Thankful for Protection

Today, while the kids were playing/cleaning up the back yard, the gale force winds blew a tree down. They heard it cracking and ran, but Faith ran the wrong way and when the tree came crashing down, she was within a few feet of it. We are praising God for His protection!

Life Moves On

I've given up trying to somehow convey what's like to transition back into life here...I am done trying to bridge the gap between life in Honduras and life here. Not that we are forgetting and leaving that all behind. There are still lots of times that being here/home is just weird and when I see the pictures from when we lived there, it catches me off guard with how I miss this or that and just have a raw feeling of uncomfortableness.
But life does move on...and I am enjoying parts of that too. It's SPRING! I haven't see spring for two years. I haven't started seeds or planted a garden or weeded my flower beds. I truly am enjoying every flower and bud.
I am finally getting some energy back after being stuck on the couch or in bed for most of the past four plus months with morning sickness. A new baby, a new baby girl on the way is a major life change, but one I am so happy about! And glad to be experiencing it here instead of in Honduras! It's been six years since we had a baby in the house...the kids are so much more grown up this time and really excited too. Rachel has been praying for a baby for years and is thrilled to that it's a girl.
Gumpy, Brian's dad came home from the rehab hospital about a month ago. He is ok, not as energetic as in the past, but happy to be back in his own place with his "child bride". Mom is doing a great job taking care of him. They have some help with visiting nurses and therapists. Dad isn't able to move much at all or sit up on his own. He spends many afternoons out on the deck where our kids can visit him and eat Popsicles that Grammie always has on hand. It's good to be close by again.
Brian is working construction and just in the past month finally has steady work. He comes home tired and not loving this job, but very thankful for the work. He is co-leading the mission team at our church and is still actively involved in communication with Maybelline and Jeffery and all the goings on at Little Hands. He took a two week trip back to Trujillo in March. It was a great time of reuniting with the people we love there. He came home wishing he could have stayed longer. I think it is harder for him to be back here than it is for the rest of the family. (Though the kids, even the ones who wanted to come home, frequently ask, WHEN can we go back?) But he can see that God has us here for now. I think it is very likely, almost certain that someday we will end up back on the mission field in some form. But for now, this is ok.
So... life is marching on. There are good and bad things about this stage...true of every stage and part of life, I think. Life is hard, and rewarding, and God is good.

Just the facts...

Two years ago, we left our family, friends, and comfortable home here in NH and moved our family of six to Trujillo, Honduras. Our goal was to shore up the mission Little Hands, Big Heart, and encourage and mentor Maybelline and Jeffery, the Honduran directors. We spent most of the first year evaluating and revising the current programs and getting to know the families of the special needs kids that LHBH serves. The second year we continued to work at perfecting the mission and gave more and more responsibility to Maybelline and Jeffery as well as making some major improvements on the grounds and to the compound. When our commitment was finished, we were confident that LHBH was in a good place and would be able to effectively carry out its mission.
We packed up, or gave away two years worth of possessions, said good bye to dear friends from church, neighbors, fellow missionaries, all the LHBH staff, and all the precious families and children who LHBH help. We took lots of pictures and tried to squeeze in visits to our favorite places in the final days.
Our trip home was uneventful. Friends from church met us at midnight at the airport and drove us the hour or so to our house. It took two big vehicles to get all of us and all of our stuff here.
Our house had been empty for most of the year as our renters left early. Our belongings were packed into the upstairs and the basement. We started emptying boxes and trying to get settled. Brian spent the first few weeks repairing the ceiling, refinishing the entire downstairs floor and painting.
A week and a half before Christmas, Brian's dad came down with an infection. His parents live next door to us where Mom has been doing an amazing job taking care of Dad since he came home in a semi-paralyzed state back in August. Early one morning, we had to call an ambulance to rush him to the ER with a fever of 106. He was admitted into the ICU and was near death for a week or more. At this point, he is stable and will be transferred to a rehab hospital near Boston in the near future. He is not able talk and is very weak. We are hopeful that he will regain his voice and strength so that the temporary trach and feeding tubes will be removed.
Brian has not started back to work yet and with the uncertainty of his dad's health, it has been good for him to have the flexibility to be available to go the hospital and help Mom make difficult decisions. He anticipates construction work to begin soon and is trying to line up jobs now.
We have not officially started home schooling yet in the new year, but we are starting to get back into the swing of things. I am sorting through all of our curriculum now that I have access to all the books I want/need again.
The kids are playing in the snow every chance they get and happy to have their long lost toys unearthed from the mountain of boxes. They have spent several good times with the cousins and also with friends.
So...there's the facts. Now, how are we doing with all of this? Well, that will be the subject of the next post.

I Hate "Goodbye"

Yesterday and today we visited several Little Hands families for the last time. We had bags of hand-me-down clothes from our kids and other things. We gave each family our photo, a treasured gift here. It is hard to wrap our brains around the fact that this is it...we're saying goodbye for at least a long time...hopefully not forever! But part of my mind can grasp it becuase I can't stop crying. So many dear faces that we will miss and remember the times we've spent together! So many little people that we have prayed and worried over and tried our best to help. I pray that the next time I see them, they will be taller and healthier and have thier hearts full of Jesus!
We have two more days here in Trujillo. We are finishing the packing and trying to take care of a million things while we try to squeeze in times to say good bye to everyone. I hate this part! But since there is so much to do, the time is going by fast! Pray that we will be ready early Sunday morning when the time comes to pull out. Pray that in our sadness, that we can rejoice and be thankful for the friends we have here.

Antonio Chooses Chirst

Antonio has been helping us with the grounds here at the Little Hands facility since July. He is also father to Reybin, who is one of our L.H. children. Since May, Brian has been developing a relationship with him. Many spiritual conversations have been had along the way. Today, after a long lunch time conversation and study of the scriptures regarding salvation... Antonio has chosen to follow Jesus. He is very serious about his decision and has been weighing it for a while. Today he said, "What are we waiting for? Let's go to the beach so I can be baptized!" In less than an hour, 30 people were informed and drove over to the beach to witness Antonio becoming a new creature... clothing himself with Christ. The surf was rough and full of debris from the tropical storm. After his baptism, pointing to the dirty water, Antonio said..."There is alot of sin in there!" We have been praying for Antonio since last year, before we even knew him. We are so blessed to be able to witness his turning to Christ for salvation. And now he is eager to learn. Please pray for him as he learns and grows.

No More Interent and Tropical Storm Ida

It looks like we will be out of internet service indefinately becuase of a nearby lightning strike. I'm disappointed because, besides wanting to document more of our last days here, I was hoping to help Maybelline get a new blog established for Little Hands to use. We actually had been working on it right up until the interent went out. We're hoping to get that up and running eventually, but without a way to get online here at the compound, that isn't likely to happen soon.
We're planning for a wet weekend as Tropical Storm Ida is supposed to be paying northern Honduras a visit. We're hoping for a quick get together without to much heavy rain and the flooding that is sure to result!
Our family is packing and getting ready for the long trip home in a week and half. These days are turning into a busy blur. Pray for us. So many things to do and people to see and say good bye to. It is a taxing time for all of us. I may not write again until we are stateside, but hope to post some pictures then also.

Rough Seas

A few days ago, it was terribly windy and we went down to the beach to check out the surf. There were waves! If you have been here, you know that the bay is usually very calm. Not so on this day!

The wind and rain are COLD! I know we are going to have a major weather change to get used to when we get home since they have already had snow in NH. But as you can see here, even this tropical storm wind and rain feels freezing to us!