Pop

My mother-in-law and I both celebrate February birthdays. This morning she called to wish me a happy one. I thanked her for the cute new shoes I picked out courtesy of birthday funds she supplied. (A pair of loafers just right for wearing with jeans.) My birthday shoes made her laugh. Well, not mine specifically, so much as birthday shoes in general. Apparently, she, too, could have been the recipient of a pair of birthday shoes.
My sister-in-law and her preschool-age son were out shopping when the little guy saw the perfect birthday gift for his Gram. His mama snapped a photo of the goody in question:

Holy Hallelujah. I guess J. is a little young to understand that Southern ladies of a certain age do not typically wear stripper shoes. Those babies would certainly have qualified as a pop of color, though. I've been giggling all day at the thought of my mother-in-law teetering down the aisle at church on a Sunday morning in her blingy could've-been birthday shoes.

Wrestling

The pocket book and the calendar remain key clues to the state of one's heart, mind, and perhaps soul. Asked to "wrestle with God," over opportunities to give to various projects, forward surged the urge to justify where both time and money are spent. From "mapping" potential income in relation to planned giving, the mister and I also looked at where we spend our time. If considering our family's projected giving over the coming year, it is not only the cost in U.S. Dollars, Polish Zloty, or Honduran Lempira that needs counting, but also the hours, days, and weeks to take into consideration. Our time is finite while the finances are fluid- dependant on everything from price fluctuation to job status.
Despite hearts for ministry in Poland and Honduras, there is no calling to go live in either country, but instead to stay in our Pleasant Suburb. ShelleyinPoland keeps prayer requests coming across the internet and updates on the fledgling church plant in Gdansk while the countdown ticks away toward the next visit to the La Moskitia region of Honduras. Not only that trip, but also a flurry of activity surrounding the Waits Family during their current furlough between personal time and ministry-related events reveal dedication to God's provision for the often marginalized people in remote Puerto Lempira. Gathering for Worship services at our family's church, an evening spent in the front yard for an ice cream social with our neighbors, meeting in small groups or one on one, sitting alongside Little Bit as we share the task of helping kids with homework at an after school program, a fledgling prison support ministry, loving on preschoolers who have been placed in protective custody at the local shelter, playing bass and directing the church band... The list of places where, individually and as a family, we are called and enabled to serve God and our neighbors next door or across town goes on and on even while there are seeds sown in far away places. Pleasant Suburb is the place where this family been planted, and our roots are deep here.
In addition to time, we are privileged to be part of funding ministry and charity in those places thousands of miles away where seeds can be planted out of sight, but not out of mind. We give regularly to share in the day-to-day operations of our local church. These aspects of financial giving and our times to worship and serve are all budgeted and scheduled just like the mortgage is paid and appointments are kept. Our calendar is often full. Our pocket book is not typically empty. More importantly, our lives and hearts are often overflowing. The time crunch of the often over-committed is keenly felt some days, and it is necessary to skip or delay some purchases to stretch our available funds. Those conservation activities feel worthwhile because what we have to give is not running down the drain but accumulating like so many drops in the proverbial bucket.
The places where we must scrimp on spending time or money are so often to allow for word of God's saving grace or demonstrations of His provision to be shared with someone or allocated in some place beyond our means and availability. This is possible because of the multiplication of many giving from personal resources to provide enough for all. Without gifts from the many people choosing to put concrete valuations on faith and charity by volunteering, donating, and simply putting the needs of others in a place of worth documented in calendars and financial records, the whole world would surely be a poorer place.

I wonder, Gentle Reader, what calls to you? Where do you find joy and satisfaction in sacrifice? Because giving seems a choice between self and others... and it is fascinating to see how personal needs and wants can be put aside in the interest and love of others. What does your calendar and pocket book reveal?

Scary

Today was my day at the children's emergency shelter. My new friend and I flew a Big Batman doll action figure around the room. When asked where we were flying Big Batman to exactly, Little Guy pointed to a Little Batman doll  action figure across the room explaining that Big Batman was the Dad flying to see his son Little Batman at the shelter. Upon arrival, Little Batman flung visiting Dad Batman across the room into a window. Then Little Guy handed me a toy phone explaining that I could, "talk to his Mom... she's real nice." (Where is a play therapist when you need one?) It will be very easy to keep Little Guy, and his Big Batman and Real Nice Mom in my prayers in the days to come, but for today it was enough to simply play with my new friend and to hear him explain how one dealt with scary things over milk and graham crackers. Apparently, being a super hero makes stuff like Zombie Parties manageable. (We didn't get into exactly how much experience LG has with actual Zombie Parties.) The hours at the shelter flew by, and the final half hour was spent stretched out on the floor working a dinosaur puzzle with the shift ending far too soon today.

Tidbits: Posted

• The Boy left at 5:30 a.m. yesterday to go to an interim location where he will be evaluated for the next 30-45 days. Last night, it was 10:00 and I couldn't really picture where my kid was even though I have been given an address. This is not okay.
• Little Bit finished up her Intro to Skating class last night. Her teacher recommended skipping the Beginner level, so Alpha classes (pretty foot work and spins on one foot) begin January 4th. Walker commented yesterday that the skates were definitely not a waste.
• The mister's passport has arrived. Funds to cover the mister's and my airfare have been allotted. We're going to have to decide whether or not the girls will be going. They would be unenthusiastic about being left behind. I would like for the mister to not only be introduced to the Honduras that draws me, but also to see how our girls are similarly drawn.
• On the way home from ice skating, I suggested a stop at the Urgent Care Center. Good thing. My "sore throat" and "drainage" have settled into my lower left lung. Bronchitis treated right away is less likely to turn into a case of Christmas Pneumonia. While my plans were to have my arms full of babies at the children's emergency shelter today, I am instead cradling a cup of hot tea and lounging in my jammies until the nurse can get here later today to administer some I.V. meds. Boo. Well, the tea is lovely. It's just less snuggly than rocking and praying blessings over babies.

Picture Post: Getting There

We travel by plane from Dallas/Fort Worth to San Salvador and then onto San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

 In San Pedro Sula, the girls and I hopped into the shortest customs line. We were in between a Mommy with a toddler in her arms and a Mommy & Grandma with a toddler peeking out of the forest of grown-up lady legs. My girls were reasonably indulgent with my penchant for making goo-goo eyes and silly faces at the babies ahead of and behind us. The toddlers were delighted, their attending relatives friendly. The rest of our team passed on through a longer line and went to retrieve the 500 pounds of luggage while we cooled our heels with a slow customs agent and games of peek-a-boo and waving at the little ones.

Reach Out Honduras Thanksgiving 2010 Team at Hotel Villa Nuria with the van that would drive us three hours across Honduras through Tela to La Ceiba.

From our hotel, it was just a short walk down this thoroughfare, a sharp left, and we were on the strip with KFC, Pizza Hut, Wendy's, and the mall all waiting for our business.

Our half day in La Ceiba saw us riding in the van, the back of a pick-up truck, and zipping around in taxis as well as our adventures on foot.

Boarding the hour+ flight from La Ceiba to Puerto Lempira in the moments before dawn.

I had to look at pictures to decipher the welcome sign because I only had eyes for our friends on arrival.

LAURA! LAURA! LAURA!!!

Katie's arms did not stay empty for long once we arrived at Casa de Esperanza and she saw Rodrigo.

I was right behind Katie with arms full of Baticia (left) and Baby Grace (right) as quickly as I could scoop them up.

There are 1500 images to tell the story of a week in Honduras. There are many little stories, quips, and longer tales. There were precious moments, frustrations, joys, irritations, blood, sweat, tears, and eight people stuffed into a Ford Fiesta for a brief ride in a clown car/taxi. There will be more to come, but there has simply been too little time to compress a week into a manageable packet of information...

And rumor has it is past time to get on with the baking, decorating, and selection of gifts for loved ones at some point in the next couple of weeks. I may be far enough behind on Christmas this year to have to claim to be ahead for next year.

Tidbits: Lenses

• Sometimes I wonder if I am missing out on life because I observe so much of it through the camera's lens.
• Adults may cringe away from the camera, but it draws chidren.
• Images are not subject to language barriers.
• The camera can show you that for which I have no words.

Meet my friend Froggy. We do homework together once a week. It's something we're both pretty excited about. Ironically, he was working on word problems this week. Perhaps there are words to fit being greeted at the door of the afterschool program by Froggy who says, "You came back." Or maybe not.

Working through word problems

Erin went to her first skating lesson. (Her skates have shipped, but they have yet to arrive. She wore the rentals.) She was moving very well. A beginner ice skating class is potentially comical in real life. That does not translate well to the digital still image.

First Skating Lesson

Tomorrow, the Boy will run in the District Cross Country Meet. His mama will be there, watching and trying to capture the moment. And we will later look at the images together.

Preparing for the race

Finally, in three more weeks, we'll leave for a return visit to another world. A place populated by people who have imprinted themselves on my heart.

Rodrigo

Laura and Cinco

Sound

The littlest residents of City House wanted to play outside this morning. The one Baby was off to an appointment, so I switched to preschool play time just as the pre-K set headed out to the spacious fenced backyard. This is not an institutional play yard, but a giant expanse of green grass surrounding a shade tree. A covered and paved play patio for ride-on toys and bikes, and a long covered porch complete with rocking chairs make the great outdoors an all-weather play place. Pulling a red wagon around and around the yard for what may well have been miles we sang our ABC's loud and proud, and the little people giggled while I sang "Do Your Ears Hang Low?".
The music came to an end as a helicopter flew low overhead. The boy residents were delighted with the opportunity to crow, "helly-copper" at a real, live whirly bird. There was plenty of time for lots of pointing and naming as the helicopter passed over, and the general excitement remained even after it was out of sight. All the glee of the helicopter sighting was repeated with the appearance of an airplane. The little people were so overcome with joy at the sightings that we began to search the sky. Imagine how pleased we all were to discover that there were many planes headed places that required them to fly right over our heads.

Eventually the time came to go inside for snacks, but we were all right back outside as soon as everyone had finished eating. One of the girls took hold of my hands, and pulled me along looking for more planes. Since there were no more flying machines to entertain us, we put our arms out and became the planes. There were great aerial feats performed all over the grounds at City House's children's shelter this morning. We zoomed and soared until another plane obliged us by flying over so we could resume our grounded pointing and naming.
Too soon 11:30 rolled around, and it was time for me to leave. Fortunately, my shift occurs on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Wednesdays of each month, so I will be back next week to join in the adventures again right away. The 2nd and 4th weeks will no doubt see Wednesdays that are a little dull in comparison. Still, I may just find my heart beating a little faster and a smile spreading across my face in response to future notice of a random plane in the sky.