Back in Honduras

So I’m here again…. My stay at home was a little longer than I had anticipated but I’m finally back. Fundraising didn’t go as well as I had hoped, my grandma was doing bad, I wanted a little longer with my nephew, and so on. The reasons for my extended stay at home seen endless now but at the time I remember feeling so torn as I longed to see Izzy, my kiddos, and all those other faces I’ve gotten used to doing life with. Yet here I am again… back in this country that I now call home. The plane ride back went smoothly. (thank you Lord) On the first flight I got to sit by a sweet family from Northern Ohio. They asked questions and showed lots of interest in the work I do here. They were encouraging, kind, and just flat out fun to sit by. They blessed my heart more than they probably know. Yet even with their kindness I found myself much more weepy than I normally am when returning to this country. For whatever reason I found my eyes wet more than they were dry. I know that part of it was the fact that I had said goodbye to my nephew for the first time and by the time I return he is going to be HUGE. Yet I know the other part was that for the first time I wasn’t flying back and going to straight to Casa. Normally I am weepy as I say my final goodbyes but am fine as I step onto the plane because I know that plane is going to fly me back to my kids and a whole different people group that loves and depends on me. This time as I boarded the plane I knew that it would still be awhile before I got “home.”
Sam and I are spending 3 weeks in Yamaranguilla. It is a tiny little village in the Northern part of Honduras. Mami and Papi (Gina’s parents) have a ministry up here. Friends of ours (Joanna and Keith) usually oversee the project but they needed to head home to be there for the birth of their grandbaby. Therefore, Sam and I are filling in for them while they are gone. There is a children’s home on the property, a building where they hold church and other events, and other such buildings. We are staying in Keith and Joanna’s house with two kids that they are working to adopt and an 18-year-old girl who chose to move in with them once she got old enough. There are 6 children in the orphanage that stole my heart within minutes. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for kids… they are my passion and it is their little brown faces that keeps me coming back to this beautiful country. So it wasn’t too surprising that I hit it off with these kids so quickly. Yet it is different. Maybe it was the knowledge that I wasn’t just spending a couple of hours with them but would instead be investing in their worlds for weeks …. Whatever it was I latched on and became attached in the deepest places of who I am.