What are you thankful for........

Just a few days ago we celebrated Christmas. One of the largest holidays celebrated around the world. It is a time of family, friends, food and fellowship. We sit around a glowing and beautifully decorated Christmas tree most likely with an abundance of perfectly wrapped presents. Not all are so fortunate to have this as their Christmas Eve or Christmas day painted portrait. In fact we have two children here in the home with a completely different painted picture of their live.

First, we have Kathya a ten year old little girl. She is one of five children. She has been with us for almost 18 months. Here is Honduras it is the time of year when most people have off work for a longer period of time. So, each year this is the time where the children can go and spend 4 day with their families. Kathya went home to nothing more than a closed in chicken coop. This is the place that she lived before moving here when she was so very sock and infested with lice. Her mom and her mom's boyfriend along with her two small siblings under the age of 3 also live. She went home to know pretty tree, no pretty wrapped presents, and probably not even very much food to eat. (Thankful that Karla's parents live just next door.....as this is where Kathya slept while away from our home). However, seeing the photo below of where she went on Christmas Eve should make all of us thankful for the little things that we have. Her home has no electric, no indoor plumbing, only a bed for her mom, and only an outside faucet of unsanitized water. At night the little tin house is pitch black. Her mom cooks all of their meals on the little fire right in front of the house. A few days before Kathya was to go home....we took her mom a box of food so that she could be sure to feed her family while Kathya was there.

You can see the little stand that I am looking at with the white kettle on top. that is all that her kitchen consists of. Not a table, not a fridge no microwave, no dishwasher.......nothing but a few pots and a few bricks and a kettle for coffee. So, this Christmas.....while everyone gets the most updated techno gifts, and new clothes......remember the small things and the things we take for granted....for these are all that they have and as you see that isn't much at all.

Christas Operation and many Blessings

We are so overwhelmingly blessed. We are so thankful for those who gave to our special request of Operation Christmas this year. Not only were we able to help 9 special friends but the kids were able to draw names and buy a gift for one of their cottage siblings. Then after that, the kids had enough money to buy a special lunch and a gift for themselves. Thanks again to all who helped make this Christmas extra special. They had a great time on the 23rd passing out their gifts and sharing them with their person. They were all excited about the things they had picked out and the things that they had received.

Life's Road Trip........a detour or a journey?

Life's Road Trip.....A Detour or a Journey....?
Many times in life we map out things in life....just how we want them to go or how we want to do them. Many people have even drawn out a map to track their journey through out life. Sometimes, we can maneuver the journey from start to finish with no problems at all. While other times we are forced to take a detour. When a detour occurs most often if ...throws us into a sheer panic....this was not planned...this is not how this is suppose to go. I can speak of this first hand. We live in Honduras and driving is a pure adventure each and everyday. Well, Taylor our 17 year old daughter and I travel to San Pedro Sula, at least once a month to do our major grocery shopping. It is a crazy drive sometimes and even crazier when you get turned around in the most dangerous city in the whole world. There are not many street signs and half the times you never know if stop lights are working or the tail lights of the car in front of you. It can be a nerve racking experience. Especially, if you have to make a detour from what you have planned. I do enjoy the journey I get to take with her each month......I said all that to talk about Paul's journey in the Bible. Paul was one of the greatest missionaries of all times and he traveled from place to place preaching and sharing the love of the Lord that he was able to walk the earth with. However, Paul's last journey he didn't travel as a missionary.....he traveled as a prisoner that was headed to Rome to stand before Caesar. Many of us might look at his life like we do a movie....."man it wasn't suppose to end like that".......look at how his ministry ended! He was in captivity, he was a bond prisoner.....but look at it a little deeper.....His journey led him to some unreachable people. I can only imagine the souls that were saved and changed in what could have been the darkest days of Paul's journey. I think about my dear friend Lalania Riley Hall who battled cancer for many years....her journey was a tough one.......but I know that on her journey she touched many lives and opened the eyes to many about her strength and faith in the Lord. Then, I think of our friends Summer and Aaron Summer Ungerer. They didn't ask for or expect the detour that they are now on in their journey. But one thing is for sure....reading Philippians 1:12 makes me think of all three of these special people. "But I would ye should understand , brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. I think about Paul and the lives he touched for the Lord in prison. I think about Lanie, Summer and Aaron and the lives that they have touched because God knew that they could handle the detour on their journey. When you are hit with a detour on your journey....don't be dismayed it might be a new road leading to a blessing that you just cant comprehend.

A Little Turbulence

A Little Turbulence
Many times we have been in an airplane. I would say that most people have been in an airplane at least once. Most of the time it is smooth sailing. You can read a book or sleep and barely even know that you are moving. Then while you are looking out the window and admiring the clouds or the empty blue skies....then all of a sudden the plane starts to shake and bump and you gra...b for your seatbelt. The pilot comes on and says that we have hit some turbulence. Life is like that isn't it? we see others in life who seem to be passing without issues our concerns...they seem steady and secure while even the slightest bump in our road causes us to be frazzled(really we do not know the hearts of others) but sometimes it seems like non-Christians have less problems than we do. The truth is ...you are probably right....but the devil doesn't need to discourage them from serving the Lord because they are right where he wants them to be. But that is another topic.....but why do we if we are Christians get so frazzled with a little turbulence? We shouldn't let Satan get the best of us. We have God on our side. The bibles says in 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all. God not only offers peace......HE HIMSELF is the Lord of peace. It is nice to know that whatever turbulence we hit in our life God is always there to give us peace and comfort

Life Isnt Always Fair..........

Life isn't always fair
Being a teacher of 15-20 kindergarten students at a time or a parent to any number of children you are going to hear these three words......:"THAT'S NOT FAIR". Maybe it is about going outside, or doing a chore, or maybe you did not give them the color balloon that they wanted. Well, truth is ...sometimes life just isn't fair. I remember when we lost our baby Zoey my heart was broken then we lost Noah.....and it was as if everyone who was not trying to have a baby was now pregnant. Life wasn't fair. We see children here everyday in Honduras who were born into homes and lives that are not fair. Lives where they may not have enough food to eat, or a roof over their head or even a bed. Life isn't fair. However, God can make anything good. You know it is not up to us to see if something is fair or not...that's God's job. God is in charge. He knows far more than we do about HIS plans and HIS purposes. Tonight, I think of our friends and team mates Jon Stammen and Sarah Stammen......they were in an accident on Thanksgiving night. It was clearly not their fault.....the situation that they are in right now is so unfair. The people that caused the accident are trying to push everything onto them and make it their fault. This again is so unfair. But we must not forget it's not about fairness.....its about our trust in a faithful God who knows what HE is doing. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the ROCK, and HIs was are perfect and He is a God of truth. From our point of view life will never look fair.....but when we put our trust and faith in Jesus Christ, we will always know that HE is faithful....so tonight I ask that you help me to pray for Jon and Sarah and this situation that OUR PERFECT GOD.....will let the TRUTH shine tomorrow at their meeting.

feeling very Blessed This Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We actually celebrated twice. The first was on Thanksgiving day where we celebrated with our team here in Honduras. We had a great time sharing laughs and good ole food around a large table of our fellow friends and family serving the Lord. There were 4 couples and lots of children...plus one winter intern. The next day we celebrated with our cottage family. We had the whole Thanksgiving meal all over again. The kids all loved it and it was so sweet to hear what they were thankful for. We even used our pretty white plates for a special lunch! Here are some pictures from our day.....

Blessed Beyond Belief......

We are so blessed. We can not even begin to explain it. we have been blessed and in ways that you just wouldn't believe unless you seen it with your own eyes. Since the milk donation we have been blessed at least once each week. This week was no exception. Food is one of our largest budget items for the month. It usually takes about $1,800 a month to feed us all...this includes diapers, toilet paper and such. This week we had a huge blessing. Wednesday and lawyer that we had met through Mr. Braun along with his partners sent us an email on how they could help the home. We gave them a few items off of our prayer board. Milk, cheese, meat, fruits. What we received was way more than we could have ever expected. We received almost $600 worth of blessings. Here are just a few pictures to share with you.

Block by Block Project....

We are still praying for the funds but excited to hear that so many are participating in trying to help collect the money for blocks. We have heard of Sunday school classes, Junior church classes and even churches we do not personally know. God is so good to us. We are hoping in this week or so to start getting the trees out of the way to do the wall. It has been super wet here as we are in "rainy season". It makes things a little tough outside. We were also blessed with a church that just donated $1,000 to buy 1,000 block. We are so very excited to see how the faithful servants of the Lord help the Lord future HIS ministries. Thank you to all who give and who have gave. We can't do it alone and so we are so grateful that you are all helping us achieve this wall for the protection of the home and church.  Thank you so much to all who give to help protect us.

Giving......vs. Receiving.....

  Since we answered the call to serve the Lord fulltime the Lord has never stopped blessing us or our ministry.  He never ceases to amaze me at how HE works. Recently, we have been blessed and it is just perfect at how if you give....God will give back to you more than you gave out. A sweet little lady that just started coming to our church gave us some milk Sunday morning. This is not just any ole milk. She had gone out and milked the cow herself and then boiled it and poured it in a Pepsi bottle. There was almost 2 liters in the bottle. We brought it home and put it in the fridge. Sunday was visiting day for most of the children and they were to return at 5:30. Kathya walked up with her mom and baby sister and her little 2 1/2 year old brother was at home. I knew her mom did not have any money especially after Kathya had been there for the day. I also know that milk is a treat for her little boy as she doesn't have the money to buy it for him. So, I went to the fridge and took out the bottle of the milk we had received and gave it to her. Now, I want you all to understand.....I know that we need milk....we go through 12+ cases a month totaling about $300 just in milk a month. However, I also know that the Bible says that you should give....if there is a need. Well, we gave....and you can not give without God blessing you in some way. Yesterday, a man from our church walked up to the door with 2 GALLONS of milk in his hand and said he just wanted to bring us some milk. WOW!!!!  I wrote about that yesterday to say that you can never out give God. However.....HE really wanted to make us see that.....HE will provide it you trust HIM and if you are kind to others and show mercy, love and grace. Yesterday afternoon, a car slowly drove down the path to our house.  I wasn't sure who it was. However, she was another member of our church. When she got out of that car.....in her hands were 2 MORE GALLONS of milk......not only did she bring us milk, but she brought 10lbs of rice, 10lbs of beans, spaghetti, tomato paste and even a special treat we had been praying for ICE CREAM.  God is good my friends. It is so amazing to see how he uses people here and in the states to met our needs. We can't do it by ourselves. Everything that we have and everything that we receive is because of people who give....give without thinking twice about it. We always pray that those who give to us or our ministry are blessed 100 fold for their giving. We know that you did not have to give. However, I challenge you all who are reading to give.....and if you tell someone that you are going to give to them...be sure to do it. You want regret it...the Lord will bless it and you.

It's days like this...................

Last week we had a young mom walk up on property. She had three small children with her. One of them a little blonde hair boy....he could so totally pass as mine as his hair color is the same as mine. most of the time when children have this color hair it is from lack of vitamins and nutrition. He was adorable. Then, she proceeds to ask if she can place her children here. She has the little boy who is about 2 1/2, then a little girl who is 15-18 months old and then a little baby girl in her arms.  I begin to tell her that at this time we just do not have the space for another boy. We already have 8 and we really have 1 room that should only have 5 in it. The twins are already living in our family area and are with us all the time. This will be hard on us for sure if they ever leave as they have been raised like our own children. Anyway, she begins to say....."can you please just take the girls". I being the adult....being the mom of the house have to look at her and tell her....."we just don't have the space." I tried to just be friendly and play with the baby. I asked her what her name was. She replied; I have not yet named her. (she was 4 months old). My heart broke....thinking that this cute little girl didn't even have a name...I said, what about Sophia, or Elizabeth or I don't remember what other names I threw out that were very girly. She then replies with; "sister if you take her......you can name her whatever you want"! I wanted to grab that baby and just cry. My heart as a women...as a mother just broke into and she is not even mine. It is day's like this....I don't like the decisions that have to be made. We don't like having to turn away the innocent babies who have no options. It is days like this that make us heavy hearted and sad. It gives us more of a burden to help the children. I do not know what the future is for this little girl and her siblings. Where will they get their next meal....where will they sleep.....what will this desperate young mom do?  Will she trade them off or will she give them to anyone willing to take them? These questions have all raced through my mind. I ask that you please....please....... please PRAY for the Lord to touch a couple's heart to answer the call to missions. There is no reason to even start another cottage unless we know that someone is willing to come. I know that we serve a mighty God and HE answers prayers. I believe that with all that is within me that HE has touched someone's heart already.....it is just this couple has not yet answered. WHO WILL GO........WHO WILL COME.......WHO WILL say LORD HERE AM I SEND ME.......If you are a Christian today.....I want you to think of your life and how your Christian life began......you should be Thankful that someone answered that call and obeyed the Lord.....because someone obeyed......you are where you are today. If God is calling you to do something don't wait until it's to late to let HIM use you.  It's days like this...............................

Feeling a little Safer.....

It is so amazing to see how God answers your prayers. With the crime rate increasing and a soccer field in the works for the neighborhood next door we have been a little more weary about not being protected. However, God has used wonderful people to contribute to the block by block project. We are pleased to say that we now have a huge gate and a corner wall up. So far around 400 blocks have been used in this project. Thank you all who pray for us, give towards this ministry and always encourage us. We can't do it alone and we know that God will take care of us and sustain our needs. Thank you to those who have given to the cause of the Lord.

 

Block by Block Update......

We are excited to announce that the gate for the back-side of the property has been started and should go up this weekend or the first of next week. The men from church along with Hunter and Mark have started the prep work for the corner side of the property wall as well.Here are some pictures of our progress. Thank you so much for giving to this cause on top of giving just to support our daily needs of the home. May God bless you all and may we glory the Lord with all that we do for HIM.

1st Day of School Photos!

We started school on Monday. Here are the pictures from our very 1st day!

Taylor



Sthefany

Anthony

Belkis

Carolina

David

Daython

Elvin

Hunter

Valeria

Kathya



Josiah

Junior

Kevin

Who would have thought............................

WOW! Who would have thought that you would grow up, get married, have a career, children and then move to another country. It is amazing the journey that God has given us. Five years ago today God guided us on a new path. as we set out and moved to Tampa, Florida.  Neither of us had ever lived in another state and so far from our family and friends in North Carolina. Then, we moved to another country....where we could not speak the language. He blessed us there beyond belief as we not only learned Spanish but he gave us yet another miracle. He gave us our 7th baby...Micah. Then, we packed up again and headed to the states for just a few weeks before we made our final move to El Progreso, Honduras. What an adventure and what a story to tell and to share. We are so thankful that God has given us this opportunity to serve HIM as we help the children of Honduras and the people here as we let our Light(the Father) shine through us so that others may come to know HIM. We are thankful that we have now been serving the Lord in fulltime ministry for the last 5 years. Thank YOU Lord for such an awesome honor and privilege. We look forward to as many years as God allows us to have. Thank you all for your love, prayers, support and encouragement the last five years. As our Pastor back home says: Keep on Keeping On for the Lord......we plan to do just that!

leaving NC .....a tough day but a sweet day

our new home for the next 9 months in Tampa

our growing family in Costa Rica

Our even bigger family in Honduras

THANK YOU LORD FOR A WONDERFUL FIVE YEARS!!!!!