A Weekend View...

What a weekend it's been!

Saturday morning we received word that DS 2 went to the ER in the early hours of Saturday for stomach pains. By 8am we got the call that he was going to go in for surgery to remove his appendix. So, DS 3 and I hopped in the car and headed to Gainesville to be with him.

When we arrived, he was in recovery and moved out to a room not long after that. His main concern was not that he just had his appendix removed. It wasn't that he was less than 24 hours back from Nicaragua. It was that he might miss the USA World Cup Game at 2:30 that afternoon! And trust me, every doctor nurse and other hospital employee heard it.

Anyway, we sat in the hospital with him until he was released around 5:30pm and got him set up at home with clear liquids. Then DS 3 and I made the trek home.

Yesterday was quite lazy for me. I am trying so hard to finish a book that I am reading so that I can put it behind me! I've been reading it off and on since February. I know, I know that just isn't right! There are only 300 pages in it! I just haven't had good reading time to really push and finish it.

DS 1 came home last night for a bit. I love having them home when they are here.

A new week is upon us and it is relatively "plan-free"--which I enjoy once in a while.

Happy Monday everyone!

Here's a response from my DS 2 regarding his trip:

Hey Melli and others that are curious, The Mission organization that we worked with is called Open Hearts Ministries and they have been working in the dump for around 8 years now. When they first arrived their goal was to one-by-one take these people out of the dump and set them up with a job and food on their table. A few years back they attempted to do this with a family. They took them out of the dump and got them a house and a job. This lasted all of 2 months and the family CHOSE to go back to the dump. Now, this sounds crazy. Why would anyone CHOOSE to go back to the dump? Well, there is a great sense of community there and that is what they know.

Since this, the mission organization has changed their goals a bit. The government has since decided to move the people of the dump out and to a new area of government housing. The only problem with this government housing is that they will have to pay for utilities. These people don't know how to live in anything else but the dump, so we are hoping and praying that the transition lasts and the people of the dump decide to learn how to be a working member of society.The mission organization is praying about where they fit in to this move. They are just asking God to show them where He wants them.

Like I said in my blog, there is a school in the dump that the mission group runs, but the government does not want to move the school; just the people. So, one thought is they would build another school where ever the government moves these people, but that costs money, so they are giving it to God. A lot of uncertainty about the future of the mission group is up in the air right now. They asked us to all continue to pray about where God wants them in the future as we got back to the states.

As for now, they will continue to love of these kids and build the relationships with them and their families. In the school they will continue to share the story of God and show light to these kids in a very dark place. They also have a sponsorship program with the kids in the dump. Many of the kids are sponsored, but there are still a few that are not. If you want to find out more information you can either ask me or their website is www.ohearts.org.I hope that helps!

M.

Guest Blog: A Mission to Remember Post 2

Our group continued doing this same routine for the first three days. The only thing that changed was in the afternoon we took a group of kids on a field trip. These kids rarely leave the dump, let alone the city, so it was awesome to see these kids in awe of the simple things that we take for granted like tall buildings and fast food buildings. The first day we took the second graders to a lookout with a breath taking view of a volcano! We let the kids take a horseback ride down the mountain which cost us about 25 cents each kid!


One of the little girls in the second grade named Alix heard the live music playing not too far away and asked if she could go dance. I of course said yes, so I walked her over and watched her dance for a minute. I quickly noticed what dance she was doing. The Meringue! I then asked her if I could dance with her, and she said yes. That was really something to dance with this beautiful girl from the dump!

The second day we took the third graders on a field trip to Granada. This was the furthest we took any of the groups. It was just under a two hour BUMPY bus ride away! But, again, the kids enjoyed getting out of the dump for a few hours. In Granada we took the kids on an hour boat tour around the 200 islands that formed from the volcano many years ago. The sights on that tour were breath taking. We came up to one island to get a closer look at the monkeys that were on the island. Little did I know that “closer look” meant that we hold food out for these monkeys and they come onto the boat! It was very neat and the kids loved the monos (monkeys)! On the third day, we took the fourth grade class to the zoo. Now, this was no zoo like you might be imagining. This zoo had a cage for squirrels and a cage for a raccoon! It was amusing to see some of our everyday animals on display, but they also had lions and tigers (and bears oh my)! Before we were let loose with the kids, we were instructed to keep the kids close to us because they could get bit. I didn’t quite know what they meant by this because I assumed these animals weren’t just roaming the place. I assumed they were in cages…big mistake! Many of the animals run wild through the “zoo.” So I would call it more of a walk through the jungle with a few animals in some cages! And, the animals that were in cages were within arm’s reach. I could easily have touched a lion right on the nose! Luckily, no kids, or college students, got hurt!

Guest Blog: A Mission to Remember

Following is excerpt one from my DS 2's recent mission trip to Nicaragua with his church in Gainesville. When I asked him to guest blog, he agreed quickly. When he wrote his words, he said he just wrote and wrote and before he knew it, he was at 2500 words! I've decided to break it up into several segments.

Here's the first one:

On Saturday, March 6th, our group arrived in Nicaragua around 10:30pm. Although it was dark, we could tell that the place that we were staying was very nice. We called it the Garden of Eden. It had a ton of hammocks and palm trees and a monkey. This was a place that people would pay to come on their honeymoon. Our college pastor told us that this place was a lot nicer than he normally takes groups to, but the conditions that we were about to work in were a lot worse than he usually takes groups to. Now, I have been on previous mission trips, but nothing that I had seen or heard could have prepared me for what I was about to see. I knew that we were going to work with the people who lived in the dump, but I had no clue what that meant. I though it meant that people lived around the dump and used the dump as their resources. Boy was I wrong!

These groups of nearly 1000 people, who live in La Chureca, or the city dump, live smack in the center of the dump. These families thrive off of what they find in the city landfill. These people literally run after the dump trucks as they come into the dump and they fight over the trash that is dumped. Each of these families needs to survive and they do so by finding leftover food in the dump and selling bottles that are brought in by the dump trucks.

On the first day of the trip we went to a church that was in the city of Managua, Nicaragua. This church was very different than your normal American church, but it was neat to see how they worshiped. No one was holding back or worried about how their friends viewed them. Everyone was very authentic and worshiped as they pleased.

After the church service we went to the dump for the first time. We were instructed to be silent as we toured the dump and to just take it in silently. This was very difficult for our group. We had never seen anything like this. We had never seen such poverty and despair.

These people literally lived in cardboard houses (shown on the right in the photo above). Raw sewage was running right through the middle of the place we were walking. Many of us were filled with guilt and did not know how we could do anything that would impact these children and families. I mean how are we supposed to tell these kids about a heavenly father who loves them when their earthly father sold them for the rights to an area of trash to dig through? This kind of stuff happens daily in this area. Girls are sold every day for the rights to a piece of the dump.

When we got back to the compound where we were staying, I took my guitar up to the third deck look out and began to play Chris Tomlin’s “God of this City.” This song has never spoken to me as much as it did that night. As I was singing the lyrics I had a peace come over me because I knew that He was not just the God of my city, but He is the God of La Chureca too!

The second day we realized that we are supposed to be the seed that God can water and grow for his kingdom. We were not called to Nicaragua to save these kids and bring them back to the US. We were called to plant the seed and let God do the rest.

We arrived at the school in the dump on Monday and all of our plans went down the drain. We had plans to do a VBS sort of thing, but our plans were thrown down the drain. We began to improvise and just play with the kids. I picked up a soccer ball and began a soccer game in the school yard. I thank God for our plans not working! We had an amazing time just building relationships with these children, and showing them God’s love.

In the afternoon the girls of our group put on a spa day for the girls in the dump.

They painted their fingernails and toenails, and did some face painting as well. While the girls did this, I was in charge of running a soccer camp for the boys of the dump. Now, let me describe the scenery for a second. Remember we are still IN the dump.

The smoke from the burning trash is so thick it is very difficult to breathe or even open your eyes all the way. The smell never goes away, and because it has not rained for FOUR months and won’t rain again until MAY, the dust is very dry and blows in your face constantly! This “field” that we were playing on was a very hard surface with tons of dust and dirt on top. Even though we could barely open our eyes and we were slipping all over the place, we had a great time playing with the kids. I love how soccer is a universal language. I didn’t know everything they were saying because they spoke Spanish, but we didn’t have to. I set the ball down, blew the whistle, and we played!

From Susan: If you have specific questions or comments for DS 2, let me know. He says he could go "on and on" telling stories. I'm sure he'd be happy to expand and/or expound on any portion of their trip or his blog about it. And a big thanks to the girls on the team who took these photos!

Weekend Window Plus

I've just taken a whirlwind trip to Panama City and back (a 7 hour drive one way), so my brain is a little fried. I thought I'd do a little "bullet list" update on our weekend and my clan--so here ya go:

* The trip to Panama City was productive. My friend (and writing partner) Sandy and I went to present and network at a workshop for teachers.

* DH was home with the kids. I'm so thankful for this man and his willingness to be such an important part of our family and the day-to-day running of our home.

* DS 2 and I talked when I was driving north. I drove right through the town where they live. It was HARD for me to know that he was right near the interstate when I was driving by and I had to keep going! He spent the weekend at a retreat in preparation for his upcoming mission trip to Nicaragua. I am so excited for him to go. I know it will be a blessing for him.

* DS 1 and I actually connected on my way home. Sandy's daughter and SIL live in the same town...so we stopped and took the three of them to dinner. SO nice to visit with them even if it was just briefly. DS 1 is doing well...he LOVES attending all the sporting events at the University. He had been at a fencing tournament earlier in the day and even told me he went to watch "Underwater Hockey"...not sure how you watch that...but OK.

* DS 3 continues to be quite busy at school and at church. He is now transitioning to run sound and seems to enjoy it. Track season has begun and he is planning to pole vault again. I have to tell you, he amazes me at his determination with this. I am praying he has success getting over the bar this year. He has been working out a lot at the gym and really is focused on his goal. I love that about him. He knows how to keep his eyes on the goal and focus.

* DS 4 spent the last three days of last week in bed. He had a horrible cold. He seems better now. In a week's time he's asked to be homeschooled, switch classes, and/or switch schools. This made me think perhaps something was happening at school. We've dug and talked and asked and questioned. Last week he told his Dad...and today out of the blue told me...I just don't like getting up as early as we have to. I will like it better when I can get up a little later. I want to say "Welcome to life son!" The middle school years have not been my favorite with ANY of my boys...so as we face them...I covet your prayers. :-)

* LG has had a great week. She continues to adjust well and brings us all such joy with her cute little personality. I had to laugh as she played Hide-n-Seek with DS 4 yesterday. It was so sweet to listen to them as if they had been together for ever! She actually had a crying spell one night last week. I know it doesn't sound like that's a "good thing"...but I have not seen her cry once since she moved in. So...this tells me that she feels comfortable enough with us to share what's going on in her heart. It also reveals that she's a normal little girl who has had to endure some very grown-up circumstances. No one wants to be removed from their family. No one. We expect that there will be an ebb and flow of emotion anyway. I'm just glad to see it surface. I think it means that we can continue to help her take the road to stability and security.

Well...friends, that's it from my neck of the woods today. Perhaps I'll get back to more substantial "thought-blogging" one of these days. Who knows? It's a strange season I'm in. Still, I'm thankful for this outlet...even when it seems a bit superficial.

As the Year Winds Down...

I know, I know...I've been off in blogging...AGAIN! Life has been so busy and I've been neglectful. I have so much to say, but haven't taken the time to say it. Soooo...here's a recap of the last 17 days in photos and words:

It was no small miracle that the trees and decorations got put up. It's such a process at our house and this year, it was in the midst of a very busy schedule.

Things were up just in time for DS 1 to come home and enjoy a moment under the tree with DS 3 and LG.
We had a day in Tampa to take pics with family. This is a picture that DS 3 took of my DH and Me.

And here's one of our family.

My Mom gave us tickets to spend one day at Busch Gardens before the holiday. I took DSs 2, 3, and 4 and LG and some of their friends for a day up there. It was a nice day and we had a blast! DS 4 even rode his first roller coaster.

DS 3, LG and I went out one night to look at holiday lights. We found this display at a local church where the lights are synchronized to music. They had hot chocolate and cookies after you walked through their huge display.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve Service and a quiet celebration at my in-laws. Grandma was quite creative in her gift giving this year! The boys and LG loved opening each of their presents that were filled with so much LOVE!

Once again the boys indulged me and let me get them all Christmas PJ's. It is always a fun thing for me to shop for them. This year it was a little difficult because I had to also find something that would work for LG. Still...she had a blast in the mix of all these guys!

We spent Christmas Day at my Dad's house. As always it's filled with laughter, great food, and family fun!

At the beginning of this week, we loaded up DS2 and what remained of DS 1's stuff and moved them to Gainesville. Here is DH and his co-pilot LG ready to drive the truck!

DSs 1 and 2 got a very nice apartment and will be living together this semester. They seem excited to take this venture. I am reminded of when they were little...they told me they'd never be able to be apart because they were used to sharing a room. So...here they are moved in and once again, sharing living space! I'm glad they're such good friends.
After we dropped them off, DH, DS 3, LG and I went to Orlando for a couple of days. We enjoyed the Ice! Exhibit at the Gaylord Hotel. It's such an amazing thing to see and LG was simply fun to take through it!

Shoot, it was fun just having her at the hotel. She'd never been on an escalator and was THRILLED with that experience! Then, we did the glass elevator which amazed her.

While in Orlando, we met DH's brother and his family for dinner (and to pick up DS 4 who stayed with Grandma and Grandpa a couple of days). It was a lovely visit.

Yesterday, we took the family to Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios. It was JAM PACKED and we ended up leaving early. There's no sense trying to get it all in when you're a Floridian and you can get up there in a non-peak season. Sooo...we dropped off my niece, had a nice dinner and headed home.

Knowing she'd never been on an escalator, you can imagine that the moving sidewalks at Universal were also a novelty for her!

That pretty much brings us here...to New Year's Eve. I had good intentions of getting Christmas completely down today, but I didn't. I have enjoyed a nap. I enjoyed the quiet. I enjoyed doing pretty much nothing.

There's no question that this has been a busy few weeks. Heck...it's been a busy life! My goal for 2010 is to learn to sit still and just enjoy some quiet moments.

I hope your December has been just as memorable and that your New Year is filled with much love and joy!!

December Blessings...

It may seem like a small thing, but I was abundantly blessed last night when I came home from work last night to see my DSs 2 and 3 doing this:

And it continued while the sun set.



And the night grew darker. Despite mosquitoes they pressed on.


Until they had it done.



I know I've said it before, but I LOVE MY GUYS!!

Some Weekend Highlights and a Thought...

What a BUSY weekend!! It was filled with church stuff, family, and holiday festivities for us.

Friday, DS 1 came home for his National Guard Drill weekend. While sitting here talking to us, at about 8:00pm, he realized that he left part of his uniform at his apartment (almost 3 hours away). So, knowing that he HAD to have it, and there is no "loaner" program, he drove BACK to his apartment and BACK to our house that night. Six hours!

I had a training all day on Saturday at our school. It was good, but it was hard to get up and get there. It was a steady rain outside and honestly, I'd have rather just stayed in bed with a good book!

Saturday evening, LG and I met a team from our church to pass out goodie bags and bubble necklaces to kids at the holiday parade. I have to tell you that I had a total meltdown because five of the youth dropped off the team at the last minute. That frustrates me! My friend, Sandy, stepped in to help at the last minute. I love having sweet friends who will help like that. Here's a picture of Sandy with LG ready to go.

Anyway, we had a BLAST at the parade and kids (and their parents) were blown away that they were getting FREE stuff for no reason! It's another great outreach opportunity and way to have a positive impact on the community.

LG and I stayed at the parade with our friend Kate and her two girls. It turned a bit colder that evening...but it was PERFECT for a holiday parade. I have to say that NOW I'm feeling more like it's December and Christmas is right around the corner.

Below is a picture of LG and me at the parade I love it!

On Sunday, we had another outreach at church. Our church is providing Christmas for 16 needy kids from my school. We had a great time sorting and wrapping and preparing the gifts for these children right during the service!

While a team sorted and wrapped these gifts for local outreach...our youth pastor shared about his recent mission trip to Ethiopia.

I love it when we do this sort of thing. It's a picture of what I think the church "should" be--active and involved in the community and the world.

Sunday afternoon, I took LG to visit her younger siblings at a local park. We had a great time talking to the family they are with and playing together. It was good to see the kids. I am always amazed that LG doesn't push back when we go to leave those visits. She loves going and loves visiting, but she also loves coming home.

Sunday evening, DSs 2 and 3 helped us get out the boxes of Christmas decorations from the attic. My guys are totally used to me at this time of year and just indulge me as we I decorate. Seriously, they help a bit. I love it that they just "do their thing" to help make it happen--and don't mind my mini-"moments" that sometimes occur during the process. I've got one tree up and a few more to go. The boxes are sorted into their rooms for decoration. I am feeling pretty calm amidst that chaos.

To sum up our weekend: It was busy, but fulfilling. VERY fulfilling!

Holiday Reflections...

What a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday we have had! Of course, I was a bit whiny that my colleagues in other counties had the entire week off...but we made the most of having three days and the weekend.

Thursday morning, I took LG over to her Grandma's to visit with her brothers and cousins that she hasn't seen since she moved here. She and I had a visit with her Grandma and we've visited her younger siblings. But she had not seen her older brothers and cousins.

I have to be honest, I wondered what this would be like. I had never been to Grandma's home. This was the place she and the other kids were removed from a little over a month ago. And, honestly, if it were me in my 8yo body, I probably would not have wanted to leave my family and return to a foster family.

But there was none of that. She had a great time visiting. We took pictures so she can have them for her own scrapbook/room. It was nice talking with the boys and her Aunt/Uncle who have them. And Grandma was happy to share some of the things she wanted LG to have as she prepares to move to a smaller home.

LG and I came home in time to visit with our family and begin our own celebration. It was a great day shared with the blessing of family. DH did a great job preparing the turkey as usual. We served up buffet style and brought tables in to the living room so we could share the meal together.

This year we bought "real" glasses for the mashed potato bar. The kids seemed to enjoy doctoring up their potatoes and preparing them for eating.

Here's part of the group settling in to the meal:

And here's the other part of the group:


After dinner it was great fun playing corn hole and enjoying the beautiful weather! One of the blessings this year was having DS 1 home. Last year he had just begun Basic Training. This year he was able to be here for a good portion of the weekend with us. I know DS 4 enjoyed it--he really misses the guys when they are not home.
LG and DS 2 enjoyed hanging out on the back porch and visiting after the meal.
DS 3 played corn hole in his "special outfit". Do you suppose it helped him? I think they won...so who knows for sure??

We paused to take some family group shots. I think this one is going to be our Christmas card this year. It CRACKED me UP and says quite a lot about this zany family of mine!



I hope your holiday was also filled with special memories and moments!