Parties.

Well for those who don’t know. For a while I’ve been wanting to give the girls a Princess party and since I would give the girls one I would have to give the boys one also because I would want to and it’s not fair for some to have one and not all. So the planning had begun several weeks ago. It all started when I started ordered the “My Princess” boo for the girls. I wanted to do something special for them. -honda gave me the reins on this one, and we got Jorge’s permission, so I did the planning. It all came together really well. For the girls we started around 6:30 with a devotion and a story. 7:00 we started decorating the sugar cookies I made for that night. 7:30 we started a craft, all the girls got a crown and got to decorate it in their own way. Then at 8:00 we started a movie, “The little Princess”. And then it was bed time right after the movie. They did get to enjoy popcorn and soda during the movie. We all had a blast; really you can tell by the look on their faces in the pictures. The devotion was great. I had a great helper (Rhonda) I kind of gave her a little outline for the devotion and she took off with it. She did amazing. The devotion was: You take a high dollar bill and you ask if the kids want it. Well of course EVERYONE wants it, then you take it and you smash it, fold it, step on it, wipe your snot on it (funny moment) and almost anything else you want to do with it. After you do several things to the dollar you ask who still wants it. Once again EVERYONE still wants it. Well you then take it from there and turn it into a great object lesson. You know no matter what you do, where you came from, what happened in your life, no matter the mistakes you’ve made or anything else, God still wants us. We can have as few as one problem to a thousand problems in our life and God will still want us. No matter what. Rhonda might have said more but it was in Spanish so I didn't understand every word.

For the boy’s party it was pretty much the same. The boys didn’t get a crown but they still had fun. They had caramel and normal popcorn. (; It was the funniest thing, the boys were more interested in the book then the girls. Cristian, Jorge’s son and someone I asked to help out with the boys, said that the boys wouldn’t like the story so I was a little nervous about it. But they all liked it! It made me so happy. Another thing, the night of the boy’s party which was the night after the girls it was POURING rain, well Rhonda told the older boys that if they didn’t want to come then they didn’t have to. Well the oldest boy is 17 and when I heard his voice outside the door it made me so excited! They wanted to come, all of the boys were here, expect for the one that had left for the week, all the boys sat down and listened to the story and devotion, decorated cookies, and watched the movie. Their movie was “The Passion of the Christ”, which wasn’t a movie that I would have picked for a party but Jorge picked it so we watched it. Most of the older boys wanted to watch it though, so it worked out well, plus it was the Easter holiday. Most of the younger kids couldn’t read so Junior, the oldest, read the subtitles to the younger ones, it was so sweet! The boys had a blast! They all thanked Rhonda and I multiple times. My heart just swelled up so much with love. They are amazing kids, always grateful and always willing to help out with anything they can.

The parties were a HUGE success and I’m so looking forward to the next ones with them. I can’t wait.

One thing I wanted to share with you is something one of the older girls said to Rhonda and I during the devotion. Rhonda was talking about how everyone in life has had some heart-break, some pain in life, you know we’ve all had hard times. Rhonda had just got done saying that everyone in the room has had some heart-ache and pain in life, when Esther, one of our 10 year olds, said “Everyone expect you and Nicole.” Rhonda asked her what she meant and she said “Everyone in the United States hasn’t ever gone through a hard time nor had pain in their life.” I didn’t understand some of the devotion, but I understood what she was saying then and it broke my heart. She thinks that Rhonda and I have never had hard times, and I know for a fact that we’ve have both gone through a lot in life. I just shook my head no, and I said I have had so many hard times in life. Rhonda I know explained this to her well so I’m not worried, but it blew my mind to think they, these kids, these people think that we’ve never gone through hard times in our life just because we’re from the United States. It’s heart-breaking to me.

Another thing with the girls was, after the movie and when we were getting then ready for bed, Rhonda asked if they had a good time and if they liked the movie. They said yes. But some of them also said that the movie made them want a family. Well Rhonda said we are their family, and they said “No, we want our real family.” So it was a little note to self as to not watch that movie for the next parties. But that too is heart-breaking. These kids are very thankful for this place and they know that this is their home. They all call Rosa and Jorge “Mommy, y Papi.” They know that this is their family but still who wouldn’t want their real family. All these kids have gone through so much in their life. I’ve read their stories, and I know that even half of the things the kids went through I don’t know about because it’s not in their files. Can you imagine, being 7 years old and taking care of three sisters the ages of 7, 4, and 3, all because their mother wasn’t taking the proper care for them. And also being one years old almost drowning, be given back to the mother, then at age 2 be found by police, tied by the hand naked to the national futbol (soccer) stadium, be given back to the mother, then have the police pick you off the street and finally take you away from your mother. This kids all have a story, and each story will grab your heart. And make you start wondering, why these precious kids? Why any kids? Why couldn’t the parents take care of them the way their supposed to? And for those that can take care of their kids and just won’t? It makes me so upset because they won’t take the responsibility for them. But being here in Didasko is helping all the kids; they all are growing up to be great Godly kids. They are always thankful for everything God has given them and they are just sweet loving kids who are getting the proper care for them. One of the sad things is that some of these kids have brothers and sisters who aren’t in Didasko but who are still on the streets. It’s all mind-blowing. I could go on and on…

One day soon, I’ll post a few things about each kid. Some of these kids need sponsors, so if you’re interest let me know. More info to come.

But I hope you enjoy. Thank you all for your prayers and financial support. I appreciate everything. Blessings. Until Next Time.

Easter.

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Easter?

Usually it is Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets, Candy and other things that are related to the Easter “theme” people have now placed on this Holiday. Easter is here, it’s yet another year to see what you get in your new easter basket, another year that you have to help out with a Easter egg hunt with annoying children running around. Another year that you have to dye easter eggs and along with the eggs your hands and clothes, another year to have a reason to get out of work or school. Really the United States has turned Easter into something it’s not about.

Easter is about the Life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the One who died for you and me. For people who weren’t even born yet. I find that quite astonishing. God gave up His ONLY son to die on the cross for a bunch of sinners. Everyone knows the story if you don’t know it then look it up in the Bible. It’s a story you don’t want to miss out on. Go read about how one of the disciples betrayed Jesus; go read about how Peter denied Christ three times before the rooster even crowed. Go read about how much pain and suffering he went through for you. There are so many details to it all and you should know about them, even if you already know the story backwards and forwards go read it again. Rent “The Passion of the Christ” movie, it will most likely have you in tears before it’s over. It shows so many details to it all.

The United States has just de-valued Easter. We think of it as the Easter bunny! Easter egg hunts! Easter baskets filled with candy and other yummy goodies. Died Easter eggs! And more. But that’s not what it’s about. We as people in the States need to remember what it is about. Being here in Honduras has just opened me up to so much more than what I would be opened to in the States. The Easter holiday is so different here. The whole country has the entire week off for “Semana Santa”, and it is pretty much shut down. They really take time to remember what this holiday is about. Being here has just made me realize how much the people in the States have de-valued things.

We in the States, take some things and turn them into less than what they really are. So take time to remember what this holiday is really about. Sit down with your family and read the story or what the movie, take time to talk about it with you family. I’m not saying people should forget all about the easter bunny, dying eggs, or easter baskets, but people need to remember the importance of the holiday. So I challenge you to take the time to remember. Really dwell and meditate on it and ask God to reveal what He wants to you.

Enjoy your Easter break. Be Blessed this Easter, You and your family.
Until next time. (:

Dried Fish Soup.

The Honduran call this week, Semana Santa. The whole country is pretty much shut down. It’s a weeklong vacation. Well it’s tradition that they serve a soup. Well this soup consists of dried fish and some more weird things. Today I got the pleasure of enjoying that soup. Thank goodness Rosa and Jorge had some family over, so they sent the soup over to Rhonda’s house for us to eat. It wasn’t as bad as I was lead up to believe. It was a little hard to eat because I really don’t like fish but I eat it. And it all stayed down. (: so excited. It was a new culture experience for me. Rhonda and I were laughing. I don’t think I could have eaten it in front of the family, I mean I would have but it would have been a little harder to do. But God would have helped me through. Lol. I learned how to chew and swallow large amounts today, but the time I got to the last bite I was so thankful. However, I think everyone should have this kind of experience. Oh a funny story to this, when the midland group came and we went shopping right after we got done picking the group up from the airport and ate. Well in the store I meet up with Matt and Caleb who were looking at some weird looking things that smelled horrible. I walk up to them and Caleb asks me, “Nicole, what is this?” I told him I thought it was fish. I found out that day from Rhonda that I would have to eat that same nasty looking and smelling fish at least once while in Honduras. It turns out that day has come and has now past, I have now eaten the nasty looking and smelling dried fish. It was interesting along with so many other things here.



Hope you enjoyed my lovely stories. I’m not much of a writer but I know there are some people out there that like to be updated. Thank you so much for your prayers and support, I appreciate everything. Until next time.

My Shower Experience.

Okay first of all I want to tell you that the showers here are very different from the ones in the States. These showers have only one temperature and that is cold but there’s this little machine thing that you can buy and install to make it hot/warm water. On this machine you can have (you’ll see in the pictures below, from left to right) hot, cold, and warm. Well I don’t like extremely hot water and I don’t particularly like freezing cold water so I keep it on the warm temperature. The higher the water pressure the colder the water gets, the lower the water is on, the hotter it is. Well one night I went to go take a shower and I got all my stuff together and turned the water on. When I went to go get in however, the water was scolding HOT, I am not kidding you! It burned. So I turned the water back off and switched it to the cold temperature. After that I turned the water back on and it was still scolding, about that same time “steam” starting coming out of the machine. I turned off the water as quick as I could but the “steam” really turned out to be smoke. I grabbed my towel and screamed for Rhonda who was in the kitchen. She came and saw the “steam” which was really smoke because at that time it had started smelling bad. The little white hose on the machine popped off and sprayed more smoke everywhere. I felt SO bad. Rhonda called Jorge, who said to not mess with it and that he would call someone out to look at it. I ended up shower in Rhonda’s shower, luckily I didn’t break hers. I was praying the whole time. Lol Later that night Jorge came and took a look at the shower. It turns out that the shower needed to be cleaned. The pressure in it caused it to do what it did. Now I take cold showers, like a real Honduran, every time, which I enjoy after my laps around the basketball court. I just have to tell myself that, it’s the way Hondurans shower all the time. And a part of being a missionary for me is accepting and doing what the culture here does. If that’s take a freezing cold shower, then I’ll do it. And I take cold showers because I scared to break the machine again. I do think we agreed that we’re going to buy a new one, which I so happened to offer to pay. Really the machine doesn’t cost a lot in American dollars.