We are back from Honduras. I have got so much to post, good and bad. You know that you are on the right path and making positive differences for God's kingdom when Satan focuses his meanness on you and your family. We experienced that this week. BUT, Praise the Lord, Satan was not victorious! There were at least 49 new believers birthed into the Lord's kingdom this week and over 2000 heard the gospel message as they received their medical care. Everyone on the team was safe and no one had any serious injuries or illnesses.
I will post more on that later. And my dear husband, who is my techie, nerdy, brainy guy will download all my pictures to share!
Now to temp. shock...it was about 95 degrees in Honduras all week long. But when we got to Atlanta it was 41. Over 50 degree drop in temp in just 4 hours. And today, driving home from GA., it was in the 30's all day. Greg, Katie & I have stuffy heads and runny noses now. That coupled with the post mission trip exhaustion is going to be the cause of some early bedtimes.
More to come....I am really excited about sharing all about our trip! Thanks for the prayers!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Posting from Honduras
Please forgive any misspelled words or funny symbols...the keyboards down here a a little different.
The weather is beautiful and sunny...HOT. Something has got my allergies to going and I have a cough and runny nose. Am taking allergy stuff and using my inhaler. It seems to be pretty calm right now.
We are thrilled to have a large stove top and oven at the church, plus a fridge and freezer. We have hit the big time. We have walked and walked...4.5 miles Sat. and 4 miles Sun. Hopefully burning calories too! I have drunk lots of Mirinda, my very favorite drink down here.
The team is drinking 5 gallons of sweet tea every night and asking for more. It sure is a hit. Last night we had grilled hot dogs, sloppy joes and baked beans plus 4 chip dips Greg concocted and lots of chip selections. As usual, we cooked too much. At the end, we combined the sloppy joe sauce and baked beans and Katie and Greg started giving bowls to the church members as they got out of the services. They were very popular! Even to the children wanting the juice that was left in the bottom of the pan. They called it soup. Then we hauled out the leftover hotdogs, put them in buns, cut in half, and gave more away. We had men coming up and asking for the recipe in Spanish. Greg tried to explain as best he could. Several children laughed at my non-spanish. They love to see their pictures after I take them with the digital camera.
PRAISE REPORT: My little friend M that I have prayed for many months, is back with her foster father. I heard him talk about her the other day and found out she came back in Oct. About an hour later she ran into the kitchen and gave me huge hugs! It was great. I got to see her again last night for a few minutes.
I am typing this in an internet cafe, it cost about a $1 for an hour.
I am reminded again how totally spoiled I am and how much I take for granted. I can turn on my faucet and get warm, water. I can put my clothes in a washer and pull out clean clothes. I can shop once a week and come home and put the groceries in my fridge. We take so much for granted! Count your blessings.... I AM!!!!
The weather is beautiful and sunny...HOT. Something has got my allergies to going and I have a cough and runny nose. Am taking allergy stuff and using my inhaler. It seems to be pretty calm right now.
We are thrilled to have a large stove top and oven at the church, plus a fridge and freezer. We have hit the big time. We have walked and walked...4.5 miles Sat. and 4 miles Sun. Hopefully burning calories too! I have drunk lots of Mirinda, my very favorite drink down here.
The team is drinking 5 gallons of sweet tea every night and asking for more. It sure is a hit. Last night we had grilled hot dogs, sloppy joes and baked beans plus 4 chip dips Greg concocted and lots of chip selections. As usual, we cooked too much. At the end, we combined the sloppy joe sauce and baked beans and Katie and Greg started giving bowls to the church members as they got out of the services. They were very popular! Even to the children wanting the juice that was left in the bottom of the pan. They called it soup. Then we hauled out the leftover hotdogs, put them in buns, cut in half, and gave more away. We had men coming up and asking for the recipe in Spanish. Greg tried to explain as best he could. Several children laughed at my non-spanish. They love to see their pictures after I take them with the digital camera.
PRAISE REPORT: My little friend M that I have prayed for many months, is back with her foster father. I heard him talk about her the other day and found out she came back in Oct. About an hour later she ran into the kitchen and gave me huge hugs! It was great. I got to see her again last night for a few minutes.
I am typing this in an internet cafe, it cost about a $1 for an hour.
I am reminded again how totally spoiled I am and how much I take for granted. I can turn on my faucet and get warm, water. I can put my clothes in a washer and pull out clean clothes. I can shop once a week and come home and put the groceries in my fridge. We take so much for granted! Count your blessings.... I AM!!!!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Tornado Warnings In Jan.
Since I moved to Mississippi 4 1/2 years ago, I have wondered if the tornado sirens would wake me up in the middle of the night. Would I hear these or would I sleep through it and be in danger? Well last night the question was answered for me...not only would it wake me up...it would jolt me awake out of a sound sleep. Greg jumped up and ran to get the kids from upstairs and we all huddled in our bathroom. After the siren went off, Greg turned on the tv to watch the weather tracker. That storm was huge but it did pass us by (thank you Lord). Since the storm extended way in Louisiana, we decided the kids were sleeping downstairs with us...so as not to repeat the waking up to fetch kids. The 2nd round of storms came through but no more warning sirens.
It was hard to get up this morning but we were driving to GA. We passed 2 really bad wrecks on the way. The last wreck was westbound on I-20 at the Al/Ga line and it looked really bad, traffic was backed up for miles. We heard on the radio that there was a possible fatality and I had already guessed that. The cab of one of the trucks was crushed and the engine was inside the cab area. It was funny to watch the cars that were backed up, try to cut across median and get off the expressway. They got bogged down in the muck and mud in the median and got stuck! Then there was the guy sitting in his camp chair, beside his car stuck in traffic, playing his guitar! He had been there a while!
Right now, we are at Mom's. The kids are in Mom's bedroom with the Wii hooked up. They are teaching Shelby how to play. From the sounds, they are having a blast! Mom has cooked us a wonderful dinner of roast, carrots, potatoes, and green beans. And its dinner time.
Bright and early tomorrow morning, we are headed to the airport! Its time for Honduras! We have packed, prayed, and are ready for our adventure.
It was hard to get up this morning but we were driving to GA. We passed 2 really bad wrecks on the way. The last wreck was westbound on I-20 at the Al/Ga line and it looked really bad, traffic was backed up for miles. We heard on the radio that there was a possible fatality and I had already guessed that. The cab of one of the trucks was crushed and the engine was inside the cab area. It was funny to watch the cars that were backed up, try to cut across median and get off the expressway. They got bogged down in the muck and mud in the median and got stuck! Then there was the guy sitting in his camp chair, beside his car stuck in traffic, playing his guitar! He had been there a while!
Right now, we are at Mom's. The kids are in Mom's bedroom with the Wii hooked up. They are teaching Shelby how to play. From the sounds, they are having a blast! Mom has cooked us a wonderful dinner of roast, carrots, potatoes, and green beans. And its dinner time.
Bright and early tomorrow morning, we are headed to the airport! Its time for Honduras! We have packed, prayed, and are ready for our adventure.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Getting ready to Go!
This was my day to get school done, finish the laundry, and get completely packed.
School got done
Last laundry is in the washer
We are almost packed. We keep thinking of things we need to take. Being the cooks, Greg & I want to take some of our knives and spices and stuff to use down there. Which means, getting the stuff in the suitcases. We can each have 1 suitcase, weighing no more than 50 pounds. Greg's weighs 45 right now. Katie's is 30 and mine is 35. He has got extra stuff in his already for us to use for the week. The additional stuff we find will go into mine and Katie's. Need to make extra copies of the passports. And be ready to drive to GA at 8am.
We had a few distractions from our ready-ing today. One was a trip to the dentist for teeth cleaning. Everyone is in the No Cavity Club for this 6 months! Yippee!
I did a little reading on the internet about Honduras. I did find that the median income per year is $1,800 or so dollars. And I believe the website also said they were the poorest country in this hemisphere. I will have pictures when we get back.
There is an internet cafe across from our hotel so I can check in with Mom and Amy and Will and they can email me too. I don't know if we can get into the blogs or onto Facebook, but we will probably try!
Its gonna be a great week! I pray the Lord prepares the hearts of the Hondurans that will be coming to the medical clinics and hearing the gospel message. I am praying for safety for the folks traveling to the clinics and for our team as they travel around. I am praying for safety for Greg & I as we walk the streets of El Progresso buying food for our team meals (remember red lights are just a suggestion down there).
Speaking of traffic lights etc., Greg reminded me about the car horns. You should always honk your horn when driving. And just lay on the horn when you blast through the intersection on a red light...guess thats to call attention to the fact you just ran the light!
Gotta finish packing!
School got done
Last laundry is in the washer
We are almost packed. We keep thinking of things we need to take. Being the cooks, Greg & I want to take some of our knives and spices and stuff to use down there. Which means, getting the stuff in the suitcases. We can each have 1 suitcase, weighing no more than 50 pounds. Greg's weighs 45 right now. Katie's is 30 and mine is 35. He has got extra stuff in his already for us to use for the week. The additional stuff we find will go into mine and Katie's. Need to make extra copies of the passports. And be ready to drive to GA at 8am.
We had a few distractions from our ready-ing today. One was a trip to the dentist for teeth cleaning. Everyone is in the No Cavity Club for this 6 months! Yippee!
I did a little reading on the internet about Honduras. I did find that the median income per year is $1,800 or so dollars. And I believe the website also said they were the poorest country in this hemisphere. I will have pictures when we get back.
There is an internet cafe across from our hotel so I can check in with Mom and Amy and Will and they can email me too. I don't know if we can get into the blogs or onto Facebook, but we will probably try!
Its gonna be a great week! I pray the Lord prepares the hearts of the Hondurans that will be coming to the medical clinics and hearing the gospel message. I am praying for safety for the folks traveling to the clinics and for our team as they travel around. I am praying for safety for Greg & I as we walk the streets of El Progresso buying food for our team meals (remember red lights are just a suggestion down there).
Speaking of traffic lights etc., Greg reminded me about the car horns. You should always honk your horn when driving. And just lay on the horn when you blast through the intersection on a red light...guess thats to call attention to the fact you just ran the light!
Gotta finish packing!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Marvelous Monday!
Today was a marvelous Monday. First of all, Greg was off work today! I really could get used to 3 day weekends. We slept a little later than normal and then started our busy day.
Monday is laundry day and since it was warm & beautiful outside, I hung a couple of loads outside on the clothes line. The rest got dried/or are drying in the dryer. Laundry is a chore I really don't mind doing. And I do like hanging the clothes on the clothes line. I love to take advantage of the sun and wind.
Greg decided to cut down some little trees that we have been wanting to get rid of. He put his chain saw into action and got busy. Some of the pieces got put in our "fire pit" stack and the branches got hauled to the street. He got 3 trees cut and the garbage men have a big stack to haul away.
Then he and I went out for a lunch date and ran some errands. He dropped me off at Hancock Fabrics to take advantage of some sales and he went to Office Depot. Hancocks is really annoying me these days...they had some Novelty Cotton Fabric advertised for 50% off. The lady told me it wasn't on sale and I had to prove it with my ad (good thing I remembered to take it), the exact print was shown on the ad and she grudgingly gave the discount on that piece, then she didn't want to do the sale on the 2nd piece. (what a run-on sentence) Finally, I got out of there with my 2 sale piece fabrics and 4 patterns. But, you would have thought I was trying to rob the store. And I only bought 2 - pieces, 1/2 yard each, not a huge quantity. We really need a JoAnn's in Miss., then I wouldn't even fool with Hancocks.
Next was mulch buying at Home Depot. Greg and the kids got 10 bags of mulch spread behind the RV and around all the leyland cypress bushes. We got several flower beds raked out (and even found 3 little snakes, yuck)!
We are planning our garden boxes and trying to figure out how to arrange everything. It'll all be great when its done but we've got lots of planning and more work to do. I would love to plant enough green beans and squash to preserve for over the winter and not have to buy any at the store. And we are planting more cucumbers and bell peppers for our pickle relish that we all love. Then theres the tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers, corn, hot peppers, etc.
Greg and the girls fixed our dinner tonight. The girls fixed baked potatoes & green beans. Greg grilled us steaks on his new grill. Yummy and I didn't have to do any dinner prep or clean up!
Hope everyone had a Marvelous Monday, I know I did!
Monday is laundry day and since it was warm & beautiful outside, I hung a couple of loads outside on the clothes line. The rest got dried/or are drying in the dryer. Laundry is a chore I really don't mind doing. And I do like hanging the clothes on the clothes line. I love to take advantage of the sun and wind.
Greg decided to cut down some little trees that we have been wanting to get rid of. He put his chain saw into action and got busy. Some of the pieces got put in our "fire pit" stack and the branches got hauled to the street. He got 3 trees cut and the garbage men have a big stack to haul away.
Then he and I went out for a lunch date and ran some errands. He dropped me off at Hancock Fabrics to take advantage of some sales and he went to Office Depot. Hancocks is really annoying me these days...they had some Novelty Cotton Fabric advertised for 50% off. The lady told me it wasn't on sale and I had to prove it with my ad (good thing I remembered to take it), the exact print was shown on the ad and she grudgingly gave the discount on that piece, then she didn't want to do the sale on the 2nd piece. (what a run-on sentence) Finally, I got out of there with my 2 sale piece fabrics and 4 patterns. But, you would have thought I was trying to rob the store. And I only bought 2 - pieces, 1/2 yard each, not a huge quantity. We really need a JoAnn's in Miss., then I wouldn't even fool with Hancocks.
Next was mulch buying at Home Depot. Greg and the kids got 10 bags of mulch spread behind the RV and around all the leyland cypress bushes. We got several flower beds raked out (and even found 3 little snakes, yuck)!
We are planning our garden boxes and trying to figure out how to arrange everything. It'll all be great when its done but we've got lots of planning and more work to do. I would love to plant enough green beans and squash to preserve for over the winter and not have to buy any at the store. And we are planting more cucumbers and bell peppers for our pickle relish that we all love. Then theres the tomatoes, peppers, sunflowers, corn, hot peppers, etc.
Greg and the girls fixed our dinner tonight. The girls fixed baked potatoes & green beans. Greg grilled us steaks on his new grill. Yummy and I didn't have to do any dinner prep or clean up!
Hope everyone had a Marvelous Monday, I know I did!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Images from Honduras
When the town wakes up every morning...the sliding doors open up over the store fronts & the tables of goods are set up on the sidewalks. Two or three generations of families work together to make money.
There are many cars in El Progresso, but you will also see horses and carts. This driver and horse are taking a Siesta in the shade, trying to beat the heat in the middle of the day. There are also lunch carts that go out everyday on the streets selling hotdogs, chips, drinks, nachos, etc.
There are many cars in El Progresso, but you will also see horses and carts. This driver and horse are taking a Siesta in the shade, trying to beat the heat in the middle of the day. There are also lunch carts that go out everyday on the streets selling hotdogs, chips, drinks, nachos, etc.
Beautiful children at the church. I gave 2 or 3 children packets of cookies and they went to find their friends. Good thing I had lots of cookies! Sweets bridge the language barrier! And digital cameras are a wonderful thing...they love to see the pictures that I take and everyone gets really excited to see themselves! 
According to the "locals" if you don't protect and guard your homes, churches, etc. , others will think you don't care about your possessions and will help themselves. Bars, razor wire, etc. are common sites on the more affluent homes.
The medical teams suitcases full of medication, vitamins, etc. to take to the clinics where they will be working. The medical teams consist of general doctors, dentists, optometrists, pharmacy and evangelism. The dentist will pull about 30 teeth a day, be comes back at night exhausted.
These are pictures from 3 years ago. I'll take lots when we go this year! Can't wait to share about our adventures and how the Lord works during the week. We will drive to Atlanta on Thursday and get up bright & early on Friday morning to get to Atlanta Airport. The flight is between 4 & 5 hours. Looking forward to Friday!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Cool contest I found to win free groceries for a year
Hey, I just entered this contest on Cozi.com to win free groceries for a year. All you have to do is put in your email address.
Even if you don’t enter, please click the link to help me win. (I get an extra entry for telling you.) Thanks!
Even if you don’t enter, please click the link to help me win. (I get an extra entry for telling you.) Thanks!
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