Walter

I met Walter on our 3rd day at the Ravine School. He is in the 5th grade class. He sat in the front row, and his eagerness to learn was evident. We were teaching a science lesson using "energy sticks" to talk about how our bodies conduct electricity. When we all held hands we could make the energy stick light up. We related that back to being the body of Christ. Walter got it. When we reviewed with the class after the activity he summed it up, saying that together we can do more than we can alone. 

The other activity I helped with was a writing activity in which the students wrote prayers or Bible verses, whatever they wanted really, on flags. Walter chose a verse and was the first to volunteer to read what he had written. His favorite verse is Psalm 4:8 - "In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety."

We decided to sponsor Walter before I even left Guatemala. I told the boys about him when I got home, and Max asked for a picture of him to put in his room. According to his profile, Walter enjoys playing the drums and helps at home by making bread and cleaning the house. He dreams of being a lawyer. 

God is doing great things through the Ravine School. We have hope that what is happening there and in other places like it will radically change Guatemala. Child sponsorships allow these programs to continue. For more information on sponsoring a child through Orphan Outreach, you can visit -http://www.orphanoutreach.co/sponsor-a-child/

Also, my friend Kristy recently wrote this article about child sponsorship - http://www.orphanoutreach.co/media-resources/newstory.asp?pageid=3614

The Ravine - Guatemala City

The name itself brings to mind starkness - "a deep, narrow gorge with steep sides; chasm; abyss".  Imagine that, but filled with garbage, vultures circling overhead, smoke rising from the fires that burn the trash constantly. Then imagine working there, day after day, digging through the trash to find scraps of food that you can sell to the farmers in the surrounding areas to feed their animals, items that you can resell, things that you might be able to use in your home. 

This is where we begin our week in Guatemala. Soon we will visit the children at school, but first we go to see their parents, to bring them groceries and pray with them. They are as thankful for the prayers we say as they are for the food and soap. 

The Ravine is a bleak place, but there is hope amidst the smoke and garbage. Many of these parents are now able to send their children to school. They have hope that their children will not live this life, the life of waiting for the garbage trucks to come, unloading them, resting in their crude shelters when it's not their turn to unload the trucks. These children now have an opportunity for education and dreams of becoming teachers and doctors and lawyers.

But today, they are here. We hug them and pray for them. We ask the names of their children who go to the school, and they tell us with pride. We say a special prayer for the parents and children. We also pray in our hearts that the children who we see still working here will be allowed by their parents to go to school.

They need to continue their work so we board the bus to leave. The smell of smoke that lingers in our clothes and hair serves to remind us of the people we have met and the future God holds for them. 

Many of the children that attend the Ravine School are available to sponsor. Child sponsorships impact the entire family and even community. More information is available at orphanoutreach.co.  one month. one purpose. every child sponsored.

Happy New Year!

We're back! Just call it a 6 month hiatus...and it's been a crazy 6 months! I'm hoping to go back and add some posts with pictures, like of our fabulous summer trip to Disney Land.  But for now, just some highlights from 2013:

• Matt started a new job last January, so he's been there about a year now. He likes it and is doing well there.
• In March, baby T came to us and at the end of July his 4 year old brother A came to live with us. It looks like we're headed for adoption...who knows when but we're fairly certain that's where it's going. It's been pretty crazy going from 1 kid to 3 in that amount of time; that could explain the lack of blogging! Overall it has been good though - A and Max get along really well, the baby is so good, and we are trying to just have fun through all of it. 
• That trip to Disney Land - probably one of my favorite vacations ever. Max loved everything. We did 5 days in the parks which gave us so much time that we didn't have to worry about missing anything or getting too tired. We discovered that Max has no fear when it comes to speed or heights - his favorite rides were Radiator Springs Racers, Splash Mountain, and Space Mountain. We chose to go to Disney Land so we could do Cars Land and because it's so much smaller than Disney World. It was a great choice.
• We went camping only a couple times - maybe only once.
• We had a super fun football season watching Baylor. We definitely never would have thought Baylor would be in the top 10 in football! Matt and I went to the Fiesta Bowl last week (which I guess was technically 2014) and while the game was not fun, we had a nice little overnight trip to Phoenix.
• Speaking of football, we took all the boys to Homecoming at Baylor. It was our 10 year reunion year and we met 2 of my college roommates and their families there. It was a fun weekend, hanging out with them and doing all of the Homecoming festivities.
• Matt had to go to Louisiana for a couple days for work during the summer so Max, T, and I went with him just for fun. It's always fun to stay in a "hoteler" as Max calls it.
• I got to meet Ellen in Boston for a sister weekend! Neither of us had been before. We saw a lot of the historical sites, visited Harpoon Brewery, shopped and ate a lot. It was very fun - hopefully we can do it again. 
• Max started a new school this fall. He goes 3 days a week and we really like it. He's made some great friends. A goes to pre-k every afternoon and is doing well. Our schedule for dropping off/picking up is crazy and Matt's mom is a saint for taking care of most of it!

So I think that's a good summary of the year. I am excited to see what 2014 brings. Maybe more blogging? We'll see...

Bluebonnets

GOOOOAAAALLLL!!!!

Max played his first organized sport this spring - soccer! He had said he wanted to play t-ball but we thought soccer might be a better choice at his age. We might try t-ball in the fall. It ended up being not the greatest experience as far as we were concerned (just with the organization of the team, etc.), but Max had a great time playing and made some new friends.

Easter!

Well...it's been a while. Life has gotten in the way of blogging! I figured I'd start where I left off (now that it's summer and all) and see if I can catch up.

We went camping over Easter weekend at Martin Dies Jr. Lake State Park. It was a really nice park, and they had a lot of activities. There was an Easter egg hunt Saturday afternoon, and a nature program on Sunday where we watched snake eat a mouse and got to touch a baby alligator. Max tried fishing (it didn't last too long but he told me just the other day that he wants to go fishing again so he can eat some fish (he never eats fish)). They had canoes for rent and a swimming area also. The Easter bunny was able to find us even camping and left Max's basket and a few eggs hidden in our campsite.

Getting instructions for the Easter egg hunt

Running back to his basket with his eggs

Fishing with Pawpaw 

Easter morning

Hiking and hiding

Baby alligator

And in other news from that week - we got another foster baby. Baby T was a couple days old when we got him, and he is still with us. Crazy us - we did take him camping. Things are looking hopeful for adoption but we won't really know anything for a while. He was a good baby on that trip (he just slept) and he has been a very good happy baby over the past three months. Can't believe it's been that long!

Happy Easter in June!

Spring Break