Catch-up, Ketchup, Catsup

Sooo, I have been a teensy bit busy these past few weeks and have been completely slacking on the blog-front. Sorry folks. My last post was about our first few Easter activities/egg hunts. Well, on Tuesday of Semana Santa (yes, it WAS the hottest week ever), Kim arrived!!!! YAYAYAYAYAY! I was so super happy to see her face in Honduras and I think she was happy to be here too. On Thursday, we went to Hogar Esperanza and had a big egg party and egg hunt with the kids there. So. Much. Fun. Those kids are darling and they just went crazy for the eggs and prizes inside the eggs. It was Kim's first experience with kids in homes, and it was certainly a fun way to be introduced to Honduras's beautiful children.

On Friday, Philip arrived!!!!!!! And then I offici

ally had a posse in Honduras. It was amazing. Three of my favorite people in the world in one place - it was fantastic. I was on cloud nine all day - we ended the

day with an Easter party at our house for the neighborhood/church kids. Easter Sunday was just as it should be, our whole family together eating and playing. One of the couples from church hosted us at their beautiful home and we spent the afternoon eating chicken, sitting in the garden, and playing in their fountain. It was afantastic Easter; maybe even the best ever. After Easter, Mary and I took a week or so to take our friends on mini vacays...

Monday the four of us (Mary, Me, Kim, and Philip) headed out on a grand adventure to Copan Ruinas. Copan is home to some fantastically beautiful Mayan ruins. We also got to see some rad tropical birds there- and hold them. I'm kind of a huge fan of ruins, and Mayans, and so pretty much I was happy as a clam our whole trip there. Oh yeah, and then there is that teeny thing of I GOT ENGAGED ON TOP OF THE TALLEST MAYAN RUIN. No big deal. Mayan ruins. Grandmother's ring. Love of my life. Honduras. Pretty much awesome. Mary and Kim got to be there, and my happiness was complete.

Okay okay, I know I just dropped a huge bomb on you - so take a minute to recover.

Alrighty! So once we got back from Copan, we had to rush Kim to the airport to go home :-( :-( :-( I absolutely could not believe that her 8 days were up! It went by so fast, and we were all sad to see her go. I hope Honduras took hold of a little piece of her heart and that she will remember this trip forever. We had one full day after we got back and then Mary, Philip, and I headed out to Los Naranjos which is a little village just past Peña Blanca that houses a gringo friendly brewery/hostel that provides beer, rest, and tons of info on really cool stuff to see and do in the area. We stayed there for two nights and rowed on the lake (much harder than it

sounds), hiked most of the way to the summit of the Santa Barbara mountain (second tallest in the country - we got to 2,333 meters which is about 7650 feet and the summit is 2744meters), andwent behind Pulhapanzak water fall. Amazing. All of it. What an adventure I am on here!

When we got back, we left almost immediately to come stay with Shari and Terry since the Garcias were heading out to the States! (We miss you guys terribly already) And we have just jumped right in here with Shari and Terry into their intense ministry. It's somewhat of a shock to go from happy vacation time to feeding drug addicts and prostitutes mac and cheese for lunch. It was Philip's first "real ministry" day and it was hard. It is super rewarding and beautiful work, but it is all really really real. Just real and dirty and messy. The kids were adorable as ever, and Mary, Philip and I did a little lesson teaching the bible verse, "Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece" Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." And let the kids illustrate. It was so fun and we all felt as if there weren't

enough laps or arms to go around to love on those kids.

We are wiped out physically, emotionally, and our hearts are full for those who we met today and will continue to meet. We are so naive, but as our eyes are opened how do we keep from becoming overwhelmed? How can we not be completely burdened by the sadness and horror that exists right beside us? What can we do to comfort, to help, to change without sinking into depression? Today I shook the hands of drug addicts, prostitutes, molested children, and worked alongside those in rehab. I don't know how to find a happy medium between caring, and knowing, and staying happy myself. I want happiness for myself; and I feel like that's okay to want. But I want to help the world. Why is it so difficult for me to remember that God is in control? I must leave it to him to heal the hurt in these people, and take care of them. All I can do is love them.