Crazy Little Thing Called Life!

This past week has been crazy! It went by so fast. I finally feel like I’m in my place here. I’ve finally been given permission to put pictures on facebook so I have created a group. If you would like to see the facebook pictures please let me know and I will give you access. This week I’ve been focusing more on journaling and quiet time than on my blog. That is why I haven’t posted many blogs,  lol! The Lord has been speaking to me through His word. I had been struggling with being broken hearted for these kids. This past week the Lord has shown me that these kids are His and their future and what happens to them is not something I should be worried about.   Luke 20:25 says “And he said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” These kids are not mine. They are the Lord’s; they are not mine to worry about because they are in the Lord’s hands.  

Craziness this week = 1) another tia found a bat in our laundry, 2) one of the boys peed on my hand while I was giving him a bath, 3) we had a bat come in the house one night, 4) I found a frog the size of a small dog in our laundry area 5) We watched Rolie Polie Olie! In Spanish!! 6) I heard the twins praying outside “Gracias a Dios…” so cute!

On Sunday, I cooked all meals and prepared the snack ! It was a success.  We had eggs and toast for breakfast and for lunch we had pasta with chicken, onions, tomatoes, cucumber with rice and topped with Italian dressing. For dinner we had beans and French toast. Yum!! All but one of my kids loved the food. I think 9/10 is pretty good. And Ma loved lunch. (Lunch is the biggest meal of the day.)

I’m learning that Prayer truly is the greatest gift I can give these kids J.  Some of these kids have had a rough past, but this place, is a place of peace and rest, place of Joy and hope. This is a place of smiles, giggles and is full of hugs and kisses J I can’t wait to come back!

My week in Facebook statuses:

·         Monday: Psalms 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

“I trust You God with where I am, and believe that you will have Your way!”

·         Tuesday: “Had an awesome day exploring with the other tias in San Jose today. In the morning, it's back to this crazy thing I call life lol!”

·         Wednesday: “Trying to get 10 kids to sleep is no easy task, but I wouldn't wanna b anywhere else :)”

“Veronica found a bat in our laundry and killed it with a broom stick, and I found a frog the size of a small dog in the laundry area ....what a day!”

·         Thursday: “I finally took pictures of my beautiful kids :)”

·         Friday: "To know You, is to want to know You more!"

·         Saturday: “One thing I've learned in my second month here is Costa Rica is I'm am expert and adding and subtracting any numbers that = 10. I ♥ my kiddos!”

·         Sunday: “Two meals down one to go! Ma loved lunch and I'd say 9/10 for breakfast and 9/10 for lunch is pretty good. And both the twins had three bowls of lunch. Sweet success!”

Pictures of My Kiddos

I haven't posted in a while I've been working on emailing pictures of my adorable kids. So if you'd like to see them let me know. :) I'll send them your way.

Weekend and Freetime :)

Sunday was a crazy day. It was just me and Ma till about 8:30. So I pretty much clothed and bathed all the kids singlehandedly. Ma bathed one and put clothes on two (so that leaves 9 to bathe and 8 to clothe). What a job!  Then I got to go to church. The message was in English translated to Spanish. The message was awesome. It was about how to end the drought in your life. It was great!  I got to take my two little girls and Coni (the youngest of the two) stayed with me in church. She did great and this was only her second time out of the house. She’s two and so precious. She sat on the floor and played with the bulletin; it was so cute! When we came back it was lunch time and nap time. Then I had two hours before my day off started, and all the kids played outside. So all the tias hung out together, and then I headed to get the key to the awesome cabin I got to stay in. Monday I just chilled and enjoyed my time off till later that night when the other tia’s day off started. We all hung out and talked in casa 5 which is just for two tias. They don’t live in the casas with the kiddos. We had dinner and talked about school and the kids. It was really encouraging to talk things through together. (All four of us are volunteers from the U.S.) Then today we got up and headed out to the capital, San Jose. We shopped around then I showed the other girls around since I’d been there a couple times last month, and we made it back before dark. I then helped put the kids to sleep, and unload our wagon of food we got. I bought a coffee mug today in honor of the fact I’m now addicted to coffee. Not because I love it just cause if I don’t have that extra caffeine I get a headache, boo.  It’s been relaxing to have a few days off. And in the morning it’s back into the swing of things! J I missed my kids!

Please keep praying that my kids can heal from their past and finally find a forever family and a future. 

My Songs of the Day

Everything by Lifehouse

Dancing with Orphans - this may be stupid but it made me cry when I listened to it last night because for devotional time last night we listened to a cd of kid's music (Thanks Katie Powell) and danced our hearts out.

And one that continues to be my favorite - Always Enough by Casting Crowns

You want the truth? Here it is!

I haven’t really laid out how I’ve been doing emotionally on this trip. Yes I knew it would be taxing having to speak Spanish all day and draining because I have 10 kids under the age of 5 and 5 of them still in diapers, but I haven’t thought much about the kids themselves. Yeah it’s easy when you just think of them as kids that live here nothing more, but when I hear the older ones pray at night it breaks my heart. Every one of them prays for their mom and dad, and I’m sitting there knowing that some of them don’t have a mom and dad.  Their reaction to my parents being here is crushing, and it’s been a week but they still ask about my parents. And when I leave what am I supposed to say ok goodbye going back to my nice house, my nice room to a family that loves and misses me?

It would be so much easier if this was just an orphanage. I can handle the idea (it’s heart wrenching, but I can handle it) of these children not having parents because of some unknown reason, that I can put my mind around and yes it’s hard but is do able. But when I have to be told that I need to watch when I play with a 5 year old where he puts his hands and when he’s playing with the other kids because he was sexually abused that my mind will never comprehend.  Some come from abusive situations and other just abandoned. But even the ones that have no home like a 4 year old in my house(whose been here 4 years), Lord help him because he is always in a state of anxiety because he has no idea what’s happening in the future.  I can’t help but cry out to God for Him to provide a forever family for all these kids.

Tonight I’m having a hard time battling with my flesh! Please pray that I can overcome it because all I want to do is go home! Not because speaking Spanish all day is hard or because I’m home sick or because every night I’m so drained and brain dead, but because in three weeks I’m leaving these beautiful children here and going back to my perfect world but it’s not really the perfect world that’s important it’s something as little as knowing that I have a family!

Praise the Lord for this place this is a place of refuge of abused and abandoned children. It’s a healing place for those whose spirits are broken and even at age 5 think they have no purpose in life. It’s a place of rediscovery that their lives do matter. It’s a place for children to receive physical and emotional needs while learning all about the most important thing which is to have Christ in their hearts.

Please pray for me as I keep my head up while trying and make a difference in these kid’s lives. That the Lord will work in my life because when dad asked me tonight if I was glad to be here I couldn’t answer yes because I know that in a couple weeks I leave. And please pray the Lord help me find purpose in this trip. (I know he doesn’t have to have one)  I meet with the Director Monday to hear more about the kids in my house and their past, please pray that the Lord will emotionally prepare me for that because now I am not. As much as I want and need prayer for myself emotionally I also ask that you pray for each one of my children that the Lord will provide for them a forever family that will love and provide for them.  I so desire that for all of them I’ve never had a stronger desire!

All of this is just another reminder that I have nada que dar!

Fun times with the kiddos! :D

Yesterday morning when I got up I was put on bathing duty during which I learned how to bathe 10 kids back to back. Then after I got cleaned up and had breakfast I got to take both of my oldest to the zoo with the other older kiddos. It was fun! We saw many different animals and they loved it I also got to meet some other tias that are here. After that we came back for lunch. After lunch was homemade popsicle time out on the soccer field then dinner playtime and bed. My fb status pretty much summed up my day. It said “today I learned how to bathe 10 kids back to back, that I can fit three kids on my legs and still watch tv, and catch the other child that's trying to jump in my lap. An avestruz is an ostrich and those two hour nap times aren't just for the kids :) Te amo aqui y all 10 of my kids!”

Today I clothed the kids and then after breakfast I washed and dried all the dishes (which has to be done every meal or snack (that’s a total of five times a day, dishes for at least 10 ppl) ) then I helped put all the clothes on the line (with 10 kids laundry is done every morning), and I got a shower. It’s amazing what you can do from 6-8:30am we had devotion time and then we took the kids outside to play. They played different relay games and then were running through a puddle of water which soon became mud. Then all the tias including myself got pulled into the mud. Then we slid on a tarp with soap and played with water balloons. Then the tias had a tug a war fight over the mud puddle. All the kids and the tias loved it, and everybody was soaked! Then we ate lunch outside we had hotdogs yum!  Then I took a nap and then we played inside cause it was raining.  We had another tia and a new helper today and the other tia left around 3 and the other girl around 4 so for about 3 hours it was me all the kids and Ma. Needless to say I’m pooped!