Clearly Living

Beginning the battle . . .

2012-02-07T13:04:00.001-08:00

Or maybe I should say taking back up the battle? It seems to me that at some stage in my life I at least participated in a skirmish or two in this area . . .

The last few days, I’ve felt God reminding me that it IS in fact possible to take our thoughts captive to Christ, that I am not at the mercy of my thoughts but I can actually take my stand in the “battlefield of the mind” to quote a famous book. I haven’t read it but I think I will.

Lately, I feel like I have been at the mercy of my thoughts which have kind of spiraled around negatively more often than I care to admit. And I haven’t much tried to do anything about it. Much to my sadness.

So over the weekend, I felt God speak to my spirit gently and remind me that I don’t need to indulge every negative or grumpy or hopeless thought that comes my way. I was mulling this over when in church on Sunday, during the worship time, I really felt God wanting to do some work in this area of my life. Our pastor opened up the altars for anyone who wanted to be prayed for something they wanted to give over to God. I went forward as did many other people. My friend Wendy snapped this precious shot of some of my boys (and some other kids too) praying for me which is so lovely to me.

After some prayer time and we had all returned to our seats, our pastor called up our guest speaker, one of our visitors named Larry. After amazingly greeting everyone in Portuguese, Larry declared, “THOUGHTS! That’s what I want to talk about today!”

Well, he had my attention! As did God, even more so. Isn’t it amazing when He works things together like that?

I look forward to renewed vision and purpose in this area of my life and the good things that will come of it.

Anyone else battle this area, now or in the past? Have any words of wisdom, books or scriptures that have inspired you? Please feel free to share!

Second Corinthians 2:5: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Going Home . . .

2012-02-03T14:22:00.001-08:00

These gorgeous boys came to live with us last year but this week, they were reunited with their parents and grandmother and they will go home to live with them. The oldest boy is named Edson. The two twins, Fernando and Francisco, lived in my dorm until January when they moved to the next dorm. The youngest, Reginaldo, was still living in my dorm.

Look at those faces! So full of life and joy and spunk and they were such a delight! We will certainly miss them but we are so glad they can be restored as a family.

Please pray for a smooth transition for them all!

Back to School!

2012-01-28T04:22:00.001-08:00

January marks the beginning of the school year for us here in Mozambique. Just like in most households, when school starts again, so do routines and structure and new school clothes!!

These fun shirts which say “Meninos de Deus” which means “God’s Boys”, were gifts to my boys from Heidi and Tanya Hus, twin sisters who are friends from college! Oh my word, they are not Hus anymore! That is Heidi Fox and Tanya Devoll! Thank you generous friends!

Let me tell you –I always breathe a huge sigh of relief when school starts again!! The boys are occupied for the whole morning which means less boredom so less mischief and less fighting. And they love going to school! Please pray for their education though, the methods here aren’t the latest and greatest so their learning is often a challenge. I so want to open up the world for them of discovery and learning and amazement at this world God has created!

A New Home

2012-01-25T05:38:00.001-08:00

These three brothers came to live here at our center temporarily as their home was destroyed and their mother had no place to keep them together.

The ministry has been helping the mother build a new home and it’s now finished so these boys can go back home to be with their mother!

It has been so lovely to see how close these three have remained even though, due to their ages, they’ve been in three separate dorms. They were all three excited to return home to their mom, even Edson, from my dorm, who looks sad here in this photo. It’s a combination of a bad shot and that he was a little overwhelmed but all the days leading up to it he was so excited! When the time for actual change comes, it can always be a little challenging.

Please keep this family in your prayers that they adapt well to being back at home, that they thrive there in the family God created for them.

Precious Girl, One Week Later!!

2012-01-22T12:00:00.001-08:00

One week later, just seven days, and this sweet little girl is doing so well! Last Sunday the whole church prayed for her and we know people have been praying the world over as well. We are so thrilled with the progress she is making! Not every child comes in as drastically ill as she has but she still serves as a visible reminder of why it is such a privilege to be here.

Of course, I don’t have anything to do with her care, as I am not a nurse or work with the babies.

But I love being a part of a ministry with such tangible expressions of the love of Jesus!

Look at those long fingers, think she’ll be a pianist or a guitar player?

The Story of the Hot Pink Towels!

2012-01-22T08:10:00.001-08:00

Shopping can be a funny thing here in Moz. Sometimes, it’s very straightforward, you go to the store and buy 200 sausages at one shop for New Year’s Eve in 15 minutes flat. Other times, you drive around to four different stores and still don’t find the chairs you need for the kids’ mealtimes.

The story of buying the towels was half and half. Here in Moz, many, many things are sold on the side of the road, either by permanent vendors who sell the same things in front of their homes or by mobile vendors, walking along the roads selling any manner of things from brooms and bras to Santa caps and soft drinks.

There is one vendor not too far from the center who sells towels in front of her home. In fact, there are three different ladies right next door to each other who sell towels in front of their homes. That’s how it’s usually done here – people are all selling the same thing in the same places, funny. Diversification anyone?

So the first step is to stop on the side of the road at Sandra’s, where I bought towels once before. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t home and lost out on a big sale. Laurina, a diminuitive of my name that she was SO excited about, was home and assured me she could buy 30 towels, ten of each color for my three rooms which are blue, red and green. Phone numbers were exchanged and she promptly called me two days later to tell me she needed me to drop by 1000 mets, about a third of the price, so she could buy them. Bummer she hadn’t told me that while I was there. So back I go to drop off the money with her beautiful teenage daughter.

She then called the next day to say she had the towels. I went there and met her sister as she wasn’t there. The first set of towels – hot pink! – were of pretty good quality for 100 mets each (about $4). But the second two sets, blue and orange, were horrible! You could see thru them! Even her sister said “she didn’t choose well with these.” So after speaking with Laurina on the phone with her assuring me she could get twenty different towels, I took my hot pink set and left the others.

The next day she called again to say she had my towels. I drove there and discovered she had twenty more of the hot pink towels!

So now we are a boys dorm with 30 hot pink towels! These boys don’t mind a bit, they just think it’s so exciting to get something new. I’ve never had the same color for the whole dorm, it’s always been easier to control things by room. Here’s hoping these hot pink towels will last a good long time in each of the rooms!

Lastly, a big thank you to Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, CA for their generous donation this December. They have covered not only the towels but so much more – Christmas clothes and gifts, bed cushions and sheets (still to come) and more! They have a fantastic First Fruits program that I was blessed to be the recipient of – thank you!

Little Baby Tortellini!

2012-01-17T10:37:00.001-08:00

Well, imagine our surprise when one morning, this little guy showed up! I have been housesitting in a home across the driveway from my house and dorm and that house has come to be called “Ralph’s House” in honor of the only permanent resident – a 25ish pound tortoise who outlasts all the occupants who come and go! One morning – we discovered Ralph had a little friend!

Was Ralph really a woman all this time? And, ahem, how had this happened? But no, after checking on the internet, Ralph is indeed a man and we have no explanation for where this little peanut came from.

If the kids had found him, they would have been all over themselves showing everyone in sight, as they always do. And it’s hard to imagine an adult putting him in the garden but not saying anything to anyone. He’s so little – he’s lucky he wasn’t run over by the lawn mower the day before we discovered him!

I got to enjoy him for a couple weeks before we had to find a new home for him with great friends who live over in Matola. At least I will get to visit him!

Tortellini, my apologies for not cleaning the schmutz off your back before I took your portraits! I did get a clue at the end there.

Our newest little precious girl

2012-01-14T13:36:00.001-08:00

Please be praying for our newest little one who, as you can see, desperately needs God’s healing touch, our TLC and your prayers!

She is 8 months old and weighs 6 pounds. She arrived two days ago.

Please also be praying for our nursing staff and Tias who look after this precious girl and make minute by minute decisions for her care. What a privilege to be here serving “the least of these.”

Think I got enough new boys in the last two weeks?

2012-01-14T08:23:00.001-08:00

It’s the time of year for dorm changes. 13 of mine moved up to the next dorm – sad but we got lots of new little ones in from other parts of the center as well as two littlies from the community.

Introducing . . .

Jerso and Jeremias. These boys need prayer for adjusting to life with structure and boundaries again as they have been on their own. They’re quite feisty and know their own mind. They also look out for each other. It would be easier if they came into a more settled dorm but with so many new little ones who also don’t know the ropes, it’s a bit chaotic here. Please pray that I and the tias have lots of patience – for all the boys and ourselves!

Jeremias, who has three other names including a famous footballer, Reginaldo, who came after his mom died and he and his brother were fending for themselves for a month or two.

Jerso, Jeremias’ older brother.

Ernesto from the Baby House – he has the funniest little smile that scrunches up his whole face!

Adilson came from the transition house, also known as Tracey’s dorm. Isn’t he handsome? Some kids spend a year there between the Baby House and my dorm, depending on space. Any Cards fans reading this blog?

Meet my third set of twins, Lourenco and Francisco. Fortunately for me, they aren’t identical so I can tell them apart! They are gorgeous and came directly from the Baby House.

Francisco, the more outgoing of the twins.

Lourenco, the follower, Wonder if he was born second?

Felix who also came from Tracey’s transition house. He’s a bit older than the rest of the littlies who came.

Luis, from Tracey’s, the biggest helper ever!

Paulo Luis (one of TWO Paulo Luis, unrelated, who live in this dorm!) came from Vella’s transition house.

And lastly Pai, also from Vella’s dorm. We’ll be getting two more from Vella’s dorm sometime in the near future.

So, including Deldon from the previous post, that is 11 new boys to the dorm in about two weeks time! Please pray for us!!

A few more Christmas pressies!

2012-01-13T05:15:00.001-08:00

There have been a lot of changes in my dorm in the last couple weeks. Just before Christmas, we got three new boys, as in new to the center and the dorm.

To the left is Deldon who is pretty quiet but getting used to this noisy bunch.

Below are Pedrito on the left and Marcos on the right. Pedrito is as sweet as can be and Marcos is tough but not a bully. Great kids!

Pedrito and Marcos have already moved up to the next dorm, just this week, but that’s the topic for another post!

Please pray for our kids who come into the center that they will adjust to their new homes. And pray for those who move out that they will make their new dorms their home or will be able to reunite with someone in their family who can and will take care of them. In the meantime, pray for me to be able to love these boys and create a growing, thriving home environment for them!

More Christmas Delight!

2012-01-03T12:35:00.001-08:00

Here’s the little munchkins diggin in to their gift bags and enjoying all the little contents – marbles and balls and little frisbees and blow up soccerr balls (the biggest hit) and sunglasses and notebooks and crayons and balls and biscuits and chips and drinks and candy and cars and army men and bendy men and soft toys and so much fun! They were delighted with their treasures!

Actually, we did the Christmas schedule a little different this year because it fell on a Sunday and we had church at 10. So the boys got their new outifts and the big dorm gifts before church. The gifts were a soccer ball for each room, a Tonka truck and a DVD player!

Then we went to church and the gifts were to be distributed afterward. Because we feed the community who come to church every Sunday, our center kids weren’t going to eat til 2:30ish so I prepared a little snack for them to eat after church: sardines and pasta! Can you imagine that being a snack for 4-8 year old American boys??

New twins, Lourenco and Francisco – aren’t they pumpkins??

I’m glad they’re not identical so I can tell them apart, unlike my other set, pictured below!

Casmeiro and Felizardo love their snack!

Then the boys waited for Papa Steve and Pastor Nico to arrive to give out their gifts – they really are so patient and well-behaved – most of the time!

Now, they can enjoy . . .

Paulito and Reginaldo – cutie pie patooties are very happy!

Twins, Francisco and Fernando looking cool!

Francisco happy with his drink. Please don’t tell Mr, Cool, Deldon, that his shades are on upside-down!

Shelton, darling as ever. Elton (minus the Sh) very content with his stash!

Sweet, sweet Lucas enjoyed his gifts and all the fun around him!

What a bunch of little lovebugs – it’s such a joy to bless them in big and small ways. Thanks to all of you who help make this Christmas celebration possible, especially Rock Harbor church in Costa Mesa, California. I am deeply grateful to God for your sacrificial giving and tender loving care for me and my boys!

Merry Christmas Clothes!

2012-01-02T12:48:00.001-08:00

Here’s all the gorgeous pumpkins in their new Christmas clothes! They clean up nicely, don’t they?

Room One, the middlies. A couple missing, Lucas and Vernanzio. Darling aren’t they?

Room 3, the Littlies. And the hardest bunch to get a good shot of!

Room 2, the oldest, missing Domingos. Chico, on the far right, never likes to smile in photos, silly guy. He’s usually crossing his eyes or something like that.

The kids love getting their new clothes and they look quite spiffy at church now. I love how appreciative they are of everything they get.

Did anyone else get new Christmas clothes?

Christmas Preparations Have Begun . . .

2011-12-22T08:20:00.001-08:00

I forgot to take a photo of the Christmas clothing prep but here is the beginning stages of assembling gift bags for 34 little boys who are so excited! The first trick is remembering where I hid everything two months ago when I left for the US! I also had someone staying in my house that I wanted to make room for so my usual hiding spots were taken up with my personal things I moved out of I predict the biggest hit will be the sunglasses!!!

What’s not on the bed? For their bags, a soft drink, a packet of biscuits and a bag of chips. For the dorm – a DVD player! And a Tonka truck and some cool lego-like sets and a couple movies. They will be excited as our current DVD player only works about 1/2 the time, not a fun way to watch a movie!

Thought I’d show you my major decorating endeavors! Yep, that’s it, a snowman towel! And let me say, that towel makes me very happy every time I look at it!

I DO have a couple other decorations, I think three or four items, but again, when I packed away to make room for Garrett, I don’t remember where I put those! And it’s been a bit full on since being back so finding those things hasn’t been a priority.

Merry Christmas preparations everyone! I hope your homes and hearts are not too harried and that you have time to enjoy this wonderful time focusing on Christ and family and friends!

I’ve got gas! Cooking gas that is!

2011-12-20T11:03:00.001-08:00

So there has been a shortage of cooking gas in Mozambique for the last month or so. Some of the missionaries bar-b-qued their turkeys for Thanksgiving! My friend Becky very thoughtfully emailed me before I returned to warn me because she knows I always stock up on perishables in South Africa on my way home for the US. I was grateful for the warning!

Because of the warning, and the heat, and trying to undo some of the damage done by my ridiculous eating habits while in the US, I was able to stock up on things that didn’t need cooking like salads and fruit and such. And, I had some chili frozen in the freezer that just needed the microwave. So I’ve been just fine this past week without a stove or oven.

But, it was really nice to get gas back in the house today. The first thing I did was put a pot of 36 eggs on to boil for the boys! And now I know for sure I can cook my Christmas ham!

Since we’re on the subject, I thought I’d show you my gas replacing process:

Here’s the space where the gas bottle fits into, and the handy dandy tube that connects the gas to my stove.

Here’s the cupboard that needs to be emptied because the cupboard doors are nailed into the shelf unit and the whole thing needs to come out to put new gas in! Yikes!!! Good chance to clean after being gone two months!

Here is the finished product, snug as a bug in a rug! I hope it lasts for awhile AND that Maputo doesn’t run out of gas any time soon!

And here’s the best finished product – the pot of eggs, oh how the boys love em!

See ya later! I’m off to go hand them out!

PS: since I’m showing you pots and pans and cupboards and funky things, thought I’d show you my resourcefulness! The handle broke while someone else was using the lid and they didn’t save the handle for me, so I had to get clever. I remembered a piece of wire I had and – voila! Good as new. Well, almost! Anyway, I was pretty proud of myself!

Maybe I should have been a nurse??

2011-12-19T09:10:00.001-08:00

Good thing I'm not upset by blood - perhaps I should have been a nurse? Antonio (in an old photo at the beach)just came with huge amounts of blood pouring thru his hands, both of them!, from what ended up being a smallish cut on one finger joint. There’s blood everywhere, inside, outside, in the sinks, on the floor, on the clothes - I had thought for sure whatever was under all that blood was going to need stitches! Glad for his sake(and mine!) that we don't have to hop in the car to the hospital an hour away!

And I thank God for our CLINIC!!!! Some of you might remember that several months ago, the government came in and shut our clinic down (shut as in padlocked and nailed shut!). We were still able to have a treatment room elsewhere that allowed us to meet basic needs. But sometime while I was in the States, our clinic re-opened, praise God!

I didn’t even know it, I was heading with Antonio and the Tia to the treatment room, saying “I don’t think anyone’s there!” and Tia Marta responded, “no, Mana Laura, the clinic is open again!”

After seeing that Antonio had in fact a smallish cut and wouldn’t need stitched, I returned to the dorm to help clean up and also finish my dinner. All the other boys were gathered on our storage boxes, waiting for a clean floor before watching their summer-night movie. So we decided to pray for Antonio to not hurt and the cut to close up and no infection or problems! Such heartfelt little prayers for their friend!

Thank you to those who prayed for our clinic to be re-opened!

Saturday Night Sleepovers Commence Anew!

2011-12-17T14:38:00.001-08:00

One of the fun things I’ve done for years with the boys is Saturday Night Sleepovers! If I’m home and free on a Saturday night, I invite 4-6 boys in and they get to watch a special film that the rest of the boys haven’t seen yet. Usually I make them some popcorn but there is a shortage of cooking gas here in Maputo and I have none so I can’t make them the popcorn. Anyway, they usually have that and a juice or a soda. Then they pull their mattresses in to the living room and play themselves to sleep. They love it and I enjoy it too!

The current movie I just brought back with me is Night at the Museum. It’s a bit scary for the little ones so I will choose another film for the rest of the group. But these big boys have enjoyed all the action!

Have a great weekend!

Thank you Garrett!

2011-12-17T09:13:00.001-08:00

When I made plans to head home for Thanksgiving (and a few weeks on either end!), I wasn’t sure who would look after my boys while I was gone. My wonderful co-worker in the dorm for the last year, Natalie, left just before I did and sadly, she won’t be back with us any time soon as God has her traveling thru South America with an Iris team.

But a young man named Garrett was just applying to come for a year’s time after graduating high school and before starting college. So the directors asked if he would be willing to oversee my dorm and he said yes!

I want to say a big Thank You to Garrett for accepting this challenge and taking it on with what I have heard is his whole heart! It’s a big work to jump into being responsible for 31 boys and work with the Tias when you don’t speak the language, and you don’t know the culture.

Good thing Garrett is fluent in at least one language other than English – boy wrestling language! Garrett is a wrestler and I’m sure the boys just loved playing with him every day. Mana Laura does not wrestle! She tickles but she doesn’t wrestle!

It’s been great having a guy to be with the boys and I hope Garrett is able to carry on working with us for the rest of his time here as well! It sure looks like Lucas, in the photo above, will be happy to keep him!

Two great books calling me onward!

2011-12-15T01:36:00.001-08:00

Someone once said “you are what you read.” I do find it true that what I read about, I think about and what I am thinking about, I am more likely to be acting on. So while I love a good fiction book, I love to be challenged and inspired by non-fiction as well.

While on my many shopping trips at local thrift stores, I am always drawn to the book section. Even though my mom and her partner Larry bought me a Kindle so I wouldn’t have to lug a ton of books around (Larry always says I am packing anvils!), I can’t resist the .50 cents or 1.00 books and the treasures they contain!

I bought two winners recently and I wanted to share a little about them. They are both similar enough in nature that they complement one another. However, one was written in 1975 and one in 2009!

The first, written in 1975, is called Open Hearts, Open Homes by Karen Burton Mains. (sorry, you can’t click and look inside, I got this cover photo from Amazon!) Her subject is biblical Hospitality. Not matching plates and the latest impressive recipe, not a spotless house with cool new decorations. But a home that says, “Come in world, you are welcome here, spots and wrinkles and all!” The book is all about the biblical call that our lives, our hearts and homes would be used to share with people around us who are in need of help or encouragement or prayer or just friendship. I loved the broad vision of this book mixed with the practical ideas as well.

Although Hospitality has often been relegated to the realm of women who like to entertain, this book broadens that application to include the biblical charge for men to participate in this as well. It isn’t only women, or excellent cooks, who can use their lives at home to change the world around them!

The second book is called The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. I am not finished with it yet but it has already brought me to tears more than once. It begins with the story of his journey of surrender of his position of CEO of Lenox, a fine china and porcelain manufacturer, that provided him with a Jaguar, a ten room home on 200 acres and every luxury money could buy. He left that position to become the president of World Vision, attempting to help the poor all over the world – what a radical departure!

He writes about how often and how easily many Christians neglect the portion of the Bible– the huge portion of the Bible– that calls followers of Christ to minister to the poor, the needy, the widows, the orphans, the abandoned, the captives, the “least of these.” He does it more eloquently than I can! (He calls it the hole in our GOSPEL, which I take some exception to, but I agree that this focus on the poor, so prominent in Scripture is largely missing in most teaching on discipleship.)

While neither book is perfect, if you read either of these books, you will be challenged to ask God what He would have you do with your time, your finances, your heart and your home. Not that you aren’t already doing that, but we all could use the inspiration to ask that daily and with an open heart, ready and willing to obey what we hear in response!

Have any good books to recommend in return? On any subject! Please feel free to share in the comments, I love recommendations!

Back in the saddle again! I mean , back in the airplane again!

2011-12-14T03:36:00.001-08:00

Hello from London’s Heathrow airport, on the way home to Mozambique, via a flight into Johannesburg and a shuttle journey to Nelspruit and a car to Zimpeto! Whew! I’m tired just thinking about it!

But, I’m energized too! I can’t wait to get back to see my boys and enjoy life with them! I imagine their shouts of joy and “Mana Laura! Mana Laura!” and I get so excited. I miss them when I am gone. I miss my home and my co-workers and friends and my work and routines. I miss knowing where my my tape and scissors and nail file are! I do not however, miss the heat and the mosquitos and the humidity and the dirt! This photo is Shelton acting like a Mozambican Mama – just one of the cutie pies who await me!

At the same time, I will for sure miss being in the United States with friends and family and the conveniences of home. It’s always hard to say goodbye and jet off half a world away, literally.

I am so blessed for both the time I am able to spend in the US and the home I have in Mozambique. I am deeply grateful to the Lord and the people he uses who help make it possible for me to be in Mozambique, loving on these boys and watching God work amazing miracles of transformation in them. I’m so privileged to be a part of that process.

(On a totally unrelated note except that I am in London, why does London insist on warm soda? Has all of England never discovered the joy of a cold soda? The cases they are in in the airport are not even refrigerated, they just are meant to look like they are, they’re just lighted cases. More Englanders need to travel to South Africa whose name for soda tells us how it should be drank – they call all soda “cool drinks” or “cold drinks!” Sounds perfect to me! Enough of a tangent for you?)

My smart boys!

2011-11-27T15:51:00.001-08:00

My boys ended the school year at the end of October and the best kids in class are always awarded little prizes, for first, second and third place.

This here is Jose’ and he is BRIGHT! He takes after his older brother, Lito, who used to be in my dorm but has moved up with the older boys. These boys are, I believe, the smartest kids their age in our whole center!

I’m praying they can be reunited someday with the people they inherited their smarts from!

This here is Pai, affectionately known as “Piece of Pie” Pai by me every time I say his name. Lots of the boys copy me now.

One question Pai: where are your shoes???

It is no surprise that Shelton B. Belton is one of the smartest kids in his class. Oooorrrrr, is he so cute that his teachers just give him good grades? I might not blame them if they did!

Please keep our kids in school in your prayers, the education system in Mozambique needs a lot of support and restructuring which is a slow process in a developing country. They are getting better. With my boys, 31 of them don’t go home to their individual supportive parents to help them with their homework and try to create a learning environment. That’s up to me and my Tias and as you can imagine, with 31 of them, I can’t really do that like I’d like to.

Educators – any ideas welcome!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T18:06:00.001-08:00

What a wonderful holiday we have here in the United States every third Thursday in November! I try to cultivate a grateful heart all through the year but it is nice to have a special day set aside every year to give thanks. This year, I am thankful for:

1. My mom's health has stabilized and she is doing quite well with chemo only once every other month.

2. Although my dad was diagnosed with lung cancer this year, he has done quite well overall and right now is feeling better than he has all year. We're praying the clinical trial he is approved for will help him.

3. A new car! Wahoo! So blessed that my dad and Judi gave me a car. It is so much easier to have a car when I am here in the US for visits.

4. A check off the Bucket List - because I got a new car, I had to drive it cross-country, something I have always wanted to do.

5. My cousin Maureen who is the most wonderful cousin and friend a person could have! So blessed she helps me all year with the practical side of things that allow me to be in Mozambique and also that she went Road-Trippin with me!

6. My three wonderful nephews and my sister - wish I could see them more often but grateful I got to see Randy while on the Road Trip.

7. My Pedro - although he has been gone over a year now, I remain grateful every single day that God blessed me with him in my life. I am also grateful that God has met me in my sorrow and helped the pain to subside.

8. My darling boys - I am so blessed to be able to work with my little munchkins in Mozambique. It's always a challenge but always a delight!

9. Wonderful friends who partner with me in this adventure I am on, financially, in prayer and in encouragement.

10. God's provision in every area of my life. He has been faithful to provide for us financially during tough economic times, he has provided me with his love and presence and his most wonderful gift of my salvation! I love this life he has given me!

I have a rich life!!

Missing these cute boys right about now!

2011-11-25T17:50:00.001-08:00

They are so gorgeous! I really enjoy my time in the States every year with family and friends (and all the luxuries of my other home!) but I sure do miss these little pumpkins and all the joy and love they bring to my life! In this Thanksgiving season, I am thankful for them!

My new car!!!

2011-11-12T07:04:00.000-08:00

Here's my cute new car!!!! Thanks to my dad and Judi, I'm the prooud new owner of a 2004 Hyundai Sante Fe (which I'm still learning to spell!). I love my new car and am so blessed.

And, it's caramel color - not gold!!

Boys, Boys, Boys!

2011-10-28T16:23:00.001-07:00

Here they are, my latest group shot of my darling boys! And three of my ladies who work with them too. Aren't they gorgeous?

Oh, and in case you can't read Portuguese, the sign says "We love you!"

I currently have 29 boys, with two perhaps arriving in early November from the Baby House. Please keep us in your prayers!

My mom!

2011-10-24T19:37:00.001-07:00

I'm having a great time in New Jersey, visiting my mom and Larry for three weeks. I've visited enough here that I have my little routines that I enjoy: the library every day, pilates on Mon and Thur nights with cousin Sally, church and the diner afterward with Sally and her family, the thrift shops on Monday and Thursday, yard sales on Saturday, Taco Bell and Costco hotdogs and lots of football and British comedies. So relaxing!

This photo of my mom and Larry was taken on their porch before going to her high school reunion - she graduated in 1955 - class valedictorian! - but her school just has all the graduates together at the same time every few years of so. They look great, don't they?!

I went with her to the reunion, she loves to show me off. It was fun to meet so many high school friends and hear old stories! What a privilege.

Hi Mom! it's been a great visit, thanks for everything you do for me and all your love for me! I love you too! I'll miss you guys!

Chefe Appreciation Lunch

2011-10-22T17:34:00.001-07:00

So all you lovely readers must realize that I don't raise my darling boys alone! Not only do I have my Tias ("aunties" in Spanish, the Mozambican women who work in the dorm with me) but I also have young men who come and help, known as "Chefes." They are sort of like Resident Assistants in college dorms.

Will you believe me when I tell you all of these young men used to live in my dorm? Can you believe my darling boys dare to grow up into handsome young men??? I can't believe it!

Anyway, Natalie and I wanted to take these young men out for an appreciation lunch at a nearby restaurant. Unfortunately, the servers neglected to mention that they weren't prepared to start cooking when the boys arrived and ordered so after 1 1/2 hours, when I asked if the food was almost ready, they said they hadn't started yet! Crazy! This restaurant, in the best of times, takes 1 1/2 hours to give you your food after your order so this meant we had waited 1 1/2 hours already and had at least another 1 1/2 hours to go!

Sadly, Natalie and I both had other obligations so we couldn't stay but the boys opted to wait and eat their chicken and pork filets and french fries and salad and soft drinks. People are patient in Mozambique!

A Family Reunited

2011-10-18T15:25:00.001-07:00

This is my little Pedrito and his mom, left, and grandmother. I've written about Pedrito moving home before here, along with several other places in this blog! In August, he left us and went to live with his family. We felt it wise to give him some time to adjust to living at home so I didn't visit until the very end of September. It was SO good to see him looking so well cared for, in great conditions, with family that clearly enjoy him. And as the proud owner of a puppy! Boy is he loving that dog! He makes these little whispers to him constantly and was really gentle with him. They haven't named the puppy yet but perhaps they will have by my next visit.

So we didn't get a great shot together but that's ok. I just love having one with that precious face! I sure miss this little guy and think about him and pray for him every day.

The neat thing is, his mom is quite open to keeping up a relationship with us - the other day my phone rang and it was them. She said Pedrito just wanted to say hi to me! Ahh, break my heart! Please pray that Pedrito continues to adjust well to his new family, home, neighborhood and school. Pray he flourishes!

All Africa Games held next door!

2011-10-14T11:24:00.001-07:00

This is how close the stadium is - this photo was taken by one of my colleagues from her garden in our center! This was part of the opening night extravaganza. There have been fireworks there a cool time and the boys love running out to watch them. Come to think of it, so do I - and my Tias!!

So when I say "next-door" I mean it! This is the new national stadium for Mozambique and it is in Zimpeto, the same neighborhood I live in. In fact, it is walkable, as you will see in the photo below with my Tia Laura as we walk up to the stadium with a bunch of kids. You can also see how rural it still is, even though we are 1 kilometers out of the heart of the city of Maputo. Of course, this is the "side entrance!!!"

Don't ask me where everyone else is - we had I think six adults and about 30 kids with us - where in the world are they???

Just a smattering of the crowd that was with us. We weren't actually in the stadium you see in the photo above, we were at the swimming venue right next door to it. The boys had never seen a pool that big, nor a setting that big for that matter. I'm not entirely sure they understood why we took them to watch OTHER people swim instead of them! We actually didn't get to see a lot of races but we did get to see the para-olympians warm up which was amazing and inspiring. It was so cool for the boys (and Tias) to see people with one leg or no legs or one arm, on crutches, prosthetics, in wheelchairs, to see them swim was a once in a lifetime event for these kids. It created a great talking point for faith and perseverance and hope and dedication and choice. I hope they never forgot what they saw!

An Olympic size swimming pool in Zimpeto - who knew? And who knows what they will do with it now? Perhaps we can take the boys for a swim every so often!

We arrived well before the races and got to see these men practice raising the flags, I kid you not, at least 30 times, if not more. We were cracking up, but all that work paid off as they did great.

This is two members of the South Africa team taking gold and silver, two of their Bazillion medals they took at the games. They were the country who took home the most medals, lekker bru!

As we were leaving one of the events, Hyundai, one of the sponsors of the games, saw us and gave us all these shirts and hats and soccer balls. The boys could care less that the shirts are a teensy bit big, they love them anyway. We are so blessed!

Meet the two new boys!! Garrett and James!

2011-10-10T18:45:00.001-07:00

This is Garrett! Mano Garrett to the little boys. His sister Aleya worked with us last year for six months, during which time he came to visit her and returned home with a vision to raise funds to build our nursery - so he did. To the tune of about $25,000!!! Oh, and he did this while he was still in high school! So he graduated this year and has come to Zimpeto for a year or so. His first duties? To move into my home and look after my darling boys while I am in the US. I love his courage! You know what else I love? In his blog, http://garrettmullett.wordpress.com/, he calls them "my boys!" Not "the boys I'm looking after" - I love that! Please pray for Garrett that he will learn the boys' names quickly, learn Portuguese quickly, that he will find some personal, private time and that he will have a wonderful time loving on his boys! (Did I mention he's a wrestler? How perfect is that for 4-8 year old boys?!?) Thank you Lord for sending Garrett at the perfect time!

And this is James! James is from South Africa and will be attending university in the US in January so he found himself with some free time. James spent a year at a children's center near us and used to visit us a lot during that time. That center closed and a few of the boys actually live in my dorm now. He visited in September and spent a lot of time with my boys so I felt led to ask him if he would want to return for any portion of the time while I would be gone to work along with Garrett. He prayed about it and agreed to come for the month of October. That is so wonderful that he and Garrett can love on these boys together, giving them an example of Godly men who love the Lord. James is teaching the boys rugby which I confess I find slightly frustrating since they don't know the world's greatest sport yet, American football! But it's a small price to pay. Please pray for James that he will continue learning Portuguese and that God will provide all he needs for school (and that he won't miss out on any financial income for taking this month to spend in Zimpeto!). Thank you Lord for sending James at the perfect time!

Studying in Kiev - in which my brain gets crammed with too much great information in two weeks!

2011-09-18T00:35:00.001-07:00

(PS: this post should have proceeded the last two posts with my photos of Kiev!!)

In case anyone has not memorized the details of my exciting life, I'll give a little reminder - I'm studying for a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership at Azusa Pacific University (APU) in California.

They created a rather unique external program 30 years ago in which students travel to a location in the world for 20 hours of classroom time per class, with the remainder of the course work being done in the following semester (readings and assignments).

I am taking four classes, two in the Fall and two in the Spring so I was there for two weeks. Last year my classes were in London, this year they were in Kiev, Ukraine!

So for two weeks, Mon-Fri, 8:30 to 6, we tried to learn as much as we could in a classroom context about our courses (Ethics, Research Methods, Building Trust in Orgs and Creativity and Collaboration in Orgs). 8:30-12:30 was one class and the afternoon was the second class. The second week, the morning was the third class and the afternoon the fourth.

So the bulk of the work is done at home thru the year but I love the classroom opportunity, the wisdom and experience of the professors and the context of discussion and connection with the other students with whom I'll be in touch throughout the year. This year, we had students from Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Philippines, Brazil, Portugal, China and the United States!

My program is three years long if I continue the pace of two classes per semester. That was a bit of a challenge last year but it seems the most reasonable given that I pay to fly to and stay at a location, it doesn't seem the best use of finances to take one course per semester.

As for any student, balancing life, work and studies is a challenge. Especially given my setting of living with my boys in the dorm. it requires more than usual focus and organization! But, I learned last year, it is do-able!

I absolutely LOVE what I am learning and am so blessed to have the opportunity to study. I love learning about how to be a better person, how to see and bring out the best in others, and how to be a more effective contributor to any organization of which I am a part!

The trick is - putting it into practice!

(the next couple blogs will be photos from my Kiev trip!)

Kiev Churches and Monuments

2011-09-05T12:01:00.001-07:00

St Nicholas Prytyska Church, 17th Century

St. Andrew's Cathedral, 1749-1754

I can't find the name of this gorgeous little cathedral, built like a Lighthouse on the river. I'm sure my new friend Eric, who hosted me around the city my first weekend, will tell me when he reads this! There are a lot of these little walk-in cathedral's. This one was so beautiful!

20th Century

St. Michael's Monastery, front and back views, was destroyed by the Soviet regime, rebuilt as recently as the 1990's. Only a portion of the original foundation, from 1108, remains inside but it was rebuilt to an exact replica.

L. An old church relocated to Pirogovo, an outdoor museum showing life in Ukraine from centuries past. If I remember correctly, this one is several hundred years old. R. Vydubychi Monastery - on of the many churches there.

Grand Church of the Lavra, Dormition Cathedral, front and back views. Originally built in the 11th century, destroyed in 1941, rebuilt in the 1990's.

St. Volodymr's Cathedral, 1862

Lower Lavra, Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God, 11th Century

************************************************************************************

The following are photos from the National Museum (outdoor) of the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945.

Rodina Mat

The Motherland Ukraine

simply,

Auntie!

She weighs 530 tons!

Kiev - Street Scenes

2011-09-02T21:06:00.001-07:00

Hand painted eggs are a common sight in Ukraine - this was a sphere completed covered with them in a rainbow of colors - beautiful!

All women, young and old, cover their heads before entering Orthodox churches. I found it interesting to see stylishly dressed young women whip out their scarves before going into church.

Two slightly different looking ladies entering church!

The next cover of "Modern Bride?"

I've never seen so many brides and grooms walking through city streets with their photographers as I have in Kiev and Krakow! But not all with cell phones!

Flowers were everywhere in Ukraine - ladies selling them and people buying them and carrying them on the metro and buses. There were so many, I wondered if they were used for religious purposes but I never got a clear answer on that.

Of course, anyone would know that was their Metro Stop . . . what, you mean you can't tell that says "Poznicky?" Ok, then, just look for your stop on the list below . . .

How about instead, a ride on a super old tram, #219? (Ok, I say below I didn't take any photos on public transport, but I sat in the last seat to take this one and was only on this tram two stops so I risked it!)

Quaint little gas station in the semi-suburbs.

I wish I had a photo that captured the amazing number of Soviet-era, high rise apartment buildings here. I didn't take any photos while in the public transport so this one from my friend's 5th floor window will have to do. They are everywhere, masses and masses of them.

The entrance and elevator of my new friend Christy's apartment building in a Soviet-era housing block. I was a little shocked when I first arrived but discovered, as in Mozambique, the inside of the apartments are much nicer and kept up well, it's the outsides that get very little maintenance.

While we were there, there was a lot of political controversy and street demonstrations about a former Prime Minister put in prison by the current president. The controversy swirls around accusations that he had her imprisoned before election time as she is his closest rival. We were there for Ukraine's 20th Independence Day and the protestors (who were there daily) were especially strong then, trying to avoid Ukraine losing some of the freedoms she had gained in her struggle for independence. This is my very un-educated summary of what I understood was the gist of the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, Babushka does what others like her have done for ages, controversy or no - tried to make her simple living selling homemade honey in the courtyard of a peaceful church.

And Babushko (?) tries to make a peaceful living making the world a more beautiful place with his lovely music.

In honor of my Ukraine trip - a story about Borsh!

2011-08-25T10:04:00.001-07:00

Privet!

So we at Iris Zimpeto are blessed with not one but two beautiful Russian women on our missionary staff!

One is Natalie, my wonderful co-worker in the dorm. The other is Svetlana who is a loving nurse, taking care of my darling boys (and about 230 other kids!).

I had been asking them both about making Borsh as I love it. I have made it before but I wanted the authentic Russian version.

I was informed that as many Russian homes as there are, there are that many ways to make "authentic Russian Borsh!" (I was also informed it doesn't have a "t" on the end as we Americans pronounce it!)

Wait, what are you saying? You don't know what Borch is? I realize some people don't. It is basically a vegetable soup, with the distinctive characteristic being BEETS! And it doesn't have to be just veggies, it can have chicken and pork and all kinds if things! Anyway, it's Beet Soup, Russian style!

So, Natalie sentenced me to the Gulag for the slave labor of shredding all the veggies for the soup! It was a lot of shredding!

But it was worth it in the end! We all enjoyed all-we-could-eat Borsch and spent the evening discussing all we knew about Russian culture! It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot and we all were stuffed!

Tent Making!

2011-08-23T12:31:00.001-07:00

For part of our Afternoon Program with Letter M, we played with "mantas" which means blanket in Portuguese. I have few options for hanging them but we made do and the boys had a fantastic time doing something so different! They are so easy to please! Love these little doodlebugs!!!

My Pedrito

2011-08-18T12:36:00.001-07:00

This gorgeous boy is my little Pedrito. His name is actually Pedro which we called him until MY Pedro died. I couldn't call him by that name so soon so I started calling him Pedrito, Little Pedro.

I know this could be a bit confusing due to the names but this little guy is the one dearest to my heart after my Pedro. I adored him since I met him but after my Pedro died (a year in September) I grew to love him more and more.

I felt it was "safe" to love him more as he came from another children's center where there had been no family contact for over seven years. Even his name and birthday were given to him there. So I thought he'd be with us a nice, long time, likely to adulthood, so it was "ok" to love with abandon.

But last month a woman with very familiar eyes, who couldn't hide her tears, and a man came to visit, asking for Pedro Andre, explaining they were the aunt and the uncle. After a series of conversations and visits and more tears from the woman, we discovered that in fact, these people were his mom and dad.

The story is long and complicated. It's easy to point fingers. Although seven or so years ago, people made the wrong choices, the whereabouts of their son were hidden from them until a random conversation with one of our employees last month led them back to him.

Last week, my little Pedrito, whose real name is Joanquin, left us to go live with his mother and grandmother. I don't know if the mom has stopped crying yet, now tears of joy, perhaps mingled with remorse, but still, joy at being reunited with her son.

Please pray for little Pedrito as he adjusts to life in a new home and a "new" family.

You can certainly pray for me as well as once again I say goodbye to a boy who has taken my heart with him.

Shelton B. Belton - please pray

2011-08-17T11:38:00.001-07:00

Please pray for my little Shelton who is in the hospital with pneumonia. This little darling has had so many health challenges the last two years. You might remember he was in the hospital for over two weeks earlier this year. When he gets sick, he gets sick fast and hard.

Please join me in prayer that he gets well just as fast and dramatically!

These photos are he and his older cousin and his grandmother - beauty runs in this family!!!

Saturday Shenanigans!

2011-07-30T13:18:00.001-07:00

You never know what the boys will come up with when they are just goofing around. This little castle suddenly wasn't complete with a bunch of bougainvillea flowers which I sure love the look of. Castle making quickly turned into general silliness. I was suddenly determined to learn how to use my camera and so sat there with my manual trying to figure some things out. These photos aren't any great improvement but it did learn what some of the buttons on my camera are for!!

Telling Time!

2011-07-23T11:57:00.001-07:00

Little lovebugs had such fun making their own clocks and learning about telling time. It was the first lesson so we didn't get too far but MOST of us did manage to get our numbers in order! With some help.

This was our craft for Letter H for the word "horas" which means hours and is used like "o'clock" is in English. So, 9 o'clock is "nove horas" in Portuguese.

By the way, any tips on teaching kids the 24 hour clock with is what they use here? So 1pm is 1300 hours! Tricky!

My humble abode

2011-07-20T13:02:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks back, I wrote about living here in this house the longest I've ever lived in one home. That still amazes me!

Some people asked about the rest of my house and so, here it is!

The photo above is my room, taken from the doorway from the living room to bedroom. My cat PussPuss is napping on the bed! And yes, I know that the lower right photo is crooked!

Here's my "office!" Where I sit at the computer, my books and my new bulletin board I made with spray paint and wrapping paper. This is the only spot for it in my whole room! But I can still see the blue sky, green lemon trees and cute little boys in the garden beyond it.

And my wonderful bed (I bought a REAL mattress from a long termer who was leaving years ago, best $50 I ever spent! They had paid several hundred for it. Some people use foam which you can feel the metal bars right thru - ugh!). My blue chair was a free hand-me-down from another long-termer who was leaving, the most comfy chair in the center I think. Great for watching my movies or TV shows that fun friends send me on tape.

There you have it! If you come for a visit, you can see it for yourself!

How could I forget the Piggies???

2011-07-16T02:14:00.001-07:00

Our trip to the Botanical Garden that I wrote about a week or two ago included a visit to their piggies! Porcos in Portuguese. The boys were so delighted.

Their first question? "Amigos de Mana Laura?" "Are they your friends?" Because I am always trying to teach them to treat animals and living things well, they've taken to calling all sorts of animals and bugs my friends! So cute!

It was tough getting a photo of the piggies and kiddos together, only the above with Ryan really does it. Ryan looks scared in this photo but in reality, he enjoyed them the most and was the last to tear himself away.

An AMAZING Birthday Pressie - well, three of them!

2011-07-09T09:09:00.001-07:00

Meet my three newest boys, who arrived the day after my birthday!

Reginaldo, Fernando and Francisco. Or is it Reginaldo, Francisco and Fernando? They're twins! And since I can't see the scar on Francisco's forehead in this photo, I don't know which one is which! And how will I ever know from a distance? Oh Lord, help me, I want to be able to tell them apart! I can see some differences but from a distance? Gulp! What happens when their teeth grow in?

I don't know all their story yet as I was away at my birthday hotel when they arrived. I understand their clothes had to be thrown away they were so bad, they had no shoes or sandals or undies. I believe that all three, as well as their older brother who is in another dorm, have TB so we will be treating them for that right away.

Please pray for these precious brothers, that they will feel at home here right away. That they will encounter and be changed by the profound love of their Heavenly Father. That they will remain close in this environment. And that their father will not forget about them here. And that he will get the care that he needs as well.

And pray for us, as that brings us to 33 active little boys, ages 5-8!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-07-09T07:45:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I have no photos of me on my birthday nor of my birthday Games Night the next day! What I do have are a couple photos from the hotel I stayed at for my birthday! My friend Sharon and I won a silent auction and got a room at the Southern Sun for $50 each! The room rate for the night we stayed was $261!!! So we got a steal! So nice to have a getaway with cable TV, a heater (not often one needs that in Mozambique!), a bathtub and an amazing view!

Here's my yummy breaky the next morning. And yes, the egg in front is a little under-done so I didn't eat it.

I find it odd how often I take photos of my food! Do other people do that?

Below is the view from the restaurant, out to the ocean. What a nice way to start the day!

Here's Sharon, remote in hand, with our Chinese food lunch. Check out the open sliding doors to the tub beyond her - we both took out baths with the doors open a touch to watch TV at the same time. I got to watch CSI!!!

A few friends joined us for a short bit in the afternoon, too short. But I had a lovely, restful indulgent birthday!

The next day, several friends came over for a Games Night and brought me a delicious chocolate cake too. It started off quietly enough with a couple games of Boogle and then Sequence. Then things got all out of hand with the game Pit and lots of shouting in English and Portuguese! So much fun!

Thanks for all the birthday love!

Happy 4th of July America!

2011-07-04T15:10:00.001-07:00

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

This flag hangs in the USS Nicholas Navy ship that I was blessed to tour last year. Here is what I learned about it from two retired sailors who commented on my blog about it last year:

"The ensign you see in the photo is the one that was flown by USS Nicholas DD 449 thru the Philippine Campaign and was presented by me to then Cmdr Amerault, at the commissioning of USS Nicholas FFG 47 and it was flown from the yardarm the day she was commissioned."

How amazing it was to chat, via email, with these men who were so strongly connected to their US military service, what an honor!

God Bless America!

Something for Sunday - My First Meme

2011-07-03T10:49:00.001-07:00

The instructions with this are to bold the ones you've done, leave the others in normal type. So here goes. I'm in a meme mood tonight, I guess.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii (yay, Carolyn)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (year pass baby!)
8. Climbed a mountain.

9. Held a praying mantis (and disentangled a Bic pen from the leg of one!)
10. Sang a solo (Blessed is the man who does not walk with the wicked . . . Thanks Terry!)
11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris (yay Anita and Katrin!)

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (in my heart)
16. Had food poisoning (I don't hot it against Taco Bell!)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (elevator!)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (thanks Anita!)
20. Slept on an overnight train (thanks Deborah)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (and lived to tell!)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb ( a goat and I'm counting it!)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse (just about a week ago with Celia and Sonia)

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (as if!)
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person (thanks Mom!)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (half of them!)
35. Seen an Amish community (thanks Mom and Sally and Maureen)
36. Taught yourself a new language (portuguese!)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person (thanks Anita)
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (thanks again Anita)
41 Sung karaoke (Devil Went Down to Georgia with Sean!!)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa (lived in Africa??)
45 Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (no, but I've been drawn)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (Anita yet again!)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (thanks Katrin!)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (there still is one in my hometown)
55. Been in a movie (only the home movie variety-- birthday parties, children being born, etc.)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class (only a self-protection class)
59. Visited Russia (Ukraine is this year though!)
60 Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (but I've bought plenty!)
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason (Oh Patrick!)
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (would love to do this too... but I'm waiting...)
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (Terezin)
67 Bounced a check (too many, sad)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone (thanks a lot Jim Lane for breaking my finger in elementary school)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person (with nephew Sean and Kim)
80. Published a book (no, just a photo book, not the same thing at all!)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (you could have read all about it on this blog but weirdos stalk me for it so the post is gone.)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (no but someone saved my life, right Anita and Aleta?!?)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee (and am fact, allergic)

Fun on Friday - A Visit to the Botanical Garden

2011-07-01T16:08:00.001-07:00

Well, who knew that off the main road, twenty minutes to the north of us, down several long, unmarked, dirt roads, there is a Botanical Garden? Certainly I didn't! But now I do! Natalie had the idea to go after church and bring some boys with us and see if we could find it. We loaded up Room 3, some juice and cookies and a ball and off we went!

This post might be a little photo crazy cuz they are just too darn cute!

This photo was our last of the day, with the setting sun - it's winter here and the sun sets early. The garden has a very nice young man who showed us around and played with the boys and took much better photos for us than most random people you hand your camera to here. When we left, he even hopped in the car to take us to show us a nearby restaurant, that we would never have found on our own on those dusty back roads. We will have to visit that amazing looking restaurant another day.

Enjoy these precious little pumpkins! Do you have a favorite??

We'll go back soon with Rooms 2 and 1 - they certainly won't let us forget!!

The "B" Party!

2011-06-28T10:48:00.001-07:00

My sweet friend Meghann is heading back to the US soon after a couple years here in Zimpeto. I find it so inspiring that she came here right out of nursing school. What boldness, what bravery!

To celebrate, we had a Good "B" Bye Party to see her off. She had heard about my old letter parties back in my immediate post-college days and thought it sounded fun. We both agreed an M for Meghann party didn't offer enough options and B was the optimal letter. A "B" Party was Born!

My great friend Sam (she's Meghann's great friend too!) and I set to planning. We made B shaped invitations that were personally delivered strung to a banana - that's where the fun began!

For a letter party, essentially, everything revolves around that letter. People dress in clothes beginning with the letter, bring food beginning with the letter, listen to B music and play B games.

A smattering of offerings: banana bread, bruschetta, bacon bites, bear bread bites, baked apples, bacon and brocolli quiche, bread and butter, balls of chocolate, bon bons, and more. And, because this is a bi-lingual party, Portuguese and English, we had all the Portuguese B words to bring: bolachas, bolo, beijinos, batatas and more! My personal favorite for creativity (and taste!) - the Bolo de Bocaria = Dump Cake! Bocaria is what the city dump here is called. Hilarious!

We played Bingo and Bean Bags in a Bucket and Bowling for Bottles. No one was interested in the Backgammon but it was on offer. We Beaded Bracelets for Meghann and we made a Book of cards for her as well. She was presented with a Bouquet of Blooms and Blossoms (although there were no blue ones to be found in the city!) and we had Bunting Banners of B words around the walls.

Sam poses with his strike, the first of the night . . .

And Papa Steve posing with HIS strike!!

Natalie won Bingo three times in a row!!!

The real creativity shone thru in people's outfits. Although it wasn't "required" to wear a costume (we thought, blue, brown, black, boots, belts, etc.) many people did!

Batman, Beany Baby, a Bag, a Bow, a Bankcard, Boxers and Bikinis and Brown robes, a Bearded lady, Beauty Queen and even a Bride. One of my favs was a British offering, Bill and Ben, whom I don't know but thought was so clever!

If you're looking for a fun theme party, I highly recommend a letter party!

Something for Sunday

2011-06-26T04:07:00.001-07:00

Just a lovely, simple reminder of what I need to remember every single day.

I love the little reminder of the butterfly as well. Some of my boys arrive here looking more like caterpillars - I want to see them transformed into beautiful butterflies! (Ok, the analogy works better with sweet girls than rough and tumble boys but it works for me all the same!)

Thanks Debbie for the lovely card!

PS: I love getting mail!

Fun on Friday!

2011-06-24T11:30:00.001-07:00

Look at the fun these boys are having learning to read and write!

The lovely Anna, whom I first met my first month here, back in 2003 when she and her dad first visited, was here this month for a visit and it was so great to have her here! After that first visit in 2003, when she was just 18, Anna returned to work here as a long-termer with the girls for several years. She went back to the US two years ago but came back this month, again with her dad, for a wonderful visit.

She spent so much time before she came preparing some reading materials for me to use with my boys. Have you ever heard of Mat Man? It's amazing and I will have to show in a future photo. She also created a Portuguese alphabet for me, with photos to go along with the letters.

When she was here with the girls, she created her own reading/writing program and I asked her to come help me see it in action with my boys.

All three above, Felizardo, Sam and Pedrito, learned to read and write Casa (you see on the chalkboard) and Bebe. So Fun! They loved it and were so proud of themselves!

(You might think they're a bit old to learn such simple words. This isn't a very written culture and they don't watch TV with adverts or see billboards or hardly any other items with words on them. And the school system? Well, let's say it's not exactly stimulating and it's not uncommon for our 5th graders to not know how to read or write. This is why I was so excited about Anna's ideas and materials!)

It's been a year since I've seen my Pedro

2011-06-17T02:13:00.001-07:00

Although Pedro died on September 20th, I left Mozambique on June 16 for studies and an extended visit with my mom in the US. He was with me for a few wonderful days and I took him home on June 15.

I can't believe it's been a year since I've seen that smile, hugged that body, heard that laugh, lost to him at Yahtzee, made him his favorite foods, asked him to fix my (phone, tv, radio - whatever needed fixing), talked and talked and prayed for his future every day. A million tender moments that are so missed.

Our last photo together

Oh, it still hurts, I miss him so much. What a precious gift he was for the time I had him. My darling Pedro.

The last photo I took of my boy.

I broke the record!

2011-06-15T13:37:00.001-07:00

Well, my record . . . for living the longest time in one place in my whole life!

I just today realized that I've lived in my home in the boys' dorm for nearly seven years (in August) and that is the longest I've ever lived in one home! I couldn't believe it, but it's true!

I've been here in Mozambique for 8 1/2 years but I moved into the dorm after I'd been here 1 1/2 years.By the way, that gorgeous photo above of my living room right after it was painted? It doesn't really look like that any more! The table and chairs were given back to their owner (they had been on long term loan), the plants died while I was on a trip to the US and lots of little boy things have taken over much of that space! But you get the gist of it!

Here's me in my back door!

And here's my kitchen, taken from my bedroom doorway.

I walk thru that gate in the fence, into our dorm and my home, countless times a day - I can hear that gate in my sleep!

Fun on Friday

2011-06-10T01:57:00.001-07:00

These precious doodle-bugs live in Room Three, my youngest room. I recently had a team bring me some things I ordered on line, including these aprons. My thought for ordering them is that it might create a distinction between being in my house for Afternoon Program as compared to being in my house for any other reason.

Well, whatever my reason, they love them! They remind them of the aprons the kids wear in pre-school but also of cooks - so we'll need to do some cooking soon!

Got Milk?

2011-06-07T11:02:00.001-07:00

Yes we do! We received a very generous donation from Nestle and have been given a ton of powdered milk. So my 29 boys and three Tias will be getting a cup of milk, three times a week for two months. That will be for the Afternoon Program in lieu of juice, Thursday night after church, and one other night per week. Nice bedtime snack!

Children's Day #3 - Presents!!!

2011-06-03T12:29:00.001-07:00

Oh sweet Elidio with no front teeth! You love everything you're ever given including this deck of cards!

What's in there??? What treasures await discovery?

Pretty hard to get a group shot after they get their pressies but we tried!

Paulito and Elido enjoying their new cups!

Jamito is so excited about his pressie, he didn't want to put it down!

Handsome boys Joao left, and Shelton, right just chillin for a bit!

Another Joao, left, enjoying his Spiderman towel that grew and Paulito, right, got down to business drawing in his new notebook!

Ryan is just excited about life! And his soccer ball! And Pedrito is determined to win the happy face maze game - the boys loved this little toy!

Neto, left, and Antonio enjoying their new cars.

Alito and Jose (and their runny noses!) have had a fantastic day!

And, not atypical, a big day comes with some big emotions! Pai is upset that someone took one of his candies, but he soon recovered and played the rest of the day away!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love how excited my boys are about the simplest things. They really love Children's Day and it's my privilege to be able to help make it special for them.

Thanks so much to all of you who are helping as well!

Who wants to be here for next June 1? Start making plans now!!!

Children's Day #2 - New Clothes!

2011-06-02T12:23:00.001-07:00

Room #3, the Littlies, didn't have time to put on their new shoes! In case you're wondering why they're only in socks! They look so cute in their new outfits. I feel a bit bad they got shorts and not long pants but I couldn't find eight matching pants in their size. They love them anyway!

Room #1, the Middlies, are so close in height, you can't see them all, we didn't have enough shorter ones to put in front. But they look dapper in their new outfits!

Room #2, the Biggies, are full of mischief and good fun in their new duds. Don't ask me where Antonio, on the right, learned the Charlie;s Angels move, it couldn't have been from me!

And here's the whole dorm, waiting for their pressies! Aren't they handsome?

Thanks so much for your love and support making things like this possible for these precious little boys who are so easy to please!

Next up: the pressies!!!

Children's Day #1: Preparations!

2011-06-01T14:25:00.001-07:00

Preparations for Children's Day begins months ahead of time but it cranks into high gear in the two days just before when we match up clothes, pack up gift bags, decorate the dorm and just make sure all the last minute details are in order.

This post, the first of several, shows just a bit of the preparations to bless these little guys. I haven't had my camera out nearly enough!

An example of the generosity of others, AND how far in advance preparations can begin: I met up with Liann, my friend from junior high during my last visit home. She was so touched by the boys that she assembled this big box of goodies for them, including 50 of these amazing cups filled with candy and bouncy balls, kazoos, inflatable balls, and little handheld maze games. Her workplace paid the shipping - TWICE - because the first time it was returned to the US for some reason. I'm glad they made it the second time - amazing! Here they are, ready to get packed into the gift bags.

The morning of, three of my old boys, who used to live here and now help in the dorm, spent their morning decorating.

The boys had made all these paper chains earlier this week. We also gave a bag to one of the school rooms - the teacher had heard about the paper chains and asked for some. That was a new twist I might try and prepare for next year.

Some visitors came to help the decorating get done before the big boys had to leave for school in the afternoon.

New outfits for Room 1 - the Spiderman undies may have been the most exciting part!

New clothes for room 2 - these boys were thrilled with the socks! It's cold here right now!

And Room 3 - I personally love the colorful undies! They love it all!

And because the post wouldn't be complete without a photo of a gorgeous boy, here's a sneak peek at what's to come in the posts ahead - darling boys, thrilled with their new clothes and delighted with their pressies! I love 'em!

Here's Shelton, kitted out with new shoes and beanie as well as all the other goodies.

Thank you to all those whose financial gifts allow me to bless these boys in such a fun way!

Happy Children's Day!

Something for Sunday

2011-05-29T09:55:00.001-07:00

"Accustom yourself to look first to the dreadful consequences of failure; then fix your eye on the glorious prize which is before you; and when your strength begins to fail, and your spirits are well nigh exhausted, let the animating view rekindle your resolution, and call forth in renewed vigour the fainting energies of your soul."
— William Wilberforce

Fun on Fridays

2011-05-27T15:51:00.001-07:00

All in a day's work!

Something for Sunday

2011-05-22T13:25:00.001-07:00

Felt like a stroll down memory lane today so here you go . . .

(limited by the photos I scanned into my computer for my mom's 70th birthday a few years ago)

My grand arrival - July 1967!

My mouth has rarely been shut since!

Does that little baby even look like me?

Pixie Cut! 1972 ish?

I was about 11 here, right mom, 1978?

Man, I loved those boots and that sweater! 1985?

Sophomore year in college, 1990.

The college graduate with 1992 big hair. I've never liked my hair as much before or since!

Hmm, my hair is decidedly flatter in this 2008 photo! Must have lost my curling iron that day!

Fun on Fridays

2011-05-20T01:31:00.001-07:00

THE

KISSING

BANDIT

Kruger Park 2011!

2011-05-18T09:28:00.001-07:00

An early morning start - gates open at 6am and we were first in line!

(That means we left our place at 4:30 am!!!)

One of our first sightings. Can someone please cut the grass?

Perhaps my favorite sighting of the day - this sweet giraffe was alongside us and came closer to get a good look. Then he decided to make a right turn onto the road and gallop away right in front of us! How do they look so awkward and yet so majestic at the same time? I loved the sound of it too! So stunning it made me tear up!

Where we ate our picnic lunch. This spot was amazing and had so much action. Six giraffe and so cool to see them bend down and drink! Zebra, impala and warthogs. Can you see the eagle in the tree? He flew over the lake and enjoyed his lunch too! So were the many, many crocodiles and hippos that were in the water. We could see about six or so crocs on land and saw many in the water and they were catching fish! Must have been at least ten different hippo we saw. A photo can't capture it all but it was amazing!

After lunch we came upon another a watering hole owned by this young man. Sadly, there was a dead impala just there to the left with a lone bird standing on it, staking it's claim. But without help from a true carnivore, the bird couldn't make much headway. We felt he was looking around saying, "can I get a little help here?"

We ended the day how we began it - with elephants! A whole herd but this little baby charged up the hill right toward us! We quickly put some distance between us knowing the mom would be right behind her and if we were in the way, it wouldn't be pretty. Sure enough . . .

Here's momma, come to protect her baby! See the baby's trunk copying the mom's? So adorable!

Gorgeous, stunning Africa!

Days Beautiful End!

Fun on Fridays

2011-05-14T11:34:00.001-07:00

Oh man - Ralph, you blinked right when I took the photo!

Our Clinic has been Nailed Shut!

2011-05-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

Today an awful thing happened. Five people came from the ministry of health and chained, padlocked and nailed our beautiful clinic shut. With no warning, no paperwork, and no instructions as to what to do next.

One month ago, we had an inspection where they verbally noted some things they wanted fixed but left nothing in writing, no official notification and no steps to follow. Three separate visits to the ministry of health from staff in our center resulted in still nothing in writing but a seeming consensus of what they wanted fixed. We responded in writing with our actions already taken and plans for remedying the rest, of which we have a stamped, received copy.

As they were nailing all the other doors shut from the inside, they simply said we had not responded to their demands.

We had to plead for them to allow us to get the ARVs (anti-retro virals, HIV drugs) and seizure meds out for our kids. Kids who are in the middle of any other course of treatment, including anti-biotics, were left without their meds. Mind you, we have over 260 kids! They did not appear concerned.

This has been so shocking and traumatic for our nursing staff, both foreign and Mozambican, as you can imagine. For our whole staff really. Please pray for God's will to be done, our directors to be wise and gracious and discerning and for God's favor to rest on us as we seek to work with the Ministry of Health to sort this out. And for the care for our children's health to not be compromised in this time of limbo.

By the way, at the same time they were nailing our clinic shut, a boy who appeared at our gate last night and spent the night until we could investigate where he came from, began having a seizure! With our clinic closed, we are unable to treat him. We are approximately an hour away from Central Hospital, with traffic, and can you imagine getting a child to the doctor every time they are sick when you have 260 to care for? Fragile, vulnerable, often under-nourished and immuno-compromised kids? Many who come to us specifically because they are medically unable to survive in their homes?

As a second aside, this morning, two short hours before the clinic was being nailed shut, we received a one month old little peanut from the hospital, who specifically wanted him to come to us because of the care we provide. He weighs 1.5 kilos! That is THREE.THREE POUNDS!! Without the support of a clinic. (Please keep little Inacio in your prayers too!)

I am reminded tonight of the Beattitudes as I try and process all that has happened today. It is not our place to seek vengeance yet we certainly want to defend the defenseless who are in our care. Please pray with us as we walk this new journey. Good thing we know Who goes before us!

(By the way, I use the term "we" loosely - I was not involved, I just mean we as in center staff.)

The Afternoon Program gets a facelift

2011-05-10T13:46:00.001-07:00

So, I've been doing the Afternoon Program (AP), which I describe as "supplemental education" for the boys, for over six years now. Sometimes I've been very on top of it, planning in advance and using lots of creativity (remember the burning bush or wedding posts?) and other times, at 1:00 I am thinking, "what will we do this week?" when the boys come in at 1:30!

(Rebekah joins us for the AP!)

While in my fog this last several months since returning in December, every single week was "what will we do this week?" a half hour before we were meant to start. Most often we did things like go for a drive, play dough or puzzles. I just didn't have the energy or drive to come up with much more.

Nor did I have a framework to structure the AP around. That was what I was really wanting, some way to organize it and have a plan for what I was trying to accomplish. Even when the AP was good, or great, I still most often felt like I was picking topics out of thin air. One week, "cast all your cares on Jesus for he cares for you" the next week, "let's take a stab at reading readiness." And so on.

I also have always gone back and forth as to whether I wanted the focus to be on Biblical education or educational education.

I've since had an idea that I feel is from God in really helping me get a handle on the AP and I have been SO excited about it.

We are going through the alphabet! Now, that may not sound very exciting initially but it opens up a whole world of possibilities. I have to cut things out instead of trying to come up with more things.

Every week we study a letter. We think together of words that start with that letter. Then we do a worksheet where the boys circle the small and capital letter of the week. And then copy writing it. Then the fun begins!

For example, for the letter C, we did the following (all these things have the Portuguese word that starts with C, not the English word): learned about creation (creacao), cut meat and cooked it for the snack (corto carne para cozinhar e comer), raced (corrido), sang (cantar), cut (cortar), used crayons (cors), made circles (circulos), cut and colored hearts (coracaoes). Now the good thing is, I wasn't writing out all these words because my Portuguese spelling is awful so don't quote me on any of those words!!

So every week has a structure but we do different things every week so the kids don't get bored. The only thing that has remained constant has been the thinking of words that start with that letter and the letter worksheet. And I am combining biblical and developmental education together.

The best part is, every day, the boys come and tell me new words they've thought of that start with a particular letter. And I overhear them talking about it together too.

If you want to see an excited little boy, visit us when the letter we are studying is the first letter of their name - they are tickled pink!

Studying creation a few years ago

Making muffins for our cooking class - obviously, I need to shake up my wardrobe a little more often - these photos were about a year apart!

A Prepared Environment

2011-05-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

Almost a month ago I shared about "coming out of the fog" and getting more ideas and energy for things in the dorm and ways to work with my boys.

One of the ways I'm doing that is by reading blogs by home-schoolers and Montessori sites as well. In one of these blogs, I came across the term "prepared environment." Which essentially is creating a purposeful place for learning and creativity to flourish.

So I created this space for the boys! I love it! It's not perfect but it is so much better than what I had been doing before. I wish I had a better "before" photo but this gives you an idea, if you can look beyond the cute boys to the line up of dressers and shelves behind them.

Two dressers and a shelf unit with an open storage "bag" on top. That's where all their toys were kept and they could never find a thing! Mind you, they were happy! They love playing with bits and bobs, these boys are not picky and don't know about Lego sets that build cars or sets of ninja turtles or whatever the latest is. You should see what they make with bottle caps and sticks and old bicycle rims!

But I wanted to create a more prepared environment for learning and developmental play. A visiting team is bringing me educational toys and games I have read about and will allow me to rotate what is on their bookshelf.

But now when the boys want to play cars, they select the basket of cars and have lots of options to play with instead of rooting through five different drawers and three shelves for the cars they want. I am enjoying watching them interact with the things much more than in the past when they just picked up one thing, played a bit and put it down and pulled out the next.

They have magnetic letters, legos, Mr. Potato Head (a favorite), Magnetix, figurines, animals, cars and then a miscellaneous box that has the previously favorite toys (toy cell phone, view finder, etc.) but those are rarely selected now. I also have a container with drawing materials that they can select and draw or color. Previously, during time for kids in to just play, I wouldn't normally have offered that option too often as I would have to collect all the things for it. This way, it's all together and they can choose it - and they do!

I think this is also going to help them learn to take care of things better. There's a place for everything, all the parts to Mr. Potato Head need to be put back in the box, etc. When they come in for free play, they get to select one toy at a time, when they want to play with something different, they have to put away what they were playing with first. This has been so helpful in them learning to take proper care of things.

Paulito chooses the magnetic letters and Vicente loves Potato Head!

The guitar is a fan favorite and I suspect always will be!

Fun on Fridays

2011-05-06T03:12:00.001-07:00

Recently, the new Mozambique National Stadium hosted it's inaugural opening futball game. The Mozambique Mambas were playing the Tanzanian Stars and the whole country was watching. And the whole dorm was watching - in my bedroom!

The reception wasn't working in the main room so I had them all come in to watch the second half. Many of the boys were asleep in their beds by then which made it a little easier for them to squeeze in.

The new stadium is only about a mile from our center and that will have it's plusses and minuses. One of the pluses? Hearing the crowd erupt as the Mambas scored their first goal! I mean really hearing it, live out the window, not just on TV!

Another plus? Running out of the dorm to watch the fireworks when the Mambas won!

He would have been 15

2011-05-05T02:17:00.001-07:00

Pedro would have turned 15 on Sunday. It was a hard day for me, in fact this whole week has been quite emotional. I've been teary, sad, happy, impatient, snappy, even yelled.

I keep thinking, what would we have done to celebrate this year? Where would we have gone and whom would he have wanted to invite? These photos are form last year when we went to a safari park, see the giraffe in the background??

I didn't go to church. May 1 is also our much-loved directors birthday and for the last three years, he has included Pedro in his celebration. They always get sung to together at church and the Lazars have invited us out to celebrate with them. I couldn't face being at church and everyone singing to Steve and Pedro not being there too.

I miss him so much.

I think about what things we would be talking about and new adventures we would have together. We were trying to learn all the countries in Africa when he died. What would we be learning now?

Would he finally be taller than me? I think he would have.

I miss my sweet boy.

Our last photo taken together, June 2010

Bloggie Break

2011-04-25T15:22:00.001-07:00

I know I periodically disappear and I really mean to not do that. But this time I have a good reason. Coming out of the fog has meant actually haven't to get to work on my master's courses, two this semester. Two big projects with their accompany 25 page papers, Book Reviews on about 2000 pages and two evaluations are all due in about a week. Because I procrastinated greatly, for a number of reasons, I am now doing nothing but schoolwork! But - I'll be back!

Fog

2011-04-03T07:55:00.001-07:00

Fog is funny. Sometimes it's so dense and thick that if you are driving in it, you either pull over and wait for it to lift or you drive cautiously along at about ten miles and hour with your hazard lights blinking, even on roads you travel every day, hoping other drivers will see you and you will see them. That is really dangerous fog.

Other times, you can look all around you and think, "wow, it's foggy over there." But as you keep driving, you never enter that thick fog, you just keep thinking the fog is elsewhere. But when you look back, you realize you just drove through what looks like a dense patch. But all the while, you could see where you were going, just not very far ahead. It was a little hazy and not crystal clear but you weren't socked in.

Are you still with me?

I feel like I have been in a fog since my sweet Pedro died.

At first it was like that dense, thick, pea-soup fog, my hazard lights flashing, moving ever so slowly, trying to find my way in what used to be such familiar territory - my life - but suddenly felt like The Twilight Zone. I didn't recognize a thing. My feelings, my thoughts, my hopes and dreams, my present and my future - all felt like foreign territory I had never walked thru before.

I just realized this week that at some point, it has begun changing into that looser type of fog. Things are starting to look familiar again, but if I look too far ahead, all I see is a thick wall. But I am beginning to find my way, one step at a time. I am getting back into some routines and habits that had fallen by the wayside. I am regaining some motivation for the necessary things of life.

For You light my lamp;
the Lord my God illumines my darkness.

Psalm 18:28

So I'm not looking too far ahead. I trust that God has his plans firmly in place for me but I am not trying to figure out what they are. But I am enjoying each day more and finding my footing again. I will fill you in via future blog posts about what some of that is looking like, especially in terms of my work with my darling boys.

Thanks so much to those of you who still pray or write or remember, as God puts on your heart. It is much appreciated!

Moving on Up!

2011-03-31T15:16:00.001-07:00

Four Doodle-Bugs moved up to the next dorm yesterday. They look ridiculously happy about it. I had to bribe them to make them smile, really they were crying just moments before!

Jerome Jose

Rafael Mito

Just kidding - they weren't crying. Stinkers. For weeks, I've been teasing them - "don't cry, come on stop crying" and they burst out laughing. They have known for over a month they were going to join their friends who moved up in January so they were very excited. They love the idea of growing up and the freedom to be able to play outside after dinner. These kids, all they think about is playing! :)

The classic over-the-shoulder goodbye shot. Their bags are almost as big as they are! Proof positive they should have stayed with me!

See! They were crying after all! Oh, that could be because I said, "Act like you're crying!!!"

We walked up to the next dorm, found their beds and put their things away and by the time I arrived back at my dorm, one of them was already back there! So, they aren't that excited to leave me after all.

It was lovely seeing them today, running up to me to tell me about their new home, big hugs and kisses and off they went to play with the "big boys."

Although I am light-hearted today, and looking at the bright side, it does hurt to "pass them on." It never feels natural. They are still so teeny tiny. But they are moving into good hands to care for them, Sonia and Sam and Tio Raul and Tio Joao.

And, as always, the loving hands of their Heavenly Father who never passes them on!

New York, New York!

2011-03-29T13:57:00.001-07:00

I was looking thru some photos from my time in the US and came across these from my day trip to New York City with my cousin Maureen.

We drove from my mom's house in NJ to meet up with a commuter bus right into Port Authority. Spent the day touring on the hop-on/hop-off bus tour, had a great time and got home by around 10pm.

Is this not classic New York city?? All those taxi cabs!

The amazing Empire State Building.

I've been fiddling around with editing, in case you couldn't tell!

At nighttime?

No, just fiddling to make a not-great photo a little better.

Any tips anyone?

I get so lazy about editing but it can make a good photo so much better and a poor photo pretty good. Fun!

I don't know why but I love this photo and this angle!

Me and Maureen, one of my favorite people in the whole world and must be one of the best travel buddies - she's so fun and so easy going! Where should we go next Maureen?

My mom used to take the State Island Ferry to work in Manhattan every day! A real live New York City girl!

There's not much I can say, during a post about a light-hearted tourist visit to New York city, about the tragedy these three photos represent.

I couldn't help but wonder over and over - what would Mozambicans think about this crazy city with it's masses of people, traffic huge buildings and billboards everywhere!

Nice to visit - but I wouldn't want to live there!

But I will be back again sometime soon I hope!

Who wants to go with me next time?

In the good old summertime . . .

2011-03-27T16:05:00.001-07:00

Mana Natalie, here with Shelton, deserves her own blog post so for now I will say that she is my lovely co-worker in the dorm and she has loved taking the boys to the pool on a regular basis this summer.

Mana Sam has joined her on occasion, here with Paulito Bebe'!

Mito, left, and Neto, right having fun in the sun!

Joao, all kitted out for the day

It looks like some of the other pool guests had fun entertaining the boys - who doesn't love these pumpkins?!?

Does anyone else remember being a kid and not minding laying right on the hot cement (or pavers here) after getting out of the pool?

Well, at least we can pick our boys out in a crowd!

Do you think Shelton needs any more flotation devices???

Two new little lovebugs!

2011-03-26T03:35:00.001-07:00

Meet Paulo, above, and Feliz, below! Our two newest pumpkins whom arrived in February (but I'm a bit late in posting). They came to us from another children's center, a government orphanage nearby.

Boys who come from this center are always a bit rascally at first but they have been adapting well and have made new friends here at the center.

They came with no known information about family or where they are from but we are hopeful they might remember some things that give us a place to start investigating.

Please pray with me that if they have family that we can find them and help them to make it home. In the meantime, that this home will be loving, nurturing and joyful for them, however long they are here.

Reunited - a miracle story!

2011-03-14T13:13:00.001-07:00

SO amazing that THIS photo:

Was transformed into THIS photo:

Little Crisilda, five years old, never came home from school on Tuesday, March 1st. Her father, Tomas' is one of our workers here at the center. His family were searching everywhere, going to the police, etc. but no one had seen her.

The most common way of looking for a child here is putting notices on the television or radio. The family has to pay for each announcement, more during peak hours. Which bugs me because these aren't commercials!

This Sunday, there was a children's program, during which they spotlight certain children. Tomas and his family were watching and they suddenly saw their daughter with a phone number to call if anyone knew her! They quickly called and made arrangements to meet - Tomas said "I didn't even take a shower or brush my teeth!" When Crisilda came out of the chapa, she saw her daddy and ran to his outstretched arms. There was "much emotion" he said, in what I'm sure was quite an understatement!

It seems that a very kind woman had seen Crisilda at a market/bus stop without shoes and without her school bag but in a uniform. She asked her questions and Crisilda knew her parents names and school name but couldn't say where she lived. The woman took her to the police and the three schools in the area, as well as the Chief of the neighborhood, but no one knew her.

Well, it turns out, she was about 4-5 miles away from home! And sadly, the police here don't really have a lot of inter-communication, so even though it was only that far away, they weren't in communication with one another.

Crisilda hasn't been able to explain what happened to her or how she got to that other neighborhood. Please continue to pray for her that the shock and fear and sadness of being lost from her family for 13 days will quickly fade. And that if anything happened to her before that lovely lady found her, that she won't be scarred or bruised by it.

Please pray for Shelton

2011-03-03T11:28:00.001-08:00

One of my little pumpkins, Shelton, has been ill, off and on, for quite some time but we haven't been able to get to the bottom of it. He's had noticeably swollen cheeks for awhile but his kidneys tests have all come back fine, as did an ultrasound of his belly. But now his belly has gotten quite swollen as well.

We (meaning our medical staff) are taking him to the hospital tomorrow where he will likely be admitted while they try and find out what is wrong.

Some of you readers might recall that my Naftal entered the hospital a year ago this week with a distended belly and he died less than a month later. This is a little too familiar. I am not being ruled by fear but am quite concerned for this precious boy.

We would so appreciate your prayers for him.

The Birthday Boy ~ Pedrito

2011-03-03T11:18:00.001-08:00

One of my precious pumpkins turns eight years old today. Where does the time go? This little turnip arrived in January of 2009, so he's been with us two years. When he was six!! No matter that I try and squash their heads down and command them not to grow, they do it anyway!

I love this little guy to pieces!

And I'm pretty fond of his friend, Rafael, too!

The boys get to wear the Spiderman pjs and sleep with Spiderman sheets on their special day. They also get to give out candy to all their friends. They think that's just terrific.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pedrito!

Deus te abencoe!

I wish it were a story I'd heard

2011-02-20T11:44:00.001-08:00

Today marks five months since Pedro died. I'm not exactly sure why I pay particular attention to the months because every day holds it's moments of sadness or tears or reflection - or even joyful memories. I suppose it's just natural to mark the passing of time.

Sometimes, when a memory strikes me especially and I stop in my tracks and can.not.believe.he.is.gone., I feel more like a character in a story than myself. It's part of the disbelief. I simply can't believe that he is really gone and I am really having these experiences. Surely this only happens in the books I read or the movies I watch. At the very least, only to other people who's loss I sympathize with but cannot imagine.

Tonight, of all things, I was using a pressure cooker for the first time, and had been told in no uncertain terms, that there must be at least 1 1/4" of space from the water to the rim. My pot looked awfully full so I grabbed the ruler that always sits in the shelf in order to measure the space.

As I looked at it, I read the message you can hopefully read in the photo above. "Mana Laura heart's God and Pedro" Except he ran out of room for the "o" so it really says, "Mana Laura heart's God and Pedr."

Oh, my dear sweet boy. How true. How very true.

A Grandmother's Care, A Grandmother's Suffering

2011-02-17T11:37:00.001-08:00

"In the past, uncared-for orphans were rare in Africa. Traditionally, children were an unquestioned blessing. Everyone had many fathers and mothers and families were always happy to bring another child into the home. When the AIDS catastrophe started, many Africans proudly said that the traditional African family would take care of the children left behind. It was a nice idea, but was it realistic to expect even the broadest-reaching family to embrace the numbers of children orphaned by AIDS? The communal family system has come under intense pressure. In urban areas, it is impossible to expand living space and costs like food and school fees to extra children. Richer relatives send money to poor cousins, but now there are tales that a few years ago would have been shocking. Impoverished families are turning away the children of their relatives. The extended family, Africa's great heritage, it's strongest mechanism for human survival, is under severe stress.

Grandmothers have brought up the first generation of AIDS orphans. Those who would expect to be cared for in old age have become the main carers again. Magnificently, they are bearing the brunt of the AIDS crisis, caring for those who should have cared for them. But what will happen in the future? As this generation of parents dies young, many families will have no grandmothers." From Richard Dowden's, "Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles."

(An important definition of "AIDS orphan" - it does not mean an orphan who has AIDS, it means a child who has become an orphan because one or both parents has died due to AIDS or an AIDS related illness.)

I would add to the author's comments that because of the pressure the AIDS crisis is putting on extended families, they are less able to care for children who are orphaned by other means as well. It is so sad to see extended families, already stretched beyond their limits, who cannot embrace the children of their relatives.

We have seen it ourselves, over and over again, an elderly grandmother is caring for three, five, eight grandchildren because her children have passed away. Some of our children have come to us because a loving grandmother cannot care for all the children in her care and the youngest or most vulnerable are accepted into our care.

Perhaps the most common family visitor I have here in my dorm is a grandmother. Many of them come at great cost to themselves, whether it's the small (to us!) price of a chapa to get to the center or the physical pain they endure to travel to visit their grandchild.

Shelton's grandmother visits every month at least but once didn't come for three months. When she came again, she told us she had broken her leg. Even after three months, you could see she was in pain. As I sat and visited with her, Shelton playing at her side, she showed me a photo of some of her children. They had that awful "x" mark on them that many people here use to indicate someone has died. I just cried with her at the loss in her life. I have started the process to find out where she lives so that sometimes I can take Shelton to visit her instead of her needing to come all the way to the center.

These precious women are heroes. What some of them endure or have endured in their lives is astounding to me. They carry on, doing the best they have, with the little they have. But - usually - with a lot of love.

Please pray for the families of Mozambique.

The children

The grandmothers

The mothers and fathers.

God in His wisdom designed families from the beginning of time.

Puzzling!

2011-02-10T11:49:00.001-08:00

I think it's been around a year since I last broke out the puzzles for my boys. Here's how I figured that: I've been back for two months, I was gone for six months, and it was likely several months before that since we'd used the puzzles! Voila'! About a year!

(oops, I chopped off the top of Edson's head!)!

Which means that some of the boys who live with me now have never done a puzzle, never even seen one! Some don't realize that you only use the colored side of the pieces. Nor do they know that the "straight" lines (these are kiddie puzzles) go on the outside.

(Chico, r, loves to make funny faces when having his photo taken!)

It is so fun to explain to them to look for the same color or the face of the piggie or Santa's beard and see them make the connection. It takes a few times helping but it suddenly clicks and most of them figure out the clues on their own. They are so proud and so am I!

If anyone has any other good ideas for stimulating creative thinking or good old-fashioned brain development, please feel free to share. Especially things that are inexpensive or use household items.

The door is always open!

2011-02-06T06:35:00.001-08:00

I love it when boys who used to live here come back for a visit! These two brothers, Narciso above and Alfiado below, came to church today with their mom and I was so happy to see them! You see, they were reintegrated while I was on my extended stay in the US so I wasn't here to say goodbye or anything.

But I was thrilled they had moved home with their mom. We only agreed to take them for a short while after their father died and the family relocated down to this area (as they weren't allowed to stay in the father's family home!). So I was glad it worked out that they were fairly quickly able to return to their mother, whom they love.

I had just this week written a list of those "big things" that I was wanting to get done, things that are outside of the norm and don't exactly fit on a to-do list. "Alfiado" was one of those items on the list, meaning visit Alfiado and Narciso! It requires one of the Reintegration tias who know where his house is to take me, etc., so although I'd been wanting to visit since I came back in December, it just was never seeming to get done.

I was so glad I could tell him - and show him - his name on my list so he knew I was thinking about him and wanting to visit. I still do!

I was happy to see them looking well-fed and well cared for, happy and easy-going. And that they remembered their trampoline skills! My heart feels lighter for having seen them.

This photo was taken over a year ago when the boys were new and their mom, on the left, their aunt and their cousin visited. Sadly, the aunt has since died and their mom is looking after their cousin as well. And yes, in case you are noticing, they are albinos, very common here in Mozambique!

The hardest day of every year . . .

2011-02-03T10:54:00.001-08:00

I hate this day every year. I know it's coming, far in advance. My head knows but my heart doesn't want to believe it.

This is the day when my oldest boys, Room Two, move up to the next dorm. Our dorms are determined by age so it's time for this oldest group to move up. Ridiculous when they are such teeny tiny pumpkins!

Most of them were excited, they love being able to play outside after dinner, which my boys aren't allowed to do - we keep them in after they've showered, eaten and then it's dark. So these boys feel so grown up that they get to play outside at night! I feel they are babies who should be locked inside until they are 18!!!

All packed up with their new traveling bags, and ready to go. This is when I start holding back the tears and plaster a smile on my face.

Hugs all around from their little brothers who follow in their footsteps someday. More sniffling and blinking. "Mana Laura, are you crying?" "Nope, nope, not me!"

Big hugs goodbye and off to the new dorm . . .

Isn't it fitting that the only photo I took in their new dorm is blurry? Perhaps it was because my vision was blurred with my tears?

I know they will be ok - they are not even a football field away. But it's hard to let them go - when they are eight! - when you've invested so many years into them.

The sweet news? Two of them were already back at my dorm playing before I even arrived! Precious pumpkins!

I didn't want to get out of bed this morning

2011-01-21T11:28:00.001-08:00

This morning, Friday the 21st, I woke up this morning and did not want to get out of bed. I laid there feeling blah, feeling down, feeling like something was wrong but not sure what. I even wondered "am I sick?" "Do I not feel well?" It wasn't that. I even thought, "it's the beginning of the weekend, I should feel good." But I didn't. But I got up anyway.

The feeling passed, mostly, and I had a very productive day. Still trying to arrange things (i.e.: find things!) after my six-month absence. Created a new schedule for the dorm now that school has started, sorted out a bag of donated clothes for the boys, reacquainted myself with what was in various cupboards and the shed, etc.

One of my boys, Mito, is sick and so he stayed home from school, so he spent the day on my couch. Poor little guy, but he is feeling better. In the afternoon, the boys went to the beach and I absolutely LOVE that time, when I am in my own home, alone, for a couple hours of peace and quiet (cuz even Mito was sleeping!). When you live with around 30+ small boys, it is never quiet! So I love with they go to the beach. I carried on with my organizing and then made curried lentils for dinner.

All in all, a very average day.

And then, around 6, I sat down. And suddenly realized, that on many weekends of the last couple years, at this time, I would be looking at the clock, wondering where on the road Pedro was and what time he would be getting here, trying not to worry, knowing the roads are full at that hour. And when he finally arrived, to shouts of "Mano Pedro!" from the boys, we would both give each other a huge hug, with huge grins, and I would breathe a sigh of relief that he made it here safely. And once again, I would feel my world was complete.

That's when I realized why I hadn't wanted to get out of bed this morning. What wasn't right. And I thought back and realized I have felt this way each weekend since I've returned. I finally put it together. Although I had several years of him living here with me, and I didn't only see him on the weekends, that was the majority of the time we've spent together over the last couple years. And I absolutely LOVED having him here with me.

And I will never have him here with me again. It has broken my heart all over again, as it does on most days.

On a normal weekend, after he would arrive, I would encourage him to eat with the boys, while I was finishing up cooking what would be his second dinner. He always had a first and second breakfast, lunch and dinner when he was here, once with the boys, once with me! Then after dinner, he would usually help the Tias set up a movie for the boys, and if the DVD or VCR was on the blink, he would fix it. He could fix anything. He was considering owning a shop one day, doing repairs - he would have been great at it.

Meanwhile, all his friends of his age, who no longer live in this dorm, would make their way over to see their beloved friend. He was so well-loved, by kids and adults alike.

This is just one photo with a couple dear friends who came to play with him - I could fill up this post just with photos of him with his friends who would come to hang out with him!

Then he'd come in and we'd play a game - yahtzee or backgammon or hand and foot or Sequence or rummikub - and he'd say "I'm going to win!" and I'd say, "If you win, you will not eat breakfast tomorrow!" and he'd say, "ahh, no, Mama, I will win and you will give me breakfast!" And then if something good happened in a game, especially if he got a yahtzee, he would say "I told you, I am going to win!" And he often would win! And I never held anything back (except the wild cards in Sequence, I like to try and win without them).

After we'd played for a bit, we would make popcorn - the real kind, in a pot, on the stove - and chat and catch up. Then we'd play some more games and munch our popcorn and he'd ask for more salt and then lick the salt from the bottom of the bowl! I like salt but yuck!

Finally, we'd invite a few of my oldest boys to have a sleepover at the same time and he would fall asleep and I would just look at him and wish he were always with me.

Saturdays were always fun, pancakes or eggs and bacon for his second breakfast. He learned how to make them all and he was always proudest if he could fry the egg without the yoke breaking!

We would sometimes stay home and play games or he'd have his friends over and play in the garden on the trampoline or the bike or the pogo stick. Or we'd go out somewhere, to the city or out to dinner or lunch, or the beach or the safari park. And Saturday night would be a repeat of Friday night.

Sunday was always a bit sad because it's the day I would drive him home. Sometimes I would invite friends of his along but often, I selfishly just wanted it to be him and me, talking about anything and everything. We would usually listen to Elton John and his favorite was Saturday's All Right for Fighting and he would bang his head and try and sing the words along with me and Elton. He always yelled for me to turn it up! I gladly obliged as I love loud music in the car. (although funny enough, not in the house - as a proper mom to a teenager, in the house, I was always saying, "please turn that down honey - I'm old!"). But in the car, I turn it up and we'd both sing at the top of our lungs. I haven't listened to Elton John since.

Then we'd arrive at his house and I would pray for him and he would pray for me. And I would drive the hour home, feeling a bit sad and lonely and yet knowing, another weekend was just around the corner. And that the next day, I would call him and he would say "Hello Mama . . ." and tell me about his day.

I miss this darling, goofy, funny, happy, joyful, smart, kind, considerate, helpful, inquisitive, caring, loving boy of mine.

Yesterday was four months since he died and I still can't believe he's been gone from my life for that long. And I find it incredibly difficult to absorb that he is gone from my life for good. My life here on this earth anyway.

So I realized why I hadn't wanted to get out of bed this morning. And I had a break-down type of cry as my mind wandered thru the memories of weekends spent as I've just described.

And I thanked God for the gift in my life that is Pedro.

Missing some boys who used to live here

2011-01-14T13:49:00.001-08:00

That's Albano on the left and Joao on the right. Both of those boys were reintegrated with their families. Albano's family had thought he was dead and Joao's mom had no idea where or how he was. So it was a great joy to see them reunited. But I still miss them when I see their photo or think of them. Many, many others have left as well, I just came across the photos of these two and thought I'd write about them. Hey, I just noticed that even the boy in the background of the right side photo, Fernando, was reintegrated as well. I pray these boys are doing well and thriving within their families. I'm grateful for the time I had with them, the ability to pour into their lives as long as they were here with us.

Sometimes boys are mean . . .

2011-01-10T12:14:00.001-08:00

Then, hopefully, they feel badly afterward.

Day before yesterday, two of my boys were playing on the playground equipment and one wanted the other to do this, that or the other thing. When he didn't respond quickly enough, the boy took Antonio's hand and arm in each hand and twisted, hard, in opposite directions.

Poor Antonio, his arm began to swell and he couldn't use it so we bundled him off to Central Hospital for x-rays and he came back with a cast!

The plus side? He is twins with Mana Sharon, who broke her wrist on a fall on a wet and slippery night! We think they should hang out together and between them, have a complete set of functioning arms!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T13:03:00.001-08:00

(Our Zimpeto New Year's Eve party!)

I want to wish each of my readers a wonderful new year, full of God's presence, peace, joy and love. May you be encouraged this year in knowing God created you with a plan and purpose in mind and may this year be filled with great adventures of faith as you follow Him!

Thank you to all of you who have prayed, visited, written, given, encouraged or in any way invested in my ministry here with my boys in 2010. I am blessed by you! My boys' lives are changed by you - thank you!

Much love, Laura

PS: Hey, I have a great New Year's Resolution for all of you - to come visit me in Mozambique!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-31T04:23:00.001-08:00

What a fun day we had here in Zimpeto, Mozambique! Everything went so smoothly and I am really grateful for that as I was still trying to get my head around it, ten days after returning from the US!

35 outfits, 35 presents, 35 drinks, one big bicycle, one tricycle, three soccer balls, three dvds, a tonka truck and a reindeer headband = a successful, joyful Christmas! It's hard to tell whether the presents or the massive chicken dinner that follows is the most popular part of the day! You can look at the photos and try and decide!

The world over, kids love video games!

Neto is all smiles in a sea of boys and their presents!

Jerome and the rest of the boys love the chips and sweets!

Shelton is enjoying one of the dolphin toys I found at a thrift store in the US for .25 cents each! Score!

Room Three Pumpkins, the youngest bunch! They LOVE that there are skateboards on their new clothes!

No one would blame you if you started humming, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" when you see this! Click on it to see a larger photo with Pai, in black in the center, missing his teeth.

Silly boys, tricks are for kids!

That's a lot of chicken!!!

(Obviously, that's for the whole center, not just my boys!)

Sam is doing his best to eat all of his!

I hope you all have enjoyed a Christmas as lovely as mine has been (although much cooler I hope!), giving away love and blessings to those who appreciate it so much!

A special Thank You to Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, California for helping sponsor our Christmas celebration this year! We appreciate all of you who give sacrificially to help provide for these precious boys. May God bless you richly in return!

Home in Zimpeto

2010-12-16T13:09:00.001-08:00

"Ma-na Lau-ra! Ma-na Lau-ra!" The shouts may have been heard as far away as the city! I arrived in the center Monday afternoon as a passenger in Mana Tracey's car. Several of my boys who were playing near the driveway paused their play to see who was coming up the drive. When they saw me, they began shouting my name and then ran behind the car all the way to the middle of the center, their little feet pounding like elephant's hooves the whole way. Wow, such a wonderful welcome. I could barely squeeze out of the car to begin all the hugs and kisses and listen to all the goings-on since I was last there. "Mana Laura, our new "baby" (he's 3 1/2)!" "Mana Laura, I passed my class!" "Mana Laura, I'll be starting Grade Two!" "Mana Laura, our new boy, Edson, he stole two little cars from your house!" "Mana Laura, I've missed you!"

They are so love-ly and to love-ing and I am richly blessed to be here serving them!

I am adjusting slowly and would describe my emotional state as somewhat fragile, a bit of an unknown for me. But there are a lot of little reasons that keep me pressing ahead. And I try to cling to the promise, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

He won't be there to meet me when I return . . .

2010-12-08T00:19:00.001-08:00

"God is always working to make His children aware of a dream that remains alive beneath the rubble of every shattered dream, a new dream that when realized will release a new song, sung with tears, till God wipes them away and we sing with nothing but joy in our hearts." Larry Crabb

I'm still singing songs sung with tears but am comforted in knowing that there is a new dream God has planted "beneath the rubble of my shattered dream." I'm not sure what that dream is yet, and sometimes I am not interested to be honest, but mostly my faith knows that God is going before me and he has my hand and is leading the way.

Meanwhile, tomorrow I fly back to Mozambique, although it will take me a few days to get there. I would appreciate your prayers as I am feeling rather anxious about the transition back, primarily because it will require facing the reality that my little-y son Pedro won't be there to meet me when I arrive. I miss him.

One month later . . .

2010-10-23T16:19:00.001-07:00

(My precious Pedro in 2004, his heart already full of love for Jesus and for people and for me.)

I have avoided sitting down to write this post for over a month now. Every time I think to write, I can't figure out how to begin, let alone what to put in the title line. I am connected to so many people via Facebook that it has been easier to be on the receiving end of messages this month rather than writing them. But it's time to write this horrible blog post.

On September 20th, my darling boy Pedro died in a drowning accident. He was 14 years old. He was playing with some friends in a pond near his home. He had swam there the day before without incident. I have for the moment accepted the fact that I won't ever know exactly what happened to him. Some believe he may have been bit by a snake. Others point out the more likely reason, that there is an underground stream in that pond, creating a current which in turn creates a whirlpool in the deeper end. It took three agonizing days for his precious body to surface. But they don't do autopsies in Mozambique so we won't ever know if there were snake bite marks or anything else that would give us a clue. What I know is that he drowned, he is dead and my heart is broken and my life feels in shambles.

I was in the United States when it happened, in California, having taken my mom there to visit family and friends. My passport was in New Jersey so it took quite a while for me to be able to fly home to Mozambique. I arrived Friday night at 9 and his funeral was Saturday morning at 9. I am very grateful I made it home in time for that. I needed to grieve with people who were grieving him alongside me. But I feel like I buried my heart with that coffin.

I was in Mozambique for 12 days and then returned to my mom's in New Jersey. I will return to Mozambique as planned around the first week of December.

Some of you may have been reading my blog for a long time, others not, and may remember that Pedro is the boy I wanted to adopt. When we began that process, we found his family so I was unable to. But he is the son of my heart and he calls me mom (in May, I bought him a phone for his birthday and he put his phone number in my cell phone under "My Son Pedro") and if anything, our bond has grown stronger since we found his family. He is the love of my life and was my future. I don't know what I'm going to do without him.

If you'd like to learn more about this precious boy who was always full of life, joy, spark, love and kindness and see some photos of him, you can go to the top left corner of this blog and do a search for "pedro." That will bring up the blogs that mention him. I will also be posting more photos of him shortly, especially as I find older ones that aren't on this computer.

(One of my favorite recent photos of Pedro, taken in April. We had a big joke about his gold "bling!" What a handsome young man.)

Speaking of photos, if any readers are previous visitors to Iris Zimpetpo, I would love if you'd look through your photos and if you have any photos of Pedro, would really appreciate it if you'd share them with me.

I appreciate your prayers during this long journey ahead.

(The last photo I took of my my Pedro, full of life and joy!)

(The last photo taken of my darling boy, in September, by friends who saw him while I was in the US. He looks a little timid.)

And beautiful

My Broken Heart

2010-09-21T09:03:00.001-07:00

My darling son Pedro died this morning, September 20, 2010.

He was 14 years old.

Sometime, I will be able to write him a more fitting memorial to try and convey who he was - the love of my life.

For now, an earlier post will have to do.

Tchau my littl-y son.

You are so precious to me.

___________________________________________________________

A Visit With Pedro

Oh, how I love having my little boy visit for the weekend. Oh, how deflated I feel on the drive home after I've dropped him off at his house. Oh, how empty my house feels.

So many things I want to teach him, I'm just brimming with ideas! A country a day. Devotionals for teens. Multiplication tables. How to bake a cake from scratch (and not out of a box as we did this weekend). English sayings like "hold your horses" and "don't let the cat out of the bag" (wait, do I know where that one came from??). Cribbage. How to talk to God about anything, at any time. How to forgive. How to apologize - and really mean it. How to spell in English. How to make chili. How to eat with chopsticks.

The list could go on and on - oh, it did. But you get my point. It's tricky to pack all that learning and living into a weekend and not make it feel like cramming for the SATs. My desire to bless him and teach him and raise him - all condensed into the occasional weekend, leaves me feeling agitated sometimes, like I haven't done enough. But I don't want him to feel like he's a student - he's my son. I so wish all that teaching and learning could just flow naturally out of every day life.

But, I am oh-so-grateful for every moment I do have with him. So we just enjoy our time together although we both feel it isn't really enough.

Here's the highlights of this visit: (with his little friend Fauso in blue)

-Making a cake (from a box though)

-Making blueberry muffins (NOT from a box, from a packet!)

-Practicing with chopsticks at the Chinese restaurant

-Multiplication practice during Yahtzee

-What does Easter mean to me personally discussion

-A short note added to my mom with some English spelling practice.

I love this little boy, well, young man, so much my heart sometimes wants to burst! It almost did when I left him at home, pictured below with the little neighborhood children, on Sunday evening. My world isn't quite the same when he isn't tangibly in it.

Riots in Mozambique - please pray!

2010-09-01T16:49:00.001-07:00

Hello from New Jersey in the United States! Although I am far from my home in Mozambique, my heart is still there, especially at a time like this. Since I'm not there to tell my firsthand account, I've stolen this post from my friend Meghann's blog:

I'd love to ask for your prayers. Maputo, Mozambique has experienced riots today. Something quite similar happened in 2008. But this morning we awoke to mobs on the streets looting shops and burning tires.They overturned a bus in front of our center and burned it. These riots are in response to the increase in food, fuel, water, and electricity costs.

Here is the information we received from the directors of our base...
Today is September 1 and we are in the midst of riots in Maputo. In July this year the price of passports rose 600%, visitor visas 500% and our annual permanent resident documents went from $80 to $700 each.
Today September 1 the price of a bus ride doubled, bread rose by 30% and the price of a 50kg bag of rice is more than half a months salary for an average Mozambican (if he is one of the 18% of people that has a job).
So today the people rioted -upturned buses and burned them right outside our base, looted shops, burnt tires, petrol stations and threw rocks and bricks. The city was closed down as were schools and the airport and the official figure is 6 dead. The police and army are controlling the rioters and streets with tear gas. It is now 4pm and it is quiet. We will wait and see what happens tonight and again in the morning. We are all safe and sound in our compound here -except for runny eyes from tear gas. No workers here today but the missionaries, educators and children prayed and played together.
This is Mozambique -still the 6th poorest country in the world and living in such difficult circumstances. Please pray with us for a miraculous breakthrough.

(The gate of our center is barely visible along the right side of this photo.)

Great Opportunities . . .

2010-06-12T12:39:00.001-07:00

I'm writing today to share some exciting things that God is leading me in these next few months. No, I'm not moving back to the US but I will be visiting for an extended time, about five months actually!

Loved Ones
My primary reason is to spend some extended time with my mom while her health is pretty good and she's feeling fairly strong. Since her diagnosis with cancer in 2004, I have often felt that I wanted some more time with her and yet haven't felt ready to leave Mozambique permanently. So I spoke with my directors about taking an extended leave so that I could spend several months with my mom, helping her travel to California to see her home and family, helping her visit other family on the east coast, helping with projects around her house, etc. I'd also like to give Larry, her partner, a bit of a "break" so that he can rest or tend to other things while I take her to doctor's appointments, etc. The majority of her time dealing with cancer, she has been quite well but two years ago began a 15 month "down" time. Her recovery from that is what has prompted me to want to spend a few dedicated months with her now while she's feeling well enough to do some things she hadn't been able to do recently.
Although I feel a strong responsibility to the well-being of my boys, I also want to honor my mother and bless her during this time in her life. Again, since I don't feel it's time to move back to the US yet, I feel very peaceful about this compromise! (and as much as I'm looking forward to some time with her in the US, I am also excited to know that my time here with my boys isn't over yet!).

Dreams
In the meantime, recently, my longstanding desire to go to graduate school was reawakened. I applied to and was accepted at Azusa Pacific University in southern California for their Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership. The specific program I will be attending is called Global Leadership and was created 30 years ago with missionaries in mind. The courses are a combination of online (not my favorite, I'll admit) and "intensives" where you travel to a location to participate in a week's class with professor and students and then continue the studies independently. In addition to being flexible, the fees are drastically lower for missionaries living out of country. They are about 1/3 of the price you would normally pay!
I am very excited about the courses I am taking as they are applicable both to my work here in Mozambique as well as a possible future in returning to Student Development someday. Courses like Servant Leadership, Mentoring and Developing Leaders for the Future, Leading Across Cultures, etc., get me excited about the opportunity to be trained to be more effective working here in Mozambique with my national and missionary staff!
So I will travel thru London on my way home to the US and will begin the work for my first four courses (Mentoring, Servant Leadership, Vocation and Organizational Behavior) while there.

Financial Matters
I don't intend for the money for my studies to come out of my regular support that is dedicated to my boys and ministry here in Mozambique. I have some of it covered and am trusting to God to provide for the remainder, as any student does!

Timing
The courses begin in London on June 21. I will then head directly to my mom's in New Jersey in July. I will be with her until late October when I will go to the West Coast for my "normal" visit which entails visiting churches, friends and supporters. Oh, and family! I will return to Mozambique - and my precious boys who will be dearly missed - after Thanksgiving!

Prayer Requests:

For my boys to have stability and security during this time I am away. Rebecca, who has been working with them for almost a year will be here until August when she returns to the US. A woman named Natalie will be coming in July (so a month overlap with Rebecca) to live in my home and work with the boys. Please pray for her as well as it can be very overwhelming!

For Pedro who doesn't know what he'll do without me for six months and is nervous about family conflict during that time. And I don't know what I'll do without him!

For Lucas who is very attached to me (and me to him) who doesn't tend to do very well when I am away. His health is poor right now already and I am nervous about being away from him that long.

For the Tias, to work "as unto the Lord and not to man" so they will do their job well, with love and care, no matter who is here supervising.

For financial provision for me, schooling, and the dorm.

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It's a big thing to be leaving for almost six months. I will miss these little guys something fierce. Some boys will move home while I am away, others will move dorms, new boys will come . . . there is always transition. I'm sad to think what I will miss out on.

If you ask me if I'm excited to go, right now the answer is "no" - it is too hard to leave. And yet, I have His peace and I am grateful for that!

Getting ready for Children's Day

2010-05-23T11:06:00.001-07:00

"Mana Laura!" he whispered on the way to church this morning. "Yes, honey?" I replied to my little newly seven year old sweet pea. "Is it Um de Junho yet???" he whispered again. "No, honey, another week." "Okay!" he practically shouted and skipped off to church!

Um de Junho is the First of June and it is Children's Day! We celebrate it here much like Christmas day, a new outfit in the morning, a gift bag full of pressies and a big chicken meal for lunch. The kids love it and start asking about it at least a month ahead of time.

The photo above I took today while I was arranging the new outfits for Room two, the biggest boys. The other two rooms will have the exact matching outfit (which are in the bags on the floor) but for Room Two, I had accumulated several mis-matched new shirts that I want to use. So their shirts won't match but their cord trousers will.

At the time I stopped to take this photo, I also paused to thank God for his amazing provision for me and for my boys. His heart is SO big and he has shared that heart with the amazing people who help make it possible for my boys to be so blessed. Thank you!

Stay tuned for a report on the actual day when you'll see little people wearing those cute clothes!

Newbies!

2010-05-18T14:19:00.001-07:00

Four precious little pumpkins have joined us this week - whew! Wait just a second while I go try and take a nap to regain my strength . . .

Ok, I'm back!

The poor little things look a little shell-shocked don't they? They came from another children's center that is over crowded and they are all said to be six although they don't look it and none of them have been to school. We have no official documents so it's hard to say for sure.

After an initial honeymoon period of, oh, about 28 minutes, we've discovered that these four might be a handful! I don't think the other center has quite as much structure as we do. Perhaps at that center, they allow the boys to throw their new sandals down the latrine??? But we don't so we'll have to work on that! Or perhaps at that other center, they are allowed to ask for a toy and when they don't get it, cross their arms across their chest, declare "I am mad at you" and turn their whole little 2 1/2 feet of themselves around so their back is to you in a huff?

But they are sweet and love hugs and kisses like the rest of my boys. And we will endeavor to find out as much as we possibly can about them and perhaps even one day be able to find family to reunite them with.

In the meantime, we will love them like our own and thank God for the joy of serving "the least of these."

A Day at the Movies - I mean, A Day IN the Movies!

2010-05-16T11:18:00.001-07:00

It all started with some simple photos! Well, about 80 simple photos, of our kids ages 7-14, by my new buddy Dino, above. That's Dionisio he's taking a photo of, who, incidentally was one of the first chosen. Can you blame them, with that smile?

But I'm a bit ahead of myself. There is a film being shot here in Maputo, our capital city, and they need a ton of kids to be in it because it's called "Children's Republic." That's the working title anyway. And besides eighty or so of our little darlings, guess who else is going to be in it??? DANNY GLOVER

Yes, I said, DANNY GLOVER - this man right here:

That's Danny Glover folks, kicking it on the streets of Maputo watching our kids do their scene:

Over and over and over. Watching them do their scene over and over and over I mean. Have you ever heard an actor say acting isn't exciting, it can be quite boring and lots of sitting around? Well, believe them when they say it!

I found the whole process completely fascinating and quite boring, both at the same time. It is amazing how many times they will shoot the same ten seconds of scene. It was a lot of fun though and basically our kids got to play all day. Oh, and eat a yummy lunch.

Here's some of our stars in the making:

Pedrito and Moises thought they were supposed to FIGHT over the tricycle for their part in the movie, that took a lot of sorting out. In fact, I still don't think they're clear on it. But they are cute, huh?

Silly boys, trying to be entertained during long breaks!

Rui the traffic cop! He had a big role directing all those bicycles and fish sellers walk around!

Hey, how'd that white lady get in there? I just wanted a shot with the real action going on behind me! They were filming right that minute!

The yummy lunch we had with chicken, chips, rice and salad, yum! And the man eating lunch with us . . .

That's right folks, Danny Glover, just in case you forgot! So, keep your eye out for The Children's Republic!

Have I told you about Ralph?

2010-05-14T15:26:00.001-07:00

Well, if you're thinking Ralph is a strange name for a Mozambican boy, you'd be right. But he's not a boy, he's a tortoise!!!

And I am inordinately fond of him. It's ridiculous really, how fond I am of Ralph.

When I walk in his garden, my delighted shout of "Ralphie!!!" can be heard across the center.

Ralph lives in the house "across the street" which is really just across the sand. Many residents of that house have came and went but Ralph remains constant. In fact, for a time, during the missionary business meeting, we referred to it as "Ralph's House" since no one could keep track of who was living there when.

But occasionally I am blessed to be able to housesit there and that's when me and Ralph get to hang out. I absolutely love it when he comes toddling in the door and up the middle of the living room floor.

Now I know that after the following confession, you will have proof that I am nuts! But I'll tell you anyway. One time, I brought Ralph up onto my lap to try and snuggle!!! Have you ever tried to snuggle with a 25 pound tortoise? Whose arms and legs are just flailing away but gripping nothing but air? Oh, let me tell you, it's hilarious! As is my ridiculousness!

So even though I didn't get a good snuggle, I got a good laugh and a great memory!

Ralphie!!!