Meatballs

So I know it's been a while since I have posted anything on this blog and a situation presented itself today that just has to be shared because it's the kind of the thing that I feel like happens on a daily basis in having ten teenage sons.

So there has been this issue for a couple months of someone, one of the boys, putting gross old food in another boy's closet. Pio's closet, or his bed or his shoes. We never really knew who was doing it. There were suspicions, Chucho mostly, but it was never proved.

Then today, today Pio came raging into our house with a bowl of old, smelly, rotting meatballs, that apparently had been in the fridge for a couple weeks. Someone had placed the bowl of meatballs and a note on Pio's bed. The note read, "Yum, yum. Eat up."

Ricardo smelled the rancid meal and nearly vomited. So Pio was quite livid, and with good reason. This called for immediate attention.  Ricardo went to the boys and said that meals would be suspended until someone came forward and admitted to putting nasty food in Pio's things. Peer pressure is one of our favorite teachers.

So a minute later, Chucho came to Ricardo and said it had been him. He had no reason for his behavior other than saying that "Pio bothers him."

We like to let our children choose their consequences. So Chucho's two options of consequences were to eat two of the meatballs that he declared "yummy" or do Pio's chores for two weeks. He chose to do the chores for two weeks which we believe is the better consequence. So we hope that Chucho will stop putting nasty food in Pio's stuff and will generally learn from this situation.

This is just a little snippet of our lives on a daily basis.

Eduardo

When I was 17 I spent six weeks at a children's home in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. I served there as an intern. The most profound moments I spent there, was when I watched three children leave the home.

It was a foggy, Saturday morning. It had been colder than normal and these three beautiful children were going back to live with their mom. Everyone was standing outside saying their goodbyes. Everyone was crying, as the kids got into the bed of a pick up truck. Their stuff was next to them in black, plastic garbage bags as they prepared to drive away. Their mom was in the front seat with her new husband. He was a nice, kind man who would treat them well. And with that they drove away into the world. You could see the tops of their heads over the tailgate.

And as I watched this seen unfold, and I held the hands to two little kids who were not going home that day, I looked around and noticed Edna. Edna ran the children's home, and she was standing off to the side, kind of out of the way. And she had tears running down here cheeks. And after the truck was out of sight, she wiped her face and went inside.

And in that moment, I had thought to myself, "how can she just let them drive away like that? She loved them and invested so much into them. And now, they are gone."

Today I have become Edna. The caregiver, the one who loves them so much, watching them drive away. And my heart is breaking. My Eduardo will leave today, after making some huge, very unwise decisions. And I understand the situation. My head works just fine, but my heart is broken. The decision wasn't mine, but I can't help but question, what is best for him? No one else sees much good in him, and I just feel bad.

He had never believed that he would be told to leave this place. And after the decision was made and he was told, he came with me and we went on a short walk. We walked to a bench and sat down. He asked a few questions and then started crying. I cried with him, I'm still crying now. I said, "Eduardo, but you are going back with your mom. You always tell me how much she loves you and you love her. You tell me how nice she is and that you love your grandma too. You had told me you wanted to leave and be with her."

And he said, "Andrea, I never wanted to leave like this. And how is she going to love me after all I have done?"

I tried to assure him that a mother's love doesn't end because you made a mistake and that his mom will always love him no matter what he does. I hope I'm right. So if you read this blog today or tomorrow or in a couple weeks, please pray for me and Eduardo.

I know in my head that God is sovereign and He works all things for good. My heart just hurts.

Haiti

We are off to Haiti. We're leaving tomorrow morning and will be gone until February 10. If you would like to read more about what we will be doing in Haiti you can check out www.camanochapelmissions.org

Thank you for your prayers.

Plan D

Plan A was to go to Oaxaca and serve for three months, then go to Haiti and then return to work in the Mission in Baja. These were our original thoughts and plan. Oh how things have changed.

So we went to Oaxaca and served and in so doing we fell in love with the children’s home. We felt quite at home there and loved the staff. We have made great friends and met incredible people. Ricardo and I have been truly blessed by the time we spent there.

We also became houseparents to the teenage boys and have completely fallen in love with them. Their house is a bit crazy and on occasion somewhat out of control, but it is fun and we can see the Lord working in them and in us.

So that brought us to Plan B which was go home to Baja for a few days, head out on the mission trip to Haiti, then go back home to Baja, pack up some things and return to Oaxaca as soon as possible. Plan B was in question first because of the earthquake that rocked Haiti on January 7^th. We wondered if our trip would be cancelled. So far it has not been so the Haiti plan is a go. Then Plan B was in question again due to flooding in Baja California. They have had an incredible amount of rain in the last week which has demolished bridges and proven parts of the highway impassable. So at this point we cannot even drive to our house.

The missionaries and visitors at the Baja Mission are trapped there since the bridge connecting them north floated away in the bloated river. Tobin our house-sitter hasn’t been to our casa in over a week because he is trapped at the Mission. We are praying that our house is fine and that no water seeped in anywhere. All this water in Baja has turned dirt roads into pits of mud and made it impossible for people to get around.

Also stores supplies are dwindling, as trucks are not able to go down and resupply. The truck that takes weekly supplies to the Mission is stuck in Ensenada. Please pray that the Lord will supply the needs of those not only living at the Mission but the workers in the fields as well. The people are so poor and live in such extreme situations that I cannot imagine how cold and desperate they must feel.

This brings us to Plan C. Plan C was never really a plan, but it was a passing thought that seemed pretty attractive for a while. We formulated plan C with our friends Jill and Janelle in Oaxaca. They believe due to all the natural disasters and crazy weather we should just stay in Oaxaca, cancel our trip to Haiti, and visit Baja when the roads dry up and the bridges are repaired.

So now we are on Plan D which is to head to LA and visit the Irvings before we go to Haiti. Hopefully by the time we get back from Haiti the highway to our house will be fixed and we can go home for a week or so before we go back to Oaxaca.

We left Oaxaca at 5 a.m. Saturday, January 22^nd. The boys woke up to say goodbye to us and it was a pretty sad morning having to leave. Saturday we drove all the way to Guadalajara where we spent the night and are now driving north. We plan to cross the border at Nogales, which borders Tucson, Arizona and then drive from there to LA. It will be a nice little vacation to visit our friends in LA. We haven’t seen them in such a long time and we haven’t been to the States since the beginning of October.

So that is all for now. We are looking forward to going to Haiti. It’s going to be an incredible experience, we are sure. But we cannot wait to go back to Oaxaca. We feel like we help meet a need there with the boys. It’s a privilege getting to parent them, and getting to know them better. We know that God is doing things in their lives and it’s encouraging to know that we get to be a small part of it.

A Blog Worthy Day

So yesterday was a blog worthy day. It started out great and then began to head downhill as Jill and I went to the middle school to pick up the middle school student's grades. It was an interesting experience and the first official business I have done as a house mom. I must say it wasn't that great.

Five of my boys are in middle school and three of them are failing at least one class. One of my boys is failing four classes. One teacher who had a meeting with all the parents, had actually written out a list of all the bad things about each of her students and gave them out to the parents. It was a depressing day. Very depressing.

So then because of these bad grades, there were quite a few confrontations in the house last night. The boys are frustrated because their privileges have been restricted and I am sad because it seems the boys don't really understand the importance of school. They are all so smart and capable, though laziness abounds. So it was rough evening.

* * *

On another topic, Ricardo and I are getting ready to go back to Baja for a time. I can't believe we are going to be leaving in like a week or so. I think we are heading out of here on the 23rd, and the thought of leaving breaks my heart. We will hopefully be coming back here after our trip to Haiti and doing a few things at our house. I'm praying we are back at the beginning of March.

Being here in Oaxaca has been so fulfilling and wonderful. We have worked with incredible people and fallen in love with the most amazing children (even if they do get bad grades). We have felt so accepted and loved here by the other missionaries and we cannot wait to return. It's only a matter of time.