In 4..3..2..1...take off

We leave for Chicago on Thursday. If weather cooperates we will have a fun day Friday as a family of four at Navy Pier (Kassy has dreamed of that ferris wheel since she saw it 2 years ago). Then Saturday we fly to Louisville, then Miami, then San Pedro Sula. Saturday night we get in about 9 pm our time, which is good because last year's arrival time of 11 pm was too much for the girls given the inefficient customs process. We will stay at a hotel Saturday night and then take a bus to La Ceiba. From there, the people will be familiar and loved, but the surroundings new.

In case you don't know or don't remember let me tell you where we are going. We are going to serve and to bless our friends at ROC ministries (Revival Outreach Ministries). The greatest part of the day for my friends is taken up caring for the orphans. They currently have 22 of them, all six and under. Don't take your orphanage stereotypes and apply them here though. This family loves these kids and raises them as their own. They teach them the word of God, work to give them a good education (through the school they have established called Gnosis Institute of Learning), and love them as their own. The particular kids at Casa Cielo are all unadoptable. In my understanding, this means the kids have been taken away from their families by the government for safety reasons (often horrific stories) but for some reason I don't understand the parents' rights are not terminated so they cannot be adopted. The Jones family, who run ROC ministries, fully intends to raise these kids as their own. We won't leave this orphanage wishing we could take the kids with us. They have a family where they are loved, disciplined and cared for.

For future reference, let me introduce the characters in this trip:

• I assume you know my family: Me, Tom, Hadley (who is 8), Kassy (who is 6)

• Pam and Chris, are my in-laws, they traveled with us last year too

• Leonard and Marie Jones (Papa and Mama), the parents of the orphans, the directors and founders of the ministry
• Jeannie and Del. Jeannie is Leonard and Marie's grown daughter who is married to Del. Tom and Del have a crazy number of passions in common. 
• Joy, Leonard and Marie's 10-year old daughter. Hadley loves her. Kassy only likes her on some days as Kassy views Joy as a threat to her to love for Hads.

Here's where we will be in Honduras. The first map shows where Honduras is in Central America (click on "view larger map" to find La Ceiba in relation to San Pedro Sula, the second a more detailed map of where we stay. Last summer we were closest to Corozal, a village of about 2000 people who are descendents of the slaves the Spaniards brought with them. This summer, I believe we will actually be in the village of El Cacao.

View Larger Map


View Larger Map

Plan A for this summer is that the girls will attend Spanish kindergarten with the kids in the morning. School is in session there right now and we hope the girls will pick up more language. They get a little Spanish at their school, like colors, numbers, etc. so it won't be totally foreign to them. In the afternoons they will help with caring for the babies and other responsibilities of the kids. 

We don't have a Plan B if they hate Kindergarten.

We will meet Pam and Chris in San Pedro Sula before traveling on. My father-in-law fell in love with this ministry last summer. Since traveling to Honduras is relatively cheap, around $300 dollars, he has returned 3 times since last summer. He has enlisted the help of an architect friend to work with Papa  to build a permanent home for Casa Cielo. For five years they have rented various places and moved many times as needs and rents changed. A permanent home will be a blessing.

Tom and Chris will focus primarily on building. Though I think Tom is planning to train some young'uns in soccer! Plus, Hadley is missing a few weeks of practice on her traveling team....

Pam and I will help with the kids, teach some English, and generally try to be an encouragement and a blessing to this hard working family.

Unlike last year, our family including Pam and Chris will be staying in a rented house several miles from the orphanage. At least, that is the current plan. It changes regularly. We will miss the night time fellowship with Del and Jeannie and you (at least my dear family) will miss my regular access to the Internet that we will not have this year. I'll write when I can. But without regular internet access and the fact that I used Chris's computer last year, I make no promises.

And if you followed the political crisis in Honduras last year, you know that things are a mess there. Zelaya, the former president who was ousted the day we arrived, is still trying to get back into the country and to get amnesty. Billions of lempiras are missing from the Honduran government from the time of Zelaya and yet, the US ambassador to Honduras keeps pressuring the Supreme Court of Honduras to grant Zelaya amnesty. Zelaya appears to be a snarky, deceptive guy. And the US needs to stop getting involved (in my humble opinion). Really, why does our ambassador have a right to demand a meeting of the Hondurans Supreme Court justices to make them explain their decision not to grant amnesty?  Funny, how when you get involved with friends in a foreign country you suddenly have opinions on US foreign policy.


Here's a snippet from a recent newsletter from our friends:
"IHNFA, which is Honduras’ child protection system, is overwhelmed with the number of children that have recently been found abandoned.  The lack of availability in orphanages is causing officials to temporarily stop investigations that have been reported of abuse and neglect.  There are 83 children in La Ceiba on a waiting list to enter an orphanage, and 141 in Tela which is 3 hours away. We need to pray for protection overthese children, and that God would move throughout the nation of Honduras."

 Our friends have several needs. Sponsorships for the kids, so they can attend school. Money for a playground at the school ( I never saw one playground the whole time I there last summer!) , Money for a bus or large vans so they transport all the kids together. Check out their website: www.casaderoc.org to learn more or to donate. You donate where needed or tag the money for a specific need. Or you can even become their friend on Facebook just to see updates and pictures of events.


Thanks for reading and praying for us on our adventure. I'll write when I can.

Catch up

The girls are roller skating up and down the drive way. The house is not picked up. I read today, for fun, for information and for faith. That's a lot of reading in one day. And for the first time in weeks. I have nothing beyond showering on my to-do list. I have decompressed enough to finally sit down and catch you up.

The month of May and early June was brutal in its constant swells of activities. Soccer. Gymnastics. Swimming. End of the year carnivals. Poetry recitals. Soccer tournaments. A camping trip. A conference for Tom. Vacation Bible School. Stress tears regularly ended my week and really we can only blame ourselves--for cramming too much into the short summer weeks before change worlds.

I remember when the girls were toddling around the house I would wonder who those families were that hurried around like ants. We weren't busy. We had to look for things to do. The days were slow and exhausting too. Suddenly we are looking for things to cut, making decisions about what the girls can't do. Analyzing our budget to see which activities are affordable.

And then this June I was introduced to the knock-down world of girls' competitive soccer. Hadley tried out for Majors, the first level of competitive soccer. She made it with a top rating (never mind that she was shoo-in since her dad was coaching). And then came the draft and with it an endless analysis of which players to pick for our team. If you follow professional sports drafts, you might imagine the process. But here parents are involved. Parents determined to get their daughter on a good team, opinionated about how to coach, and willing to compromise integrity to get what they want. Yikes. If they don't coach they don't really get a say. By the time it was all over, after a long soccer season where Tom endured much gossip as the coach of yet another winning team (people like to conjure reasons other than talented coaching for why someone keeps winning) and a crazy draft, I hoped to not hear the word soccer for months. But alas, it's a World Cup summer. I better get used to it. Go USA!

Now summer is here. The girls are tall and lean. They've started learning to play the guitar. They're smart and quick and fun to joke with. Hadley is officially considered a tween (!) and watching her emotions swing like a pendulum make me wary of the next... oh 10 years.

I bribed Hadley last week. She was growing her hair long. It looked stringy and ...yuck! It was getting thinner and breaking with alarming frequency. Yet, she still wanted her hair long. I promised her I'd take her to a real salon, where they actually wash your hair, if she would cut it short. She took the bait. So did Kassy. We are all pleased with the results.

Below are end of year pictures with the girls' teachers. They both had excellent years in schools with teachers who we all loved. Kassy's picture with her teacher is blurry, so I tried to make it look vintage!

I've been writing a bit more (for money!)--mostly for the local lifestyle magazine.  And a lot less on here (perhaps you noticed?). My diabetes numbers are fine (not excellent, not bad) but my body is showing no signs of further complications usually experienced by diabetics.

We leave on the 1st for Chicago and on the 3rd for Honduras. I don't know how often I will be able to blog from there. We will be with the same family and kids but in a different place with different Internet access. I'll try to post some information before I leave so you can know more about what we are doing.

Movie Time

For years now, Tom has been telling the girls stories about a Princess Asmeralda, her horse Puffy Cloud, her flying ( but clumsy) dog Puffybutt, their friend Uncle Smitty the beaver and I don't know who else. He won't let me listen ( he should, I could write them down and save forever). The stories are checkered with silly humor, potty humor and a lesson the girls should learn about life. Two years ago they made their first Puffy Cloud movie. To refresh your memory. See below--the girls are 3 and 5.


It took two years and a bunch of begging but Tom and the girls just finished part 2. I think Tom hesitated because he doesn't know how to create the marshmellow mountain or giant ravens. The story is a bit inconsistent, but it's precious. And to brag on this dad just before father's day, Tom spent all of Saturday afternoon with the girls. He gave the time to them and promised to do whatever they wanted (within a budget). The dream list elicited some fighting among sisters, but they both had a fun day riding bikes, playing soccer, playing on the playground and making the movie (I think Tom had fun too!). And my last bragging statement. I love my digital camera. It's tiny, takes great pictures...and recorded the footage for this movie too!