THANK YOU A HUNDRED TIMES

Yesterday, I had the honor of doing a “home visit” for two of the children in the feeding program who will attend 7^th grade at Instituto Vida Abundante starting in January.

I have known this family for about 3 years but I have never personally visited their home.

Today the mom cheerfully welcomed me in eager to listen to my ramblings in Spanish.

She was very open and honest. We talked with no culture barrier just as two moms.

A little while later her husband woke up (he works nights so he sleeps until lunch time every day)

I have never met this man but I know the way his stepsons talk about him that he is a great man. He tells me about how only the rich studied when he was young (it isn't much different now). He said he went through 6^th grade in his village. Then his sister ended up paying for him to go to high school. After high school he wants to continue to study so he took a 10 day trip in a small canoe to the city. Then he then had to hitch rides across the country. He finally ended up in the capital about a month later. With no money he had to join the military. So for 3 years he worked in the military and saved money so he could study.  When he finally left the military he had just enough money to study but not to live on. He made friends with a man who owned a wood shop. He slept on the wood at night and the man fed him in exchange for a little volunteer help. So that is how he made it through university. After he graduated he went back to his village and was a teacher for 12 years. He no longer has a place as a teacher but he still fully believes in education. He repeated over and over how he would do anything he could to help his step sons study if they wanted to study. He told me “here (la moskitia) without an education it is like driving a truck and not know how to drive then you are bound to get into something you can’t get out of. With an education you can do anything”

 

He said “Thank you” a hundred times in our conversation.

I want to say thank you, Lord and thank YOU a hundred times!

Without the Lord and each of you opportunities like 7^th grade would not be possible for these kids. Thank you for being a part of their lives, for believing in them, and believing in Instituto Vida Abundante!  

7th grade school sponsorship opportunity

Here in La Moskitia it is a huge deal to have a education through 6^th grade. To have an education beyond 6^th grade is a rare find usually reserved for the wealthy. My dear friends at Reach Out Honduras are opening Instituto Vida Abunante this February  in order to provide private Christian education to those students  who probably would not have the opportunity to study otherwise.

We are excited that from the Kasaubilia Feeding Program we have 6 students who will be attending 7^th grade this coming school year at Instituto Vida Abundante.

Derlin, Gekdar, and Jovani were accepted in the first  round and have all been fully sponsored!

 

 

Dierlin

 

Gekdar

 

Jovani

 

Monica, Marilis, and Hardi have now been accepted as well! We are still looking for sponsors for these 3 students.  The cost is 50 dollars a month for the entire year of 2014 (January-December) Please let me know if you would be interested in helping further provide a hope and a future to one of these students.

 SPONSORED

Monica

 

 

SPONSORED

Marilis



Hardi

 

Here is a little more information on the school if you are interested in hearing more: http://reachouthonduras.org/the-school-dream-with-us/

Loving your neighbor

We have two cooks for the feeding program. One cooks for a week the other cooks the next week.

One is a woman in her 40’s with 9 kids. The most humble woman I have yet to meet. She is one of those people you just enjoy spending time around. During rainy season her yard is mud. Not just a little mud, you sink ankle deep in black mud. Around her property is a trench. She always puts a stick across for me to walk. I always laugh that I am a gringa and one day I am going to end up falling face first in that trench.  This woman always stands IN THE TRENCH to hold my hands as I walk across the stick so I don’t have to walk through the trench. Last week she was inside her house and did not see me coming. I just decided to go across like the kids and walk through it. I could wash my shoes when I got home. As soon as I walked up to her house she began to say “OHH MORGAN” she ran and got a bucket of water got on her knees took my shoes off. Then she started washing my feet. She sent my shoes off with her daughter to be washed before I even knew what hit me I was being shown all the love this woman could offer.  I kept thinking this is what it looks like to love your neighbor.

 

The other woman is a young teenage mom who lives with her aunt. She is a pretty shy girl who tends to stay behind the scenes.  She is a hard worker and will do whatever needs to be done to provide for her son. She is always willing to serve with me. When we finished serving food this week and both of our hands were disgusting.  There is no running water in their home. She runs to the well gets a bucket of water from the well. She goes to hand me a cup, I went to grab it and she shakes her head no. I was confused for a minute then I realize she wants to wash my hands for me.  Again, I was being shown all the love this woman could offer.

 

It’s a weird place to be the one serving and be served by the people you are serving.  All I have to say is I have a lot to learn from these two women!  I want to offer all the love I can give to everyone I come in contact with here.

August

Grace, DP and I traveled to the city to meet my brother and sister in law for a mini vacation and truck shopping!

 

 

 

We stayed at a hotel where the kids could swim in a real pool

 

Thanks to the generosity of many of you we were able to purchase this truck! It will be shipped on a boat and arrive around the end of the month.

 

We flew back to PL and were happy for Caleb to finally meet his aunt and uncle.

 

 

A family dear to my heart ask Kevin and Amanda to be the Godparents of their 5 kids.

 

Kevin and Amanda visited the feeding program.

 

 

new pictures

I haven't posted any new pictures of the kids on here lately.

 

Here is the clan:

 

Grace 3 1/2 years old

 

 

 

Daniel Paul 21 months

 

 

Caleb 9 months

 

 

 

A lesson on being content

Today marks 5 full days with no propane (our only way to cook), 3 days with less than 6 hours of electricity (which have only been at night), a day without running water, and 2 kids with 103 fevers this week.

This morning I woke up to one baby who had an explosive diaper in his pack n play. I cleaned him up dragged the pack n play to my back porch where I could clean it later. I got my other baby up and gave him breakfast in his booster seat at the table where he had an explosive diaper. So it is now about 6:30 I have a chair, booster seat, and pack n play on the back porch all covered in poop. My sink is full of dishes. My laundry basket full of poop covered clothes and sheets.  The lack of electricity has caused all the food in the fridge to ruin and its adding to the smell so I throw everything out.

We still have a little water outside where we wash clothes. I clean up all the explosive diaper mess, wash clothes, dishes, and bathe my kids. About that time the electricity comes on and I am thinking oh today isn’t going to be so bad. I put on a movie for my kids and turn on the pump to fill the tank so we can have running water again. That lasted about 20 minutes before the electricity was off again.

I fed my kids lunch a piece of turkey, cheese, and crackers. With no way to cook there isn’t much more I can offer them but they enjoyed it.

Then off to naps on the concrete floor because it’s just too hot to sleep in a bed today.

Grace and Caleb woke up covered in sweat so I decided to bathe them again outside to cool them down.

I am sitting there watching them play in the little bucket replaying the day and wanting to complain when Grace gets a big smile on her face and says “Mom, I’m so happy” Out of the mouth of babes right? I had to stop right there and remember how blessed we really are. There are people who are my neighbors in this town who have never had running water, propane, or electricity in their lives. These very same people are the happiest people you will ever meet.

“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.”- Helen Keller

 

This week has been quite a weekend.

I have a friend coming 2  half days a week to help watch the kids while I go run errands.  She has been AMAZING. I am so thankful for her. Her name is Adele. She just had her 5^th baby so sometimes I get to love on her little one while she runs errands in the afternoons. Adele is a go getter she sees what needs to be done and does it. I think she is half energizer bunny. If she is in town she will just show up at my house and says “Morgan, how can I help you?”  I want to be like her. I really do. How great would it be if everyone I came into contact with I said “What can I do to help?” What would it look like to really serve the one in front of me?

 So Adele was at my house this week with DP and Caleb and a woman came up asking for the American. Adele said she didn’t know where she was. Then the lady asked for water. Adele went inside got her a glass of water and came back out and said “okay ,she lives here but she isn’t home” The lady went on to tell her she was Caleb’s mom. Adele felt her out for a little while and decided she was calm so she let her come in and see the baby. Adele spent an hour with this lady she did not know. She stopped what she was doing and sat down on the couch with her. She spoke truth in  her own language and as one of her own people. Adele was able to talk freely about me, my heart for these kids, our family, and our plans. When I first got home and she told me this lady came by I was a little nervous. Then she went on to tell me Morgan it was so good.

I am so thankful the Lord made a way for me to be out of the house and these two women to be able to talk. I am thankful for the ground work that Adele layed. I am thankful that she was able to say the same things I want to say  but in a way that would be more received by Caleb’s mom.

That was Friday.

Saturday I am walking another missionary’s daughter home and this lady runs out of the park telling me to wait a minute. She is so ready to tell me whatever she wants to tell me that it kind of throws her off when I say hello. She tells me this lady is looking for me. She says she has been looking for you for a week. She says she is from Patuca. She left her number with me and ask me to give it to you.   In my mind I am thinking Grace’s birth mom (that is the only person I know from that village) So, I call this random number not knowing who I am calling or really who I am looking for. A lady answers and since I think it might be Grace’s birth mom I say "Is Carmen there? "… she replied "Yes, hold on."

So now I am on the phone with a lady I am forever grateful to. The one who gave my daughter life.  She seems excited to finally find me. She ask about Grace I tell her all about her. Then she says “and you Morgan, how are you?”

 It’s never occurred to me that she might think of me like I think of her.

 

It's looking like it might be an exciting week!

JUNE

June marks 3 years since I very first held a tiny little girl in my arms and called her my daughter.

 June brings a friend from Alabama for 10 days!

June brings friends who share a love for Honduras that spans across continents.

June we thought brought one of  my best friends and family doctor leaving but now looks like she will be leaving in July. We are glad to have her for another month!

 

 

June brings a few changes in the feeding program.  So that in July we will be eating in the new kitchen!

June brings rainy season!

 

 

 

As of this week I have:

 

A sassy 3 year old.

 

 Grace well she is just as sassy as ever and oh so funny. She's turning into quite the little mama.

 

 

 

 An all boy ONE AND A HALF year old.

 

D.P. where did my chunky baby go? He is a little boy running about and telling everything in sight "powpow" (he is going to give a spanking).

 

 

 

An on the move 6 MONTH OLD.

 

I feel like they keep growing faster and faster. I was kind of sad when Caleb started to crawl and feed himself. I wanted him to stay itty bitty just a little while longer.

 

 

 

 

 

It is a beautiful thing I get to see everyday, when the Lord sets the lonely in families.

Spring Update

It has been a while since I posted. I feel like I say that every time I post on here now.. .Sorry. Life with 3 kids does not leave much spare time to post blogs.

At the end of February , Grace and I traveled to the capital of Honduras and met a team at Forgotten Children's Ministries. I have talked about them before. Great ministry!! I knew the team leader (he was my old youth intern) but did not know anyone else on the team. I left that week with some new really good friends! I am excited to see them again next year!





March was exciting, my friend Carlie came to visit. She brought her teacher and her 2 kids. It was a sweet thing to see a sponsor meet her sponsor child in person. Grace quickly became best friends with the two little girls.

























In March we also moved into a house!







April I traveled to the States for an annual fundraising trip. If I did not get to say thank you in person please accept this THANK YOU! We are so very blessed with an amazing support family.



May I traveled to Mexico to my brother's wedding.  My family went all out making sure I had some time for myself and relaxed.  I relaxed, ate lots of good food, spent lots of time with my family, and went deep sea fishing!













I am home for a while! Enjoying some time with my babies who are growing up WAY to fast!