Paper work/standing in lines… car troubles… technology… and Keiden being sick… I don’t like any of them… and I’ve seen too much of them lately!
…I had to go 7 or 8 times to renew my drivers’ licence – including a 3 hour wait for my “eye and physical examination” which consisted of an 8 second eye exam and a 12 second conversation of where I’m from!... One time I waited through 5 lines - Keiden in one arm, my paperwork and my broken flip flop in the other – only to have a policemen tell me not to bend my papers so much… and to hurry because he was behind! Right before I got my final pictures, a policewoman told me I really should comb my hair! =) Anyhow…I finally got my drivers’ licence!!! No comment on my picture!!! =) Unfortunately, it’s valid for only 9 months because of an irregularity from 15 years ago!!!
…my truck was acting up… and ended up at the mechanics for 3 days… They found out that my electronic system was affected when someone broke into my truck 10 days ago… and ripped the radio out, leaving bare wires everywhere… (They also broke my window and stole my cell!) The most annoying thing about being robbed (again!) was losing my phone numbers… The very good thing… they didn’t take my documents (or bank cards) that I had in the truck because of my driver’s licence saga...
Keiden recovered from a bad allergic reaction to a bunch of ant bites… but then developed a fever that wouldn’t go down with Tylenol… He didn’t want to eat…threw up if he did eat… and basically just wanted to lie still… He had Dengue Fever (sometimes known as the bone break fever) which puts adults out of commission… Everything else basically had to go on hold for almost a week until he was better… (Icing on the cake was getting his thumb slammed in our back door… poor little guy…)
I don’t like paperwork… So finding and taking the time to sit down and do two months worth of expense reports was a feat for me… I just had to print them off to send them with someone travelling to Canada the next day… and my printer just printed gibberish!!! I tried turning it off and on again… taking the cartridges in and out… but nothing helped… A couple weeks later I tried out my printer once more before taking it into the technician… and it worked perfectly!!! Crazy…
There will always be details in life that frustrate and annoy… Do you want one more of mine? My “a” key on the computer came apart… I’m very aware of every single “a” that there is in EVERY word… sigh…
I need to remember that there is so much more in life than these irritating details… and not let them overshadow what is really important.
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I see the girls who come to El Jordán struggle to raise their families… usually with “0” support from their children’s father or extended family… not wanting their kids to suffer the same things they did. Just feeding, clothing and getting their kids in school is a burden almost too heavy to carry… let alone if their kids happen to get sick…
Bolivian Mother’s Day is on May 27th… and we do our best to make it special for our girls… This year we had a “high tea”… dainty little things to eat, tiny chocolate fondues and people to serve them hand and foot… God even sent us JESS, who is an event planner in Canada, to decorate our place beautifully… Wow… Our hopes is that it is a beautiful afternoon where our girls and volunteers can feel like queens… (and the men look after the kids!)…
A couple people stood out for me that afternoon…
RUBITZA doesn’t have much “brightness” in her life… she’s a young orphan with three kids 3 years old and under, an abusive, irresponsible, alcoholic boyfriend/husband… El Jordan has become “family” for her… a place where she can breathe, find hope and feel loved…
She phoned me up crying the day we celebrated Mother’s Day… she wouldn’t be able to come… her baby was in the hospital and couldn’t be left alone…
Enter JOVANA… our volunteer, a nurse who arrived at El Jordan to help that day… She took the anonymous job of sitting beside a crying baby’s bed so that her mom could have a moment of “fun”… Alone at the hospital, Rubitza hadn’t eaten since the day before and was dressed in short sleeves even though a wet, cold wind had come through… Watching Rubitza enjoy her afternoon – smiling, eating, being chosen as her table’s “queen”, feeling loved and special was probably the highlight of the afternoon for me…
We all got thanked or felt the satisfaction of seeing other people’s joy… It was Jovana who nobody saw sitting at the hospital who deserved more thanks than the rest of us…
(An extra note… The next day the baby was discharged, but Rubitza didn’t have ANY money left… She planned to walk home (10 km?) when a lady gave her 20 bs ($3)… It was enough for Rubitza to take a bus to go home… plus to cook dinner and supper for her kids… God is good…)
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TANIA/LUCIA was in the hospital over Mother’s Day… Her unborn little boy died in her womb at 4 ½ months gestation. Her fear was that if no one was with her when the baby was born, he might be thrown away or experimented on… (a valid fear…)
Enter the behind the scenes people… HEIDI, waiting for hours at the hospital in order to be there to pick up the precious little bundle… EULOGIO and SAM, gently crafting a tiny little coffin… giving dignity to a perfectly God-formed tiny body that some people, incredibly, would argue, isn’t a real person yet…
When Heidi and I took the little coffin out to RONALD (Tania’s “husband”), we weren’t sure how he’d react… He often has expressed that he doesn’t believe in God… Anyhow, we weren’t sure what was happening when he disappeared for a long time with the coffin… When he placed it into the little grave we saw what had taken him so long… His index finger was stained with green paint… and “Marcelino” was painted in big, childlike letters across the top of the coffin…
I’ve never seen Ronald so “soft”… He was surprised that the baby was a real “baby” – not just a “fetus”… that could never have happened by “chance”… He said that he would come to our chapel meeting that Friday even if Tania wasn’t up to it yet… (if ever if he came to El Jordan before it was usually obligated by Tania). In the end, Tania was still hospitalized and he didn’t come to chapel… but our prayer is that this softness, openness might be the prelude to him desiring to know more about God…
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Do you remember the restaurant giving El Jordan some scraps? This is a thank you letter that one of the kids wrote to the restaurant… I thought it was so sweet…
“Hi. I’m Jordan and I greet you with a lot of care. I’m writing you this little letter to thank you for sending us the food. It was something very special for me and my family. I was very happy those days because I had such good food. It was like a birthday party. I also want to thank Corina because she is always helping us. She brought the food to our house and said it was from your restaurant. That is why I want to thank you very much. I say goodbye with a lot of care, hoping you can read my little letter. Bye. Jordan.”
Are we so thankful for what God gives us? …even if it is reheated leftovers?
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Back in December, when I looked at a picture taken on Christmas on the Streets, I realized that CHANTELLE was holding the daughter of MIRIAM/LIDIA - the girl who Chantelle’s grandma in Hundred Mile House, BC has prayed for many years!!! Isn’t it amazing how God brings pieces of the puzzle together?
Chantelle wanted to meet Miriam before going back to Canada… so the other day we went under a bridge in the city to find her… She was there – along with her 3 year old daughter Dayana, LILIANA – who used to come to El Jordan and about 15 guys ranging from 12 to 30…
Both Miriam and Liliana asked us to pray that one day they’d be able to change… Would you help us?
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Thanks to all who have been praying for GIOVANNA – the girl who has brain cancer… Chemotherapy and radiation is too expensive for her to consider… and has decided to leave her life in God’s hands…
She wants to work to cover basic needs – shampoo, toothpaste, etc. – but is frustrated by her limitations… The caretakers of our “Pilgrim’s Refuge” took their vacation… so Giovanna replaced them for two weeks to earn some money… She fell in love with the peacefulness… and the animals… and wondered if we couldn’t build her a little room so she could stay out there!
Out at our property, I had to a chance to talk/listen more to her… and again was amazed at God’s grace in her life… to have saved her out of a life so full of darkness…
She’s facing many different situations where she has to decide to please God… or others… One example is a family member asking her to get the pills needed to abort… because they know she knows the subculture where drugs like this are available… In this culture where “saving face” and not offending anyone to their face is so important, choices like this are very hard…
Please continue to pray for Giovanna… that she’d find a suitable job… and that God would continue to give her the desire and strength to follow Him…
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In my last letter I mentioned JONATHAN… the little brother of two girls who used to be students at El Jordan… who was hit by a car… The last I knew, he already had 2 operations… I lost their cell number with my cell phone… so I’m hoping to hear from them soon… Please continue to pray for healing for Jonathan… and that God would draw the family close to Him…
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You see… thinking about the lives God is working in totally overshadows the annoying details of life… I guess it all depends on where you set your thoughts…
Thanks for listening… We appreciate you!!!
Lots of love, Corina… for Marco and Keiden too…