Friends

Right now I am sitting outside watching the retreat center staff set up for a wedding. Guillermo, the son of the pastor of Iglesia en Transformacion is getting married this morning. I see the same big white tent, covered chairs, double table cloths, and joy in celebration (we may see in the states) that comes with a wedding. Today is going to be another amazing day.
Each day we're here feels like three days, like each activity, morning, afternoon and evening occurs in a separate day. So it's been about a “week” since I've written.
Thursday morning was our last day in the hospital with the new moms. The immediate mom we were drawn to was the lady in bed 27. She was curled up in bed crying, without a baby by her side. The story was that her baby was ill and taken to another hospital. She couldn't go to be with her until four that afternoon. I can't imagine what kind of pain she must have had to be taken away from her companion of nine months. I felt helpless, the only thing we could do for her was pray and trust for Him to ease her pain. But I do thank God that now as I sit here, they are reunited. A few of us had an opportunity to go to the Honduran version of the NICU. I was very happy about that because I was hoping to do something “new” that day. I was reminded again however that even in the midst of a joyful birth there are a few sad stories. The little girl on the end was kept for a couple days and her mother had not been back to see her. The hospital at this point was not expecting the mother to come back at all. I held her in my arms and tried to contemplate her life, even at a week old, she was already alone. I prayed that she would find God soon to ease that awful feeling of loneliness.
Thursday was Spa Day as well, and just as a Spa should be, the afternoon felt very relaxed. We invited the girls from the refuge to the church where Spa Day took place. Afterwards we took them to Pizza Hut to have dinner. We had to take two trips in the van from the church, so the first group ordered dinner without a translator. Fun, huh. We didn't have any idea how much it would end up costing, but the fun part was that nobody knew what would come out next from the kitchen. Appetizer after appetizer, chicken wings, and bread sticks. Cokes for everybody and six big pizzas. I need to talk about the pizza, I've never seen anything like it in my life. A new promotion in Honduras is to wrap mini hotdogs in the crust of the pizza. Weird. But it worked out perfectly because we took the mini hotdogs (which looked like pigs in a blanket) off the crust and gave them to the babies to eat. It was a feast. And then... they brought out six Huge sundaes with chocolate on the outside of the glasses dipped in peanuts for the girls. After dinner the girls from the refuge ran like maniacs through the playland. They slid down the slide with the toddlers in their laps, and took pictures through the netting. We were so blatantly reminded of their stolen innocence, young ones with little ones.
I am so happy that we were able to bless the girls with the field trip to the church for Spa Day and dinner at Pizza Hut. Yesterday was our last visit to the refuge and many of them said that Pizza Hut was their favorite memory of our time with them. Each of them stood and thanked us for our time to come and be with them. Many of them thanked me for bringing the team so they could meet new friends. That's what we are by the end of the week, friends. One girl thanked us for loving their children. The sentiment moved me to tears. The exchange that happened at that time is the reason we come. Even if we only have a week to stay. Months of preparation occur for the ten minute opportunity to say I love you, and even when I am not with you, God loves you. He is the reason for this moment we are sharing. Thankfully that is not quite the end of our time with the girls in the Refuge. We will see them one last time on Monday evening when we make dinner for them in Lourdes' home.
Last night we had a very special opportunity to spend time with Gladys, a woman from Los Pinos, and her three children, Denia, Milton, Minor. She came to the church and taught us how to make tortillas. Then we ate the tortillas together with beans, eggs, avocados, crema, and queso. We oohed and aaahed at how quickly and easily she slapped the tortillas on the grill. We admired her resourcefulness as she used the flour bag to clean the grill and the grocery bag to protect the dough from sticking to the press. Some kids from Los Pinos played soccer as we cooked and the whole evening was comfortable, the way you feel when you are with a friend driving on a long drive and you don't feel like you need to talk. A comfort that comes with feeling like you've known a person for years But in Honduras, with the help of God it only takes a week to reach that same level of familiarity. I can't wrap my mind around it, but it's ok. I'm happy to enjoy it although I can't understand it.
Oh, by the way, Arlene came home from the hospital less than 24 hours after her admit. We've had a couple people stay behind for one or two activities to rest for exhaustion, but no more infections. Yay!
I have no idea how to spell this but it's a fun phrase that they say here. It means... cool!
Check-ay, Leck-ay, Pancake-ay!
Gracias a Dios