The Spirit of Christmas - Day 3

Today is Give Day!
I hadn't heard of it until I started seeing posts about it on Facebook.  I like the idea though - we (Americans) have been so caught up in a 4-day Black Friday and Cyber Monday that we may have forgotten to give.
So here's the day to do it.
If you've read much of my blog, or even remotely know me, you know that my heart live in Honduras at a place called Mission Lazarus.
In a nutshell, ML serves the physically, emotionally, and spiritual needy in Honduras and Haiti.  There is so much need in third world countries that we can't even fathom here in the US.  My eyes have been opened by ML time and time again.
Today, I decided to give a random gift to ML.  I also ordered a new hat :)

If you go to this link, you can buy your own hat.  Or a GORGEOUS purse or other leather good made by Hondurans who are learning a trade in order to take care of their families.  (Great gifts!!)

You can also choose to sponsor a child or provide a sustainable gift like chickens or cows to a family in Honduras. This gift does more for them than we can imagine.  It gives them a source of food and income.  It effects more than just that family - it helps the whole community.  I encourage you to at least spend the $30 for chickens!

I'm thinking about other ways I'd like to give today.  I've said that I plan to buy local, buy small, and buy from charities this year.  It takes more time and effort, but it feels great!

Honduras Story - Lourdes

My husband and I are, by no means, professional speakers.  But, somehow, I have 2 speaking engagements the month of November!
This past weekend, we flew to Houston to speak at Conroe Church of Christ about foreign missions. While we were nervous about speaking in front of so many strangers, we are always thrilled to share our passion for mission work.
God totally took care of us through the amazing folks at that church.  We got the royal treatment - it was really humbling.

One story that came up Sunday morning is one that I want to share with you.  It's about my little friend named Lourdes.

My first trip to Honduras was in 2006.  We went to Tegucigalpa and worked with a clinic there.  Our duties included medical, VBS, construction, and food delivery.
One morning, after a rambunctious VBS experience, we loaded up the bus to head to a school for the blind.  On the way out the door I noticed a piece of pipe cleaner that had been left on the floor after our VBS craft.  I wasn't near a trash can, soI just wrapped the pipe cleaner around my finger.
When we got to the school, I immediately noticed a darling little girl with no eyes.  (I later found out that her mother had been so malnourished during pregnancy that the baby's eyes never developed).  She wandered over to me and grabbed my hand, immediately discovering the soft pipe cleaner on my finger.  She stroked the soft "piece of trash" and kept calling it a ring as she settled down in my lap for a long while.
We didn't understand much of what we said to each other, but we still communicated about the ring and her hair and the breeze - me in English and her in Spanish.
After a while, we went into the main room of the school where Lourdes settled back into my lap while most children sat in chairs at the tables.
They began to sing in the most beautiful voices I've ever heard.  Tears immediately filled my eyes.  Lourdes must have heard me crying.  She reached up and wiped my tears away - over and over.  Of course, I cried more!
Then they asked us to sing.  It was nowhere near as beautiful as their singing.  Lourdes kept reaching up and pulling my mouth to her ear.  And that little girl told me it was beautiful.  I don't know how she heard beauty in my cracking voice, but she did!
Then we had to leave.  It was awful.
First I cried.
Then I sobbed.
I didn't want to leave her.  I wanted to see her again.
Then it hit me.

I WILL SEE HER AGAIN!

We will be together again with Jesus.
She will have eyes to see.
I will have a beautiful voice.
Lourdes got me hooked on foreign missions.  I've been back to Honduras 11 times since and plan to continue as long as God allows.

 


If you'd like to be involved in the mission work in Honduras, please visit www.MissionLazarus.org
We are all called to be missionaries - I promise that you are able!

To see our talk from Sunday click here.

November 1

It's November already! Can't believe it, can you?
Last year, I did a Thankful Challenge for the month of November.  I am in a pretty thankful mood today - just thinking about all of my blessings.  I'd like to start the month counting my blessings.

I am blessed with a loving husband who works hard to provide for our family.  He leads our family spiritually and would do anything to protect us. He would give the shirt off his back to anyone in need and he sets a good example of generosity and compassion.  Love him!

I am blessed with beautiful step-daughters who let me love them and love me more than they have to.

I am blessed with parents who have always shown unconditional love to me.  There's nothing I can do to make them stop loving me - of this I'm sure!

I am blessed with the best girl friends I could ask for.  I don't know what I would do without them!

I am blessed with a sweet church family who loves and supports and welcomes without ceasing.

I am blessed with knowing what it means to serve.  I wouldn't trade anything for my experiences in Honduras.  I am thankful for Mission Lazarus and my friends in Honduras.

I am blessed with a group of children that I get to spend time with weekly.  I am especially thankful for getting to go trick-or-treating with them last night and being part of their joy!

My list could go on and on!  

What are you blessed with?

Give a Hoot - New Project

Hey y'all!
I've been MIA for a little while - traveling, getting a daughter off to college, taking care of a friend's cutie pie kids.  Writing has taken a back-burner to those things, as it should have.
But I have been busy working on a few things that I want to share; my favorite of which I want to share today!
If you know me, you know my heart lives in the mountains of Honduras at Mission Lazarus.  Our family travels there about 3 times a year and I fall more and more in love every time.  I hope to share more about our trip in July with you in a future post.  For now, I want to share an opportunity for you to help me support ML.
It's called....(drumroll, please)...

Here's how it works:

• Think of Toms or Bobs - Buy one, Give one
• I'm making one of a kind owls in all sorts of textures and patterns.
• You buy an owl (small, medium, or large) and I make a coordinating small owl toy to give to a child in Honduras.  (get it?!?!  GIVE a HOOT!!!)
• The owl for the child will be delivered by me on my next trip that involves food and clothing distribution.
• I'm really excited about having a sewing circle at church with women and girls.  We can teach the children to sew and maybe a little more than that too!  They will help me stuff and close the owls that will be delivered.  The children at church love to be part of the Honduras mission too!

My first Owl was for my daughter, a freshman in college.  I had scraps leftover from making pillows for her bed and knew I wanted to make an accent pillow with it.  That's how the owl was born!

Here is part of the clutch?/flock?/whatever a group of owls is called.  Each one has a name - and you get to name the donated owl!

And here is my etsy page, where my little friends will soon appear!  Don't forget, every owl you buy means a cute little Honduran kid gets a new toy!!!

ML Nutshell

Here's a nutshell version of the trip:

My "I'm here!" face

Friday: Woke up well before the crack of dawn to head to the airport with part of our team.  Everything went very smoothly all the way to Mission Lazarus ranch.  It's a very long day of travel, but well worth it!  I was ready to see my hubby by the time we got there!

My perspective all day

Saturday: Our first work day.  We worked at the ranch helping to build a warehouse for all of the supplies the mission uses and also the offices for the Hondurans who work there.  The weather was so mild that we were almost chilly when the breeze blew.  My hubby was in charge of wiring the building for power, so there lots of people up on ladders that day.  I had the very important job of holding the ladder. :)

Sunday: Our day off and the day to worship with our Honduran brothers and sisters!  My husband, our BFFs, and our nephew went to Cedeno for church.  I understand just enough Spanish to catch bits and pieces of the sermon.  There are a few songs that they like to sing a lot, so I was able to participate in worship here and there.  Cedeno is a small fishing village right on the Pacific Coast.  There are also many shrimp farms there.  We went to a restaurant that is right on the water and had the BEST shrimp of my entire life.  Oh, and some fish that was just barely dead!  It was a lovely day! 

Monday: This was my first day as a crew leader in Renacer Marcovia.  I've written a bit about this experience in this post. We started the day with enough food and clothing to visit with 12 families.  We finished by lunch, so my co-leader went back to San Marcos (the temporary storage in the church) and got 12 more food bags and clothing bags!  We visited 24 families in just the first day!  Usually 12 is pushing it.  God took care of us :)

 

Tuesday: Our second day in RM.  I was excited to see the same locals there - including the children.  I had a different team of North Americans with me this time, so it was fun to introduce my new friends to everyone.  The children were excited to have some new teenagers to play with as well.  We visited so many families again that day. 

Wednesday: We went to a town about half a mile down the main road from RM to deliver food and clothing again.  This time, we were delivering to people who are just beginning to learn about Jesus.  Santos spends his Thursdays going to this village to preach and then have church in the afternoons.  He takes his job seriously and is passionate about sharing the GOOD NEWS.  It was an awesome (I really mean that word) experience to witness his preaching in another language and be able to understand what was going on.  

Got my hubby with me that day!

Sweet Genesis was so sleepy.

Preach it, Santos!

Thursday: My last day with my new friends and forever family in RM and LP.  It was so hard to say goodbye to those people I had worked so closely with.  We didn't understand most of what we were trying to say to each other and we only spent a few days together, but I just couldn't say goodbye without sobbing halfway back to the ranch.  I can't wait to see them all again!

Precious 84 year old sister

Sweet man with a traumatic brain injury

Natalia!

Friday: SHOE DAY!  The whole Crossbridge crew finally got to work together that day.  We loaded up several trucks and headed for Cedeno and Monjaras to pass out new shoes to every person in the families that had received food and clothing earlier in the week.  We also had dresses and shorts that had been lovingly made by women from Crossbridge.  On the way to distribute shoes, a couple of trucks got to stop in Limon where our friend Socorro teaches school.  We had a huge surprise for her - a truck load of school supplies including TVs and DVD players!!!  The teachers and kids were all so excited.  Tears were flowing! 

Our dear friend.

Nina made a book of Socorro's son's baptism pictures.

 
I love shoe distribution because you get a few minutes of one-on-one time with the children.  They have no idea what I'm saying and I usually can't make out much of what they say, but we have so much fun!

 

 

The whole gang!  What a motley crew.

 

Saturday: Sad day.   Time to go home.  The loooooooong day of travel started before the crack of dawn.  Everything went pretty well and we all made it home safely.  We are still trying to catch up on rest...and laundry!

Thank you, Lord for your providence, your little surprises, and your sense of humor!

Mission Lazarus

I've been pretty quiet lately, mostly because of my most recent trip to Honduras. This year, we had a total of 37 people from my church on the trip.  That took a whole lot of planning!  I was there for 8 days and I've been super busy since I got back.

There hasn't been much cooking, crafting, or exercising, but I'll update on all of those things later.
For now, I want to share more about Mission Lazarus.  This is my fourth time to go within a year, the most recent trip being in March.  I shared a little about ML after that trip.  The more I go the faster I want to get back.  The people that we work with there are so filled with joy. It's amazing how much blessing I receive every time!  This trip included construction, food and clothing distribution, school supply distribution, and shoe distribution.

I had a chance to participate in most of those activities, but my main job all week was as a crew leader for food and clothing distribution in a village called Renacer Marcovia.  What  a blessing!

Carlos and his family.  I worked with him all week.

I've done this distribution before, but never with so much of the local church involved.  This was the first time I felt like we were merely helping the church - the way it is meant to be.  When we arrived at the building on the first day, I thought there must be some sort of meeting going on.  There wasn't.  They were all there waiting for us so that they could walk through the village leading us to the homes where food was needed most.  The men assisted in carrying food and clothing.  The women helped me with toys.  They knew how many children and how old at every single home - over 70 homes total by the end of the week.
The preacher preached and the villagers listened.  It was beautiful.
I feel completely inadequate trying to describe this experience.  This may be a blog that is edited over and over again as I process more of this trip.

I spent Monday through Thursday with Santos, the preacher, and his church members.  We spent the first two days in Renacer Marcovia and the last two days in a smaller village nearby where Santos has started preaching on Thursdays.  They have become part of his flock.  At the end of that week, he had the privilege of baptizing them into the family!  So many stories came from those four days, but I'll have to share them in separate posts later.

Here's what we had that week:
-over 2,000 pounds of food
-countless bags of clothes
-hundreds of toys
-zero Hondurans who were fluent in English
-zero North Americans who were fluent in Spanish
-a whole lot of choppy sentences in broken English/Spanish
-thousands of smiles, hugs, and sign language made up on the fly
-ONE GOD

We all serve that ONE GOD.

ONE GOD made all of this happen.  Not me, not Santos, not Mission Lazarus.

ONE GOD