Better is ONE Day in Your Courts Than THOUSANDS Elsewhere

Tonight I am spending the night at the clinic with a funny little boy named Tony. About ten days ago Tony was playing on the trampoline with his friends and somehow managed to be stepped on at the bottom of a pile of rough boys. At the exact moment he was trapped, another child tried to help him up. This resulted in the near loss of his ear! He was rushed to the doctor’s office and received stitches on the inside and outside of his ear. Now that his pain is being managed with medication, as most five year olds do, he has more energy than he knows what to do with. When I got to the clinic tonight I asked him if he wanted to watch a movie. He told me he did and when I asked him what type, he responded “a funny one.” We looked at the movies and he instantly started chanting Winnie La Pooh. I am not sure when Winnie the Pooh became a comedy, but I decided not to question his movie preferences.

During nap time today in the baby room I realized that there are five solid truths that apply basically to any time I am working with the toddlers.

1.      1. Saying “No” to a toddler will always be traumatic- both for the toddler and also for the adult who is about to have to listen to the fit that will be thrown.

2.      2. Clipping finger nails and toe nails of the toddlers will always make me nervous. So far all babies still have ten fingers and ten toes, but I still have 6 weeks here J

3.     3.  Strollers built to hold two babies are actually capable of holding five.

4.     4.  Second to Sundays, nap times are sacred. Thou shalt not forsake thy naptime.

5.      5. If you think you are tired, drink a second cup of coffee.

(With only some slight altering- some of these truths can also apply to the teenage girls J Just kidding..kinda)

I still am really enjoying the time I get to spend with the babies! While here, I have gotten the privilege of working in the baby room with Brandy, Anna, and Marie. Yesterday was Marie’s little girls Birthday! We had so much fun celebrating it with the kids! They brought a Clifford Piñata, party hats, balloons, candy, and a cake! The babies loved the cake so much! They all try so hard to be independent, and ended up with frosting all over their faces (and hands, arms, and legs) J After the party we decided it would just be easier to bath them than to try to use hand wipes to get all the cake off!

Unfortunately about half of the babies have been sick within the past two weeks. Five of them have been running fevers. L It makes me feel so helpless when they are in between doses of medication, still running a fever, and angry because we are giving them cold baths. Please pray that their fevers will break completely!

I am still giving out medication. It has been great getting to know the kids who receive medication more and more each day. One of the special needs teenagers named Kika handed me a note about a week back. Trying not to look too eager to see what the note said, I put it in my pocket and told him I would read it when I got home. Once I got home, I opened it and instantly realized that it was written in a girl’s handwriting and contained the daily drama that any teenage girl would inform her friend about in passing. I think Kika had “mistakenly” come across this note, and then decided I was the right person to receive it.

I have decided it is time for me to retire my dark green TOMS. I have had them for close to two years (which makes them about 100 years old in TOMS shoes years). They were my first pair of TOMS to get, so I have been reluctant to retire them- although they have a hole in the top of one shoe and the back of the other is fraying. There have been two instances that (1) made me laugh and (2) made this decision to retire them final. Two weeks ago one of the staff members invited me over to her house. We were talking and giving each other a hard time when she looked at my shoes and started laughing. She then says, “Daysha do you need new shoes? I can get you a pair if you need them…” We both laughed, and I told her I was fine. Tonight while walking to church I was talking with one of the teen girls. Her flip flop had just broken, and I asked her if she had another pair of flip flops. She told me she didn’t (but I am pretty sure she actually does) and without looking begins to say, “That is why tomorrow you should give me…” and then glances down at my TOMS and stops mid sentence. I just started laughing again and said, “Jokes on you! You don’t want my shoes!” After this second instance though I now know my TOMS will not be returning to Arizona with me, which is sad- but apparently long over due J

Yesterday the power was off for the second half of the day, and today the water was off throughout the whole orphanage. Hopefully both these quarks will be worked out tomorrow- but if not, we will all be ok J I finished reading Redeeming Love this week. I read this book a few years ago and loved it, so I was happy to see it on the community shelf here! It is a great story and I recommend reading it. I also still enjoy getting to read my notes each week J The notes are always encouraging and exactly what I am needing to hear. Thank you again to everyone who sent one for me to read this summer! As of today, I am the only volunteer here. It has been sad watching new roommates and friends leave this summer, but I know God has amazing plans for them back home! I am counting down the days until Amy and JM get here! If there is anyone else who has extra time, loves hanging out with awesome children, doesn’t like sleeping, drinks way too much coffee, and wants a life changing experience- come to Orphanage Emmanuel! I am sure you will love it J

Love Came To Show Us The Way

So there I was, delivering medication riding down a hill to get to my second house of the day when I realized that I was not 100% sure if I should use the right handle break or the left handle break. Perfect… I had been the proud owner of a bike for less than 24 hours and I was not about to crash in front of the high school boys house. One of my only scars from childhood came from a bike accident at a young age when I used the front wheel break instead of the back wheel break and flipped over the bike. I decided against trying to guess the correct break, and decided to do what seemed like the only option that I had left which was to begin yelling “Permisso” (excuse me) as loud as I could and hope that innocent bystanders moved out of my way quick enough and that the bike would eventually slow down in speed. Thankfully there were no casualties in my first experience riding my bike in Honduras. Now two weeks later, I am a lot more confident in my bike riding (and breaking) abilities and it has been a blessing to be able to use while distributing medication. I really enjoying distributing medication, and love getting to see a lot of the kids multiple times a day.

The babies, as always, are really cute. It always shocks me how much personality can be in such little people! Tonight I watched Baby Einstein with the infants and it was one of the most entertaining half hours of my summer. I had seen Baby Einstein before, but this time instead of watching the movie, I watched the kids. The babies were hilarious! They all knew when the different puppets were coming up, danced with the little songs, mimicked the animal noises, and clapped at the end of the short sections. It was so cute! I don’t know why short clips of toys, puppets, and music transfix babies, but I am really glad it does J

One project that has been consuming 80% of my past three days has been a HUGE painting project! The end goal is for the entire Volunteer House to be repainted. As of tonight, we have completely finished three of the five bedrooms. Our work for us is still cut out for us with painting the remaining bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, living room, and laundry room- but hopefully we will be able to make more progress this week! I am really proud of how the three bedrooms have turned out and am ready to finish up the painting and retire my new found skill J

It has been a while since I posted last, but last week I finished reading a great book titled Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. It is a fictional story about the factual topic of Christian persecution in China. It was loaned to me by a staff member here and it has been one of my favorite books I have read this summer. My favorite quote from this book comes from the end of the book when the author is describing a hypothetical conversation that the main character of this story is having with God.  It states, “When you longed for a great house in this world,” the King said, “you were longing for my house. You just didn’t know it. My children there never dream too big, you know. They dream too small, they set their sights too low. They choose to play in the mud on a cold rainy day when I offer them open green meadows in the sun, clear flowing streams, majestic mountains, and endless beaches and blue skies that stretch to the stars themselves, stars that are gateways to innumerable worlds beyond. The sons of Adam try so hard to be satisfied with so little- which keeps them from ever being satisfied at all.” When I read this paragraph in the book the first time I had to stop and reread it again. It made me wonder how many times I have been content “sitting in the mud on a cold rainy day” when God has always been offering much more that I can ever imagine! God is so good and I am so thankful for the time I have been able to spend here.