The Rains Came Down and The Floods Came Up
I was asked the other day why I don’t walk around taking pictures of things in Gracias. The answer is two fold. I don’t take pictures around Gracias because this is my town, my neighbors, the people I live along side. I don’t want to be seen as a tourist or embarrass the people of Gracias. The second reason is because it all seems very normal to me now. When I walk with people who don’t live here and I begin to see the odd things all over again but usually seeing 4 people on one motorcycle just seems normal. That being said, sometimes we have experiences that are not normal- even here. Today was one of those days. We were in town running some errands and the rains came down and down and down. When it rains a lot the streets turn into a little river but I still needed to go to the store. Emma and I ran from one store to the next in the little river through town and then suddenly I realized I was missing something. The river had torn the bottom of my flipflop off, leaving only the part that goes between my toes. Did I chase what was left of my shoe down? No. Did Shannon chase it down for me? No, he took my picture.
Blessed
I always know that I am blessed but sometimes I feel it more. This time was because of God’s care for Emma. She has been running fever for about 3 days now but our choices for medical care are pretty limited. Most of you know of our experiences with the hospital and so you know that we REALLY don’t want to repeat those. Also, the doctor, Melissa, who has done house calls for us the last two years moved back to the capital city. However, just as Melissa moved God brought Alemar into our lives. He has become a good friend of ours through a series of events. Alemar works as a microbiologist in a private clinic here. He attempted to do lab work on Emma today, while she kicked and screamed (literally). Then he decided that since he didn’t want her to be upset he would prick her finger and try the test that way. He charged us nothing for all this drama. Then he called Melissa with the lab results, tracked down a doctor to exam Emma and went with us to see her. After we were told what medicine we needed, he went to the pharmacy with me to get the medicine. Emma has to have a follow-up blood exam tomorrow but Alemar, along with the whole clinic, is leaving for Guatemala tomorrow so he is coming to the house at 6:30 to take her blood, run to his lab and test it all before he leaves at 7:15. He will then call Melissa and the other doctor with the results to make sure they both agree on what to do. Yep, I say that God not only is taking care of our needs but has blessed us with Alemar and great medical care, far beyond my expectations.
Samaritans Purse
We had participated in Samaritan’s Purse shoeboxes for many years while living in Texas. Our children always filled shoeboxes for kids their own ages and then we would pray over them. This year we were on the receiving end of the boxes. A crate came to Gracias last week for the local churches to hand out. Our family helped a church called Rio de Dios or River of God. Emma and Tyler were able to hand out boxes to kids in our neighborhood. It was so cool to see their little faces light up and to see how excited they were about pencil sharpeners and suckers. School starts in a couple weeks for the public school kids so they were all very excited about the school supplies. Before handing out the boxes the church had a service for the kids. They sang songs, taught a lesson and ate cake. All the kids also received a pamphlet about having a relationship with Christ. I don’t know how many of you participated in this project this year but please know that it was a great blessing not only to the kids who received the packages but also for our family being able to give them out.
Nathalie’s Dad
I am not even sure how to begin this blog as so many thoughts are running through my head right now. I guess let me begin by asking for prayer for Nathalie, her sister Allison and her mom, Brenda. This is the same Nathalie that many of you prayed for when she went to Texas for medical treatment. This morning, Nathalie’s father, Cesar had a heart attack and passed away. He was very young and in great health. This was very sudden and unexpected. Cesar was so very different from the vast majority of men here in Honduras. He worked hard and took pride in being able to care for his family. Even when they went to the US for medical treatment Cesar paid as much out of their own pockets as they could because he did not want to take advantage of anyone. He loved his daughters and helped care for them more than any other father I have seen here. Every night it was his job to put them to bed and to lay with them while they fell asleep. He came to every parent/ teacher conference and helped with homework in the evenings. This same love carried over to my children. I give full credit to Cesar for Tyler gaining confidence in Spanish. He worked with Tyler this summer and then every time we went to their house to eat, he would walk around outside with Tyler and patiently help Tyler, speaking slowly and playing whatever Tyler wanted to play. I am so thankful for all that he did for Tyler. He also had a deep love and respect for his wife. They did everything together… everything. This will be so hard for Brenda so please pray for her. This family has been such good friends to us since we moved her. We have eaten together many times, my parents stayed at their house when they came last time, they brought me medicine yesterday because I lost my voice, they have showed me where to shop, where the best doctors are and how to cook here. I guess what I am saying, is that we lost a really good friend today- one of the few we have here, one of the few who has wanted our friendship and asked for nothing in return. Please pray that God gives us wisdom in how to help this special family and pray for peace and strength for them.
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