children's day

September 16, 2016 Sometimes the impossible is 1 oz. I’m sitting with little Edy in Hermano Pedro Privado, a private hospital in Antigua where he is spending his second night. I meant to sit with him and do homework, but so far I can only sit and stare at him. Tonight he is happy and smiles at every little sound like the rain on the windows. A few nights ago I thought I would never see him smile again.

A month or two ago I introduced Cesar Eduardo, or Edy in my blog. He came to us at two years old, and very malnourished. He has severe brain damage, including part of his brain that tells him to breath. He frequently has spasms, or cry's causing him to stop breathing for increasingly long periods of time. He has good days and bad days. This week has been bad days. We take turns up with him at night. It can be a quite night, or a night without sleep. He has grown worse and worse hence the hospital. Hospitals here work a little different, and require someone to stay with him at all times, although we would have it no other way. I’m happy to say that he has been doing better today, and this being the second night here, he may have a fairly uninterrupted night.

I mentioned the impossible because Edy may be more content, but he has no desire to eat. So we put his meds in only one once. Too many drops in his mouth spill right out, so here we sit, drop by drop as I type. And I love every second holding him here!

September 30, 2016 Edy has continued to have a number of pretty bad days, and then a few days that are not so bad. But he hasn’t had any days, like he used to have, where he would smile and laugh all day. But we still have him with us to hold and to love, and we thank God for that.

Also, today (or maybe the whole weekend!) is children’s day here in Guatemala. Everyone celebrates this by giving away ice cream, holding parades, and giving away bicycles. And our children were not forgotten. We received a 500Q donation ($60) for our children to have pizza and ice cream. So, we gathered up the whole gang, and walked to the park with two double strollers, three wheelchairs, and a number of baby carriers. The kids all got to eat ice cream (or an appropriate equivalent for those who can’t eat ice cream) in the park. More so, they got to get out of the house, and loved the sites, and the smiles from passersby. Later, for lunch, the kids enjoyed pizza and soda. The kids had a blast out on the walk, and also loved their special treat. Suffice it to say, everyone was ready when nap time rolled around!

October 5, 2016 I just had a conversation last night that brought up some things I have thought of before, but just thought I would share. It’s about the ‘good Christians’. I’m not a theologian, and I have not had a single formal bible class, but I am reminded yet again that there are actually three types of Christians, not two as a lot of people think.

First, there are the Christians by name alone. These are the ones who mark ‘christian’ under the religion line on forms, and may attend church on Christmas and Easter. They own a bible that sits on a shelf or in a drawer. They do not read the words of Christ, and they do not talk with him. These are the majority of American Christians, and they do not KNOW who Christ is.

The next two types of Christians usually are classified in the same group, and may look similar on the outside, or they may look very different, but in either case they are very different in every way internal. The second type of Christian are the religious Christians. They attend church every week, or close to it. They are often in leadership, and many are teachers, worship team members, servants in children's ministry. They tend to live ‘christian’ lives, and most read the word and pray. They tend to steer clear from things seen as sinful, and think lesser of those who participate. They tend to have a ‘bad list’ including secular music, harsh language or cursing, too much makeup, drinking, smoking, two piece swimsuits, tattoos, piercings, men with long hair, women with short hair, and more. People who do these things are seen by this group as sinful, and bad Christians, if Christian at all. Those who miss church are considered less Godly, and lesser Christians. Those in leadership are considered the stronger Christians. Pastors, worship leaders, and yes, missionaries, are seen as the the Godly Christians who never waiver. They must have a close relationship with God right?

But here’s the thing: ****religion is not the same thing as closeness with Christ.****

This is exactly the mistake that the Jewish leaders made. They were too religious for Jesus.

These Christians are still bound by the law, and they want others to conform as well. The early church too wanted to conform Christianity into a box of rules and regulations like the Judaism they had previously seen. They wanted newcomers to be circumcised, and Paul had to confront this directly. Many Christians with the best intentions are still inadvertently trying to earn their worth in God’s sight by living religiously, and in doing so have lost the usefulness for faith (Romans 4:13-17).

13 Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. 14 If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. 15 For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

16 So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. 17 That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.”[d] This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

Which brings us to the third type of christian; the friends of God. These can look a little messy, or they can look as straightforward as the religious Christians. They follow Christ through their relationship with him, and do not always conform to the religious laws of the church. These can include those who scream the lyrics to their worship songs rather than singing them. They may also be the ones who befriend the prostitutes to minister to them despite the reputation it gives them with the religious Christians. They may not fit the expected image of a christian, and they may be covered in tattoos and piercings with strange haircuts, and listening to music that is far from the songs Gaither wrote. But they may know who Christ is better than the tie wearing pastor of a dying church or the missionary who has mistaken humanitarianism as Christianity. (It is not. Giving food to the poor, and wheelchairs to the lame is not Christianity. Proclaiming Christ through these actions is.)  

So here’s my main point. Stop looking at Christians through the eyes of religion. Because that’s not it. It’s about the relationship with Christ.

Be careful to classify anyone as a good or bad Christian because you can’t see their heart. It is possible to serve the religion and not know the God the religion is based on.

October 6, 2016 Well, the stomach flu has hit the home! Out of 12 kids in the home, 10 have diarrhea to varying intensity, and 2 have vomited. Of the adults, two have been hit hard with vomiting and stomach pain and diarrhea for days, and a good number of the rest have off and on diarrhea. How exciting!

Things are a little different when children with special needs get sick. So far, those who have vomited have been able to turn their heads so that they aren’t at risk for aspirating, but this can be a concern for some of those who are unable to move. Also, cleaning a vomit covered teenager with high tone CP is a little more challenging than when one of the tiny toddlers is sick. But there are still enough people feeling well to keep things moving. On a positive note, Edy is doing well, and has been smiling a lot yesterday and today. Because he is blind, much of his stimulation is noise. Often, when someone clears their throat he will smile. Well, yesterday as Yenni was gagging and vomiting, he kept smiling and laughing at the sound! At least someone is enjoying himself!