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 :)

My babies.

Today was nothing short of amazing. Even though I was tired (delayed flight arriving at 3 am meant I went to bed around 5 and got up at 7 for school), I was constantly filled with Gods presence and love.

I missed Ecuador so much more than I even thought.

Can't even explain how my soul cried tears of joy every time I went into a new classroom with old students of mine or saw sweet friends again.

My baby, Anthony, cried and hugged me for forever- which made me cry.

Crazy, laughter-filled hugs from old friends who were like mothers to me when I was here last.

Having lunch with some of the sweetest girls I know.

Constant hugs and kisses and moments that make you want to stop time so you can be right there forever.

It was all so so so GOOD.

And now, as my jet lagged self lays in bed, the orphans and the other awesome interns are having a devo right outside my door. Their sweet, sometimes off-key voices are proudly singing along to "10,000 Reasons". And I can easily think of 10 billion reasons to be happy right now.

If you think this post was sappy, Im really not sorry. I can't help but be sappy when getting to hold my babies again :)

Returning To The Other Half of My Heart

In 1 week, I will be reunited with my little (and big!) ones in Ecuador. I cannot wait. It has been a year, and I am so excited for God to show His love to his children through me. AH!!! :) I am praying daily for my upcoming trip. Please join me in praying for the children at the Hacienda of Hope!!

P.S.: My trip was postponed 10 days.... the reason? One day before my flight for Quito, I decided to jump over a fence at Lipscomb University with a good friend of mine. I am clumsy, and slipped and fell, puncturing my right arm with the pointy part of the fence. 3 hours in the ER and 15 stitches later... I have to wait until I get my stitches removed before heading to Ecuador to make sure there is no infection. Not sure why God threw me this curveball, but I am trying to make the most of it!

Back Home

Hello everybody (if anyone out there is still aware that I have a blog)! I am sorry for not posting at all in the last 3 weeks. I am back in Brazil after 4 and a half months in Ecuador. My goodbyes were SO. SAD. Just as I knew they would be. Just thinking about it now makes me want to cry. I have so many amazing memories from the last weeks in Ecuador! I did just what I said I was going to do before going there: pour out ALL my love on the kids, and ALWAYS be open and willing to do anything for them. I am proud to say that not once did I say "no, not now" to a little smiling girl who wanted to come in and hang out in my apartment for a little while. Not once did I let my shyness hold me back from telling them how much I LOVE THEM. All day. Everyday. (Jill - you know what I mean!!) Anyways, here are some moments from my last days there:

Last picture with Jhon :( 

Last picture with Cinthya :(

Beautiful, beautiful Leonela :))

Yanni and Domenica :(

Last picture with one of my BFF's :( 

My 8th and 9th graders! 

 Packing...... :(

Last picture with THE Jorge. 

Sweet note from Isabella :) 

MY 4TH AND 5TH GRADERS!!!!  

 The big kids! And my baby sitting in my lap. 

 My favorite crazy 8th grade boys :)

Surprise goodbye party - courtesy of my BFF's :)

 Blowing out my BFF candles :) 

Sweet Daniel, Beautiful Wendy, Crazy Erick and Silly Diego :)

The mountain in our backyard was very pretty for me on my last day :)

Sad faces...

On our way to an amusement park on my last day!! 

About to ride a big pirate ship that goes SO HIGH IN THE AIR!

 How my apartment looked the night before I left...

  

Last picture with Cristian!

Last. picture. with. everyone. Only the little boys are missing... they were peeling potatoes and I didn't realize they weren't in the picture until after we took it :(

At the airport with my mami!

My BFF'S!

Sad faces :( 

THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your PRAYERS, EMAILS, PHONE CALLS or sweet comments on my blog while I was in Ecuador. They meant SO much to me. On bad days, I would come home and cross my fingers hoping there was an encouraging e-mail or voice message on my phone. I am so glad that I went to Ecuador, and I would encourage anyone else thinking of doing something like this to DO IT! God will show himself to you in ways you never thought possible, and you will learn so much and just be ABUNDANTLY blessed. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your support. 

Cristian, Jorge, Fabian, Jhon, Luis, Matias, Adan, Anthony, Leonela, Catalina, Cinthya, Maria, Gladys, Dayana, Maria Beatriz, Magali and Carmen will be in my heart FOREVER. 

P.S.- Just in case you were wondering, Giovanni IS as cute as ever. 

Do you agree?