God is my homeboy part 2

So I promised that there would be more to come on our crazy adventures so here it is.....

After we slept the night away on those amazing beds we got up the next morning and started our day off right with one of the most amazing breakfast bars. I am sure however that we looked like we had stumbled in drunk the night before needing a place to sleep and had slept it off. Then got up the next morning, put on the same clothes, pulled back our hair, and walked out of the hotel looking very much like we hadn't had anything with us. Oh and I should mention that we were staying at the Marriott under a missionary discount. I'm sure they were thinking...yea right they sure look like missionaries. After that amazing breakfast we went back down to find Gracie and see if she would maybe start today. We just needed her to get to the mechanics.
So we prayed our way down the elevator and into the car and guess what...that's right she started. We weren't sure how long she would last but she started. So first things first we drove her to the car rental place and got another car. We didn't want to get stranded and figured as bad of shape as she was in the repairs would probably take longer than just a day. So yes we rented a nice truck that Jen has fallen in love with for sure and headed to the mechanics. Did I point out that since Jen was driving the truck that meant Deborah was driving the van. This was only her second Honduran driving experience but she did great! So we get Gracie safely to the mechanic only to find out that they not only couldn't work on her that day but also that we couldn't leave her there for the night. Which meant we had to figure out another place in the city to leave her since there was no way she could make it back up the mountain.
We decided our best option would be to park her at the airport and pay the money so we headed back toward the airport. Jen led the way and we continued to pray that we would just make it to the airport. Well we made it to this big hill between the airport and the mechanics when Gracie decided she needed a break. I mean seriously this car picks some great spots to break down. First the speed bump and now this....she needs to work on that for sure! So there we sat. 3 gringos broken down in the middle of a busy Honduran highway. If you think people never stop to help in America they most certainly don't stop to help in Honduras. I kid you not at one point a car went around us on the RIGHT side. They had 2 tires up on the curb and the other 2 tires on the road. Talk about impatient. They didn't even have an off road vehicle...I mean seriously. So we sat and waited and I was praying like mad that she would cool off a bit and then get her butt up the rest of that hill because the way I looked at it my back side had yet to see that drivers seat and there wasn't much chance they were going to let my first experience be while they both pushed! However, I needn't have worried because after about 10 minutes or so of holding down that piece of road on that ever so busy highway Gracie decided she was cool enough to move on. So we continued on and finally made it to the airport. We had gotten right to the little ticket booth thing at the entry way of the airport when Gracie died yet again. This time she wouldn't click, turn over, or anything. She was dead. So of course we have a huge string of traffic behind us going beep beeep beeeppp BBBBEEEEEEPPPP! Like that was helping anything. I seriously sat there praying that God would disable every stinking horn in this city. People here need to learn to use their horns in moderation.
So back out of the van I went. However, I'm happy to say that this time about 10 men came over to help push. I choose to believe that they would have been just as eager to help had we not been 3 American women in need of some assistance. So we pushed Gracie the rest of the way and then were forced to leave her unlocked with the windows down because we seriously had not power. Nothing...nada...not a thing. OK so you get the point. However, I wasn't so concerned with leaving her unlocked. I was actually hoping that someone would come in the middle of the night and take her apart and sell her piece by piece. Needless to say my prayer wasn't answered and the next morning she was right where we left her. Still as dead as ever.
We had to coast her back out of her parking spot and then push her to the top of a hill with the hopes that by the time she got to the bottom she would have started. Thankfully she did or that busy intersection that we had just pushed Jen into would have gotten real scary real fast. So she was up and running again and with Deborah back in the drivers seat we were headed back to the mechanics. We made it all the way this time with no problems....well except for the time that Deborah and I almost missed our exit and had to cut some people off. Don't worry though because upon Deborah's request I stuck my arm out the window and gave them a perfectly clear signal that we would be turning to the right. Yes of course we had a perfectly good turn signal that we could have used to get that same point across. However, apparently in a panic Deborah's first reaction is to scream "put your arm out the window" and I was only too happy to comply. So yes we made it to the mechanics in one piece and Deborah and I glad handed over the keys and joined Jen in our nice new Toyota.
We went back into town to run some errands and accomplish some things that might actually leave us feeling productive before returning to the place to see if Gracie was fixed. When we arrived they informed us that it would only take an hour more and she would be done so we decided we were perfectly OK with finding other random errands that needed to be run while we waited on her. However, we made it back to the place just in time to watch them pour a bottle of coolant into her and then watch it promptly flow right out the bottom of the car. Apparently they had missed the part where we told them she had a problem that needed fixed and had only cleaned her out or something. Who would know. So after examining this new found problem they came to us and let us know that they needed a new part to replace the old one. Now this is the part that I find amusing. They informed us that we needed a new part and then told us where WE needed to go to get it.
This definitely wasn't like the states where they either have those parts on hand or order them for you. So ok we were fine with having to go get the part until they mentioned that we had to go to the one part of town that we have been warned to never go. However, not really having any other options but to get the part, we decided to take Gina with us for directions and headed out anyways. We made it there and back safely with the necessary part and sat waiting for the car to be done. Once they had the correct part it really didn't take them long at all. However, when they finished they informed us that they had only fixed part of the problem but we would have to take her somewhere else to fix the rest of the problem. Oh yes and again...we couldn't park our car there over night.
So we headed to our other mechanic in hopes that they could fix her and at least let us park her there for the night. However, when we got there the gates were closed and no one was around. That clearly wasn't going to be an option. With few others choices we headed back to the airport to leave her for the night. We made it up the big hill and through the ticket area with no problems and bedded her down for another lonely night in the city. Friday came and we found ourselves back in the city dealing with the car. This was day 4 of dealing with Gracie and making that trip to the city and back. It was getting quite old. So we got Gracie from the airport and headed to Baxter where we were glad to rid ourselves of the problem and hand Gracie over to Timo. Who by the way called today to say that she is fixed. A mere 24 hours after receiving her he has managed to have her fixed. So we will go into town today I am sure and bring her home. Lets just hope that is where the adventure ends. Let me explain for a second just why I ended up with the title of "God is my homeboy." I kept saying that the past few days as God would work yet another thing out for us. He seriously watched over us and got us to every place we needed to go. We were never stranded and things could have gone a LOT worse than what they did. It is times like the past 4 days when God's presence is undeniable. So many things just kept happening. We would pray to make it to the Marriott and die in the driveway. We would need to push Gracie up a hill and find 10 men eager to assist. We needed a room to stay in and even though they were all full they some how found us a room. It worked out too well to be anything other than God. He truly did have our backs (and our fronts as Deborah would say) the past few days.

Family Visit

On the last Friday of the month we load all the kids up and take them into the city. However, it isn't for some fun day out it is for a scheduled family visit at the state facility. Today was one of those days and the entire trip into the city I was praying for the day that was to come. We have 3 sets of kids 5 brothers, 2 sisters, and then 2 sisters ans a brother. Out of the 3 families we never know just who will be there for the visitation. The mother and brother of the 5 boys is there faithfully every month and the mother of the 2 sisters is there off and on. However, the mother of the other 3 has never been there and will probably never come. Needless to say it isn't much more than a guessing game of who will show up. Well today we had the girls mom as well as the boys' mom and brother but as usual that was all. So for 2 hours our kids played and spent time with their families. Even though I had asked questions and prayed for what was ahead of us I hadn't realized how heart wrenching the day was going to be. Not only was it tough on the kids but it was tough for us adults. I stood and watch a mother who was no older than I savor every second with her 5 and 2 year old children. I watched my 5 boys be reunited yet again with a mother and brother whom they love so much. It just wasn't fair that because of bad decisions and the unfortunate hand that life has dealt them that these kids were being robbed of a normal life. That they came once a month to spend time with their "families" only to be pulled apart after 2 hours so they could return "home." I saw the affects it had on our kids. The pull the felt between wanting to be with their moms to wanting to be near us and the safety we provided. I had not been prepared for how hard it would be to watch them with mothers who wished they could have done better and kids who wished the same. As hard as the visit was nothing could compare to sitting in the back seat of the car watching a mother with tears in her eyes as Cindy and Marjuri reached there little hands out the window crying out for their mom. I know that they are better off with us but part of my heart broke for the mothers that so desperately wanted to spend more time with their children. I was reminded at how blessed I truly am. I was raised by two of the most amazing parents in the world. They instilled in me qualities that I could care with me for a lifetime. They loved me and protected me and always were there for me. I'm thankful for that but too often take if for granted. These kids are definitely blessed as far as being here. If they weren't here who knows where they would be. However, it is so sad to see them in such termoil over the pull of this life and the life they long for. I am split between selfishly hoping they never leave this place and a desire to see their families get things together so that they can take them back. For now I will be content to pray that God's will be done and that the kids can make it through each visit.

God is my homeboy

So I debated for a long time just what I was going to title this blog. It had to be something appropriate that would allow everyone to immediately grasp an idea of what lies ahead for them in the blog. Lets just say that some of the other thought up titles included The Death of Gracie, Living in Honduras 101, The 3 stooges, Always be prepared, and many others. However, no matter how appropriate the other ones seemed in the end they didn’t give enough glory to God for getting us through the past few days. Life in Honduras can be said to be a lot of things but one thing it is could never be called is boring!
It all started on Tuesday when Deborah, Jen, and I decided we were going to take advantage of our night off and head into the city for dinner and a movie. We were also going to attempt to run a few of the errands that needed done so that we wouldn’t have to spend the next day in the city running around but instead could tackle the work that needed to be done here. So we jumped into our wonderful van Gracie and headed to town. We hadn’t even gotten 10 minutes from the house when we heard a loud pop. Then about 5 minutes later our van began to smell like a smoldering camp fire and I was sad to have to tell Jen that there was smoke billowing out all around her. At this point in the trip we are thinking of all the things that it could possibly be as we pull into this tire place where there are lots of guys who know at least something about cars. Now I know what you are thinking… “oh that’s good at least they were near someone that could help them.” Wrong. Just because I say tire place and guys who know cars doesn’t mean that they will know how fix the problem.
Furthermore, let me clarify that when I say tire place we aren’t talking Firestone Tires or Michelin Tires or any other nice big commercial tire place. We are talking good ol’ fashion Honduran style tire place. Meaning it was run down. It served as a business as well as a place to lie their heads at night. (most of you know that as a house) However, beggars can’t be choosers and we have been to the place before for other small problems. Let’s just say we aren’t strangers to the world of broken down cars. So we move from the front seats of the van to the back seats and wait as the men begin looking at the engine, radiator, and whatever else is down there for them to look at. They then decide it would be a good idea to dump some water down with the hot radiator to cool it down faster. Of course anyone that knows anything about cars knows what happens next…. water starts boiling and popping everywhere and the steam is rolling. Needless to say we took that as our cue to step out of the van and continue our wait by the road while they finished whatever it was they were doing. By the time the men finally straighten from their hunched over positions around our car the looks on their faces said it all. We knew even before the owner of the place came to tell us that we wouldn’t be able to drive it any farther that the Gracie was in bad shape.
However, telling us that news didn’t do anything for us. I mean at this point we are 15 + minutes from home and 25+ minutes from the city. Gracie is our only means of transportation so we can’t call home for someone to come and get us. It isn’t safe for us to start walking and we have all been told that white people should never ride the public bus. To top that all off our mechanic was in the city and we had to find someway to get her in there to be worked on. So we were sort of out of options. Seeing no other choice we decided to go against their very adamant advice and attempt to get the car to the city anyway. We figured our only other option was that bus we had been warned not to ride and the closer we could get to town with Gracie the better off we would all be. So we climb back into the van and all began praying our way down the mountain.
As this is all going on we began talking about what our options were. There weren’t going to be any mechanics open at that hour of the night (it was only 6) but there was no way Gracie would make it back up the mountain. So our options were starting to look like 1. Stay with the Kluges or 2. Get a hotel room. The first option might have been the better options had it not involved Gracie having to climb the mountain on the other side of town. So as we were getting to the outskirts of town we began to smell that funny burning scent again and lets just say we weren’t in a part of town that you wanted to be breaking down in at any time of the day let alone the evening hours. We began to pray even more fiercely and that we would just make it to the Marriott which was in a safe part of town. As we were passing the Marriott we saw a tour bus out front and Jen thought it would be best to at least go in and check if they had rooms available for us to even consider as an option.
We had no sooner pulled into the underground parking garage when Gracie decided she couldn’t move any farther. She was dead for good this time. Since we couldn’t just leave her in the middle of the road Deborah and I climbed out and began pushing the van. Let me just paint you an even better picture…2 white girls standing behind a big ol’ 15 passenger van pushing it the rest of the way to its parking spot. Better yet Gracie decided she would get a few laughs out of the sight of us pushing her so she died with 2 wheels on one side of a speed bump and 2 tires on the other side of the speed bump. Therefore, we couldn’t just push her lightly in the direction she needed to go we had to rock her back and forth and back and forth a billion times before she finally went up and over that pesky little yellow bump.
Somewhere in the midst of all that pushing Deborah looks over at me and says “yep of course we are pushing our car through the parking lot of the MARRIOTT!” All these nicely dressed men and women were walking around us or driving by in there brand new SUVs or whatever cars while we were pushing ol’ Gracie to her resting spot. All the while a security guard is standing watching the entire thing making no attempt to help us other than to point to an open parking spot that we could park in. Thanks a lot! What a help he was and then we have Jen who is in the drivers seat clapping her hands yelling mas mas mas mas out the window with a big ol’ grin on her face. She now claims she was being “encouraging” and “cheering us on.” Next time I think I’ll let her be the pusher and I’ll try that position of “cheerleader!”
So we finally get Gracie settled into a parking spot and decided that we needed no other sign from God we were seeing about getting a room in the Marriott. The entire way to the elevator and up to the front desk Jen and Deborah are convinced that there would be no rooms available. However, me being the optimist that I am keep informing them that God has taken care of us so far he WILL get us a room. So we go to the front desk and ask for a room only to be told that they have nothing open! So much for my big ideas.J However, he told us if we waited a few minutes he would talk to the head guy and see about cancellations and such. So we gladly took a seat and waited on our answer. When we went back up to check about the room situation imagine our surprise when the did indeed have a room. We weren’t asking any other questions we just took the keys and headed upstairs to make our next plan of action. Seeing as how it was a Tuesday night and all we were determined that somehow we were going to find a way to watch American Idol.
We had a plan of action made and we headed for a restaurant for dinner. We had carefully chosen a restaurant (Tony Roma’s) that was very close but that also had a television on which we could watch American Idol. We were just finishing our food as 8:00 hit and our waiter so graciously changed the channel for us so that we could feed our American Idol addiction. We must have looked like quite a sight as we sat with our eyes glued to the screen and straining to hear the singing because it wasn’t long before a different waiter walked by and turned up the volume for us. Content to settle in for next hour we moved to a table even closer to the t.v. and sat in awe as the newest season of American Idol happened before us. Again I can’t imagine how funny we must have looked. I mean we were 3 American women (the only white people in the entire place) sitting for an extra hour in the middle of a nice restaurant completely done with their meals but enthralled by the television. The manager kept coming by giving us looks like he wanted to tell us to get out but apparently Jen is some kind of a regular in this place and he knew better. (or so she says) All while everyone else in the place seemed to be throwing us looks that said… “You’re rich Americans go buy yourself a t.v.!”
So once our show was over we got up and headed to the Movie Theater across the street. It seriously was just across the street but we some how managed to be in the middle of the road at one point with cars coming at us in both directions. It was enough “to make our armpits sweat!” We made it to the theater just in time to see the last showing of Step Up. I had forgotten how much I had missed going to the movies and now have a new appreciation for that sweet pleasure in life. Once the movie was over we found ourselves back on the street and looking for a taxi…and oh did we find one. Lets just say we made it the two blocks to our hotel in record time!! However, we did arrive safely and went back up to our hotel room.
Let me remind you that this wasn’t a planned stay at the Marriott so we had NOTHING with us at all. We had to sleep in our clothes, we had not toothbrushes, we had nothing for our hair, etc. This didn’t stop us from going straight in and getting cozy on the most amazing beds we have ever slept on with pillows and comforters that melt around your head and body! I got the best night of sleep I have gotten in forever…really seems like forever too because we have had some sick kiddos that have kept me up a lot of nights lately. I want to add though that aside from the incredible beds we had a fun girl’s night. We ordered room service, watched t.v., laughed until we cried, and simply enjoyed our night out. Oh and I can’t forget to mention that I got to take a BATH for the first time since leaving home. We were spoiled. It also needs to be said that Deborah actually called the front desk asking for “house pants” seriously house pants. She apparently thought they might have some down there for us to borrow for the night. Jen and I were on our cell phones at this point and had no idea what she was doing until we over heard what she said to them…we then promptly lost it! However, they did thankfully have toothbrushes and toothpaste for us to use.

This is by no means the end of our adventure but I will have to tell you about the rest of the week later…so stay tuned. TO BE CONTINUED!

School

SO ....Mario, Marvin, and Yovani started school last week. Originally we thought that we would have 6 kiddos starting school this year. However, due to age problems and such we only ended up being able to send the 3 oldest boys this year. The rest will have to wait until next year to start. The 3 boys are loving school. They get up way early in the mornings and can't wait to get those uniforms on. Which by the way they look so cute in. Let me also tell you that seeing them look so grown up and heading off to school isn't so easy for these mothering hearts. I was up with the one morning this week helping them get dressed and listening to their excited chatter about their excited chatter about the day ahead. Marvin was sharing with me about Yovani's new girlfriend and Mario was talking about his teacher. Jen also shared how the day before Yovani had given her a kiss goodbye when she walked him to school but he first looked around to see who was watching. AND so it began...they start having girlfriends and being embarrassed to have "mom " around. It was then that I was struck by how grown up they seemed. Then as they walked out the front door and I shouted out one last "I love you" and heard those little "I love yous" come floating back as they sprinted across the driveway my heart was pulled by the many emotions swelling within it. They change and grow so much each day that there is always so much to watch in their little lives. For those of you that have children I finally understand when you say that they grow up so fast. Hug your little ones a little tighter tonight because we most certainly have a death grip on ours!:)

Electric

So for the past 3 days the electric here seems to have decided to play a game of hide and go seek with us. It started Saturday morning when I woke up to my first rainy day since arriving in Honduras. It rained most of the day and dipped into what I now consider "very cool temperatures." The wind was howling and the sun had disappeared. There were times when I really thought that our tin roof was going to come flying off to leave us exposed to the world and everything mother nature had to offer. It was just crazy. I mean to be 90 one day and like 50 the next made me feel like I was back in Ohio. It was most certainly too cold to send our already sick kids outside to play. So we spent a miserable Saturday locked inside the house. The kids act as though it is about 20 below and at times I would like to agree. So they walked around the house in their long pants, sweat shirts, socks, shoes, and yes even their tabogans!

Then sometime Saturday evening it happened...we lost electricity. It was still out when we woke up Sunday morning and would remain off until early evening Sunday. However, our joy of having it back on would be short lived as it promptly went right back off only a couple of hours after being on. This time when it went off it stayed off until mid-day today. Then when it finally came back on it played the flickering game for the rest of the day just enough to keep us all crossing our fingers it wouldn't go back out for good again. I tell you this not for sympathy because that is the last thing my overreacting emotions need to be playing off of. However, I want you to grasp what we really have been dealing with the past few days. As we belly ached and complained our way through the hours of darkness I realized how pathetic we are. Somewhere in the past years we have forgotten how to do anything that doesn't require electricity and seemed helpless to entertain ourselves and live life without such a luxury. All I could think was "I have so much to do this can't be happening right now." Instead of complaining my time might have been better spent in other ways. Also I began to think of the darkness people experience in life every day. We all have walked through times of darkness and for a lot of us our instant reaction was to complain. We cried out to God and said why am I here and when will it end. We said this isn't a good time I can't deal with this now. We were so busy begging to be back in the light and living the life of ease that we missed the point of the darkness. We missed the lessons that could have been learned. Instead of spending my extra undistracted free time with my bible and journal in hand I opted to sit on my butt and complain about what was going on. I was so worked up about not having electric that i couldn't even enjoy the few moments of peace and slow paced living that it brought with it. So I challenge all of you to in your moments of darkness don't cry out why now but instead see what you can learn from the darkness and move on.

Pampered

So this past week has been one for being pampered and spoiled. It all started on Tuesday when Jen and I went into the city to stay the night with Melissa and Randy and their two daughters. Let me start by saying that they have a BEAUTIFUL house with an even more gorgeous backyard. So almost as soon as we arrive Melissa informs us that there is food on the stove for us. She had kindly made us an amazing home cooked meal complete with monkey bread for dessert. So after we filled our tummies it was time to settle into there nice leather couches and fix our eyes on their big screen t.v. to watch the real reason for our visit...AMERICAN IDOL. I don't watch a lot of t.v. even while at home but I do love my American Idol and hadn't realized how much I had missed the luxury of being able to watch. So we cozied in and watched to catch our first glimpse at America's next idol. After the show was over we promptly watched two movies back to back before deciding it was time for bed. I awoke the next morning and had the privilege to shower in a real shower. Now don't get me wrong I am not complaining about the showers we have here because they are great. I'm just paying tribute to a shower that tops all the rest I have taken since getting here. After spending a little bit longer than normal in the shower I spent a little time out back in the garden catching a few moments of tranquility with my Savior. For a few moments while we were there I could easily forget that I was in Honduras and instead felt as though I were back in the states visiting old friends. When we finally left Jen and I spent the rest of the day in town running errands and such. It was a good way to start my Valentines Day and as most of you have read it just continued to get better from there.

So as if that wasn't spoiling enough today just happened to be Karen and Jen Arnold's birthday and to celebrate we took them to the Marriott for some spa treatment. I sat in an overstuffed chair with one women giving me a manicure ...and yes another women giving me a pedicure! (for those of you who don't know I HATE FEET) The thing is we..and by we I mean Jen because I don't speak enough Spanish yet.... had told them I wanted a manicure. Well they got me all set up and such for the manicure when in walks another lady with the tub to soak my feet in. Before I could do/say anything she had picked up my feet slipped off my sandals and set my feet into the warm soapy water she had brought. So I went through with it and even with my foot phobia even found myself relaxing enough to enjoy the fact that after a month of walking around with gross feet from being here my feet were once again soft and clean. Talk about a week of pampering! It was much needed though and I would say even well deserved. However, after all of it all I can think is ..."man I could never do pedicures for a living!"

Family Night - Valentine Style

So our second "family night" happened to fall on Valentines Day. I was in charge of planning the lesson and activity. So since my church family had send suckers, cookie cutters, and Valentines Cards from our kids back home I decided that we would use those supplies for our night of fun. After our time of singing and what not I handed out the Valentine Cards from the little ones in my church. Even though there were no names written on the cards I stood and called out each of their names and then presented them with a card. The looks on their faces as they heard their name called and the sound of their shouts of joy were enough to bring tears to my eyes. They so enjoyed receiving those simple handmade cards. When the night was over they took their cards and stuck them in a special place. Some placed them under their pillows while others placed them in their box of stuff in their rooms.

After that we took the homemade heart shape cookies and decorated them with all kinds of fun colored icing. Once the kiddos had spread the icing all over not only their cookies but also everything else within reach the focus turned to the lesson of the evening. The lesson was on how different God had made each of us. We are very much like the cookies we had made and decorated. When looked upon from the outside we all looked different and unique. However, on the inside we are all made up of the same stuff and God loves us all the same. I'm not sure the kids quite grasped the whole meaning of the lesson being taught but I found that if nothing else there was a valuable lesson in those words for even me to learn. It doesn't matter how much money we have or what kind of clothes we are having. It doesn't matter if we have a terrible haircut or are carrying around a few extra pounds. No matter what we look like if you were to crack us open (ok not such a pretty picture but stick with me) and look at the core of who we are you will find that each of us was made in the image of God and He loves us all equally.