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.
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