Hanging Out with Tia Nancy's Family

Tia Nancy has been inviting me to come to her family's house for the past few months. We finally made it work last week. Her family lives about 1 hour away. They have a beautiful house and garden and they were so hospitable. Kathryn and I learned how to make empanadas, which I found was not one of my spiritual gifts. We also drank coffee that was freshly ground at their house and did a fun nature walk. Great, relaxing day!

Trip to the Reptile Museum, Horses, and Fun!

This past Saturday, Kathryn and I took two of our boys to the reptile museum. Although now super impressed by the reptiles (apparently not snake lovers), they really enjoyed the horses outside and asked to ride them. A beautiful day in the park!

Last Week in Review

I had my first team of the summer. They were a lovely group of 9 people from Missouri. They kept a blog during their time here which gave a great overview of their time here. http://goecuador2013.blogspot.com

I'm so thankful to meet wonderful people from literally all over the world here!

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Parks

I'm thanking God that I've been able to spend some great 1:1 time with the kids lately. It's easy to get caught up in the craziness of daily schedules and activities. I'm realizing how important it is to show God's love to these beautiful children.

I've been able to have some fun outings with them these past couple weeks!

Bonding at McDonalds and then an afternoon at the park

Making high altitude chocolate chip cookies with 3 girls. We forgot an extra egg, added double the amount of flour and found egg shells in the batter. They came out....crunchy. 

She decided to be dish washer

Climbing on some fun playground equipment

Apparently this is a song...

Spa Day - Latacunga

We had our annual spa day again a couple weeks ago. This year, we also brought the fun to the Tias in Latacunga (our other home which is 2 hours south of Quito).

There was a team of 7 people who spent 3 weeks volunteering in Latacunga during the month of January.  They are part of a mission called World Race---they travel to 11 countries in 11 months and get to partner with various projects around the world. Nobody on the team spoke Spanish and this was their first time in Ecuador. They were going the full immersion route. After dropping them off at the beginning of January, I went back down to Latacunga couple weeks later so that we could to the spa day. When I arrived, I walked into a room with 500 roses. They explained that they had wanted to buy some roses for the Tias so they went down the street to a greenhouse. This greenhouse only exports flowers and does not sell them. Well somehow (again with no Spanish) they ended up being able to purchase 500 for $30!

The Tias had a great time and it was fun getting to know the Tias in Latacunga on a deeper level. I honestly do not know that how they do the work they do. They embody Matthew 25:40 when Jesus says ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

A Wonderful Reunion

It’s been about five months since Jennifer was adopted. It’s rare that parents will bring their child back to the orphanage for a visit. I think a lot of times families are hesitant because they don’t know how the child will react. On the rare occasion that a young child comes back for a visit, they often cling to their parents and become very shy.

Well this past month, we’ve had an awesome volunteer from the States at the orphanage. She is the older sister of three adopted For His Children girls. She’s pretty amazing! Anyway, she made Jennifer’s baby book album (an album that each child gets when they are adopted). Before returning back to the States, she had asked if she could personally deliver the album to Jennifer and her family. So, the parents decided to come to FHC and bring Jennifer along.

When she got out of the car, I was there to greet the family. She was in her dad’s arms and was looking around a little unsure.  As soon as he put her down on the ground, she came running to me and gave me a hug---such a precious moment. I took the family into the baby house and Jennifer was right at home. She wanted to play with all the toys and check out what all the babies were doing. It was so great to see her happy and confident. It was crazy to see how much she had grown these past five months. She is now talking and even learning to count in English!

Her parents are so sweet and as I say with all of the adoptions – it’s amazing to see God place these children with their families.   

Look how big she is!

Having fun with some rings!

Jennifer with her dad

Adopted Children

Today in church I was hit by a wonderful truth. It didn’t come in the form of a sermon or a song, but as I watched a little girl dance uninhibited in the middle of the aisle next to her adoptive family.

As we sang different songs in worship, I watched as this girl brought so much joy to those around her. I have heard often over these past four years and I have had many conversations about the truth that we are God’s adopted children. But today is when it hit me. This little girl who did not have a family a week ago is now loved beyond belief and given all the attention she deserves. She can’t comprehend all that has changed in her world over the past week. She has been chosen by this specific family and they will never abandon her.

I have watched this little girl grow over the past four years I have been here. She has been waiting for a family for seven years as she came to FHC as a newborn. I realize that God can use whoever He wants, wherever He wants. I sometimes can’t believe that He chose me to play just a tiny piece in this adoption and to be able to watch pieces fall together and children claimed as a son/daughter.

We are God’s adopted children, having been given the gift of salvation that we so don’t deserve. We may have been amazed when we first heard of this grace, but over time that truth can become dull. Just like in the future, this girl will take for granted that she has the love of a family, I constantly take for granted God’s love for me.

Tonight I’m humbled that God calls me His daughter. He will never abandon us.