Hitting the Halfway Mark

Good morning everyone! Well, it's 7:15am on Sunday morning, and this is the second time I am starting this journal entry. I just wrote for about 15 minutes, decided to save what I had, and lost it. God likes to put little lessons about patience and controling my temper in wherever he can get them...gotta love God for that! So, here we go with "Take 2" of the weekly journal entry.

I am up early because I was planning on doing laundry this morning before church. Being clever I thought I would put it in to soak, do my blog, then wash it. Well, God was at it with His patience lessons there, too, because I can't get the stove to light for some reason, so I can't heat up any water, and I just hate doing whites without warm water. So, I'll have to do it sometime this afternoon because (somethings don't change, no matter where I'm at) I have managed to run out of certain vital parts of my wardrobe, so laundry, at least a little bit, must get done at some point today.

So, on to news of the week. There were several sad things that happened this week. Early in the week, I found out that one of the youth that came to the drop in center (I'll call him AM) was arrested and taken to prison for stealing. AM is one of my favorite kids. He loves to dance. He likes to play cards. He speaks slowly when he's talking to us so we have a chance to understand what he's saying. He will make a bracelet for you, if you ask. At the soccer tournament last week, he introduced us to his brother who lives at the home the tournament was hosted at. His brother is deaf, and I could see that AM was the great big brother who looked out for his younger sibling. He loves his brothers and was excited for us to meet him. AM has a great personality and always brings a smile to my face when I see him.

Selfishly, I am very sad by the fact that AM probably won't be around in the remaining two months we are here. I won't get to take his picture, play cards with him, see him having fun at the weekend retreat we are planning on having. It's hard for me to know how to feel when the youth get taken in. On one hand, yes, AM is a thief and justice has been served. I will be th first to admit that he "deserves" to be arrested for what he does. On the other hand, though, AM is so much more than just a thief. He's someone that, I believe, if given the chances that I've been given, would "make a lot for himself" in life. What will happen to all the youth like AM, who feel like the street is where their home is, where their family is? What hope is there for them? These are the questions I find myself asking every day.

Another low point of the week was my continual struggle with learning Spanish. After two months, I feel like I still speak like a bumbling idiot while others on my team are picking things up very quickly. That's been a good lesson for me as well because it has reminded me that there is still a lot of "junk" in my heart that I need to have God take care of. I don't want to be jealous and envious of my teammates who can speak better than I can. I don't want to feel threatened by the fact that I can't speak the language as well...threatened in the sense that I worry that people won't think I'm just as valuable as someone who can speak Spanish (which no one has ever done anything to make me think that...just a stupid insecure thought I have). This time is teaching me a lot about tthe insecurties I have and how much I need to believe ( I mean really believe, in my heart, not just saying things that I know in my head are true) in the things that God has said about me. Thankfully, the bad attitude about my Spanish this week has passed, and I have a new resolve to just keep learning and see where that takes me. I's still love your prayers for that, though.

So, on to the activities of the week. It was a pretty average week in Lima. Friday was a holiday, so we didn't have Casa Job. Instead, Jennifer (our team leader) and the team took 10 of the kids from Generacion (the home for younger kids...like 8-15ish) to the beach to pick up seashells for some things they want to make. I love the ocean, so I knew the day was going to be good. The beach here in Lima isn't like other beaches I've been to. It's not exceptionally pretty. It can be rather dangerous at times. The weather on the day we went way chilly and overcast, so it wasn't a day for swimming or sunning ourselves, but it was great none the less. We navigated over slick, moss covered rocks, with the water lapping just a few yards from us, looking for shells. By the time we were done, we had a large bag full of tiney treasures. It was great to see the exciement on the kids' faces as they looked, especially when they found a special find. It was fun to see their creativity as they played music by rubbing two ribbed shells together in a beat/rhythm while they sand. It was neat to see a 13 year old boy take my hand and help me over the rocks in a very grown-up, gentleman-like manner. It was wonderful to see them just being kids, doing things that kids their age should be doing: begging for snacks when the ice cream man passed, not listening when we told them to get out of the pool they were wading in, "accidentally" gettingn each other wet.

Sometimes I focus too much on the sadness of their situation instead of just finding joy with them right where they are at. Another reminder that the most important thing I can do for the kids here, and for everyone I meet, whether that be in Lima or Omaha, is love them.

On Wednesday (yes, I'm traveling backwards here...sorry for the randomness of this email...I'm not thinking in very organized thoughts this morning...hope you can forgive me for that) our servant team taught our first "charla" at Casa Job. "Charla" means "chat". It's the word they use on the daily schedule for any class, discussion, etc, that is planned for the day. We were in charge of coming up with some games and then a short discussion abou the games afterwards. So, games with a point...hmm...We decided on Simon SAys and the Shape Game. You all know Simon Says, but let me just say that it's a rather difficult game to play with a translator involved. As for the Shape Game...in that game, you have a partner. Both of you have an identical set of shapes made from cardboard. There is a divider between you. One person makes a picture from the shapes and then has to tell the other person how to make that same picture. It's all about communication, and it was hilarious! There was much yelling, trying to peek over the divider, arguing over who actually won...we had such a good time! It was another one of those times that I just want to save up in my memory and replay when I'm having a hard day here, or when I retrun to the States and am missing Lima.

Well, I was able to get my laundry in, so I have to go wash now if I'm going to get done before church. Sorry to cut this short, but wanted to at least tell you a little about what's going on here. Thanks for all the prayers, messages, and other encouraging things. I think about you all often and can't wait to share more stories, thoughts, etc, again soon. Until next time...