Then he entered
the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he
said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have
made it a den of robbers.”-Luke 19:45-46
God intended for the temple to be a
house of prayer, but others had turned it into a marketplace, “a den of
robbers.” This scripture spoke to me recently as I have struggled emotionally
and spiritually over the last 2 years adjusting to the changes in life. Changes
like moving to Honduras, taking in 2 teenage boys, lack of privacy, growing
family, dependence on others, etc. The reality is that God gave us these two
years. They have been a gift to our family, a gift to Josue and Manuel, and a
gift to the community in which we reside. So often we take the good gifts that
God gives us- finances, marriage, children, careers, education, etc.- and we
turn them into complaints, selfish ambition, envy, and arguments, just like the
good gift of “the house of prayer” was turned into a marketplace.
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| Josue, Manuel, Joanna, and Thomas |
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| Studying for their college entrance exam |
Moving forward, I hope we can accept
the good gifts from God and see his pure and loving desire for those gifts. We
are so proud of Manuel and Josue as they have accepted and cherished these last
2 years, but they have also faced many challenges. They had to leave their
families and village they grew up in, study hard, do chores, and assimilate to
a home life quite different from the one they were raised in. Over the past
month, they completed their high school classes, took their college entrance
exam, and took final exams at school. In addition to the challenges of
classes and exams, they have also shared some great experiences this month. They enjoyed a special celebration at their school’s banquet for juniors and seniors. We also had lots of visitors this month-friends that serve at Hospital Loma de Luz in Balfate, friends Johnny, Melody, Danny, and Willie, and my Aunt Terri and Uncle Wesley. We even had the joy of spending an amazing week with my sister
Leah and went to the mountains to celebrate Joanna's first birthday with family there.
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| Samantha, our friends' daughter, playing with Thomas and Joanna |
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| Joanna with Johnny and Melody when they took us out for lunch |
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| What a wonderful visit with Aunt Terri and Uncle Wesley! |
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| Manuel was excited to go home and see his mom and youngest brother Byron |
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| Driving home from the mountains |
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| Thomas loves his Aunt Leah! |
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| Leah teaching a dance class to girls from Eternal Family Project |
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| Happy Birthday Joanna! |
The boys have less than a month left to their
graduation and will then be returning to stay with their families in the
mountains for the holidays before they move to San Pedro Sula to start
university classes. We are so proud of their dedication to school work but even
more proud of the young men they have become. With God’s help, they will
continue to use the good gift of education to glorify Him. May we learn to
honor God in the ways we use His generous gifts in our lives.
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| Josue and Manuel with their friend Gaby. The same Gaby that I met at the government orphanage 10 years ago that became a part of Eternal Family Project. Gaby was the reason that I returned to Honduras the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th...time. Praise God for his good gifts! |
