Not Everything Goes as Planned...

I’m so sorry everyone that I didn’t post anything yesterday—life here has been pretty chaotic as of late!  Each day seems to be filled with new demands, new surprises, and new opportunities.  I’ve gotten lost and un-lost in San José, I’ve answered calls and emails, I’ve designed a newsletter, I’ve conducted interviews, I’ve played soccer, I’ve not gotten lice (praise God!), I went roller skating, I created a homemade video, I participated in more meetings that I care to count, and I’ve also eaten more soup than I care to  think about.  And I’m sure there’s plenty more I’ve simply forgotten to mention J 

Last week, Lent started and the community here at Casa Adobe wanted to do something to honor this time as well.  After much discussing (and maybe some gentle arguing) we came to compromise: we would all commit to eating only soup for dinner.  And since three of us living here are vegetarians, the soup we make needs to be meat-free.  So why did we choose soup of all dishes?  Soup has a beautiful way of bringing many, sometimes differing, elements together into one pot and, after much simmering and stirring around, the end result is a delicious dish.  We hope that this blending and coming together may be symbolic of what our community here feels during this time of lent.  It’s going to be challenging but also fun, seeing how many different types of soup we can invent J

Showing the kids their video :)

And now to the biggest event that happened (or didn’t happen) this week:  Yesterday we were supposed to have our first big meeting with a local association, something like a town meeting, where we would have presented our project (remember the one to fix up the local soccer court?) and hopefully gained their support.  The plan was for the kids to do all the talking, to present their side of the story, share why they’re interested in working in this project, and ask the community representatives if they would commit to supporting their efforts.  We even spent time this past week filming the kids and the court, including actual game shots as well as personal interviews of several kids as to what changes they’d like to see and what problems exist right now that need to be addressed.  The final product was pretty inspiring and I am so proud of how involved the kids were in making it.  So, we went armed with our 5 volunteers (ages 7 to 15), a poster we all made, an outline, and our cherry-on-top—the video.  Unfortunately, as we were walking to our meeting, we found out that in fact the association was not going to be meeting that night and we weren’t really given a straight answer as to why not.  We heard several guesses—the president was at a concert and therefore couldn’t attend, the association was in legal trouble and meeting with a lawyer—but who really knows where the truth lies in this situation.  So, after all our hard work, a monkey wrench was thrown into the mix.  Now we must learn the lesson of patience as we wait to hear when the next meeting will be.  Please keep us in your prayers as we continue working on this project with the kids and with the community.

 I also have to apologize again—I will not be able to post anything for the next two weeks as I will be out of the country.  Rachel, Guissell, Jim and I will be traveling to Honduras for a conference being held there in the capital Tegucigalpa.  This conference is going to be half spiritual development and half work/meetings.  Rachel, Guiss and I will be participating as best we can, offering our input as observers and sharing the experiences we’ve had thus far in our community organizing project with the kids.  Us three girls are also going to stop and stay a few days in Guiss’ hometown in Nicaragua, to see her family and the place where she grew up.  In all, this trip should be an intense time filled with making new friends, traveling to new places, learning new things, and growing in our walk with God.  Please pray that our energy will not run out and that our patience and optimism may be never ending.  Stay tuned!

Ups and Downs

The wind rushes at my face as we go higher and higher, glee filling my heart and all I can do is smile.  Today is a good day.  And then we get to the crest of that hill and see nothing but air below us, and the pit in my stomach suddenly grows.  I’m falling and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.  Just hang on tight!

 

This is what this past week has felt for me: a rollercoaster designed with hairpin turns, break-neck speeds and heights to make you shiver.  I feel as if I was laughing and then crying within seconds of each other… I’m still trying to get over such a disorienting emotional time.  Here, let me explain a bit.  So, first, Rachel and Ruth flew to Tanzania, Africa last Wednesday which left me slightly more in charge of the office than I was before.  Challenging but a welcome challenge.  Everything was going ok with minor mishaps here and there (like my debit card suddenly not working, but that’s fixed now) until Friday morning comes along.  I find out my dog died the night before.  Crushed, I felt utterly crushed.  I know, K.C. is just the family dog but still, she was a pretty amazing dog and we didn’t really realize it until she was gone.  Needless to say, I started off that day rocky and when everyone else in the house was having such a great day, it was hard for me to deal with it.  Let’s just say I didn’t feel like playing soccer that afternoon.  Then Saturday came and I was invited to the girls’ all-school picnic.  It was a blast!  And I got a nice sunburn too out of the deal.  And Saturday was my little sister’s 21^st birthday (ok, she’s not so little anymore) and it was hard being away from her and not being able to share in her birthday surprises.  We did get to Skype though, so I can’t complain too much.  Sunday I went to church with one of the kids we play soccer with and that was super interesting—a charismatic church with lots of singing and dancing and praying over one another.  I may or may not have felt extremely out of place but they still made me feel welcome.  We’ll see if I work up the nerve to go back J  And then yesterday, I needed to buy our bus tickets to go to Honduras for a conference and the bus agency was giving us a hard time.  As it is, we need to spend two extra days in transit because all the direct tickets were sold out.  So, more changes in planning to account for.  My brain is literally on overload.  And I'm still trying to deal with the death of my pet.  Ahhhh!!!  I feel fit to scream sometimes, let me tell you.

 

And through it all, God gently reminded me that I was never alone in all this, that I’d be a fool to try and rely on my own strength through these trials.  And I was the fool.  I felt weak because I was weak and didn’t call on God to renew me and lessen my burden.  I tried to take it all upon myself, tried to handle it in my own way, not realizing that I was pushing away God’s hand of healing and of peace.  I stumbled and instead of grabbing His hand to catch my fall, I braced for impact. 

I just want to share with you a passage from Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling because it really spoke to me: 

“Bring me your weakness, and receive My Peace.  Accept yourself and your circumstances just as they are, remembering I am sovereign over everything.  Do not wear yourself out with analyzing and planning.  Instead, let thankfulness and trust be your guides through this day; they will keep you close to me.  As you live in the radiance of My Presence, My Peace shines upon you.  You will cease to notice how weak or strong you feel, because you will be focusing on Me.  The best way to get through this day is step by step with Me.  Continue this intimate journey, trusting that the path you are following is headed for heaven” (February 4).

 
Please keep me and my family in your prayers as we deal with the loss of K.C.  Please keep me in your prayers as I learn to lean on God and his strength and not on my own.  Thank you everyone and stay tuned!

Soccer!!

Gol!  I have to say, I never thought I’d like playing soccer so much.  For one thing, I’m terrible at it J  And secondly, I’m not very good.  But, graciously, the kids don’t care that much.  They simply enjoy being outside, spending time with their friends, and playing a fun game of soccer with whoever wants to play.  We have kids anywhere from 8 years old and up, with Rachel and I being the oldest on the field but not by a lot.  This past week, we dedicated time each day to go play soccer with them, a treat for their last week of vacation before school starts.  Nearly every day, we had 15 plus kids show up!  It was a racket, let me tell you!  And, yes, most of the kids who showed up were boys.  A few girls’ interest were perked when they saw us girls playing but they were too timid to join in the game.  So, we set aside a day to play with just them, to teach them the basics and to play a game without the boys bugging them.  It was so fun to see them running around, learning how to kick the ball and how to keep it away from their friends.  In all, playing soccer has been a great bonding experience for all of us who play.

The Court

There is a plan though.  We love to play soccer, of course, but that’s not all there is to it.  The court is in pretty bad shape with holes in the surrounding fence, metal rods sticking out every which way, the concrete is wearing away and the loose parts cause slips and falls constantly, the court itself is not of proper size (it’s more of a square than a rectangle), and we keep losing our balls because the fence isn’t high enough to keep them in the court.  In all, playing here is fun but at times dangerous.  We’d like to change that.  BUT we don’t want to be the people who make that change for the kids.  The plan is to work WITH the kids to make this change happen.  With the kids we’ll plan events for fundraising, for petitioning the government to step in and be responsible for fixing it, for coordinating meetings with local government representatives, for raising awareness, and whatever else needs to happen.  We want to build up the kids’ capacity to enact change, to have them believe that they can be agents for change, that they can make things happen.  We’ll walk with them along the way, but this is to be their growing experience. 

We have no idea how long this is going to take us.  A few months, a year, maybe never.  But our goal is to see it through until we can help out no longer.  Please keep this project in your prayers as we endeavor to empower these kids to enact change in their community.  Pray that we don’t lose hope, that we persevere when times get tough, that we keep our motivation going no matter what.  Pray that these kids will learn all they can, that they will embrace this project, and that they will enjoy helping their community.  Stay tuned to hear more about how this project unfolds!