A Very Happy Birthday

Cohen playing with balloons

Last Week we celebrated the birthday of our Little Giants.

The Impact Team arrived bright and early to decorate the room with bright colors, balloons, and to post around the room the memory verses and class themes from the weeks prior.

The birthday celebration consists of review games.  In this way the children have fun without even realizing that they are reviewing the content of early classes and cementing those truths even more into their hearts. 

As the children enjoyed celebrating birthdays I was celebrating something even greater:  God's faithfulness and the generosity of so many.

Franklin ready to give a prize for good behaviour

First of all, the bags we hand out full of goodies are made posible by some very special people back in Virginia.  I think they will only know the impact of their kindness when they get to heaven because words themselves would never do justice.

the birthday bags full of goodies

All the goodies that go into the bags are also the result of the generosity of so many.  The shampoo, soap, toothpaste and toothbrush that we often take for granted are a rare treasure to these children. Just this morning one of our mothers thanked me profusely for the gift her daughter recieved saying it came at the perfect moment- a time when the family can't afford these "luxuries".  She tells me that her daughter was so excited upon opening her bag.  I asked her what the girl's favorite ítem was fully expecing it to be the toy--- she tells me that the girl was thrilled to recieve shampoo and asked to take a bath right away.  imagine. 

Franklin ready to play Happy Birthday

For the past several years we had a donor who provided cakes a goodies for every birthday celebration.  For this we were immensely grateful.  However, this year the donor could not continue. 

My heart was bursting with the generosity of my staff who decided to foot the bill themselves for the birthday party.  This spoke volumes to me about the kind of people we have on staff this year and I know that God Himself will reward them for their generosity.

Still, God had something else in mind.  Recently an aquaintence from the church we attend in Guatemala felt led to contact us.  She came to visit our ministry and felt compeled by the Lord to provide cakes for the birthday celebrations without even knowing our need for such a thing.

Families can't afford to celebrate birthdays.  A brithday cake is a rare treat indeed!!!!!
 

So as all around me the children laughed and shouted, celebrating one more year of life.  My heart was laughing and shouting, celebrating one more year of God's faithfulness. 

Thank you to everyone who has obeyed the voice of the Lord to give to the Little Giants on their birthdays!

The cake, the kids, and our new donor!

My Turn to Help

I remember when my life changed dramatically with the birth of our first son. 

I had never envisioned motherhood to be so chaotic!  All my dreams of gently rocking my Little one while Reading nursery rhymes or visions of my family sitting happily around the dinner table and the delicious meal I had lovingly served up somehow never even came close to becoming a reality.

I never fathomed the amount of mess one small child can make!  Or the amount of work....

I can remember going through the day picking up spill after spill, thinking up game after game for entertainment, burned dinners (or no dinners), late nights and early mornings... and beginning to countdown from the time Corban woke up from his nap at 2:30 to the arrival of my husband and HELP. 

At 5pm I called to see if he had left work.  At 5:15 I called to see how traffic was.  At 5:30 I wanted reassurance that he was indeed headed my way--- and if he wasn't in our garage at 6pm Sharp it warrented another call.  My ever patient husband never complained. 

Then suddenly the oldest was 3 and we had a newborn and the chaos didn't doublé- but rather multiplied!  With a colicky baby who cried all through the night and an energetic pre-schooler who bounced and bubbled all through the day I was once again counting down to 6pm... only this time around the countdown began at about noon.

There were days when I shed tears of joy upon seeing my husband walk through the door.  And when he was home (because several nights a week he wasn't) there was someone to help encourage the pre-schooler to eat while I nursed the baby, someone to help with the baths, someone to help with the bedtime routine.

SOMEONE TO HELP. 

But in Genesis I am told that God made Eve to help Adam.  It seems to me that I have spent a good part of my married life waiting for help to arrive.  At some point I forgot that I was actually called to help. 

So as I examined my life recently I realized that it is time to stop focusing inward and turn my focus outward.  I realized that it is my turn to help.

I began to pray in earnest about ways that I can be my husband's helper.  I began to look for opportunities to help him acheive his goals and arrive at his dreams instead of counting down for him to help me with mine. 

God is answering my prayer.

The company where my husband Works has just asked him to take over another department which will be a challenge for him.  I am so proud of my husband who never backs down from a challenge and does everything to the very best of his ability.  But this new position means a huge sacrifice for our family.  At least for a while he will most likely be coming home late, maybe several days a week long after the children are in bed.  He will likely have more work on the weekends meaning less time for us.

And so now as I contemplate what the very near future holds for us I know that I cannot countdown for help to arrive.  I am going to be facing long evenings with the kids alone.   I am going to be entertaining the children alone on Saturday afternoons to keep them away from Papi and his computer.  It is my turn to help by doing it cheerfully and making sure that my kids know that Papi is working hard because he loves us. 

It is my turn to help.  And as I am in the middle of misión teams, ministry obligations and plenty of work of my own I pray for grace to enable me to be the helper I am called to be.

New Wind in my Sails

ARRR ARRR MATEY!!!!!

Camp Sonshine came roaring in on a pirate ship this year.  The more than 100 children who attended last year's camp were eagerly anticipating this year's fun.  But the fun was multiplied as Camp Sonshine allowed an open registration- allowing new children to join our "crew". 


At CCJ / ABA we were more than willing to take on new comers, welcoming them into our Little Giants program.   I haven't Heard a final count of children in attendance, but I would say the number was easily 200 children between the morning and evening.  As this coming week will mark our first class since the camp, we know not what to expect in the way of attendence but our expectancy is high.

Lots of fun-filled praise!

Last week boasted of three fun-filled days teaching children about what is truly of value in God's eyes: Treasures in Heaven.  Each day the Pirates taught a central Bible Verse and built upon it with games and crafts. The children thoroughly enjoyed the exciting songs.  It was a time of sharing God's love and purpose with the children of San José Pinula which will not be forgotten! 

Captain José

craft time!



my favorite Little pirate enjoying his snack!

But apart from the obvious blessing of having the camp come to minister to "our" children-- there was another blessing hidden away like a great treasure stored up just for me.

The families who came were a great source of encouragement to me.  As they listened to my hopes, dreams,and challenges they were able to laugh, advise, and tell of their experiences.  I valued their words like drops of gold. 

I was also able to glimpse into the amazing heart of my staff members.  Lilian and Xiomara in particular both expressed to me their deep desire to see this ministry grow and bless even more children.  They talked of their own personal devotion to the visión and their own personal desire to help make it happen. 

 Hearing them talk and knowing that my staff is fully behind me is like wind under my wings- pushing me along. 

a time of praying for the children

So, although the past week had its moments of extreme exhaustion, it was also a time of finding a new wind to fill my sails.

I invite you to hop on board and sail along on this adventure of changing San José Pinula- one child at a time!!!!

David and one of his new buddies

What My Children Don't Know

We live in Guatemala.  My children were born here.  Guatemala is home and the way things are done here is the norm to them. 

At times I am overcome with nostolgia, wishing they could live MY childhood which was so great.  But I suppose that everyone must live their own childhood and créate their own memories. 

Still, there are some things that my children don't know.

My children don't know about orange juice and lemonaide from concentrate.  They have never seen juice come out of a can and would probably be baffled at the very thought!  To them orange juice and lemonaide are squeezed by hand from oranges and lemons bought at the market for a Little more tan spare change.

making oragne juice with Mirian- the lady who Works in our home

mmmmm, sucking the oranges is just one of the perks!

My children don't know about cheese wrapped in plastic for individual slices. But really, can you call that stuff cheese?  We buy all sorts of cheese here.  Some of it made by hand locally.  The área where we live and minister is known for its lactose product production.  And some of it we purchase at the grocery store.  But NONE of it comes wrapped in individual slices. 

I recall a visit to Virginia when my oldest son was just over two years old.  We were visiting my grandmother who had set out a good old american platter of lunch meats and cheese for making lunch sandwhiches.  When Corban discovered that he could unwrap the cheese he was enthralled by this new game.  He kept offering cheese to aunts and uncles around the table, happily unwrapping each slice that was asked for.  Some of us ended up with several slices of cheese on our sandwhiches and I think grandma ended up with no left over cheese!  Of course, he doesn't remember that.

My children have no concept of people who take care of their own households with no outside help.  they don't know that there are countries in the world where entire households are run off the elbow grease of mom and dad alone!  This is reflected in my 5-year-old's comment one day upon hearing of a friend who had just had a baby.  "Well, she will sure need to hire a nanny now."  In his world, just about everyone he knows has household help, nannies.... or both.  My two-year-old thinks the iron and broom belong to the lady who Works in our home.  He gets highly disgruntled if I touch either one without permission!

But having household help isn't all about living a life of luxury.  It is also about necessity.  Living in a land where it rains day in and day out for 7 months of the year means that someone should alwys be on hand to bring the clothes in lest they get rained on!  Having the trashman come door to door to charge each month means someone must be around to open the door.  Having no dishwasher means a lot of dirty dishes pile-up.  So basically, I need to be around to tend my own home or pay someone to do it for me.

 Also, hiring someone to work in the home provides Jobs for thousands of women across the country who would not have work otherwise.  These are women who never went to or finished school.  They are often illiterate.  They have no skills whatsoever besides being able to keep a home.  It is the upper and middle class giving back to the lower class in a dignified manner.

My children don't know about neighborhoods, parking lots, businesses and Banks which are NOT guarded by armed guards.  Watching a hired guard walk by with a sawed off shotgun or semi-automatic weapon is so normal that they notice more the ABSENCE of them.  When we travel to Virginia they always glance around for the guard tower.  They have even asked on ocassion why they see no guards in the neighborhoods. 

My kids don't know the national anthem or the pledge of allegience.  Clearly an issue I must soon address.  However, in the schools they attend they are taught the Guatemalan National Anthem and the pledge to the Guatemalan flag.  It is what they need to know in this land they call home.

heading off to the first day of Kindergarten at a Guatemalan School

My children are Guatemalan.  As much as I insist that they are American,  and as much as their Passports attest to the fact that they are American citizens, in their heart, in their home, and in their culture- my children are Guatemalan.

And this is, indeed, creating very different memories for them than my own.