Our Life Mission as a Family

Today was a Casa Esperanza day for Greg and the boys while I had one last day of work here in Chile.  Greg found some really cute hats at the subway station in La Pintana, and the boys were chilly and wanted to wear them on the subway back to our apartment.  On the ride home, people on the metro were very excited to see how excited we are about being in Chile (shown by the boys wearing the hats). All the girls at Hogar do the "peace" sign like Griffy is doing in the picture, and the boys have picked up on it.  Well, we think it's the peace sign (but then again, I couldn't explain to the bus driver that we needed to leave in 5-10 min., not 5:10 p.m., so who knows what it really means).

Greg finished some taping in the guest house while the boys picked up more rocks.  There were some big rocks that were causing problems at the entrance of Casa Esperanza.  They also received some trees from a neighbor, and so the boys piled some of the rocks up in circles around the tree to create a sort of perimeter.

After finishing that project up they went inside where two of the older girls were happy to give them some attention.  The usual adults at Casa were not there today for various reasons.  But it was interesting, because the girls almost seemed more anxious to talk to Greg and the boys today.  The girls know a tiny bit of English, and we know a tiny bit of Spanish.  If both parties are patient with each other and speak slowly, you can usually mainly understand what the other person is saying.  So they talked quite a bit.  The girls taught them some Spanish, and they taught the girls some English.  It was really fun.  Greg and the boys helped clean up after lunch.  When it was time to go, the girls said, "No!  Tio!  No!"  They didn't want the guys to leave, which was so cute and made the guys feel really special.

Tonight at dinner we talked about our family life verse (Isaiah 61:1-2).  Greg and I continue to be amazed at the boys' resilience here in Chile.  Unlike at home, where a slight discomfort can start the whining machine up, here the boys just seem to know we are here on a mission.  The other day, for example, they sat through a 90 min. church service that was in Spanish.  Then they waited until 2 1/2 hours for lunch, which ended up being at 4:00 p.m.  They did not whine!  They are really something, and we are inspired by them. If they can do it, we better do it!  Anyway, tonight at dinner we talked about how we always want to find ways to make people feel special and love people like Jesus loves us, wherever we go and whatever we are doing.  That's our life mission as a family.

Prayer requests for today are that the girls would feel very loved and special on Friday when we make lunch at Casa Esperanza.  I may be the one cooking, so please pray that I do not cause any fire hazards either!  We're going to make mac n cheese from scratch, as they do not have that type of food here.  We're also going to make sloppy joes, which is also not something they really have here.  The Chileans need to have meat at every meal, so that's why we'll make sloppy joes too.

Also please pray that we have a nice party for the girls at Hogar on Saturday.  It's supposed to rain, but there is an overhang at Hogar - almost like a barn ceiling without sides.  We're going to bring balloons and decorate the area with those (probably just by blowing them up and laying them around on the floor).  We're also going to bring some music and start playing it loud while we dance to it (to get the girls to come outside on a rainy day).  And we'll bring some treats, too (candy, etc.).

Hard to believe that it's just a few more days now before we head home.  We do not look forward to the day that we have to tell the girls, "No, we are not coming tomorrow, or next week..."

Thanks for reading!  And thanks for your prayers!