Faithfulness

I've been home for a month now. A MONTH!

I can't believe it's been a month since I said goodbye to my "hermanitos" and headed home to the land of dairy and frozen tundra.

The return has been a little difficult. Some things I have experienced are:

1) wanting to speak in Spanish when no-body else does
2) breaking into tears when I'm driving in my car
3) crying in coffee shops
4) the desire to hear/read Spanish
5) breaking into tears during basic conversation
6) having people correct my grammar and vocabulary

However...

There is always a silver lining, and my silver lining is that God has been teaching me so much during this transition back. I've had a hunger for His Word and have been diving into the pages of Scripture. In return, God has been showing me so much lately, especially in the pages of Psalms.

Psalm 33:4

For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.

How many times do we use the word faithful to describe God? What does that really mean?

I looked it up in the dictionary.

Faithful: true to one's promises, vows, etc

Faithful: reliable, trusted, believed

Faithful: steady in allegiance or affection, loyal, constant

BLOWN AWAY!!

I was absolutely blown away by all these descriptions of God. Yes, He fits them all, but let's be honest -- how often to we take the time to give God the glory for all these attributes?

And let's apply that to our relationship with Christ. He is always loyal, steady, constant, and true. He can always be relied upon, trusted, and believed.

Where else does a relationship like that exist?
Truth is: it doesn't. No matter how much we love our spouses, parents, siblings, friends, pastor, etc, we are NEVER going to find a relationship like we have with God. We are never going to find perfection like God's. It just DOESN'T EXIST in this broken world.


So as I transition back, I am daily reminded of God's faithfulness to me. He is my constant. He keeps me steady. I can lean back on Him and know that He will fulfill His promises.

It's God's faithfulness that keeps me planted firmly on the Rock.

2011 In Photos

I've officially been home three weeks, and have finally started sifting through the hundreds of photos that I've taken in Honduras. It's brought back a lot of memories of some great times we had in 2011 and I just had to share them. So here are some of my favorite moments and memories of 2011 (in random order).

In 2011...

We found a taco place in Danli. We found out we could feed 15 people for under $25 and the tacos were FANTASTIC!

The kids learned how to swim. Once they learned, we threw them into the water...so much fun! This picture was taken at the beginning of December, it's ok for you to be jealous.

The boys taught me how to climb trees. They are still way better than me, but there's something great about picking your own mangos and avocados!

I completed a quarter of a century! I was treated to three cakes and a LOT of cards. Wonderful memories.

The kids started a band. Leftover wood was converted into guitars, microphones, and even a piano.

God spared the Villa from a nasty fire. It got close but thankfully nothing was damaged.

The girls performed a drama in front of thousands at the baseball stadium. They let me be in it too!

Carmen celebrated her 15th birthday. It's called the "quincenera" in Honduras and is a pretty big deal. Carmen is the second from left in the top row.

Teams came to visit us! We love when groups come, especially when they come from different countries. So we hosted an international fair with food from all over the world. BIG success and happy tummies.

We visited Picacho. Betsty and Haeyoung went to the States for a bit, so Marlyn and I took our kids (I had 10, she had 8) to a local park for a picnic and afternoon of fun.

The lights went out. Sometimes it was the fault of the electric company, sometimes it was the fault of the weather. We cooked outside, and learned how to do lots of things by candle-light.

We took home the prize. On my days off, I volunteered at a bilingual school. I helped coach some of their students for a big Bible competition and they won first place!

We said good-byes. My dear friend Jaime and her family went back to Canada after 10 years in Honduras. It was bittersweet.

We lost a dog and gained a dog. In January our dear dog Carl died. And then in March we brought home a new puppy who the kids named "Brownie". He is a sweetheart, but after realizing that he snored, hogged the bed, and woke me up at 4:30 for breakfast...it was time for him to find his own bed.

Angie turned 15! Angie was the first of our girls to turn 15 (on February 4th). We all got dressed up, had a fantastic lunch and celebrated her special day!

English was learned in non-conventional ways. How better to learn the names of clothing than a competition to see who can put on the most clothes? The kids loved the "fashion show" and I had a blast watching them put on ridiculous amounts of clothes!

I came home. On December 12th, the Jericho family came to the airport to send me off. It was a time full of tears and laughter (I'm sure security was a little freaked out at the huge crowd of people).

So there you have it. One year in pictures. So much has happened, so much will continue to happen. Thanks for joining the adventure.