Christmas reminders of hope

Corinthians 13New International Version (NIV)

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Because I don’t think we read this enough.

November 28, 2016

We temporarily lost our sanity.

We decided to take the kids to see a movie.

So today, we took 12 children with special needs, an additional 3 fulp kids, and 10 adults into Guatemala city, into a loud and into a crowded mall. We took three vehicles, 6 car seats (two children rode secured in their wheelchairs), 10 wheelchairs strapping some on the roof, and others tightly packed into the truck.

One van leaked a lot of oil, and one child leaked a lot of vomit. Somewhere around 4 or 5 kids cried during the drive, and one squealed like a banshee. Bottles were fed in a movie theater. Children were carried into and onto toilets, while others waited in line for the bathrooms’ fold out changing tables. Strangers smiled and pat some heads. Others just stared.

Our kids looked at the great displays at the mall, and enjoyed the elevators and escalators. Even Yenni tried the escalator, and after an initial discomfort after nearly doing the splits, she smiled and enjoyed herself.

The movie theatre had no handicap spots for wheelchairs, so our children had to be lifted one by one into the chairs. Once the advertisements began, everyone was in awe at the enormous television they saw. Incredibly, none of the kids had to leave the theatre! Yenni was on the edge of her seat nearly the entire time. Some kids slept, but most stayed attentive the entire time.

By the time we got home it was a quick unload of kids, wheelchairs, and diaper bags, fast supper, meds, diapers, and off to bed after a really long day.

December 13, 2016

Today another little coffin was buried. This one was for Selvin, a six year old by who lived with his family in La Gomera. Selvin had a congenital defect called Pectus Excavatum, which means essentially that his ribs grew inward leaving a massive inward dip on his abdomen. This is a problem because when his ribs grew in so much there was not very much space left for his heart, lungs, and other organs. For Selvin, this meant very frequent upper respiratory infections, and other pulmonary issues. When we last visited on Thursday, the 8th, his family told us that he was in the ICU with pneumonia, and was awaiting a blood transfusion.

We also learned Thursday that doña Concepcion, the mother of Maria who also lives in La Gomera, had died 15 days earlier. Just 5 days after our previous visit. She had diabetes and very high blood sugars, topping my meter’s range. She had been taken to the hospital for her high blood sugar because the family had run out of insulin, and a few days later she died in the ICU.

And then we have had some real scares with our Edy this week.

Sometimes this really stinks.

We’ve lost so so many people, and children.

I’m so glad it’s Christmas time. There is no better reminder that Christ came into this broken and dying world to seek and save those who are lost. Today Selvin hurts not more. Praise God! The Christmas story is an incredible reminder of what a great hope we have. But it was only through His death that we really gained life. God uses the most inconceivable things to draw near His children. So surrounded by death in this world, we hold tight to the hope that is life through the death of Christ.

December 15, 2016

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I’ll just share some photos of the festivities!!