My Baby

Everyone has people in life with whom they connect in a special way.

For me, one of those people is Anthony Abraham Catagña Quilumba.

He is my baby, and he knows it. We have been stuck together like we are in this picture since day one of my life here last year, and this year it is no different.

Many tears were shed when we reunited, and many will be shed when I leave on Friday.

PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!!!! I hate saying goodbye to this precious little man. 

Brasil vs. Spain

Tonight I am with the older girls (Leonela, Catalina, and Cinthya) and their parents and siblings (Maritza, Carlos, Esteban and Priscila) and we are watching the Brasil x Spain game.

They are SO INTO IT.

They are loud. 

They are happy.

They cross their fingers every time Brasil has a corner kick.

They squeal and jump every time Oscar gets hurt.

They laugh at Hulk's large bottom.

They try and copy the Brazilian crowd's chants of "BRASIL, BRASIL, BRASIL"!

They think David Luiz's hair is awesome and they flipped out at the awesome save he just made.

The only Spanish player they know is Piquet because he is Shakira's boyfriend/baby daddy.

They just had to take a break to start dinner and their eyes are literally glued to the TV while they mix dough with their hands.

This has been one of my favorite nights ever here. They LOVE BRAZILIAN SOCCER! Here is a video that sums up their reaction to the first goal (which was, might I add, in the second minute of the first half).

P.S.- I just missed Neymar and Oscar's goal while writing this post, and they all flipped out. Leonela is making dinner and turned to me with her eyes opened wide and yelled "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Mark 12:29-31

 I have been thinking a lot lately about my impact here at this orphanage. I am in love with my kids here. I am in love with this country. I am in love with teaching and the joys that children bring to my life. 

However, just as in any mission field.....

There is so much work to be done here. There is so much pain, conflict, doubt, insecurity, and sorrow. There are plenty of tears and sometimes some anger. It is hard to know exactly where to start sometimes. No matter what I have been taught in Bible class, Sunday school, or growing up, there are things that I just do not understand, nor do I think I ever will. I am scared, I want to help but don't know exactly how, I get frustrated and impatient. I hate feeling this way and have been asking God lately to just show me His plans. I want Him to show me how things will play out, what kinds of futures my kids will hold, and exactly what part I will play in those futures. 

Instead of giving me a play-by-play of the future, God decided to give me something better. He showed me the very simple, yet VERY important plan He has for me. It is a prayer I now whisper anytime I have these feelings of doubt, and one I believe God has been whispering over me since I was born. 

 "The most important [commandment] is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." 

   Mark 12:29-31

 I don't have to know everything right now. I don't have to understand all of my thoughts and feelings. I don't have to try to figure out what the future holds. God gives all of us a simple task: Love God first, love others second. 

 I can do that.

I can love God and others. I can hug my babies, correct tests and homework, and wipe away tears. I can make cookies with the older girls, let the young boys play with my iPad all day long, and spend hours chatting away with my Ecuadorean moms.

 I can do the little things to show God's love through me to these kids and pray that they keep that love in their hearts forever. 

SORRY FOR THE LONG RANT.

And now... pictures. Because that is always my favorite part of any blog post.

This little stud is Juan Pillajo. His nickname is "Chichico", which is a type of small monkey. He is small and completely hyper, so the nickname fits. 

This little devil is Joan. He is not a fan of schoolwork AT ALL and can make a teacher's life not so fun, but he is so sweet. If you ever say "I love you, Joan", he will yell back as loud as he can in his cute little hispanic accent, "I love you MORE!!"

This is Ariel. He was on time out a couple of days ago while everyone else got a 10 minute recess break. He wasn't too happy.

We had a group of dentists come visit us and they cleaned the teeth of all of the families and children at the Hacienda. All week long I stayed with my boy, Sebastian (above, with a swollen face), as he made 3 trips to the dentist. He had 3 teeth pulled and about 6 cavities, so that meant many shots of anesthesia in his gums. He was not happy at all and cried and squeezed my hand as hard as he could. I almost cried along with him but was SO PROUD of him when he was done. He got cookies, a new toy, and some cool glasses as a reward for being so stinkin' brave. I love him. 

My baby with a cute little bird he found somewhere. I have no idea where he found it or why he picked it up, but he was so excited to show me.

This is Matias. He lives at the orphanage and I can't even tell you how much I love this stubborn little boy. And he's cute too.

Erick playing with his "hueso" after lunch one day... Sometimes at school we are served a piece of meat called "hueso" (bone), which literally means a big bone with a little bit of meat around it. It's awesome.

One night Ashley and I decided to put on weird masks and scare the kids in each house at the orphanage. We weren't very successful but I'm still creeped out by her mask.

Sean and I got to take the girls and two boys to Quito on Saturday to see the new Superman movie. I got to meet up with my friend from ACU, Julia, who lives in Quito!

Me and my baby girl, Dayana, being goofy after devo one night.

Some of my cute 4th graders!!

Me and Andres Estrella (Dad, Garrett, remember him?). He is the cutest little thing ever, and his head is literally probably twice the size of mine.

Me and Maxi!!!!!!

I fell asleep with Daniel, my Ecuadorean little brother, after devo last night. One of the other interns, the amazing Jill, snapped a picture, and I am so glad she did :)

Matias, Maxi and I outside today. Their smiles make me smile :)

And finally.... Anderson. Buddy. After we Skyped and you got to meet your Ecuadorean little brothers, they DO NOT STOP TALKING ABOUT YOU. They all want to Skype you again soon and they want you to come visit so you can play with them. They literally think you are awesome. I am so happy you met them and I know you will meet them in person one day, I just know it. I LOVE YOU!

First days

These first couple of days have been wonderful :) I have laughed and hugged and kissed more little faces than I have all year... and I feel right at home. Here are some pictures to sum up my life right now. You should be jealous.

A sweet note from a cute student, misspelled name and all.

A drawing of me from my husband (a 9th grader named Carlos Buitron).

Maxi and Anthony excited about their little presents I brought :)

Miss Elena with her basketball boyfriend, Michael Jackson. Garrett, she was so excited to find him in your stack of cards :) You made her and her son's day!

Juver (Miss Elena's son) being silly with his new baseball cards! I can't tell you how excited they were to get these, G-man. THANK YOU!!

This is Adan. He is constantly hungry, silly, LOUD, and cute.

This is a blurry picture of Jorge, but maybe the only one I get of him on this entire trip!

An amazing rainbow in my backyard!

  

Being goofy with our Jhon!

Jill, Ashley, and I with Miss Elena. She is an amazing, strong woman.

 This is the stud, AKA Cristian.

And now, here is a long sequence of PhotoBooth shots with my boys. 

Last details:

1- I realize all of these pictures were with the boys... I didn't take any pictures of the girls today! I don't really know why... so they will have to be top priorities for my next post :)

2- The other interns that are here now (Jill, Courtney, Stephanie, Rebecca, Ashley, and Sean) are awesome. They deserve a whole post for themselves.

3- Yesterday I was hand-washing clothes outside in freezing cold water with the older girls, Catalina, Leonela, and Cinthya for about an hour. As soon as I got inside, I immediately put my hands under super hot water (NOT A GOOD IDEA). My fingers started tingling all over and I literally watched them expand to the size of your average sausage link. They stayed like that for 2 hours and I couldn't even make a fist, or remove my rings. My new nickname here is Swollo. See picture below. 

And now I leave you with a video of Anthony, Max, Sebastian, Adan, and Juver FLIPPING out over the roller coaster effect on PhotoBooth on my computer. Their little squeals of excitement are the best :)