A Visit with Dad

Rob is in Guatemala on a mission trip. Yesterday, he and the team he's with spent the afternoon at REMAR visiting Geovany and the other orphans. It was a tough day for everyone, but especially for Rob and Geovany. It usually takes Geovany about 3 or 4 hours to warm up to us when we first pick him up. Until then, he's almost in a shell. A defense mechanism, I'm sure. Well, the sum total of time Rob had at REMAR was about 4 hours, so he never really saw Vany come out of the "shell". Rob said he got a couple smiles, but nothing like what we were able to experience in November.

Before going to REMAR yesterday, the team attended a Nazarene Church in Guatemala City. The text for the message was Hebrews 12:1-2. They also sang the hymn "It is Well." As I think back on that, I can see God's hand all over that service. I'm sure it wasn't designed just for Rob, but I know God had Rob in mind when He planned that service!

Rob's Dad is part of the mission team and he was able to meet his newest grandson for the first time. I haven't talked with him, but I'm sure it was a moment he will treasure.

Please continue to pray that we will see some actual positive movement on Geovany's case. There really hasn't been anything in a long time. While we've been told that the investigation's court plans to release the case, we've also been told that they won't do so without a judge's signature. The judge was supposed to sign December 5th, but didn't. Then, he was supposed to sign two weeks ago, but didn't. Who knows what the hold up is...okay, the obvious answer is, God does...but I'm struggling with that again. I just want that little guy home!

Tonight, as my husband ministers to the Guatemalans in the Coban region, I'm a little tired from mothering four precious children without him; I'm missing my hubbie; I'm missing my son. Yet, in the midst of all that, I'm a living testimony to the fact that God's grace is sufficient for each day and He gives me what I need to accomplish the tasks set before me. But, like Nathan, I'm counting the sleeps until Daddy's home...only 6 more!

Blessings,

Amy

Operation Zapatos

Tears flow. Tears of gratitude to so many who gave so much. Tears of anger that Geovany isn't home yet. Tears of sadness because my heart hurts for our son and for the hundreds of other children cared for by REMAR who don't have a family waiting for them.

We challenged our church family to be a part of a shoe and backpack drive for the orphans at REMAR. To look beyond their own needs, which in some cases are great, to see the needs of some children in Guatemala. Never could we have imagined what God would do with that challenge. In a matter of weeks, we collected 180 pairs of shoes, 128 backpacks, over 500 pairs of socks, over 600 pairs of underwear and 2050 pencils.

Last night, as I stood in my family room, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of what had been given, I struggled with being angry at God. I looked at the pile of shoes and held a pair in Geovany's size and wondered if these shoes would be placed on his feet. And my heart hurts. I look at the pair of blue cowboy boots and I wonder which child, in their heart of hearts, may have asked God for those shoes. And the tears fall. I have no doubt that God is going to work through these gifts to encourage souls, to remind these children that He does see them, that He does hear them, that He has not forgotten them.

This morning, I read these words, "As for me, when I am poor and in heaviness: Thy help, O God, shall lift me up. I will praise the Name of God with a song: and magnify it with thanksgiving." Psalm 69:30-31. In singing and praising and thanksgiving...on days like today, when I am feeling heavy...when I feel like I can't go one step further...His help lifts me up. I am trusting that will be true...as I pack the boxes, and prepare to send off my husband and 17 team members...in singing and praising and thanksgiving.

Blessings,

In Due Time

"...while they were there, the days were fulfilled..." Luke 2:6

I'm thinking on these words today, as the new year begins and we eagerly anticipate what it might hold. What will be fulfilled this year, in God's timing, in accordance with His plan? Will we welcome home Geovany? I want this year to be about more than just the waiting for the fulfillment of that dream. Each day has a purpose. Each day brings me closer to Christ. Each day...

Just my musing for today as we continue walking this road. Sometimes its feels as if I'm just literally putting one foot in front of the other.

Rob is preparing for a 10 day trip to Guatemala. He's taking a team of 18 people from our church. They'll be spending several days in a chapel factory, helping build chapel structures and then several days in Coban working with a local church. They will also be spending an afternoon at REMAR, conducting a VBS, playing with the kids and delivering literally hundreds of shoes, backpacks, socks, underwear and pencils. The outpouring of love from our church congregation for a group of orphans in Guatemala is overwhelming. What a beautiful testimony to what the body of Christ can do.

Because the items going down can't be in packages or look like they're for resale, our family spent an afternoon taking underwear and socks out of their original packaging, balling socks and pulling tape off the girls underwear (if someone could explain to me WHY women's underwear is packaged that way, I'd certainly love to know!!).

Blessings,