January 10, 2015
Hello friends,
I'm on my way!
I am writting this while sitting in an airport in Atlanta, where I am finally on my way to Guatemala. As you know, I have been trying to get to Guatemala for nearly a year and a half now, so this moment has been long awaited. I am eager to begin working with the team, and meeting the children. I want to tahnk you for your help because we are a team. I have been so very blessed that God has placed this calling on me, and given me all the right open doors to come. Praise God who sees the deepest desires of our hearts and answers our cries. Our God is faithful.
If you have ever driven any distance, then you know what a sight it is to watch the miles roll past your window. I love Ohio because the endless fields allow for a view miles and miles off, sprinkled with trees and crisp straight rows of corn. This morning I had the privilidge of watching that countryside fade into the distance from far above. I do not think that beauty could ever become mundane. A patchwork quilt of varying shades of white faded into the dawn. God makes some pretty crazy art.
Well, I just wanted to share that thought, and I am sure I will be sharing many more in the days to come.
Blessings from the air!
January 15, 2015
Good morning,
I am feeling both very happy, and very drained. I think it is a combination of a busy week and visiting HP.
Oh what a hard place that is to visit. I believe that HP is the one place which God used the most to show me how much He wants me here. It breaks my heart standing there, holding little Guatelupe, whose body is so contorted and retracted that she will never sit normally, and who smells of urine because she was so wet that it had soaked through her diaper, and pants, and through my own pants while I held her in my lap (blessed by holy water as Daryl would put it). This child cannot speak, and she cannot walk or even sit on her own. She spends most of her life in a cage of metal baren metal bars that some might call a crib. She may have a family that visits every once in a while, or she may never have known what a family is. I imagine she has quite the heart wrenching story too. But whatever her past, today she lives alone in a metal cage lined up tightly in a room with 20 others more bent and broken than she is. Her future is not bright. It is years of lying alone in this cage in a wet diaper being fed from a bottle though she looks to be a teenager (it is so hard to know ages when malnutrition has left a mark stunting growth from an early age).
But she is precious. She is a beautiful child of God. In my lap she smiles, and is full of contagious laughter. Her belly deep laughs bring life to the whole place. She laughs so hard and loud that I am sure the whole ward must break into laughter as well. I certainly can't help it! Guatelupe knows the joy of the Father, even in this hopeless place.
This is why God brought me here, to meet Guatelupe. To know her. To love her. To learn joy from her. God loves her desperately. His heart breaks for her, even more than mine. He brought me here to hear her laugh.
I would love to show you a picture of her, but we are not allowed to take picture in here. But I will show you a picture of another little girl. Her name is Alejandra. She is 12 years old. She cannot talk, and she cannot walk. She is very stiff and must wear a bib all the time because to catch her drool. When she eats she drops a lot and makes a mess. She wears a diaper, and is wheelchair bound.
Here's the difference.
Alejandra lives in a home based on sharing Christ's love, and not an overly crowded institution. She has a motorized wheelchair which gives her mobility and freedom to roam the house. She She is a messy eater, because she has learned to feed herself and encouraged to do so. She wears a diaper, but it is clean and dry because she is helped to use a real bathroom through patient and loving arms. Alejandra is highly intelligent with bright eye. She looks forward to school with a passion, and it brings out a smile. And oh what a smile! She could melt the coldest heart with her smile. Alejandra lives in a home with a family. She gets real meals, brushed teeth, decorated hair, and many kisses. Each day, while she is not exploring in her motorized wheelchair, she is held, and played with. She loves her purse and play tea parties. She receives physical therapy daily which eases stiff limbs. Alejandra is a blessing from God and I love her. Praise God for the blessings he gives us, and these incredible children.
After seeing this difference, I cannot comprehend how so very many children are still living in places like HP. God has always had a special place in His heart for children and orphans. In the last week before leaving for Guatemala, a and a number of people ask me why I didn't try to help closer to home before coming all the way to Guatemala. Looking into Guatelupe's eyes, how could I not come? So I think to them I would answer, you help closer to home. You make the difference where you see the need here. Allow those whose hearts have been inexplicably drawn to places farther serve there.
January 19, 2015
So, after one week, I have a small idea just how busy life here is. I have been helping in Hogar de la Esperanza, and learning about the children here. They are beyond precious. In the coming weeks I will be reviewing the medical side of the home, and beginning work with the four wheel drive teams to the villages. As for right now, there is a brand new baby arriving at the home today. We were already full, but after hearing about a severely malnourished 10 month old girl weighing 8lbs, we are about to become even busier.
January 22, 2015
Rosalinda is the newsest member of the family. She is 10bls 11 oz, and very long. I would attach a picture, however I am entirly inept with technology! She has large and beautiful eyes and a tiny precious face. She also has a fantastic set of lungs that she uses to cry and scream most of the day. Please pray that God would help her have some peace, and the rest of us rest easy.
May God's love be with you!
~Katie~
--after His heart--
