update.....

Sorry it has been just a long time since I have been able to upload a blog and give you all some information of what I have been up to these past couple of weeks. The internet here has been very sporadic so I have been unable to spend an ample amount of time on the internet in order to upload this blog. A lot has happened in these past few weeks, so I will do my best to update you  J

Well it is currently mid February… lets see. We currently have 14 female volunteers here, all living under one roof. Plenty of time for fellowship and community, it is a hug blessing to have such good family among the volunteers here. We have all been assigned to daily responsibilities in different yards, working with different people. I have been assigned to the Big Girls yard, some of my duties include, set-up/clean-up before and after meal times, checking the house for cleanliness, and combing through the girls hair each evening for lice. I love the older girls, they are a little tough and the dynamic is much different than trying to get to know the younger kids, but I love them. They are wonderful girls who just want another friend and who have amazing stories to tell and beautiful lives to live. I have made really good friends with a couple of the girls, others I am still working on, but I know God is control of all my relationships here.

I am working through a little bit of a cold right now, some sort of allergy, and/or allergic reaction. I woke up with my eye swollen, just as I had before, with a spider bite,  however this time I believe it to be part of my sickness. It’s nothing I cant handle, but it stinks having to sit inside and hear all the kids playing outside from my window, I just want to go out and play with them, but I know that I need to stay healthy, so I am doing what the doctor ordered. I also just recently got through a parasite cleanse, 3 days, and I am parasite free. That was no fun to have a bug growing in my belly; this may be too much information, but my body literally, before I completed the flush, had not flushed anything out of my body, besides peeing only twice a day, for a total of 8 days. It was rough. But as I said I am healthy now and going full throttle. Just the average cold and allergies for me.

Dr. Don Reynolds and his amazingly large team are here for the month of February. They are amazing, such a blessing to every single person here. They cook 3 large American meals a day, which we, the volunteers, are invited to every meal. Its so funny because they offer us such large portions, but because we are use to such small portions here, it is hard to eat all the food, my stomach has shrunk, so I get so full quickly, which is a good thing, I think. Anyways, the team does a lot of rebuilding here at the orphanage. They do dental work for every kid and staff an volunteer member, free of charge. They also play with the kids and give them tons of candy, which of course spoils them . They are really just great people to have here, unlike any other team that comes though.

Um, I’m not sure what else to write currently, this is harder than I thought. But I want all of you to know that I truly appreciate your prayers and support. It means a lot to me to know that I have family and support back home. I miss you all so much and I pray for you all often. God is doing such a great work in this place and in my life. I am learning the language, being able to understand and communicate more with the kids. I am growing in my relationship with Christ, in that I can see Him more and more clearly displayed in every aspect of my daily life. I am blessed to know God and to be learning and growing in Him. He is the only thing and person and God I can rely on, He is my rest, my strength, my joy, my ability, He is everything to me, and I love that I am being able to recognize and move forward in that. Its just wonderfully amazing and beautiful. I love this place, who God has made me to be in this place, what God is doing in this place.

I love and miss my family, of course. My beautiful mother who is my best friend and the woman I want to be and I couldn’t live without, I miss her so much, her wisdom and her beauty and her love and her presence. My father who is my rock and my confidant and my go-to guy for anything, I miss his understanding and love. And my brother Jonathan, who is such a blessing in my life, my buddy, my gift from God, I miss his smile and the time we spend together. More so than just the individual things that I miss about them, I miss them just being around and they’re embrace around me. But I am so happy to be here with God, I wouldn’t trade this time for anything. But I often think of my family who helped to bring me to this place in my life, this place in Honduras, and the place I am at in my relationship with them. God has blessed me thoroughly, and I would be a fool not to see it and say it.  I love you guys J xoxoxoxo

Well I think this is all I have, and I promise to do my best at keeping you updated and letting you know how things are going.  Bye.