Red Cross Shelter Training

If my "mobile posting" works, you should see a picture below.

We are attending an all-day Red Cross training class.
Learning alot, and are planning on volunteering to be on a "Disaster
Action Team" to respond to single family house fires, etc in our
community.

It's a Boy!

Our dear friends, Tim and Tiffany, brought home their new toy today. Cade Christian Lilly joined this crazy world Monday.

He's absolutely perfect, and we are thrilled for our friends. They are so cute, doting over their perfect, sweet, innocent son.

And here is Aunt Kristen and Uncle Rick

TGIF

I have nothing to write about, except that I am really, really looking forward to a weekend.

Our Valentine's Date has been rescheduled multiple times, and is set to finally happen Saturday night. (Fingers crossed.) I have serious concerns for Rick's sanity, as well as mine, if something else comes up that forces us to reschedule again.

We've been a bit stressed lately, and are looking forward to a night together, out on the town!Mum's the word on what he has planned... I'll just have to wait and see.

Below is a picture of Rick helping to dig Sunday's grave. Isn't he cute?

Other plans this weekend are:

Friday night - Youth leader gathering

Saturday - Home and Garden Show maybe, then Rick will help to install an antenna for a friend

Saturday night - DATE!

Sunday - Church first, then a funeral that we both are working. We are planning on spending Sunday night at the house in Athens.

Battle of the Bands!

Our dear friends, Tim and Tiffany (aka backporch pals) stopped in for a friendly chat on Sunday evening. Before they left, we talked them into a friendly contest of Guitar Hero. Little did they know that Rick had been playing all weekend with Collin! I may be wrong here, but I'm thinking Rick was tired of being whipped up on by our 15 year old. It was time for the tide to turn. So perhaps luring in an unsuspecting pregnant woman and her husband to the Game felt really good! Postscript: Little Cade Lilly has an appointment to come into the world next Monday, 2/23! We can't wait to meet him!

Guatemala Update Day 9

I'm getting to the end of our trip recap. Just Day 9 and Day 10 to go... Day 9 Antigua and Guatemala City We started the day by visiting a Girls Home called Manchin. Red Dot and Buckner had spent several cumulative weeks at Manchin in the recent past, and completed quite a bit of upgrade work to the facitilities.

On the whole, I was very impressed with the Home. It was much larger than I imagined, and had a very large courtyard with classrooms surrounding it.

The dorm rooms were new, thanks to previous team trips. There were several teenage mothers in this home and they had their own dorm room, separate from the other girls. It was sobering to see, but a reality nonetheless. Each bed in the mother's dorm had a crib next to the bed. It made me ache for these girls who for whatever reason, were now saddled with the responsiblities of motherhood.

While touring the Home, we saw one of the active volcano's in the area spout a puff. My first real volcano siting!

After saying goodbye to the girls at Manchin, we headed back to Guatemala City. We visited a Baby's Home. This was an actual house, not an institutional building. There are house parents that live in the home, and a staff that assists with the babies/toddlers. We brought them a treat for lunch, as well as some new toys that were a hit.

I know there are a hundred different reasons the babies are in this Home, but holding this little one really affected me. Oh, I would have brought her home in a heartbeat! I think ALL of the women passing around this sweet baby thought the same thing.

Below is Estuardo playing with the Pizza toy we brought. He was quite the expert at serving pizza!

The Men worked on installing artificial turf in an outside play area (to replace the hard concrete.) As they unrolled the large, bulky roll of grass... gasp! Oh no. It was short. About 1/3 of the length short. The looks on the faces of them men told it all. What a sinking feeling! As it turns out, the rolls of grass that we used in Xela were mis-marked. That explained how we ended up with so much extra grass at Xela... The picture below is seconds before the end of the roll was reached.

What would have taken about 1 hour to install ended up taking several. Fortunately, Red Dot had stored some extra grass at the Buckner storage facility on an earlier trip. And the storeroom was nearby! So after a trip to storage they were able to add 3 seams and make the grass fit. The women said our goodbyes and left the men working on the grass. We went to town and purchased a DVD player and about 20 or so movies. With this, we headed over to the Boys Transitional Home. Red Dot (thanks to Melissa's dream) has been significant in creating this home, after getting to know some of the older boys at Xela on previous trips. Some of the older boys needed a smaller home to grow up in, with personal attention, tutoring, etc. It is a house, in a neighborhood, very close to the Baby Home we were at earlier. There are currently 4 boys living there with a mom and dad - House Parents. The home has room for a few more boys as well. These kids were awesome! They were so well behaved, sweet teenage boys. Here is a picture of Melissa with "her" boys!

Here are the boys excited about the movies we gave them.

We spent some time with them, and pretty soon the men finished installing the grass at the Baby's home and joined us. The boys were excited about the following day, when we would take them with us on a short plane ride (their first!) to see the ancient pyramid city of Tikal. So when we said good night to them, we were looking forward to the next day with them. Dinner on this night was a special event. It was our "thank you" dinner for our Buckner translator team. We went to a very cool steakhouse, at the top of a hill that overlooked the city. I wish I had a picture of it, but I don't. It was a real treat for us all! Following dinner, we officially "thanked" our translators for their hard work. Without their help, there is no way we could have been as effective as I think we were. They were always involved, working alongside us... helping us communicate with the children.

We went to bed that night looking forward to the next day... Seeing the ruins at Tikal, and then ziplining through the the jungle. (yikes!) I'll work on our last day and post it soon!

Day 8 - Guatemala Update

And here is my Day 8 update from the Guatemala trip. Day 8 - Antigua We left our week-long home in Xela this morning. It was Saturday, and we were exhausted from the week. As we drove out of the city, I pondered the memories from the past week. What a gift I had been given! As long as I live, this week with the children of Xela will be one of the highlights! The drive back towards Guatemala City took us to Antigua. There were lots of beautiful sites along the mountainous road.

I've always heard of the quaint city of Antigua, and there was no disappointment here! This was going to be our fun day of R&R!

Lunch first... it was a welcome stop. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was awesome! We all piled around the table and relaxed. The food kept coming and coming. And on this day, the difference was that we had gelled (is that a word?) as a team. We had built so many memories the past week together that we were a FAMILY. And we were relaxing together as family.

Following lunch, we enjoyed the outdoor shopping at the market, and walking around the square also. It was a very quaint city. I would love to go back and spend a few days exploring the area. And of course, I couldn't stay out of the bookstore...

And I can't help but share this photo of the "lactating fountain..."

Dinner on this evening was a REAL treat! We went to Santa Domingo, a 16th century monastery. Here are a few pictures.

We dined in what felt like a "cave." It was part of the original monastery, and believe me when I say... it felt old. It was very nice relaxing in the candlelight ambiance with history literally all around us. We celebrated Guili's birthday and the mariochi band did their stuff! We had time later on to explore some of the grounds, and were glad to learn that we could return in the morning for a few minutes to see it in the daylight. Back to our hotel after dinner. Rick and I fell into bed looking forward to the next day. We would visit a Girl's Home in Antigua (the very one that Tod first met Kati at - now Tod and Robyn's daughter!) I just have to post this picture that I just saw today. Tod & Robyn, Tyler & Lindsey are in Guatemala for their 8 week stay so that Kati can join our family officially!

End of the Weekend

I'm anxious to continue my daily report on the Guatemala trip... Next up is our day in Antigua - it was the day following the fabulous Carnival at Xela.

Perhaps I can write it later tonight. But for now, let me just quickly update our weekend.

Tiffany and Tim's babyshower was Saturday. They had lots of family in, and we had a blast playing those silly babyshower games... The guys were relegated to the garage putting together her glider rocker.

Rick and I then cleaned our house and left it in good order for Tim's parents to stay in overnight. I even left mints on the pillows for them! We high-tailed it to Athens to stay in the farmhouse for the night.

We dined with my folks at Arby's (about as nice as it gets in Athens!) Followed that with a movie from the RedBox vending machine at WalMart... yes, I know. I'm a cheap date.

We managed to get in a few hours work at the office today before heading back over to the Lake this afternoon. Taylor called from our garage reporting that his window would not roll up. So he and Rick are working on it this afternoon in the garage. Turns out the car is going to have to stay with us this week to get fixed at the Dealership. Thankfully, his Grandpa came through for Taylor and is providing a vehicle for him to get back up to UNT Denton tonight. We'll handle getting his car fixed this week for him, and when he comes home Friday, all should be well. Here's a picture of Taylor trying to figure out the window.

I'm finally feeling better - after 27 days of sickness, it's about time. I really miss my life, and it feels like I've been in a fog for SO long.

Rick's grilling steaks tonight, and we hope to have a quiet evening.

Oh, the frustrations...

I look forward to writing about our days in Guatemala after the Carnival, as we still had work to do at other locations. And there are some really neat things that occured that I can't wait to write about. But it's not going to happen today. I need a moment to vent about Grouchy People. Why, oh why, do some people feel the need to be mean, rude, and downright ugly? With our businesses (Merchant Services, Residential Water Distribution, and a Cemetery) I have encountered a handful of these people. They can be Adverse, Severe, and Savage. (Commonly known by the abbreviation A.S.S's.) For the most part, I can handle them pretty well. I lower my tone, try to reflect back to them what I hear them saying, and generally acknowledge their frustration. Once they feel "heard," I can make the point that needs to be made related to the issue. Rick recently had the unattractive privelege of dealing with one of these people. And I must say, he handled it really well. But it sure put us both in a foul mood. I suppose that is the rub. We shouldn't give this person the power to control our moods... but it just happens. By the same token, isn't it pleasant to deal with someone who is warm and friendly? Even if there is a disagreement, it can be handled professionally and respectfully. Today I'm thinking of the way my actions and words can affect other people. And I hope that people I do business with end up in a better mood BECAUSE of me. That's all. I'll return in the next few days to continue our journey in Guatemala. Until then, keep smiling. :)

Day 7 - Guatemala Update continued...

I left my previous Update blog with our making the assignments for the Carnival. The men were busy constructing a putt-putt golf game, the backboard for a wet-sponge throw, pie throw, tee-pee, etc. LOTS of fun games. They had some supplies that were left over from the playground and grass installation, so leftovers were used accordingly.

Grass Man even born... or hatched... or whatever.

Melissa and I paired up for the ring toss. We had frisbie/foam rings and taped water bottles together to receive the toss.

Rick was assigned to the bean bag toss. There was also a teepee with face-painting and a puffy dice throw.

Each child would be given a bag that had tickets in it. There were tickets for pizza, popcorn, cotton candy, drink and photo-booth, & bounce house. Once the Carnival began, they would be turned loose to scurry like ants around all of the games and booths. Every game would award them candy or little trinkets.

Below is the pizza vendor setting up shop.

During the setup, the atmosphere steadily grew until it felt electric . The dj had arrived and was playing loud festive music. The cotten candy was smelling good.

All of us on the team were dancing around, getting our faces painted, setting up our booths, and the kids were glued to the windows, watching us. One little escape artist actually climbed out and squeezed through the broken bars on his window, dropping down the side of the building to join in!

At last the time arrived. All of the kids were lined up at the door, practically beating it down wanting to come outside. With the all clear signal, they began to pour out. All 107 of them. It was so exciting, seeing their little faces light up at all that we had set up for them to do. I can't begin to explain how festive and electric the mood was.

We were celebrating:

• A successful week.
• Unconditional love.
• The safety that God provided to our group earlier that morning.
• Life.
• Above all, we were celebrating these precious, special children.

We were as hyper as the kids were, intoxicated by the infectious energy and giggles the children offered.

The photo-booth was a hit. There were dress-up clothes, boas, funny hats, props... We had a polaroid camera so that the children could have their picture taken. Little Sylvia wanted Rick to be in the picture with her. It was precious. And then... she brought the picture over to me. I could see immediately that her countenance had changed from festive to somber. Her tears were about to spill over. She handed the picture to me and motioned that she wanted me to keep it. I pulled her close and hugged her, as her little sobs poured out. My heart broke. She was sharing with me something so special to her... I tried to refuse the gift but she kept insisting. So I tucked the picture in my pocket and led her back to the games.

There was only one thing to do... we needed to get another polaroid picture, this time with all three of us in it so that she could keep one. And that's what we did. Sylvia was so excited - she meticulously chose our outfits and kept rearranging the stance. The snapshot captured a moment in time. It froze one second of our 10 day journey and recorded for eternity the emotions we all felt. It was a moment that was so pure and real, filled with love and acceptance. It was a glimpse into heaven.

The Carnival continued on for a couple of hours.

Here is my cousin getting a kiss after the pie in his face!

Eventually, as our energy was waning, we herded the kids into the center of the playground and sat them down.

Tod spoke to them, through the translator, and told them how much we love them, and how much more God loves them. He told them that God had a plan for each of them, just like in the story of Joseph they had learned during the week. We brought out a big "Tu Eres Especial" cake (You Are Special) for them. Then, each one of them waited for their name to be called. As it was called, they would walk up to the front and receive their gift. They each received the Max Lucado book "Tu Eres Especial," and a plush teddy bear. The girls received a necklace and the boys received a baseball cap. Each child got a special hug as they received the gift. It was beautiful. Of course, they started getting ancy, and it ended up mildly chaotic, BUT, it was perfect.

Here is Kelby giving the gifts to one of the boys.

The kids were all taken back inside. We stayed out back and began cleaning up the MESS that was left. It went pretty quick, with all hands on deck. And many of the children watched from the windows. We knew what was coming next. So did the children. The dreaded goodbyes. When it was time, we trudged up the stairs to the childrens dorm rooms. Immediately upon entering, Sylvia, Lupe and Kejla fought their way through the bottleneck to us. They were already sobbing. Sylvia jumped into Rick's arms and buried her little face in his chest. I felt a sob work it's way up my chest and catch in my throat. These little children know more about goodbye's than I ever will. They know abandonment. They know sadness. And they are still tender enough to attach and trust someone else.

The three girls led us over to a bunk bed and we sank down on it, pulling each of them close into our laps and arms. My tears spilled over as I held these little girls and prayed over them. "Lord, please protect them. Keep them tender and safe. Protect them and show them your great love."

The crying must have been viral, if you know what I mean. And like all emotions with little girls, it was dramatic. I think they fed off of each other's tears, each one crying harder than their friend. Pretty soon, the gifts started. It began with Sylvia going to her bed and fetching her prized Winnie the Pooh. And then they all followed. Each girl bringing not 1, not 2, but 3 or more stuffed animals to give to us. We tried to insist they keep them, but they would have none of it. They kept stuffing animals in our backpacks and arms. These little girls were giving us all they had. They didn't want us to forget them. To be forgotten... that is their fear. Here is a picture of the stuffed animals on our hotel bed that night.

Finally we tore ourselves away and walked out of the door. Little Sylvia followed us downstairs, only to be nudged back upstairs by a worker. It was heartbreaking. I looked around at my team-mates faces. Each of them had tear streaks and sadness written across their faces. Each one of them were touched by the lives of these children. We each tucked away in our hearts the private emotions and tried to smile at one another. "Chin-up," I thought. Just hold your chin up and smile. Don't lose it now. We did what we came to do. We built a playground. We installed grass inside the atrium. We threw a fabulous carnival. We opened our hearts. We loved, without holding anything back. That is what we came to do. As our team drove away from the orphanage for the last time, I knew our time there would be blessed. God would water the seeds of hope we planted in these little lives. Somehow, our work would not be forgotten. We were exhausted and it was time to close the shutters on this day. What had started with a robbery and then been lifted with the giggles of the toddlers on their new playground, had then turned joyful during the Carnival and then sad with the goodbyes. Rest was deep and healing for us that evening.