Week 18-Update

There are days when “Welcome to Honduras” and “This is proxy-parenthood” ingloriously combine in a miserable marriage. Last Thursday, we were met with one of those days. Without getting into much detail, after a meeting at the school and general stresses of the day, the alternator of the van stopped working, meaning that we had zero (that is zero as in zero) working vehicles. Two positives of this situation were that I survived my first taxi ride in Tegucigalpa and also learned what an alternator is and why it is so important.

It would’ve been easy to come home and just hide in my room at the end of that day. Because my new room here is kind of separate from where most of the action happens, this option was highly tempting. Thankfully, I decided to sit down with the boys and eat supper. This is not something that happens very often because, with 11 people in a house, there is not room for all of us at the table. After dinner, Francisco asked me to play video games with him. Though not well adept at video game playing, I was still able to share some laughs with the kids. Through the evening’s activities, I remembered a large part for why I am here: I love these kids.  There will be times when the problems that come with ministry seem like it is becoming a little much, but, at the end of the day, all that matter is that our boys here feel loved, can find refuge, and become men of God.

Be praying for us at MTM as group season starts. The days start early and end late. Routines are temporarily thrown out the window. Patience will be tried. But so much good will be happening, too.

Week 16-Update

With less than a week left to go before David returns, we are all still alive. That is a huge accomplishment. We are also all still talking to one another and generally enjoy each other’s company—most days. This is, in no small part, due to Alana and Carlos.  Thank God those two have been here for a myriad of reasons.

There were Parent-Teacher conferences at the five brothers’ school a couple of weeks ago. Through some miscommunication, Carlos and I both showed up. This was probably a good thing because the one teacher that I spoke to said that we could only conference in Spanish. While my Spanish has improved, I think we could have gotten little deeper in conversation had it been in English. Three of the five brothers have the highest scores in their classes. The other two are in the top five of their classes. I was extremely proud of these results. Also, being on the “parent” side of a conference is almost as intimidating as being on the “teacher” side. Yovani was just elected student-body president, so I expect all of my conferences to be in English since I am the proxy-parent of the president (now, there is some alliteration for you!).

If you didn’t catch it in the previous paragraph, I am driving some now. The last time I attempted to drive in this country, I hit a bus without leaving the driveway. There is talent and there is hitting a car without leaving the driveway! From that point on (June 2009), I refused to drive here. Even when it would have been beneficial, I refused. However, with the number of drivers down by one right now, I saw that it would be helpful if I just bit the bullet. I am still just driving very limitedly, but it’s a small accomplishment.

The house is still the house. Some of the rooms have some new paint slapped on by Antonio, Kimmy, and me, but the water still runs out, the roof still leaks, the power has started playing this new game where it just turns off in the whole neighborhood for varying amounts of time. The record is 14 hours. That was fun. However, the house is still standing. Hallelujah!

Things are moving along here without much issue (if I could find something made of wood, I would knock on it… I’m not superstitious!), but we are ready for our fearless leader to return on Tuesday.  You do not fully appreciate a person until you start doing all of the things that they used to do. I have become quite efficient in moving water from one cistern to another (note to self: add this skill to résumé). Soon, groups will be joining us on a regular basis and life’s pace will quicken exponentially. We are looking forward to that time, but for now, we are enjoying the calm before the storm.