Wednesday

We have been so busy since being back in the states. We are hoping that this week coming up will be a bit lighter, but it doesn't look like it will be. We have spent the last few days looking for a 5th Wheel trailer for us to use while on furlough. Yesterday Jason and I drove to Everett to see a trailer that looked and sounded pretty good. It is a 33 foot Dutchman with a super slide in the livingroom. It is so nice. It has been used as a temporary house for a couple building their house. I couldn't believe all the cabinets it had in it and how clean it was. They took really good care of it. We are in the process of trying to secure financing to buy this trailer. We had found some that were the same price, but smaller and older. We weren't sure if we wanted anything as nice as this trailer, but because it is being sold by a private person and not a dealer we will be paying less for this one than any of the others we have seen. We are praying that God would allow us to pay for it. I am sure you can see by the picture of the kitchen why we, and by that I mean I, love it. All of the cabinets are custom which means they are made better than normal trailer cabinets. I also love the fridge. We only saw a few that were bigger and they were in trailers that cost over $40,000. I had fun looking at those.

Last night we had a great service. Pastor Smith was in Bend, OR to be with the family of Bro. Mark Lawrence who suffered brain swelling in a quad accident. He is doing better tonight, but is still in a medical induced coma to reduce the brain swelling. Please pray that he will continue to improve. Anyway, we had Pastor Greg Boyle preach last night. He was a great encouragement to me. He preached a great sermon. It was a huge blessing to me.

Jordan had a hard time going into class last night. I had to sit and talk with him for a few minutes before he would go into the classroom. He was so excited to be going to "Sunday School" when we went up the stairs, but by the time we got to the top he wasn't in such a great mood to be there. Both him and Joey had hard times, but by the time church was over they didn't want to leave.

Please continue to pray for Audrey. She still is running a small fever and has a bad cough. I am sure that she will be well enough to go on Sunday, but we are hoping that she can enjoy this weekend too.

Tomorrow is garage sale day. I am looking forward to going. I am looking for some tennis rackets for when we are out of town so we can exercise and have fun at the same time. We have got to do something as our clothes are not fitting so well and we have only been back a week.

Sunday Services

We had great Sunday services today. Our sending church is Faith Baptist Church in Tacoma, WA. We had what seemed like a great attendance for church today. We got to go to the Young Married Class taught by Bro. Lane. It was great. It was strange to see so many young people all grown up. How times flies when you are not around.

Audrey had a hard time today. She was the first to Sunday school and so she left her Bible to save her seat and went to the bathroom. When we got back we found three girls in her row of three seats and her Bible and purse was on the floor. She looked a little distraught, but I told her to pick it up and find another seat. The girls who had moved her Bible were kind and moved, but I could tell Audrey felt bad because no one wanted to sit by her. She is always the most popular one in Honduras and here no one wanted to sit by her. I can't blame the little girls because they don't know her, but I felt really bad that she has to be uprooted because of our work. After church she was really clingy and didn't want to go home with Grandma so I knew that something was wrong. I felt her forehead and she seemed hot. When we got home her temperature was over 102. I am hoping her feelings of dejection came from her not feeling good and not from her being uprooted this past week.

Tomorrow if Audrey is well we will be continuing to look at trailers. We are praying that God would have his perfect will in our search. A very big dealership here in Washington state is owned by a member of one of our supporting churches. We are praying that maybe he can help us out a little more than normal. Please continue to pray with us as we search for what God has for us.

First few days back

There have been many surprises for us since coming back to the states. We love the fact that there is a Starbucks in every store and on every corner. We just wish we had enough money to stop at each one of them. :-) One thing we had forgotten that surprised us was the size of the portions of food. We don't ask for anything super sized anymore. It is just to much food. No wonder so many Americans are overweight. The food portions are incredibly huge.

Today we went shopping in Albertsons and were in awe. There is not a store in Honduras that is as big as that one. We found so many things that were so cool. It is so different shopping in Honduras as many times you cannot find what you want or you have to settle for something a little different.
Today we went to a Spanish Department picnic for our home church. After that we went out RV hunting as we are trying to buy one and we want to get all of our options. We have spent parts of three days doing this and it is a lot of fun. I always try to get them to show me all the 5th wheels they have even if I cannot afford them just because it is fun to look. We found a great one that is near our price range, but we will see what God provides. The kids went with us for the first time today. They loved it. The first thing they tried to do was jump on the beds. Why do kids think that they can get away with that when they are not at home if they are never allowed to do it at home? We had a great time.

We loved driving today as the mountain was out today. For those of you who are not from the Pacific Northwest, that means that there were no clouds so you could see the mountain. I took several pictures to show to my friends in Honduras what a real mountain is. They have no idea what snow is.

Please continue to pray with us that God would give us the right trailer for us. We praise the Lord for the truck that he gave us. It is wonderful. There is so much space. There

is room for three carseats and if we were in Honduras we could fit at least six adults on the back seat alone not to mention the floor and in the pickup bed. We can not even get a picture of all three kids as the backseat is just to large. We are still trying to find out what mileage we get. We have done so much city driving so far that our number will be low, but it will be good to know that it should not go much lower than that.

Here at last

So much has happened since I last wrote. God blessed and we had a great last weekend at church with over 80 people in attendance. We left Tuesday morning to come back to the states and arrived in Seattle at 9:00 pm. We had two great flights and the kids loved it. We almost had a problem getting on the plane as my passport had "expired". The identification page said that it had expired in 2004, but there was an explanation and a void on the back page which the US Passport Service assured me meant that my passport was good for another 10 years. Praise the Lord everything turned out fine when the supervisor from Continental said that since I was going to the country of my birth it would be fine to go with an expired passport. The US customs did not even notice that it was supposedly expired and I was not about to point it out.

I still have a mountain of unpacking to do and my body clock has not yet adjusted. Therefore, tomorrow, I will have to write all about my first day in the states after a three year absence.

Being a Blessing

Isn't it great when you can be a blessing to someone. Yesterday we got such an opportunity. Iris, the wife and mother of the family with whom Jason lived when he came to Honduras in 1993, came over to return a few things. Iris' husband, Pastor Hector Medina, died of stomach cancer about 10 years ago. Iris now is a faithful worker in the church where he pastored for so many years. She is a wonderful person. She is a single mom to three kids and a grandmother to one. She speaks English and tutored me in my spanish when we first came.

A year ago Iris got some bad news. Her daughter, then 17, was pregnant. It was a hard time for the whole family especially Iris because as a single mother you can only be with your kids for so many hours in the day. She still had to work and take care of them. There was a lot of criticism for her, but Praise the Lord, her daughter was very repentant and God has used this bad situation to build them closer to him as a family.

Yesterday they all came over to pick up a walker I was going to give them. While they were here I felt like I should give them some food. I ended up giving them three bags of food. I didn't think very much of it, but she started to cry and told me that I didn't know how much that meant to her. She said that she had no food in the house. I can tell you I got a bigger blessing out of that than she did. God is so good to give us the blessing of being a blessing.

Disappointments, Frustrations, and Blessings

Tuesday was a busy day for us. We had our very last ladies meeting with a dinner in honor of the ladies who have been faithful. We had five invited, but one of the ladies did not know that this was by invitation only and invited many others. We were very thankful that only two extra came. The reason for the invitation only is that the church only has one table so the number is restricted by how many fit around the table.

As we were getting ready for Ladies Meeting we got a call from Reuben. He is a man in our church who was trying to buy our truck. He called and told us that he could not secure financing for it so he would not be able to buy it. We were so disappointed as we have come to the end of our time here and still we have not sold it. We are going to just donate it to the work in Ojojona so that they can pay the yearly taxes on it while using it for picking up people. Reuben told us we could park it at his house and he would drive it to pick up people. That is very kind of him as he knows he will not be allowed to drive it any other time. We are disappointed that we were not able to get the money for it as it would have allowed us to pay off our other truck before coming home on furlough

We were frustrated to learn upon arriving at Ladies Meeting that Esperanza had been kicked out on Sunday. She did find a place to live, but they would only allow her to bring two of her kids. Please pray for her to find a better place for the kids. Tuesday at Ladies Meeting Jason heard screaming coming from Sandra's house (where Esperanza used to live) and then a baby screaming as if in pain. He rushed up there to find out what was wrong and found that the baby was badly burnt on his belly. Jason rushed him to the hospital with the baby's mom and aunt. Christian is 4 months old, but very small for his age and severely malnourished. On the way back to Ojojona with the aunt at 11:00 at night we asked her what was going on. She said that Cristian's mom and dad were arguing and the dad, Javier, went to the kitchen and got boiling coffee. He came back to the room and tried to throw it on his "woman", but missed and got the baby instead. There are times that I wish they had the laws here like they do in the states. No kid deserves to grow up in an environment like that.

Sunday, Jimena (Esperanza's oldest), came to Sunday school with scars on her arms. When Jason asked her how she got them she told him that her daddy hit her with a stick. I think that is why she went with Esperanza when she left. I wish I was going to be here a few months longer and then I would have them come and live with me.

After all the frustrations and disappointments of the day, God had a great time in store for us at Ladies Meeting. We had seven ladies attend and had a really special time with them. I gave a devotional entitled, "How to help your new pastor". I really pointed out to them that without them the church would not exist and they need to show the same support to the new Pastor's family as they have showed to us. God is so good to us. Our ladies, while there may not be many of them, are so supportive to me and such an encouragement. Teresa gave me a purse and Areli (who is 12 and the young lady I led to the Lord) knitted me a doll's stocking cap and bottle for me to put on the display table. I told her that I was going to put her picture up right next to it. We praise God for the work he is doing in Ojojona and just pray that it will continue long after we are gone.

Now that I finally updated you on Ladies meeting, I can write about what we have been doing the past few days. We have been painting and packing, and painting and packing,... We have to turn in our computer modem tomorrow which will cancel our internet service. I will try to update this on the last few days before we leave, but as we will not be at home I am not sure if I will get to it.

From Friday till Tuesday, we will be staying with the Jacksons. Our water tank is being retiled and we have to have a totally empty water tank for at least three days so we cannot live here without showers and water to wash dishes. If you don't hear from me sooner I will have lots to tell you about when we get home on Tuesday so keep checking back to see if I finally got enough energy to update on what has been going on.

Busy Monday

Today was a busy day for us. We had to go and do all of the shopping for the Ladies Dinner tomorrow. That took a while, but after that we came home and painted. Audrey's room is officially done. It has been painted (two coats), the bedding washed, and the clothes packed. It is all ready to go.

We had a little trouble with the paint though. We bought what we thought was the right color paint, but it is a touch more gold in color. The one that was on the wall is an orange with a pinkish base. The one we put on is called Antique gold. It is an orange with a tan base. I personally think that they both are ugly colors, but that is what the landlord wanted so that is what we painted. We were also able to paint the hallway and one wall of the living room. Things seem to be falling together quite nicely. We are just praying that everything will be done soon, preferably by Friday as that is when we are leaving this house so that repairs to the water tank can be made before we turn in the keys.

Sunday Services

We had a great, but very busy day yesterday. We were asked to come to Iglesia Bautista Peniel here in Teguc for the morning service. They had a special service for us. They had some people come and give testimonies and they gave us a special glass plaque thanking us for the work we have done in Ojojona. It was great to see everyone again. We try not to go to church there to often as they are an autonomus church and we don't want people to come to us for advise instead of the pastor. It was very special that they recognized the work we have done and wanted to thank us.

After church we got to eat at McDonalds as we didn't have time to go home and make lunch before the service in Ojojona. The kids loved that and I have to admit, so did I. The McDonalds here is different than at home. It actually tastes good. I did not like McDonalds in the states, but I love them here. Anyway, we picked up Ernesto and his wife after we ate lunch and drove to Ojojona. We were amazed when it did not rain at all on the drive up there or while we were at church.

I got to teach Sunday school this week as Reina (pictured here with her family, Josue, Daniela, and Alisandra) broke her foot on Friday night and has had to keep it elevated. The kids miss her, but we had a great turnout with 15 kids. I am sure that the Sunday school will continue strong in our absence. I was also able to watch nursery and we had 13 kids for that. God is blessing with many faithful people.

We got Audrey's room packed up after church on Sunday night. It wasn't a lot of work, but after the full day that we had, it was all I could manage to get done. Now everything that she wears and has washed will go straight into her suitcase. I still need to go through her suitcase again as I was not paying close attention when I was packing and I probably packed some old t-shirts that don't fit her anymore.

Finds in Valle

What a great day we had in Valle de Angeles. It didn't start out so good with a broken bus. Alan called Jason early yesterday morning to ask him to bring him the keys to the bus. It seems he had left early that morning to bring the mechanic to the bus and had forgotten the keys. The trip to San Buenaventura (where the bus was) is a 45 minute drive. Jason drove him the keys and supposedly they had the problem fixed. Well, when they go the keys and took it for a test drive the other brake line burst. They had only brought one extra brake line with them so they had to go to another town 15 minutes away and look in their junk yard for one off of a junked vehicle. They found one and got it replaced, but had it put on wrong. Finally they called it quits and rented a van. We took the 15 passenger van and two trucks and fit everyone. We had a great time. These are some things that we were able to get for our display. The dresses are authentic Honduran dresses for Barbies.

The group is from a Baptist Church in Oxford, Alabama. I forgot the name of the church as it was only told to me once at the beginning of the week. They had 18 teens and adults. They were such a blessing. We only got to be with them for a few days, but it was as if God sent them to us just to encourage us. Audrey developed a special friendship with Paige. Paige's son is about to be married and she told me that this time was just making her long that much more for grandchildren.

Jordan started running a fever when we were in Valle de Angeles so he stayed with Daddy in the van and slept while Mommy, Audrey, Joey, and the group shopped. Daddy did not seem to mind either.

After shopping we went to El Patio a very good restaurant here. El Patio is an outdoor restaurant that is covered by a metal roof and has pillars for walls. It is very typical. The lights that they do have are very dim to make it seem like it was before there was electricity. It was so much fun. Everyone loved it. We also found out that you can buy paintings there. Elaine and Jeff Smith, the youth pastor and his wife, bought a gorgeous painting for around $50. After they sold to them the young men trying to sell them when and got more. They brought back one gorgeous one of an old pueblo seen through a door. They started the price for that at $80, but when no one had it they ended up selling it to one of ladies of the group named Kim for $30. I was in love with that painting, but Jason had just borrowed all of my money to exchange for dollars with Bro. Jeff Smith. I am so glad that Kim was able to get the painting for such a good price. I now know what I want and where I will get it when we come back here. Bro Alan Jackson hired a mariachi band to sing a few songs for the group and it was so much fun. Everyone was clapping with them and then they saw that Joey was dancing by stomping his feet in time and clapping his hands. Everyone just about lost it then. It was so cute. We all had a really great time and were tired, but sad to see it end.

Today most of the group left. Three were left behind as one of the young teenage girls passport and ticket were stolen just before she boarded. We all went to Pizza Hut for lunch while we were waiting for the plane as Pizza Hut is just across the street from the airport. It was while she was there that it was stolen. Thankfully her mom came with her to Honduras as she would not be allowed to fly international by herself.

Tonight we went out with them and the Jacksons for Chinese food. While we were there Jason lost my retainer. I had put it in his pocket as I forgot to take it out before we left the house and I did not have any pockets in my clothes. I am just sick over it. I will have to see if I can reach of my orthodontist tomorrow by her cell phone. It will cost me almost $100 to have a new retainer made if she can do it as she is leaving on vacation next week. If not, I will have to try to find a orthodontist in the states to make me a new one. That should be fun to try and find. I am still holding out hope that the Jackson's might find it at their house.

Our day

We had a fun day today. We started out by going to hunt for boxes. God blessed our search and we found some great boxes at Pricemart. We have gone to Pricemart many times in the past few months, but never found many boxes. It seems that today we found the motherload. They will not let you take the boxes unless you buy something, so I bought eggs. I am going to make the kids a big pot of hard boiled eggs. We, meaning everyone but Jason who is slightly odd in his tastes, love hard boiled eggs and do not get a lot of them because they are costly. It will make a nice treat for the kids and me too. :-) Anyway, we packed our backseat with all the boxes it could hold. We decided to finish the packing before we started painting, so today we packed the master bathroom, what was left of the master bedroom, the office (huge task), and the boys room. We only have to pack up the kids toys and books and the kids dishes from the kitchen. We cannot do these things for a while though.

We had plans to go with the Jackson's and their group to Pizza Hut after church for dinner, but the bus had other plans. They were still in San Buenaventura when the brakes went out on the bus. They were able to rent another bus to get the people home with, but that got stuck in the mud and they had to get it out. Pizza Hut closed at 10:00 pm and they got home at 11:15. Thankfully we were able to make some Tuna Casserole for the hungry travelers. It wasn't pizza, but everyone was glad to be home. It is just after midnight and we are just getting home. It was a fun night and we are looking forward to getting a good nights sleep and then helping them go shopping at Valle de Angeles (Valley of the Angels) tomorrow. We are on the lookout for things for our display table and if it is available in Honduras, you will find it there.

Busy bees

We have been busy, busy, busy for the past few days. I was able to get my list for the school done just before Jason was to leave for the school to sign our part of the contract. We were able to turn it in and everything went fine. Monday night we were supposed to have dinner with the Jacksons and all their guests. I made Spaghetti sauce, Broccoli, Salad, and a cake and Becky was supposed to make the noodles and garlic bread. When we got there we found out that many of the group had the throwing up sickness that Jordan had on Friday. They asked us not to stay because they did not want us and especially the kids to get sick. It was a huge disappointment. Jason took me to dinner at Popeys instead as the group was eating the dinner I had worked on all day and I didn't have anything else ready to cook at home.

Yesterday we went to the church to pick up some leftover paint we had to paint our house before we leave. We found a lot of water inside the church when we got there. Jason thought it had come over the doorjam, but upon further investigation we realized that someone had turned on the water and not turned it off. Water only comes twice a week in Ojojona, but one of those days was Monday. Praise the Lord the only thing that was ruined was two boxes and some tracts. We were able to save over half of the tracts. PTL!

As we were getting back in the truck to leave, Esperanza came out. She looked done in. She said that she couldn't make it much longer living in a house full of fornication and adultery. It has taken a toll on her emotionally and financially. Renting a house or apartment would be too expensive. Her only option that we can see is for her to voluntarily place her children in an orphanage. She would then be free to find a job as a live in housecleaner to support herself. She asked us to help her find a good orphanage and arrange the governmental aspects for her. This is one of the hardest things a mother has to do is turn away her children. But we are praising the Lord that if this is what she does, there is a good Baptist orphanage where we can have them sent.

After we got back from that we went to Larach (the hardware store) and bought paint and other things we needed to get the house ready for us to leave. I can't believe how quickly time is passing. It still doesn't seem real to us that we are to be leaving two weeks from yesterday. We are still waiting on the papers from our truck to sign and send back. They were received by our courier last week, but they seem to be taking thier own sweet time getting it to us. We will have to try and look again to day to see if they came in.

Today we are going to hunt for some boxes to finish packing Jason's office, pack, and start painting the house. Fun, fun, fun.

Baptism Sunday

Yesterday we had a great blessing to be able to have a joint baptismal service with the people from Iglesia Bautista Betel in San Buenaventura. The Alan Jackson family are the missionaries who started and are pastoring that church. They brought their church and a group of 18 teens and workers from a church in Alabama who are visiting them. We brought three truckloads of people from Ojojona. Our normal baptism site was overflowing because of our recent rains. We looked for a new site and found one in a park in nearby Santa Ana. They let us come in free and baptize in the river, but when the kids played on the toys they charged us 15 Lempira (75 cents). Thankfully none of our kids tried to play as we haven't been to the bank yet this month and did not have any cash on hand.

We were able to see Esperanza baptised and with her a couple named Rueben and Xiomara. Junior, the little boy of Rueben and Xiomara, cried so hard when his mom got baptized. He was just yelling "mommy, mommy, mommy" and tears were running down his face. He was sitting with all his aunts and uncles, but he still was very concerned about his mom. It was very cute to see.

Esperanza was very nervous about getting baptized because she didn't have a skirt to wear. I knew she always wore pants, but I didn't know she didn't own a skirt. I wish I could give her one of mine, but there is no way she would fit it. She is a lot smaller than me.

Today is going to be very full. We have to go to the bank and then the store. Tonight I get to make dinner for the group that is staying with Alan and Becky. There will be 29 of us and I am going to make a big pot of Spaghetti. I am trying to use up all of the food in my freezer before we leave in 15 days. Today I must also finish the inventory of our house for the school. It makes me think of the song "So Little Time, And So Much To Do".

Poodee

Ok, you may be thinking I have lost my mind, but I just had to tell everyone about Joey's newest word. He has been saying, "Poodee" for a few weeks now. A short time ago we finally realized what he was saying. He was saying, "Excuse me". I guess he has heard me tell Audrey and Jordan enough times that we should say excuse me when asking someone to move or when you need to interrupt somene, and now he is doing it. Joey is doing really good on his talking. I know that only parents of other two year olds would be able to understand him, but we are excited. He has learned many words in English and Spanish. I think it is especially cute when he uses "polite words" such as please, thank you, excuse me, ect. Joey also has learned two songs in Spanish. He can sing "He is Able" and "Ti-ti-ta" which is a Sunday school song in Spanish. He only knows the spanish version of "He is Able". It is so cute to hear him singing.

As you can see from the picture he has also developed a strong photographer bug. I found this picture and several more just like it when I was downloading some pictures. If he sees a camera he will immediately pose and say "cheese" until you take his picture. If you are not getting the camera out to take a picture of him he will continue to say, "cheese" louder each time until you either break down and take his picture or end up spanking him for not obeying when you tell him to hush.

pipe cleaner glasses

Have you ever had an abundance of pipe cleaners? Well, that is the dilemma that I am faced with. I had to buy a huge packet to use with a craft for Ladies Meeting. Yesterday I made the kids glasses and rings with pipe cleaners. They loved them. Joey did not get a pair. Only Audrey, Jordan, and Julianna who is Audrey's friend got ones.

Julianna and Audrey put them on when Julianna's mom came to pick her up. She told Audrey that it was so her mom wouldn't recognize her.

Please pray for Audrey and me as we are sick. We are going to the doctor tomorrow to see if there is anything we can take to help us get better before we leave.

Today the Jacksons group came in and we got to help them. I stood in line at the bank with them to help them change money (you can only do it with an account) for over an hour. I was so tired after that. I am just glad that the bank teller let me exchange so many transactions. I had to exchange money for 10 people. They had to do each person separately so that the money did not get mixed up.

Just as I got home tonight I got a call from Becky. She needed to borrow my crockpot and coffee pot. I wasn't to excited about going out again, but now I am home and my bed has never looked more inviting. It has been a long day for us. We are so glad to have the opportunity to help other missionaries and groups from the states, but we are sure tired. :-) We can't wait until we have groups of our own come to Honduras.

House rental

We finally have word on the status of the International School renting our house fully furnished. The answer is yes!!! We were told that they did not want it for the price we were paying, but because they had not let us know and we were between a rock and a hard place, they are going to honor what they first told us. They told Jason that we are paying way to much for this house. They do not seem to understand that we are from the states. When you are from the states people automatically charge you more than they do others. Most Hondurans are so suprized when they go somewhere with us and find out what we have to pay for things.

Anyway, I have so much to do now. I had originally planned to go through the house and write a detailed list of what we were leaving. I had planned to do this before we left, but now I have to have it done on Monday. That just pushes everything on the front burner.

The Jacksons have a group coming in today. We spent this morning helping them get ready for 19 people. They have borrowed every bed they could find. We sold them the kids bunk beds and let them borrow the queen bed Audrey slept on. Our kids are excited that they get to sleep on the cots. We will see if they are still excited when we get the beds back. Jordan does not want to sell his "up bed" as he calls it. We told him that we were going to get some better ones made when we get back, but he is still not sure if he likes that idea. For the next nine days the Jacksons house is a hodgepodge of the Tate and Jackson houses. They have borrowed half of my plates, bowls, cups, sheets, ect. It is great for me because I will just have them pack them up for me and it is less work for me.