Well, we finally made it...to the beginning!

After 1 ½ years of preparing for our move to Guatemala, and a little over 2 ½ years of living and ministering here (15 months of which we have been working to get our group home license), we finally received our first child into the home last week.  Since then, we have received two more lovely daughters.  It has been an exciting week for all of us.  (You can read more about Rafael, Jenifer, and Alejandra on Daryl’s blog at www.hopeforhome.blogspot.com).  
  
Then as we lay down in bed that evening, Daryl turned to me and said, “Well, we finally made it…to the beginning.”  Now it is my turn to start!   Daryl has been working and ministering hard pretty much from Day 1 in Guatemala.  But, as a stay-at-home mom, homeschool mom, hostess of team, etc. I don’t often get the opportunity to be out ministering with Daryl.  So this group home is what I have been waiting for.  I have been anxiously waiting to bring children into our family so that I can minister on a day-to-day basis to these wonderful kiddos, so beautifully created by God Himself. 

Rafael

Jenifer

Last week marked the beginning of Hogar de la Esperanza (Home of Hope) group home for children with special needs.  Rafael is here; Jenifer and Alejandra are here.  More children will be here soon.  We have opened this home to bring hope to these children and many others.   We will feed them, change them, bath them, etc.  But we plan to give them so much more than that.  We will hold them, play with them, read to them, love on them.  We will teach them about God and His plan for their lives.  This the best hope that there is!     

Alejandra

We are licensed to take in special needs children.  We will specialize in children born with Cerebral Palsy, Spinal Bifida, and Down’s Syndrome.  However, we can accept any special need that we want.  In Guatemala (as in many other countries), “imperfect” children are often viewed as an inconvenience, an embarrassment, or a curse.  We want to give these children hope by showing them that they are special, wonderful creations of a loving God.  They were made in His image.  And they were made perfectly…even though the world may not see them as perfect.  We want to give hope to the families of these children (if they have families) and to the workers at CNA, PGN, etc.  To our neighbors who see us interact with the children.  And to anyone who sees that we love and cherish these “imperfect” children.  God loved us in our imperfections.  He took us in.  He adopted us.  He gave us a hope…and we want to share that hope with others.

We are so blessed to have our daughter, Carissa, as our assistant director of Hogar de la Esperanza for a while.  As you may know, her long-term plan is to start a similar ministry in Uganda, Africa.  But, to our delight, she has decided to serve here in our home as assistant director for the next year or so.  This will be a huge help to us as she has begun making daily schedules of administering medicine, changing diapers, giving baths, extra feedings, etc, etc, etc.   She is coordinating schedules, organizing therapy equipment, and making more decorations for the rooms.  She is shopping for much-needed clothes for the children.  This will not only be a huge help to me, but it will be wonderful experience and preparation for her future ministry in Africa.  Again, it appears that God knew what He was doing long before we knew.  (Who would have thought?)

We are also very blessed to have some other wonderful helpers in the home.  I have already introduced Aura, our Guatemalan friend who has been working for us for several months now.  She does a great job cleaning and is a fantastic cook.  And now she is showing us how wonderful she is with the children.  We also have two of the Beyer girls, Kristin and Kathlyn, who will be working with us on a part-time basis.    And just about two weeks ago, we were blessed with two other wonderful young ladies from the States, Emilee Stagnaro and Emily Abner, who will be working with us on a part-time basis as well.  We also have our daughter, Brittney, who will be here off-and-on over the next few months, helping when she can…around her school work.  Then, of course, we have our 5 youngest children here, who are also great helpers with their new siblings.  What a great staff with whom we have been blessed!

Please pray with us and for us.  This is a new adventure for all of us.  Daryl and I have talked many times about the value of our foster parenting experience (23 children in 13 years) and the value of our experience with Cerebral Palsy (Kimmie) and Spina Bifida (Joshua).  Years before a group home in Guatemala was even on our radar, God began preparing us for this adventure.  (Isn’t He great?!!!)  But even with the preparation, we really don’t know what we are doing.  It is a new adventure.  We are getting ready to travel places that we have never traveled.  Our family dynamics will change.  Our family schedule will change.  We are under no illusions that this is going to be easy.  We need your prayers…for patience, wisdom, and energy. (We aren’t as young as we once were.)  But we know that we were called to do this.



As I reflected on Daryl’s quote, “Well, we made it…to the beginning.”, I couldn’t help but think that is the way we should look at all of life.  No matter how many weeks, months, or years we have been doing something, today is a new day.  It is a new beginning.  We made it this far…now we can start.  We have this moment, and with this moment we can start anew to make the future better than the past.  We can give new hope to the people around us...hope in the God of the Universe, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Creator of all living things.  He is the source of all hope!  

To whom can you give hope today?  What new adventure will you begin now and carry on to completion?  Or how can you change your present adventure to make the future even better?

We finally made it…to the beginning!  So, here we go!  

Gifts of Gratitude

Gifts can be fun to give and receive.  Birthday gifts, anniversary gifts, Christmas gifts, etc.  But a gift of gratitude has special meaning.  This type of gift is not necessary or expected.  It is simply to show how grateful the giver feels.

Daryl and I have received many gifts of gratitude since living here in Guatemala.  Most of the famillies with whom we work are extremely  thankful for the physical help that the ministry gives them (food, medicine, wheelchairs, etc.).  However, they seem to be even more grateful for the friendship, love, and emotional support that they feel from us and from you, their sponsors. 

Gifts of gratitude here in Guatemala tend to be different than gifts generally given in the United States.  When the giver of the gift doesn’t have much to offer, they give what they do have.  I have received a few beautiful handmade tapestry items as gifts, and they are very special to me.  However, that is not the norm.  Usually our gifts of thanks here come in the form of a bag of six eggs, a Coke bottle filled with raw cow’s milk, a bundle of freshly picked carrots, radishes, or a papaya.  Daryl has even been offered a live chicken as a gift.

The wonderful thing about these gifts is not the gift itself.  It is the heart by which it is given.  It is the love and appreciation behind the gift.  It is the sacrifice that the giver has made.  These precious people are giving, not out of their abundance, but out of their need.  Many of these families live on dirt floors, prepare their food without the luxury of a stove or refrigerator, can’t afford to send their children to school, or have to make a choice between taking their special needs child to a doctor or feeding their family for a week.    Yet, out of their need, they choose to give us eggs, bread, fruit, or vegetables to thank us for caring for them. 

 

When a family gives to us out of their need, it is a huge blessing to us.  We know that the giver is truly grateful.  It means so much more than a gift given out of abundance.  So, when Daryl comes home with a handful of carrots, I don’t see one dollar worth of food.  I see a huge sacrifice, a wonderful gift from a family who loves us.

 Gifts of gratitude, given from the heart, and given as a sacrifice…such a wonderful blessing for both the giver and the receiver!

Then I think about my gifts of gratitude to God…gifts of my money and my time.  Does God really need my money?  Does He need my time?  Of course not!  He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  He can change any circumstance with His breath.  God does not need me or my money.  BUT, He delights in my gifts!  He loves it when I give to Him.  He is thrilled when I choose to give out of my love for my Savior.

The size of the gift is not important to God.  What He cares about is size of the sacrifice.  If I give Him 1 dozen eggs out of the 500 dozen in my barn, the gift is small, not really a sacrifice at all.  And, therefore, not really a gift that means anything.  But if I give 1 dozen eggs out of the 2 dozen in my house (and with no money to buy more), that is a sacrifice.  That is a gift of gratitude that means the world to God.  Does He need the eggs?  No!  But, He sees the heart, the sacrifice, and He delights in it!

 

When I give to God, is it a true sacrifice given out of love and appreciation for Him?  Or is my gift given out of my abundance, so small that I don’t even really miss it?  The bigger my love, the bigger the sacrifice that I am willing to make, the more God delights in my gift…because He knows my heart.

Do we truly sacrifice anything when we give to God?