were planning on waiting for our Income Tax Refund to pay for them, but if I order them this month the shipping is free. I think we will be able to purchase at least some of the books this month to take advantage of that offer. YEAH!!! I love to save money.

I am working with the kids trying to teach them John 3:16 in English and Spanish. So far Audrey is doing really good with English and starting to grasp Spanish. The other two are a different story though. Joey loves to repeat the words after me, but as he just turned two he really is not so good at memorizing, or even clearly repeating the words, yet. :-) Jordan can repeat phrases, but ask him two minutes later and he can't remember a thing. I feel so sorry for him. He has his mother's brain, and coordination too, I am afraid. I still have a hard time remembering verses in Spanish. Usually I will start one verse and then finish saying a totally different one. OOPS! I now just carry a Bible with me everywhere in case I need a verse. I wish I had the brain of Jason. He has an incredible memory.

Reprieve

Today was a lot cooler than it has been. The sky was overcast and there was a slight wind. It did not rain so it is still muggy here, but it is now manageable.

The Lanes came into town today. They have wanted to see our house ever since we moved, but for one reason or another in the past 11 months we have lived here they have not been able to come over. Today they finally came into town with enough time to spare to be able to see our "new" house that we will be leaving in two months. I have been resting a lot lately trying to recover, but this morning before they came over I had to clean. Jason does a good job, but he does not clean as detailed as I do. Thankfully I have not had any pain tonight. I am praying that this is a sign that I am indeed getting better as tomorrow I will be taking care of the home front while Jason is conducting an evangelistic campaign in an area called Las Sabanas where one of his Bible Institute students is starting a church. I am sad that I can't go, but at least I am well enough to keep the kids out of his hair while he is visiting, preaching, and showing a film.

The Lanes took us out to lunch at Tony Romas and that was a huge treat. Here they have something called Executive Lunches at all the American style restaurants like Applebees, TGIFridays, Tony Romas, ect. Normally these lunches sell for around $6 to $8 and include soup, entree, drink, and desert. This is the only time we missionaries can afford to go to these restaurants as the prices are normally very high. It was great that we were able to spend time with them.

They told us that they were having a graduate of West Coast Baptist College come and intern with them for a year. We were excited for them. We are a little bummed however that the whole time he is scheduled to be here we will be in the states on our furlough. We look forward to the day when people will come to see the work God is doing through us.

Heat wave

We know why God didn't call us to San Pedro Sula, the industrial capital, it is the heat. I visited there a few months ago and it felt like an oven when I stepped out of my air conditioned car. I grew up in comfortable and cool Washington state and I had never sweated so much as I did that day. The only problem is that this past week Tegucigalpa has felt like San Pedro. Even now as I am writing this it is late at night and I am still sweating. It just makes me so glad for rainy season which should start in the next few weeks.

Today someone in the neighborhood was cooking fish. The whole house stunk like fish. I lit all the scented candles that I had, but when there is no wind there is only so much that you can do to get rid of that strong smell. Thankfully about 6:00 pm the candle smell was stronger than the fish.

My health seems to be improving. I have taken it easy since Tuesday when I had a hard day. I now am teaching school in the morning and then after taking it easy. It makes a lot more work for Jason, but we decided that I should keep this schedule for a week. If I don't have any more bad days then I will start to do a few more a week until I slowly work my way back up to full schedule. Most of all I do not want to suffer a full relapse.

Praise the Lord Jason scheduled another meeting today. We start furlough in exactly 60 days and there is much to do. My fear is that we will not be fully booked or that we will not visit enough new churches to get our support level raised to what it should be. I am praying that God will have His perfect will in our meetings. I know that worrying is not needed, but that is what I struggle with the most.

Sickness

I am so tired of being sick. I have done a lot of research online and found out that 15% of all Hepatitis A cases have relapses within 6 months. I am trying to be still and do nothing as once again today I have been having pains, but I feel as if I am missing out on life. As this is the second time in three days that I have had problems, Jason has told me I am not allowed out of bed for a few days. Tomorrow is the birthday party of one of the missionary kids that is Audrey's age. I bought her a gift a few days ago, but haven't wrapped it yet. Hopefully I will be allowed to get up and do that tomorrow. I am not a good sick person.

I am so thankful for a couple boxes of books that came in the mail three weeks ago. They were sent M-Bag. Did you know that you can send books internationally for $1./lb. It may take a few months to get there, but you can't beat the price. Another missionary told me about it and it is wonderful.

Today I had to go to Wendy's and take back a salad. I was eating it the other night when I was sick (we had lost power that day and my crock-pot dinner didn't cook) and Jason took the kids out to eat so he didn't have to cook and clean up. I had eaten almost half of a Chinese Chicken Salad, which by the way are very good, when I found a nut (the kind the fits on a screw) in my salad. Being Honduras I was not sure if they would give me a replacement, but they were very kind and even gave me a free drink. I was hoping they would throw in the kids meals too, but they weren't that sorry. :-)

Please continue to pray for Jason and I as we struggle with my sickness. Jason has been so great. He helps out a lot, but he is also trying to book meetings for furlough so this diversion has been hard on him.

Easter Sunday

This Easter Sunday was a little different for us. This is the first Easter in a long time that we have not been at church. Sunday morning started out normal for us. We were planning on picking the teens who had spent the weekend at the Baptist Camp in La Esperanza to take them home before church. Right before church I started having really bad pains again like when I was in the hospital. We decided then and there that I had done to much that morning and I was ordered to bed. That wasn't so bad because of the way I was feeling that is where I wanted to be. I was disappointed about not going to church. Jason was still waiting for the kids to call saying they were in town and were ready to go back to Ojojona. About 30 minutes before church we called them and found out that they were still in La Esperanza as the bus that they had hired had a problem and they were pushing it to the mechanic. Praise the Lord they were able to get it fixed and made it home in less than the normal four hour trip. They got back to Tegucigalpa just as services in Ojojona were finishing. Jason took them home and said that he had never seen the shy girls from our church talk so much about how great it was. Please pray that God would use this to get the teens on fire for God. They have so many things against them from parents that don't want to have anything to do with God or them, pressures from school and friends, and the ever present economic hardships. Most of these teens have been saved, but the last attempt at starting a teen group failed. We are praying that they will continue to come to church and start a teen group as they expressed the desire for on the way home from camp.

We did have a really great service with the family at home. We sang some songs and talked to them about why we celebrate Easter. Please pray for Audrey. She was looking convicted when we were talking about all that Jesus had to endure because of our sins. I tried to talk to her later, but she wasn't quite ready yet. I did notice that today in our school devotions she looked sad when I was telling the Bible Story, but again she did not want to talk about it. Please pray that she makes a decision soon. She is obviously feeling some Holy Spirit conviction.

Even though typically Easter services are the lowest attended of the year, God blessed this year and we had a great attendance. Josue and his family were so excited when they told us how God truly blessed the attendance this Sunday. God is truly good

Daniela's Birthday

This afternoon the kids and Jason went to the birthday party of Josue's daughter who turned five. Josue and his family are the family that will be taking over the work in Ojojona when we are in the states. I did not get to go as this morning, while Jason was out transporting a generator for a couple of mountain churches, I developed a headache and had to stay home and rest. These have been common for me lately, but my doctor does not think that it is any big deal as they go away when I go into an air-conditioned room or it cools off. The past few days especially have been very hot. Normally April is the hottest month because of the humidity. The rainy season starts at the end of April or the beginning of May and then it cools off a lot.

Tonight we started emptying the pool out. The kids will be sad as it will take a while for the sun to heat up the water again, but the water was very green and the clorine did not work. The pool we got for the kids this year is one that the cat cannot pop. We tried to use the one from last year and the cat had it full of holes the second day. This new one is 12 feet x 30 inches deep. The kids (except for Joey) love it. Audrey knows how to float and can now stick her head under water without plugging her nose. That is better than her mother. I am a scardy cat when it comes to water. We are hoping we continue to get water tomorrow so we can fill the pool up again. If not, we will have very sad kids.

Sawdust Carpets

Can you believe that these beautiful works of art are made of sawdust? A tradition in Honduras (and possibly other countries) is to make these "carpets" on Palm Sunday or Good Friday. Most of the processionals on Palm Sunday will have a statue of Jesus riding on a burro as they make their way to the Catholic Church.

Comayagua, the old capital of Honduras, is about a hour and a half drive from where we live. It is where on Good Friday they make up these beautiful carpets as a way to pay for their salvation and then march over them while carrying their idols of Jesus, Mary, and the patron saint of their church. These elaborate carpets take from 5 to 7 days to make. They are truly works of art. It is sad to see the many people making these as a form of having some of their sins forgiven. God's gift is so easy and it is free, but many of these people are blinded by the traditions of man and cannot see the free gift of the Grace of God.

Water Rationing

Since moving to Honduras almost three years ago we have learned never to take water for granted. In the colonia (neighborhood) where we live, we normally get water every other day. The colonia where we used to live got water only two days a week. That was hard. Even though we had a huge tank for water storage, it had something wrong with it and would run out of water after just two days. We had to wait until the middle of the night for the water to start coming in to do our wash. We love getting water every other day instead of two times a week. We do not drink the water from the city (we would get very sick with amoebas) so the rationing only means that we don't take long showers and try not to do laundry. In this house we have never had our tank run dry and that is a huge blessing.

This week has been extra great for us. We have received water every day. What a huge blessing that has been. When we have water coming in from the city and not from our tank there is great water pressure. When we are running on tank water the pressure is poor and if I have to do wash, it takes me over 30 minutes to fill the washer with water. This week, I have been able to get my wash done so quickly.

They are giving us water every day because it is Holy Week. Holy Week in Honduras is also known as "Go to the Beach week". Almost everyone that has a car is at the beach or other vacation spots. This means less people using water which is why the water company leaves it on for the whole city. It is a ghost town here, but that is nice because it is a very quick trip to get anywhere. It does make for low church attendance, but praise the Lord for the 13 we had in church last night.

Grandma Went Home

Today was a sad day for us here in Honduras, especially for three little kids. Today is the day that Grandma went home.:-( I was so thankful to have her here (as were the rest of the family). After just getting out of the hospital, I was able to rest without worrying about the kids or the house. We were fed and taken care of as only a grandma can do. There are no words that can express how thankful we are for our home church, Faith Baptist Church in Tacoma, WA, for providing the way for her to come rescue us.

After I was cleared by my doctor, I was able to spend one day with her and we spent it shopping for Jordan's birthday. He will turn four on the 20th of April, but because Grandma wanted to see him open his presents, we celebrated with her just before she left. Grandma even bought the cake. It was a special treat for us. We have never had a "cinnabon cake" before, but I have to admit that it was probably the best tasting and most fattening cake I have ever eaten and was worth every pound.

Jordan's favorite gifts were a hammer that he got from Grandma and Grandpa Smith and a skill saw from Mom and Dad. The hammer is real and usable, but the skill saw is a battery operated plastic one. He spent all day today "fixing" the table and couches. I am so glad that there are toy versions of the real thing available.

Esperanza

Please pray for Esperanza. She called us yesterday to ask us to come and take her to the hospital. She has been in pain off and on for almost a year now. Yesterday it got bad enough for her to pay to see a doctor. The doctor told her to go immediately to the hospital. The end result is that she has a tumor in her uterus. She has a lot of uterine swelling and so is on medication until that goes down and then is scheduled for a surgery to remove the tumor on the 11th of May. She does sewing to make money as she told the father of her children that he is not allowed near her if he doesn't give up his other women. He had not interest in that, so he informed her that he was not going to support her or her kids. We are praying with her that she will be able to raise that money in time for the surgery.

The Ban Is Lifted

Yesterday we went to the doctor and were given the good news that I can now resume my normal schedule minus strenuous exercise. I really don't have to worry about that because the only exercise I get right now is running after kids. The doctor continues to be amazed with the speed of recovery and the lack of yellow eyes and skin. Praise the Lord for his healing hand.

Getting Better

Thank you all for your prayers. I went in for a checkup on Monday afternoon and the doctor was amazed that I was doing so well. I am not having any pain, fever, and I didn't turn yellow. I know it was the prayers of all of you.

I am still on modified bed rest, which means that I need to rest a lot and I am not allowed to do any work. My Mom was able to fly in on Sunday to take care of us. That has been a huge blessing. The kids are loving it. Joey is even learning how to say Grandma.

Please continue to pray that I will continue to heal.