A picture speaks a thousand words

The last time I physically saw these friends was July 17th, 2013 when I left their apartment in Bogotá, Colombia to head to the airport with my two sons to finally bring Juan David home to Texas. They had graciously let the three of us stay with them for the final week of Juan's adoption process when our AirBnB rental time ran out after 5 weeks. 

Now here we are close to ten years later, dining together at New Song Mission. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this actually took place. I'm absolutely in awe at how God connects His people across the miles and even continents and uses His church body to provide and care for one another anywhere they go. 

Zayde and Alvaro worked with us at El Camino Academy in Bogotá in the summer of 2012. They lived in the same apartment complex where we stayed, so they got to know Julian really well. They took us to church with them, invited us on many adventures, helped us get to know Bogotá, vacationed with us, and helped us find medical care when we needed it. When we went back the following year for Juan's adoption, we ended up renting an apartment almost an hour away from them, but they still took the time to come out to us to go swimming, go to the movies, etc. We took a trip together to a well-known tourist area, giving Julian and Juan David a chance to spend a weekend together. They also helped us find medical care when we found ourselves in another emergency. 

Their daughter moved to the United States in 2018 to study as a foreign exchange student at a Christian school in Tennessee. She was able to stay until she graduated, and then she continued to stay for college. Zayde came to see her in February of 2020 and ended up stuck here with her for 3 months during COVID. During that time, though I was far away, I was able to get her connected with several adoptive families wanting to learn Spanish, and she started a virtual Spanish tutoring business. That business has done so well that there are even agencies that are recommending her services now. She has a heart for helping others, and now God has given her a special heart for adoptive families. 

They came to visit with their daughter recently, and they found themselves very drawn to the mission at New Song, just a few hours from where their daughter goes to college. So they spent a couple nights with us and a couple nights at New Song, volunteering, sitting in meetings with New Song's founders/directors, talking about possibilities to come on board with us (all depending on visas and immigration at this point), and even helping out with my Spanish class for the kids by teaching them about Colombian culture, food, and games. They taught them a few phrases they can use in Spanish and we also had a cooking demonstration to give the kids a little "taste" of Colombia. 

Only God knows what He has planned, but what a privilege it was to serve alongside them this week at New Song Mission, to host them in my home,  and to accept their invitation to dinner in one of the homes at New Song where they stayed and volunteered. God has them on quite the adventure, and I'm excited to see where it goes. 

Coffee, of course. 

Dinner in Columbus at 4th Street Bar and Grill

Staying up late playing games and drinking coffee.

Hanging out in downtown Columbus.

Teaching the kids how to make arepas. 

Tasting the arepas we made.

Alvaro teaching the kids how to play RANA, a Colombian game. 

It took him at least 3 hours to make this game the night before. 

Teaching my students about Colombia.

Zayde on top of the hill, taking in the beauty of New Song. 

Alvaro teaching a student about flying paper airplanes. 

Our first and last meals together were both at Chick Fil-A. 

Sounds pretty appropriate to me. 

When God made it clear that He was guiding me to New Song Mission, this sweet reunion and now ministry connection with my dear friends couldn't have been any further from my imagination. 

Only God. 

Finally feeling like home

 

A week before David left to go back to Texas, Mike and Matt finally finished with the drywall in the master bedroom, and Mike worked hard to get it painted quickly so we could officially move in to our own bedroom. I was so excited to finally get our king size bed out of storage and sleep on my own mattress. :)

This is actually a doorway that will go right into our large master bath/closet, but they won't be done for quite a while yet. So Mike covered up the doorway and put in some cubbies for our clothes and a curtain. And I finally got to hang up my little coat/sweater rack on the wall that Mike had gotten me for my birthday last year shortly before we moved. 

I ordered new bedding right away and finally got to put it on my bed by the end of the week. 

The room is a little dark now with only one small lamp, but it sure does have a very calming feel to it. This room has made an incredible difference for me phsychologically, finally making me feel like I can start to settle and feel like I'm at home. I finally had a place that was not temporary and that was not going to change. It also meant that David could move out of the living room and sleep in the spare bedroom. I could also go in the living room in the early mornings to have my prayer time for the first time since October. 

David got to enjoy the spare bedroom for a week before he went back to Texas, and then we had ONE DAY to get the house cleaned up, wash and change bedding, get stuff out of storage, and set up that spare bedroom as the guest bedroom/office/craft room/play room that I've envisioned. And we finally hung a few pictures and decorations on the wall. 

This little office/writing area just makes my heart happy. It's close enough to the bed that one person can sit on one side and another person can sit on the stool to play a game together. There are games stored on the other side of the bed. On this side I have writing, journaling, and art/craft supplies stored in the cubbies. 

Once we have a master closet, we can use these cubbies for more games instead of clothes. 

We found a good place to hang up one of my favorite wall hangings that used to be out on my front porch. "Live in such a way that those who don't know God will want to know God because they know you." For now it's hanging above my temporary coffee bar. 

We put curtains up in the living room, giving it a real homey feel. 

And, of course, we found a spot to hang up our God Bless Texas sign. :)

Mike cleaned up the floors real good after they'd been covered with a lot of dust and dirt from all the mud outside. 

Sure feels good to have a real living room to relax in. 

The house still has a long way to go, but it's definitely coming along and feeling like home more every day now. Just in time for our first guests (that aren't blood related) who arrived the very next day.  

Empty Nest, Take 2

I left my oldest son in Texas in July, while I followed behind my youngest as the last vehicle in our 3 vehicle caravan to move all of our belongings from Garland, Texas to Columbus, IN. He stayed in Columbus for the next month and a half, living above my brother-in-law's garage, while Mike and I had our first taste of an empty nest. But since we were living out of an RV, it just felt like we were on an extended trip with different sleeping arrangements. The empty nest didn't really start to sink in until David drove back to Texas in the middle of August.  

We bought our own piece of property to land the RV and then eventually cleared a space inside the house to reside while we renovated it. We'd officially set up camp in the living room by mid-October, with just enough usable space for the two of us. No furniture other than a full-size bed, a recliner, an outdoor egg chair, a fridge, two electric fireplace heaters, and some camping chairs. 

And then I flew back to Texas in an emergency because David got into an accident that left him completely helpless. Three weeks later I flew back with David so we could help take care of his daily needs while he healed. Definitely not the empty nest we had envisioned. I guess God thought none of us were ready to live so far apart just yet. Thankfully Mike had finished renovating a small spare bedroom and moved the full-size bed from the living room to the spare room so David could sleep on the RV bed mattress on the floor of the living room for the next two months. Mike and his brother had also installed a wood burning stove in the living room and extended the back wall of that room in order to lengthen the master bedroom behind it, though it was still not usable or even ready for paint. I also now at least had countertops in my still unfinished kitchen. 

With a third person, we needed more furniture, so we bought a couch, got some cubbies for clothes and our kitchen table and chairs out of storage. Our grocery bill went way up and our diet completely changed in order to appeal to a college student. So much for that empty nest. LOL. We went from life in Texas with two very independent sons who were gone more than they were ever home, to sharing a bathroom and a closet with a very dependent son who needed to be with one of us pretty much all the time and who needed transportation to doctor's appointments and then physical therapy appointments.

Although the constant dependence issue definitely made communication a bigger struggle in our marriage, I can't say I didn't enjoy having David around a bit longer than we ever would have imagined. Since Juan lived with us until he was 24 1/2 years old, David never did get that time alone with us that I always assumed he would when Juan was old enough to move out on his own. I guess this was that chance. I'll always treasure those extra two months with him that just happened to include his 21st birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas in 3 places, and New Year's Eve. (I'll always remember both of my boys' 21st birthdays. Juan got baptized out in a lake on his and David had two broken arms on his.)

But all good things must come to an end (for me), and he got his pins removed from his wrists on December 28th, did a week and a half of physical therapy before he drove himself to the second week of therapy. A week later, we put him on an airplane alone to fly back to Texas to go back to school. He's still got a lot of therapy ahead to regain all of his mobility, but at least he regained enough to go back to class and to take care of himself. I feel for him, though, because I'm sure his lack of full mobility is a lot more noticeable and discouraging when you're hanging out with your friends and not able to do everything you used to be able to do the last time you were with them. 

A day after he left, we got more stuff out of storage to prepare the house for two very special guests who came the following day. Those guests just left today, almost a week later, and now the empty nest is will have a chance to hit home. 

Saying goodbye to his buddy. Again. 

Checking in his bags since he can't handle them on his own in the airplane. 

One last coffee date, in the airport. 

Too bad we forgot to bring cards to play. 

No splints.

Just scars.

And wrists that still can't do what they used to be able to do. 

Saying goodbye.

And just a few hours later, he was back at DBU, trying to settle back in before classes started a few days later. On top of the new semester, he also has to finish up last semester on his own time. It'll be tough, but we're thankful it was even an option and that he didn't have to lose all the work he'd completed the first semester before the accident. 

I miss him, but I'm glad he's where he is. 

One week in

It sure did feel good to teach again and to work with students this week. It was definitely a learning curve for all of us--the staff and the students. Except for one, most of our students had only ever been here once, and that was for a week of camp. Coming here for school and family life is a whole different story, so those boys were very emotional by the time Friday came around and they knew they were going to get to go home for the weekend to see their families. 

As a teacher, I could only be somewhat prepared for that emotional dynamic to this ministry. Until you meet the kids, work and bond with them all week can you really begin to empathize with them. I mean, they all love it here. They love being in a safe, secure environment. They love the houseparents they live with and even the interaction with the houseparents' younger children. They love the big home-cooked meals. They love the structure they have in school, even if they're still pretty reluctant to work at this point. Every day we start our day by writing in a gratitude journal (and on a gratitude poster), and every day they write something about how thankful they are for being here. But on Friday, they all wrote the same thing on the poster. "I am thankful for GOING HOME." Sure does tug at your heart strings.

We're learning quickly why God brought each one of these boys to New Song, and my teammate and I do not take this privilege to teach them lightly. We'll be working hard to catch several of them up to their grade level as they have very obviously been those children that slip through the cracks. It's definitely going to be a challenge. My teammate looked at their current levels and said, "I don't know what the right answer will be to how we're going to do that." And my response was, "The right answer is that they're here." With two of us and only five of them, and a safe, secure, Christian family environment, we can do so much more than had they stayed where they are. We can give them hope that they honestly didn't have. 

This first week was mostly about getting to know these boys, teaching them routines, procedures, and setting expectations, and pulling them aside to talk things through when needed. It was really all hands on deck, but next week I think we'll all be able to settle into our specific roles as they kids resettle next week. Everything won't be so new, and they'll be aware that they're here for school and not camp. LOL. We started our afternoon enrichment classes like Bible, Leadership, Spanish, Fun Science, and Friday afternoon chapel time. I also am really excited about our daily Read Aloud time right after lunch. I also got them started on a program where they can submit their extra assignments digitally, even with pictures and videos, and their moms can see their work. One of the moms sent me a message after seeing her child's work and video and said, "That just made my day." :) 

It was definitely one of those weeks where I wanted to pinch myself just to make sure it was all real. What a privilege to be chosen by God to work in this unique teaching and discipling opportunity. Have there been a few tensions along the way? Of course, especially when people change roles within a team. But at the same time, it's been a neat opportunity to grow together as a team and to support and encourage each other. 

I am really looking forward to see just how far we can take these boys, to see them develop leadership skills, to see them grow spiritually, and to make an eternal impact on their lives. 

Starting the week just after they arrived with dinner all together in the boys' home. 

Lasagna, garlic bread, salad, warm banana bread, and ice cream for dessert. 

Ending the week with fun Science experiments with Miss Julie. 

23 things I'm hoping for in 2023

Hoping will happen

Hoping I can achieve

Hoping to change

Hoping to do better

Hoping to let go

Some may turn into reality, some may not. But if we never have our hopes set on anything, then life becomes miserable and meaningless. 

In the year 2023, I hope....

1. To hear that my closest friend is cancer free
2. To see my new students grow spiritually, academically, and develop leadership skills
3. To see my new students find the freedom to be the kids they are
4. To have a more complete house to settle into to truly call home
5. To find true satisfaction in Christ alone
6. To not miss opportunities to encourage others and lift them up
7. To be able to find quality time to focus and finish my writing project for ABH that I started over a year ago--one that God put on my heart to start, but has clearly said, "It's not time yet."
8. Make new Bible study friends at church
9. Make my home a welcoming place for others to visit and hang out
10. Explore