How I feel about Honduras

We have had so many good seasons in our life.  Jarod and I have enjoyed everyone we have had together in the last 11 years.  We often look back at the Portland years in fondness - we loved the adventure of the European year and even the simple life that we had for three years on 14th street - with a steady job, yearly vacations, my accidental daycare, community involvement, and little "trash garden".  

But then came  the Honduras season: the uprooting of our family, the draining of our savings - to... do what?  learn and language.... meet some people?  We weren't sure.  And when we came back a year later - we still weren't sure what the Honduras experiment was all about.  

It was far from an easy season - but being a "half-glass-empty" kind of girl and not ever being a fan of ANY change in my life, I have a tendency to idealize the past seasons and be overwhelmed by the present.  I bronze past seasons in my mind, erasing all wear and tear they may have caused - and I hang them in my memory as a reminder of the "good old days". 

I suppose that would be good except the non-reality of that memory and my general momentary ungratefulness have left me in disappear on more than one account.  I stew next to my microwave and dishwasher, listening to the drum of my drier and the laughter of my children with their cousin - daydreaming of our "meaningful" life in Urraco.

I told Sarah, when we arrived that I never got over Urraco, an she laughed, having been a missionary in Australia more than 6 years prior, she said she had just begun to "get over" Australia.

Jason said that had he known we were coming back to "get over Honduras" he wouldn't have invited us back.  But he didn't have to worry because I learned one thing this week:  You never get over love.  We learn from it, grow from it, and Lord willing allow the passion and energy of it to propel us into the next season.  Into today.  Into loving today and all of the changes it brings.  Giving us faith to know that when today is gone it will be bronzed like Urraco.  My soul will erase the trials of today like it erased the never-ending mildew and the wet dog smell of Urraco.  It will erease things even more painful than my millions of swollen ants bites, more uncomfortable than the sweat, the akwardness of relationships built on a second languages 1/2 understood, strange cultures, class differences, and even that overwhelming feeling of having new clue where to start and no confidence that the little you can do actually makes any differences.  Those things are really in Urraco - I found them there - but they were lost in my memory.  All that remained were Faith, Hope and Love.

I know God never lies and though the passage of 1 Corinthians 13 has been etched in my memory for years, I am just beginning to feel it in my heart.  This week I lived the reminder.  I noticed all of the temporal things long forgotten but I experienced the faith, hope and love that remained.  The relationships that were built there crawled out of the woodwork, they came trickling down the mountainside to say, "We remember..." and to give gifts of remembrance - a shared meal, chicken soup, fresh tortillas, the eggs I used to wait on, cheap jewelry, drawings, letters, photos, news, reporting grades and showing homework, reading to me in much improved style, crying over hardships, sharing about their pregnancies and dreams.  And they came to the still functioning library that now has music classes, computer classes, a storage room and play area, even a Friday night church service, special reward systems for good behavior and outdoor movie and game nights.  All these people that we love and who we were loved by were together - with new babies and new jobs - there were new people there too and ongoing dreams.  And we shared our lives again - just for a moment.  To see that Lucy had grown hair, Jude was taller, Give hope to kids had new buildings, animals, volunteers, and visions. We saw that the avocado tress were bearing, the hibiscus and birds of paradise were in bloom and the pineapples were indeed the best on the planet.  People make mistakes and move on - our stupid dog Rocky had babies and ate my baleadas - some thing never change.  

And in Ceiba and out on the Cayos - life goes on too.  Kelley and Abner have two new kiddos and Gabby still dreams of studying in the US.  Karla got married and is considering converting to Mormonism, Lori and Haus moved back to the mainland and all of our kids are getting big enough to snorkel and play for hours unattended.  The circus even came back to town.  Life just goes on.

And life here goes on - no matter who comes and goes - I will never get over Honduras because we shared life with people there.  Faith, Hope and Love were shared and you never get over those... because they REMAIN.  I will never get over any season at 703 Fort either... as students come and go... because faith, hope and love are shared - and they remain.  We will never get over our season (however long it may be) of Bethesda - because the men there are the very best at sharing faith hope and love.  And the faith hope and love multiply, in our dreams and goals, in the lives we go on to share with others.  They are bronzed as all of the temporal things fade.  All these things that I stress out over and am unsure about will disappear like my aunt bite and bacterial infections... and the love will grow stronger.

So thank you Honduras - thank you once again for sharing your faith, hope and love with the Tippy family - we will share it here.

Also - friends here - stay tuned for my plethora of ways we can share ours with Honduras.

Now here are a few photos:

Before we left Lucy had the most ridiculous 4th birthday party hosted and held by Grammee, Sawsan and Alice.  It was OUT OF CONTROL.

Here we are on our way (please look for these same faces on the delayed return trip.).

Some glimpses of what (and who) we love about Urraco.

Our miraculous encounter with Edwin on the bus solidified in my mind how much God really cares for each of his children.  Now how can we care for the Cruz boys???  If only I knew.

Here is Lucy with David and Olga's Abby - they were fast friends... and a delight to my heart after being there throughout Olga's pregnancy.

                                                               Two great men.

We planted these plants.... to bad my own yard isn't looking so good.

These are some of kids who live in the children's home now.  That was the home we lived in.  I have photos my kids just like that.

An avocado tree we planted.

Olga and I... she is pregnant again!!!

Sweeping the water out of the concha they built behind the library... it was only a dream when we were there - it is perfect!!!

We were there for Dia de Indio... my favorite holiday.  Here are a million photos of the school children who shared their lives with me and who were SO patient with my spanish

God will do great things with these Villa Franca women.. I just know it!!

They butchered a cow while we were there.  They had a cow to butcher and freezers to put it in and kids to eat it.  PRAISE GOD!!

Dona Angela... not only dos she make the best tortillas... she loves the people of her community with integrity. Thank you.

Olga wanted to go swimming but we needed to pull the beans first.  We got it all done before the afternoon rain!!

God and this family make it all possible.  Thank you Furrows. Thank you. And we can't wait to meet the next Furrowita :).

The circus in Ceiba.  Jude used his Lemonade stand money to buy everyone a light-up thingy.



Our teacher Karla.

Kelley and I making pb & J on the Cayos with our fingers... because I forgot the spoons.  Sorry about that one Kelley.  Strike 4??

Talk about Father- son bonding

 

This is our teenage friend Gabby holding little sleeping Susana with such gentleness.  God has the heart of this young woman and she will change the world.


I don't even know where to begin with the Arevelo family.  To us they exemplify everything we want to be to our friends.  They love more honestly and more completely than almost anyone we have ever met.  Let's start with this one, "Hey guys, we know you are PHYCO busy but we would like you to take one day and your 1, 2, 4, and 6 year old on a deathly scary boat ride to an island to get stung by jelleyfish and return home and cook for us, pray for us and give us spiritual guidance and an air-conditioned bedroom."  "sure" they say.  They always say, "sure".













We wore them out.  with 2 days of travel left to go!!

And 12 hours after we returned we had to say goodbye to our friend Sawsan.  She left us... maybe for a month... maybe forever.  But she left us as we left Urraco - having shared her life.  We will never get over her.

Oh, and this little girl is kinda cute.  Please pray for me as I try to remember that faith, hope and love will remain - with this one.  I tend to forget.

a template

So this blog has gone REALLY down hill. Thank you all you faithful people who remind me that it is worth doing (even if it is only SOMETIMES worth reading).

And the ironic thing is – the more AMAZINGLY exciting life gets the lamer the blog... and this really should not be.

Also, what should not be is that I forget to tell my closest friends really important stuff like “WE ARE GOING TO HODURAS!!!!!!!” (Just for 8 days).

So I thought what about a “blog template”? I'm gonna give it a whirl. And just so you know, I would love to get a similar reply about each of your lives :).

(Also, just so you know I wrote the template 2 weeks ago and am just now getting around to filling it in - so don't expect too much improvement.)

Life rating:

A – things are great. I am actually freaking out A LOT about several different fronts – but I am recognizing it quickly and repenting of this life sucking behavior on like an hourly basis – so that's an improvement. Oh but the weather rating is an F-.... I would give it an F – if I could.... but apparently the weather has no regard for my ratings or interest in improving itself.

Here I should also mention it was really hard to loose Lynn... my Tia Chia teacher and Heather my running partner, friend, and mother of Jude and Lucy's new friends. I hate it when people move.  I give moving an F.

I should also mention we have a new nephew Michael.  I give new babies an A.

Who is living with us:

Gin – a Chinese guy with a green card who just finished ESL and is taking a physical education class over the summer... but mostly he just plays video games and has a “ma,ma,hu,hu” (so-so) life. We are working on him and are hoping that he comes to visit often (like Kingson) even though he is moving out Sunday. (Sunday, Allen (also Chinese) – a good friend from last year will be moving in).

Alice – a Chinese lady who we also don't see that much of right now because she is helping her two best friends prepare to move. But... we are expecting to enjoy a full year with her.

Khalad – a Saudi Arabian young man, cousin to Saad and Salah (I think the whole country is related really). He is in ESL and will live with us until December when he returns to Saudi to get married.

Sawsan – a Saudi woman who is such a blessing and so much fun. We don't know if she will be with us 3 more weeks or 1 ½ years.

1 Hilarious or horrible thing the students have said or done that week:

Sawsan has really been amazing, surprising us with her willingness to try everything – mud slides at cousins camp, the tube at the lake, 102 degree hot dog roasts at the old fort, learn Monopoly, cleaning the bathroom and scrubbing floors. WAIT a student who loves to clean?? How amazing is that? So no, in general she is not hilarious or horrible – just helpful. Except maybe when she lets Lucy do makeup parties before bed. (oh also I can't take pictures of her as part of her culture so you just have to imagine her... she is beautiful... and I kind of like the whole hajab secret hair thing... Suadi women are so mysterious. Oh and also I bet STINKING miserably HOT. Did I mention it is hot here??

Lucy in her bedtime makeup

How the children are:

Good, I think. I feel as though I don't see them as much. They spend two days with my mom while I work at Bethesda. Last night they spent the night with the Lowerys. They go on trips and spend time with Grandma Joan and Grandpa Bob, they run off with their friends now at the pool, and when they do have time at home they are excited to just go in their room and play with their toys or DO LEMONADE STAND and I try to catch up on two days of work around here. Yes, their father and grandparents built them a high-tech, long lasting lemonade stand, and even after repaying all building and startup costs their profit is over $50. They are in the money. They literally make more per hour than Jarod.

Building the stand in the mancave.

Selling at the Old Fort on the 4th. They should NOT let Lucy do the money.

1 Hilarious or horrible thing my children have said that week:

Oh, let me count the words.... Actually, the best this week probably comes from Lucy getting fired from the Lemonade stand. Maysyn brought Lucy in crying and said Jude had hurt her. This is uncommon for my son so I just told Lucy to go in and rest and then I went out to get the whole story from Jude.

First Lucy had torn the caps off of their “air conditioner” - a mister that Jarod attached to the stand. Water was squirting everywhere. Then she started yelling, “3 for a dollar” when lemonade is 50 cents each. So Jude told her she was fired. (That may have been an over reaction except the day before she had stuck her muddy feet in the ice cooler and filled the cups with grass). She didn't like being fired so she started punching him again and again saying that he “hurt her feelings”. He grabbed her arm and told her to stop and that is when she came inside. She couldn't possibly figure out what she did wrong so I explained it to her and told her just to take a nap. (When it is over 100 I think a nap in a cool room is the solution for almost all parenting issues.)

How work at Bethesda is going:

So here is the thing. My parents are saints. The may screw up some stuff but they are saints, and also Katie – she is a saint. Jarod and I – not so much. I love the guys – I really do – and Jarod does too – but patients isn't our strong suit (ask our children). So basically, to give my parents a break we need to find replacement saints... and they are hard to come by. Thankfully Jarod and I do OK with paperwork, organization, and we can schlep and few hoses, spray some trees, and go to Dr.'s appointments – so we don't need a super QUALIFIED saint – just a regular old saint. To be honest, I don't see any on the horizon so I am thinking God is in the process of “saintifying us” which basically means – MAKING us be patient. Patient when John decides to spray water the garden when it is 102 for the 10^th time. Patient when Randy sneaks out to buy soda for the 100^th time, or even better when he sneak drinks the rotting melted leftover homemade ice cream from a dirty Tupperware AFTER he has eaten out twice, had a huge dessert and bowl of ice cream and a slushy from Sonic – WHAT IS WITH THIS GUY AND SNEAKING FOOD?? Patient after Carl flips out at everyone in the crowded 11 passenger van at 11 p.m. Patient when they rewash clean clothes and don't wash dirty clothes, patient when they take ten hours in the bathroom or forget to go. Or both. Don't ask how – but they can do that. They are just good like that. Patient when they somehow dump a box of pancake mix from the top shelf of a pantry on to EVERYTHING. They can do that too. Patient when they have ten pitchers but still make tea in a bowl and then dump it everywhere when pouring. Patient when they tell complete strangers about tumors they don't have, or good friends that they want to move to Cincinnati just because they are having a bad day. And the list? It goes on... and on... and on... Do you think I should put that in the job description I am posting EVERYWHERE?

I bet Randy snuck and ate whole pie after this.

1 Hilarious or horrible thing my parents or the guys have said that week:

I really think there should be a movie of this place. That's all. I'll do better next week I promise.

How my house and yard are holding up:

They aren't. It's all dirty and dying.  So there. Take that. I am blogging anyway.

1 Hilarious or horrible thing I have thought that week about my house and yard:

I just don't care when it is so FREAKING hot. I don't. Well, I do, but my body doesn't and my body wins. Also, I should drink water... but my body wins and I just drink glass after glass of cold coffee with full cream and vanilla syrup. Why? It tastes better.

1 thing God is teaching me:

Don't freak out. It just isn't helpful. Yes, the Titanic may be sinking... but all I've got is a life boat so I'm just supposed to do this small job and call it good. Also, I am supposed to remind my husband that he also ONLY has a lifeboat. Our lifeboats are called “the 24 hour day”... and they just don't get any bigger.

Also – I should just pray for rain and saints and patients... 'cause I can't make any of those things but I need them BAD. And I can pray while I shlep hoses – it is more productive than cursing them – at least that's what I'm hoping.

Major events past or upcoming that I covet your prayers over:

Yeah, if you could pray for rain, saints, and patients that would be AWESOME. Especially if we could get some BEFORE we leave for Honduras July 17. 

Andrea, did I mention we are going to Honduras July 17th? I should have.... a LONG TIME AGO :)