So far Aliyana and I have been stateside for a week! Today we had our second appointment with our local OB to see how things are advancing and what his thoughts are for the future of this pregnancy.
Today he performed what is called a BPP (bio-physical profile) of the baby. Everything seems good, she is growing the way she should be for 29 weeks along. Pre-eclampsia can potentially stunt the growth of a baby so we are keeping a close eye on that. My blood pressures have been fluctuating but he says that is normal with pre-eclampsia. So far we are still at mild pre-eclampsia levels - praise the Lord it hasn't gotten severe yet, (and we can pray that it doesn't). The plan as of today is to see the doctor weekly, run tests, and check BP levels daily. On a similar but different note, Omar, my husband, has applied for an emergency visa to come be with us for the birth. Since there is a high chance we will need to deliver before 40 weeks, we will most likely be here in the US for the birth of our second daughter. We are asking for a lot of prayers for his visa appointment and that the embassy workers will be lenient and give him a visa. We are praying for God's will. We ask that you pray alongside us as well. We want to say a huge thank you to those of you who have been encouraging us, praying for us, and helping us financially in this time. We had not planned to leave the mission field to be in the states for this amount of time and we had not planned for the extra financial stresses so again, we say THANK YOU!! If you are able to give, we are still trying to figure out all the new expenses we will be facing in the next few months and we would be more than appreciative. To give a financial donation for our family, you can send via snail mail and qualify for a tax deduction to: Missions: Alissa Kearney Lemoyne Blvd. Baptist Church 15005 Lemoyne Blvd Biloxi, MS 39532 United States Or you can donate through PayPal to my sending church and also qualify for a tax deduction (this way does deduct 3% of your donation): Email: [email protected] You would need to specify "Missions fund: Alissa Kearney" Or you can donate to our personal PayPal here: email: [email protected] paypal.me/AlissaKearneyGomez Last but not least, please pray for the missionaries who are back at the Casa Sanctuario (where I do most of my mission work) because summer is coming to an end and there is a lot to do and I am wishing I could be there to help and alleviate some of the workload - so I ask for prayers for calm days and happy, healthy children! Will update again next week after we see the doctor, thank you for everything! Here are some pics of Aliyana for you to enjoy as she is loving this time with her family :) She brings joy in the hard times.
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Summer is quickly coming to an end. At “casa sanctuario” or also known as the Children’s Center, we have been blessed by a great group of girl interns who have been running a seven week bible camp with our kids. They’ve played games, sang songs, ate snacks, learned about the fruits of the sprints, practiced their English and have just been loved on and shown the love of the Lord. I am grateful for God's provision for the Children's Center! Life here in the jungle of Honduras never seems to slow down... We have two weeks left of bible camp, a 15th birthday celebration coming up (which is a big deal in Honduras), lots of practices for a play the children will be putting on, a steady flow of patients coming to terapia (wound care), and of course the daily task God has given me to take care of our one year old daughter! Speaking of things not seeming to slow down, circumstances have gotten a bit more complicated. Recently (within the past week and a half), I had a sudden rise in my blood pressure. Most of you know, I am pregnant with our second child and with our last baby, I suffered from severe pre-eclampsia at the end of the pregnancy. The issue at hand is that right now I am only 28 weeks. Currently, a baby born before 34 weeks at our hospital, has a very low chance of survival. However, I have been seriously blessed by some of the best doctors at Loma De Luz and they’ve been watching me and baby closely and taking all precautionary measures, which has led us to a journey back to the states. This past Monday morning we flew into New Orleans and are currently staying with family in Ocean Springs to be close to the care I need. Thankfully, I am blessed to be an American Citizen and am able to travel back home at the drop of a hat and get better prenatal care. So that is what we did. As of right now, our OB here is monitoring us closely and giving us weekly visits to check blood pressure and make sure that there are no further issues. Pre-eclampsia can be a very serious pregnancy complication and so we are asking first off, and most importantly, for your prayers as my pregnancy continues. We also ask for prayers of peace as I am on “light bed-rest” as we wait in hopes this baby girl will be able to stay put! We are also asking especially for financial help during this time of need. My husband, Omar, had to stay home in Honduras and we are currently trying to get an emergency visa so he can travel here to be with us. It is difficult to be separated. Until then, we will have double finances. Essentially, we are paying double what we would a month because he is there and we are here. We also have unexpected medical bills, plane tickets and expenses here in the states. If you are able to give we would be so grateful. If you aren’t able, we ask that you share this and continue to pray for our little family. We want to thank those of you who already knew about our situation and have been constantly praying and encouraging us. We ask that you continue to pray for us, a healthy pregnancy and that our baby girl will make it to term, not early, & with no major complications. I will be planning to update on here (or straight on facebook) weekly on how the pregnancy is going while we are here stateside. Again, thank you for always loving us and supporting us as we have and will continue to serve the people of Honduras. To give a financial donation for our family, you can send via snail mail and qualify for a tax deduction to: Missions: Alissa Kearney Lemoyne Blvd. Baptist Church 15005 Lemoyne Blvd Biloxi, MS 39532 United States Or you can donate through PayPal to my sending church and also qualify for a tax deduction (this way does deduct 3% of your donation): Email: [email protected] You would need to specify "Missions fund: Alissa Kearney" Or you can donate to our personal PayPal here: email: [email protected] paypal.me/AlissaKearneyGomez Hoping to give a positive update next week on we are doing! Growing up in the church I have heard the phrase, ``I was called to....(insert a position here)`` It was normally someone talking about their position in the church or the lifestyle they live. Its such a common phrase to me that I never really noticed that I did not actually know the meaning of it. I have been called in to work, called a name, called on the phone even but what did it mean to be called to something? And who is the one doing the calling? I honestly think that the past four years have shown me and really given meaning to what it means to be called to something. I am called to show the love of Christ, called to be a missionary, a wife and now even a mom. Being called to something means that you know without a doubt in your heart that what you are doing is what the Lord has created you to do. It also means that you do it, even on your worst days, through the trials and hard times. Being called to the mission field can be heart wrenching. It can tear you apart, and make you realize things about yourself that you may not want to face, but its God showing you where you lack and how he has purposely allowed you to lack something so that he can fill in the holes and make something beautiful. Most recently I have been called to help fill a position here at Sanctuary children`s home as one of the two on-site Supervisors. The position has me helping the Director in daily administrative tasks, engaging in one on one activities with the children, working alongside the Honduran employees who love and care for the children, implementing new and exciting activities for the Children and much more. Two short weeks have passed since I started my new position and it has not been the smoothest transition. When things change, it can be hard even when it is for the best. I have learned that when you are called to do something by the Lord, you do it even when its hard. I never thought about that when I was growing up and hearing that people were called to be preachers or doctors or stay at home moms. I thought they did that until it did not suit them anymore and then they found what else they loved to do and decided that they were now being called to do that. Boy was I wrong! There are two new children here at the Childrens home. They are very young, timid little kids. We know nothing about their backgrounds, where they come from or what they have been through in the little time they have been on the earth, we dont even know their last names! One of my first duties as on-site supervisor was to take the two of them to the hospital to do the routine testing we do on all new children (Urine sample, blood test, etc.) The morning I took them, I had already been dealing with some issues and was quite honestly feeling discouraged and questioning if I was the right person for this job. I was stuck in my thoughts as I drove these two sweet kids up to the hospital. I held their hands as they got stuck by the needles and helped them in the bathroom when they had to figure out how to pee in a cup (it was the first time they had done anything like this.) When it was all finished, I drove them back and dropped them off with suckers in hand and a quick good-bye hug. I did not think much about the encounter afterwards, as I was too busy worrying about what the future holds and if this is really my calling (its one of my greatest faults.) The next day to my surprise, I heard two innocent, sweet voices call out ``alissa`` as I walked past the Childrens home. My eyes searched all the doorways, and windows to see where the voices had come from, but I did not find the source. Later that afternoon, I was walking back to my house and I heard the same sweet tune ring out ``alissa, alissa`` This time I spotted them! It was the two new kids, with huge grins on their faces waiting for me to ackowledge them as they ran to hug me. I was overwhelmed by the warmth of their hugs and how in that very moment the Lord whispered to me, this is why I have called you here, even when it feels like your world is on fire and things are going the way you think they should, I see the bigger picture and I know right where I have you. I could not help but weep when I got home. I weeped for these two kids and for all the love that they have missed out on and the attention that they desire. I weeped because I take for granted the love and attention I have been given by not only my family but by God, and I weeped because I realized that I have been called here and my God is good and he works all things for my good. So as I continue on this journey as a missionary with my husband and our daughter, I ask for your prayers for us and for us to always remember that we are privelaged to be called and we should feel honored to be doing the work of the Lord. I ask that you pray for our finacial needs. To be completely honest with you, we are struggling to get by month to month as of late. We have a group of faithful givers and we have an even more faithful God who provides but we do ask you to consider partnering with us and giving to the mission or to pray for those who are able to give. So far, the only way you have been able to give is to send your donation directly to my church. However we have recently setup a paypal account where you can make direct deposits/transfers. I will place the information of where to give below. If you are already partnering with us, and/or commited to praying for us and we do not have your email so that we can give you more updates, please comment your email for us to keep on hand! If you are praying about partnering with us and are interested in hearing more about what The Lord is doing here in Honduras, please leave your email address as well. God bless, Alissa Gomez (Kearney) If you want to send to the church in order to get a tax deduction, you can send it to this address to the ``Missions fund`` But directed to ``Alissa Kearney`` Lemoyne Blvd. Baptist Church 15005 Lemoyne Blvd, Biloxi, MS 39532, USA or if it is easier to just send it through PayPal you can copy this link and then paste it in your URL to give instantly paypal.me/AlissaKearneyGomez Thank you so much. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 ¨But as for YOU, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded¨ - 2 Chronicles 15:7 As human beings, we are constantly learning new things. There are obstacles that are thrown in our way and there are things unkwown to us that have yet to be discovered. That is what makes life so exciting and such a privelage. I feel privelaged to be here on this earth, to be spending my days serving here on the mission field. I feel privelaged to be able to experience pain and sadness as well as joy and love. You know why? Because God created all of those feelings. He created me to feel them and to feel them fully. I would not know joy if I could not feel what pain feels like, and I would not feel love if I did not know what it felt like to hate. The title of this blog post is learning to push. I have had to do a lot of pushing in the past few months. Pushing out our sweet sweet hija (daughter), pushing past the pain of labor and the sadness of not having my family here when she was born, pushing to keep going when my husband was let go from his work a few months before the baby came, pushing through and pushing towards the goal - which in my case is showing the love of Christ to all of those whom I can and loving unconditionally. Ezra tells us in 2 Chronicles not to give up and to be strong and that our work will be rewarded. I am living testimony to this verse. Things have been rough lately. The mission field is a wonderful place but it doesnt come without a cost. I know without a doubt that this is where my family and I are supposed to be, and I wont stop pushing myself to be better and to do better here in the mission. I have been rewarded with a beautiful family, an amazing church family who love and support us, talented missionaries to work alongside, faithful friends who give to our family monthly so we can continue to be on the mission field and last but not least, I have been rewarded with being able to know Christ and know his love for me. I see it when I look into my daughters eyes, and I see it when I hear the kids laughing outside my window here at the childrens home. I see his love all around me and that is what keeps me pushing. Pushing myself and my family to seek after Christ, even when its messy. Small update on our future plans: I am on maternity leave at the moment, but I will be returning to work in wound care at the hospital June 19th and am so excited to get back to my patients. Big news is that in a few months I will be given the oppurtunity to work at the childrens home once again. I will be in a role of leadership, guiding the staff and loving on the children. I am asking for prayer in all of these changes, that I can be a good example for the workers and that I survive leaving my baby at home. ;( Omar has a potential job oppurtunity that has come available and we are praying that everything pans out and that he will once again be employed within the next few weeks, please be in prayer for that as well. As of right now, we are looking to be on the mission field for another year if not longer, with that being said, we welcome anyone who would like to give to our family so that we can stay here. If you feel as though you are called to give to help us pay rent, travel fees, food, car expenses, baby expenses, etc. please contact me or send directly to my church. There is a Support link at the top that will give you more information. We are so blessed by you and your prayers. God Bless. ......AND saving the best for last...... We have a baby!!!!March 7th, 2017 at 12:28 p.m. Aliyana Joy Gomez Kearney made her grand enterance :) The last time I updated you guys, I was barely pregnant - 4 months along. I thought I had five months left until our baby girl was going to arrive, but I was mistaken. I had some complications come along the last few weeks of my pregnancy and the very talented doctors God has placed here at Hospital Loma De Luz decided it was to me and my babys benefit to induce me at 37 weeks. I ended up being induced a day earlier than planned but hey - God knows what he is doing.
The story of my actual labor I will save for another day, not sure im ready to remenice just quite yet..... ouch is all I can say ;) She is our bundle of pure happiness. She loves to be held (who doesnt?). She is constantly eating and gaining weight like a little champ. She does not like a paci and hates cold water (what a weirdo - I love cold water in this hot country). She has learned to smile and is most happy in the mornings! She is still napping a good amount during the day (praise the lord!!) and she is looking forward to our trip home to the states to meet the rest of her family and go to her church there for the first time! here are some adorable pics you can enjoy, I know I do! ;) ¨I think you grow wherever God plants you. I hope I am growing as a person of faith, as a Christian. That sound be our number one objective this journey of life. That all starts with a personal intimate relationship with Christ and then being in prayer every single day about all of those things - being tenacious about it.¨ - J.C. Watts I just happened to be planted here in a small town in Honduras. I remember people always saying to me when I was younger that I would do most of my growing in my late 20´s. Keep in mind I am only 23 years old as of today, but I truly feel as though I have done most of my substantional growing the past three years that I have been here on the mission field. My amount of knowledge has grown in abundance now that I can speak Spanish. My heart has certianly grown larger with all of the children I have come to know and love. My experiences cultrualy have grown as I stepped out of my safe place in the USA and came to a foriegn land by myself at age 20. My love for my family has grown in the distance that we have had between us all this time. But most importantly, my relationship and intimacy with God has grown. I have seen His hands at work in the Hospital as wounds that seemed to be lost causes, healed and the sick have become healthy once again. I have heard His whispers of hope as I felt alone and like I really just could no go on another day here. I have seen His peace in situations that only seemed to cause chaos in the lives around me. I know without a doubt that I am not even close to being done growing, I just know that I am so thankful for all the growth I have been able to do and am going to do as I continue my journey as a missionary. People always say that the first year of marriage is the hardest. I worried about this before Omar and I tied the knot in April. I worried about how ¨hard¨ it might be for us, then after we had been married a few months, I realized that it really is not hard like you might think. It is not hard to love him, or to go to bed next to him every night. It IS however hard to grow next to someone. We are both growing constantly and sometimes at different rates. Sometimes we are growing in different directions as well. That hard part, for me at least, has been the growth that has sprouted in me since we got married. God has shown me that I have to stretch and bend in ways that I didnt know how to before. Especially since we are the house parents of the teenage boys here. We both have had to grown to love these boy, to deal with a messy house 99 percent of the time and have had to learn to live all five of us in one house. Growth may not always be pretty in the moment, but in the end you become something different and beautiful in the eyes of the Lord. I pray that we continue to grow in him and in the knowledge of our savior. I pray that we grow as a little family in the time that we have together, and that I can grow as a missionary, mom, wife and Christian in the future years. ......Speaking of growing..... I have been growing a sweet baby for the past four months! Only five months left until we get to meet our sweet angel and grow into parents :) We have been so blessed with a loving church family that prays for us. We have grown in support and love over the past few years. However, as we grow and expand our family and ministry, our financial needs are growing as well.
To be completely honest, as of now, we are blessed with around 400 dollars a month in donations. WE are so beyond thankful for the support we have been shown so far and could not be more grateful. We are now praying that God fufills our need of more. As missionaries, we pay rent, buy our food, have car expenses, I personally travel home to the states every 3-4 months (plane tickets), and now we are planning to bring a baby into the world (eeek) :D To give you a number, we are needing about 400 more a month to be able to continue here on the mission field. If you feel encouraged to give or are willing to pray for those who are able to give, please do. I have faith that God will come through, I have 23 years of experience to show that he will (he always does) But I have felt led to let you know of our needs. [email protected] is my email and probably the fastest way to contact me about how to give, unless you have a facebook . We love you all and cant wait to share more in the future, especially when the baby is here!!! I feel like my time as a missionary has been that of a whirlwind. I started out with a merely three month commitment and little to no spanish. I sent out letters in the months before I made the journey to Balfate asking for people to pray with me, financially support me and to keep me in their minds as I went on what I thought would be a short mission trip I was taking before starting college or a job in the fall. That was almost three years ago. Today, I woke up in bed next to my husband. I walked out of our bedroom into a not so strangely dirty living area and saw two of the three boys that live here with us. One of them told me good morning and then proceeded to tell me about a field trip he is going on in two weeks, asking for money and for my signiture on the permission slip he has. I spoke with him in my now nearly fluent spanish and then started my daily task of straightening up and doing the dishes. Starting to see why it feels like a whirlwind to me yet? If you have been keeping up with me the past three years then you already know that a lot has happened from that first night I spent in the girls house until now. I got to know six wonderful teenage girls, who helped me tremendously with my spanish, I worked along side Elkin and got to see the miracle play out that God had planned for his life, and I got to build relationships with a good amount of the honduran community. God has shown me more of himself than I could have ever imagined in these past years. I have been completely overwhelmed by his faithfulness. These have been the best and the hardest years of my life. I woke up as a house mom this morning, with a honduran husband and three teenage boys that I am responsible for. I woke up on the northern coast of Honduras without any of my blood family around. I woke up surrounded by a family God has placed in my life and even more so in my heart. I have had to learn to lean completely on Him. I was never much of an independent person growing up. Im pretty sure I still had my mom calling the doctor when I needed an appointment at the age of 19, and now at 23 I am the one talking to doctors for the 13 year old who comes to me when he is hurt or sick.. Most days I can hardly believe the life I have been blessed with. The changes that have happened in my journey as a missionary have their own challenges. For example, I am constantly fighting with myself when I dont get the respect I want from the boys in my house. I was raised mostly by a single mother. She was independent and demanded respect. I have a hard time leaning on my husband and asking him to be the disciplinary role, but that is how he wants it to be, that is how this culture says it should be. I am learning how to care for boys who have not had parents or even rules as they have grown and now I have to take into account the totally different culture they have. whew.. somedays its overwhelming and I end up in my bed just trying to take a breath... then I remember a saying that I heard a long time ago "work hard, pray harder" I can only do so much, I have to remember to allow God to take over. I can clean our living room every single day, I can tell the boys ten times a day to pick up their shoes or to wipe their feet before coming into the house and I can even make myself crazy trying to keep up with their every move, but all my work and effort is nothing if I dont rely on God to give me the strength. God sees the differences in our cultures and he sees the needs deep down in their hearts that they wont allow me to see. He knows my intentions are good even when I end up yelling at my husband for something he has no control over. I am so thankful that we have a good, good father that takes care of us. And I am so thankful that he loves these boys even more than I do. How can you get Involved?
As my role has expanded in the past few years, so have my needs. Or should I say our needs, now that its me, my husband and three teenagers. When people ask me what is my number one need as a missionary here in Honduras I would have to say it is a tie between grace and financial support. Those are the two things that way heavily on my mind and heart daily. I need grace from the Lord, I also need be able to show grace to Omar, the boys and even to myself when things arent going as I think they should. We also need help financially. I have some amazing and faithful friends who give monthly or whenever they can and we are so thankful. However, reality is that our funds have been lacking as of late. Our monthly expenses are as followed: 110 in rent *which I pay every six months so it is 660 twice a year 2,500 air fare. Not being a resident means I travel on average three times a year back to the US * this is for a year not for one month. 250 average for groceries a month 100 Gas for our vehicle 250 in miscellaneous ex. new tires for car, car problems, medications, emergencies, snacks for boys, clothes, etc. If you feel called to give, you can contact me on here by commenting, email me at akearney@bulldogs.mgccc.edu or even Imessage me at 2283275665 and I can tell you different ways you can give. We cant thank you enough for keeping up with our new family and my journey as a missionary. I never knew this would be the path my life would take, but I am beyond thankful that it did. "The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings." - J.M. Barrie .....to have faith is to have wings This particular part of this famous quote could not be more true in my present life. When I see the word faith, I am reminded of my savior. I am reminded of the consistency I find in him. Faith is something we as christians have to seek and keep close to our hearts. Reminding ourselves why we choose to live like Christ and what that means. Having faith that this is what it is all about. The past few months some big events have taken place in my life as a person and also as a missionary. I went from being a miss to a mrs. :) Then I moved in to the teenage boys home at the Childrens Center with my husband, expanding my ministries from wound care/child care worker to also being a house parent. This is where that part of that quote comes in to play in my life, the part where it is says to have faith is "to have wings" These past few months I have been stretched in every way a person can be. I went from living alone and barely having to cook or clean for myself to living in a very, very blue house with four guys. I now clean a lot, lot, lot, lot, cook for my husband and I most days and on special ocassions for the boys (and boy can they eat!) Our days are filled with daily video game wars, bugs, loud music, homework, laundry, too many moans of "Que aburrido!'s" Which translates into; Im bored, trips to church, trips to the beach and last but not least, love. This transition has not been easy for me. I feel most days like I am just barely keeping my head above the water. With every choice I make concerning the boys or even my marriage, it feels like jumping off a cliff. It feels unkown and unsure of what lies ahead. That is when I am reminded to have faith, to have faith that God will provide me with the wisdom and the strength and he will be my wings when I am having to jump off cliffs. However difficult these life and ministry changes have been, they have been even more rewarding. I am slowly but surely finding my wings. The wings that God has placed on my back in order to get me through the tough times. He knows that marriage is hard, and sometimes even harder when you come from two completely different cultures. He knows that teenage boys who have been taken from their families and have to live with a newlywed couple, can be demanding and act out more then they obey. And he knows everything about these three teenage boys, and he loves them completely. Thats the most important thing. Omar and I are acting as foster parents for them for the time being and that is a very big role. When they are older and have a family of their own or live in a different place, they will think back on us. What we do and say now will have an impact on their lives, forever. Sometimes thinking about that too much can be daunting but then I remember in Psalms where it says "Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come." This is exactly why we are here! I am called to love them and to make sure that they never question their worth until the realize where their worth lies, and that is in the arms of our Lord. So I will continue to watch their video game wars, ignore the rolling of eyes when I ask them to clean up their mess, pray for them every chance I get, show grace when things get hard, pour into my marriage in the good times and the bad, and I will rely on my faith in the Lord to get us through it all.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” John 15:16
If someone were to ask me how I like being a missionary I would tell them that honestly It has been the hardest thing I have ever done, but also one of the best things I have ever done. I have had times where I can not handle all the joy and happiness being a missioanry has brought me. There have also been times when I have felt more alone than I ever have in my entire life. I have made some life long friendships and I have found the man I am going to spend the rest of my life with. I have also struggled with crippling anxiety and depression. There are days when I cannot deal with being alone. There are also days when I look at the sun peaking over the mountians and hear the birds chirping and I can not believe that I am here and that the Lord chose me. Me? I get to love and have relationships with nearly 40 of the most adorable children ever, I am serious, they are so cute I could die. I get to learn about a different culture and how God created it and how it goes along with my culture, and also how it differs. I left my home and my family and honestly, it has never been the same. I still have the same mom, same home, same friends and the same church, however it doesnt feel the same. Now when I think of home I think of a long, dirt, bumpy road. I think of a small two bedroom house with a red wall and a million and one ants that think my home is theirs as well. I think of my fiancee and his family. I think of the fellow missionaries and my close friends. I think of the Lord. This is my home and he has chosen me to follow him. The verse above talks about how he chose us and I can testify with that. I am a 22 year old woman living in Honduras. I work a few days a week at a hospital cleaning wounds and helping doctors. I spend the afternoons caring for Renan, my sweet autistic buddy. And I know that I was chosen for this. Over the past two years I have been called to many different jobs/titles. I have been a caretaker, tutor, house parent, PT coach, babysitter, friend, neighbor, girlfriend, and even a nurse assistant. Romans 8:28 says that we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. This tells me that all of the things that have happened and are going to happen in my life are working for my good. Does that mean that I wont make bad choices? No. Does that mean that I wont have dark times? No. It does however mean that He will be with me in it all. April 2nd of this year I will be commiting my life to my fiancee, Omar. I will be joining him in marriage in front of family, friends and most importantly, The lord. He has been working as the house parent to the teenage boys here at the Children´s Center for the past two and a half years. We have been praying and seeking advice from wise friends about what we should do after we are married. We have decided that he should continue to serve as the house parent and that I will join along side him. So starting in April we will be serving as what I would call foster parents to Luis (14), Julio (14) and Jose (12). (I will post pictures to follow this blog post so you can see them!) I honestly can not tell you what this will mean; if it will be easy or if it will be really hard. All I can tell you is that I am ready for this next adventure in my life. I am ready to be called a wife and to be called a mother figure. I am excited that the next step as a missionary for me is to gain three young teenage boys and to be able to do my best to guide them and to love them the way Christ would. I am just asking that you consider partnering with me in prayer and financial support so that I can continue to stay here in Honduras and make the move into the boy´s home after the wedding and really do pray for me because I will be the only girl living with four boys! (yikes!) :) "Rain has come and gone and as I sit down, I realize that I have the chills. This is a nice and pretty rare feeling here, so I better put on a pot of coffee and enjoy it." This thought came into my mind tonight on this rainy sunday evening. I just knew that I wanted to make the most of the coolness and to just take it in and enjoy it while it was here. As I began thinking of this moment, I thought of all the bigger moments I have had the past few months that I wanted to remember and enjoy them while I can. So the first thing I decided to do was to sit down and write out a blog post and tell you all about them. My memory and the feelings I felt will only stay in my mind for so long; why not share them with you so that you can enjoy them as well and hopefully make them last just a little bit longer. This is sweet Jose Nahum, a 14 year old, who showed up at Hospital Loma De Luz and was introduced to me by Dr. Judy, the pediatrician here, and was given an appointment for some much needed physical therapy. He has some sort of muscular issue and as he grows older, he loses more function of his legs and abilities, such as talking, walking, crawling, etc. As we started the appointment I could not help but just adore this sweet little boy. His smile is contagious and he really lights up the room. He may not be able to speak but he has a big personality! We showed him and his parents some basic crawling and exercises they can do as he sits on the floor and plays. What I most wanted to remember from this day was the joy that radiated from him and his family and the hope that they brought to me. The thoughts that ran through my mind were those of strength and love. This family has so much strength! They have already lost one child to this disease and they have sweet Jose and two others who are in the beginning stages of the same thing. I could feel the love in that room and I never wanted them to leave. This is a moment I want to cherish for as long as I can. As of late, I have been able to sit down and enjoy the afternoons with the children. I get to play hide and go seek, or just watch them play ball. I often take these times for granted. One afternoon in particular, all the children had taken out this huge plastic parachute and were running around in circles screaming and laughing. I stood back and just watched them to see what they were going to do. I remember looking at those small hands holding so tightly onto the sides of the parachute and all of the excitment in their eyes. They ran and ran in circles and threw the parachute up into the air and all ran like little mice under it. I can not explain to you the pure bliss and beauty of that moment. It was a perfect afternoon! We were no longer in a third world country, we were not hungry, we were not sweating. It did not matter where we had come from. All of these children, in that moment, were purely happy and so was I. This is how I think God wants us to be, laughing and playing and just enjoying the moments when there is peace. I am so glad that I get to do that here with these children. And last but not least, I am becoming Mrs. Gomez! As most of you know and have seen, Omar asked me to marry him. This was definitely a moment that I want to remember. I moved here two years ago and some odd number of months. In the first three months of my life as a missionary, I had the honor of meeting him. He was working, and still is, as the house parent to the teenage boy`s home here at the Children`s Center. Àfter some time dating, lots of prayers, and advice of dear friends, we have decided to start a life together. I am still not sure what that will look like, but I do know that God has answered my prayers. He has a given me a man who has the same passions as me and who wants to continue to stay here in Honduras and allow me to be able to work as a missionary! I am asking for contined prayers as we plan a wedding, for our engagement period and future as husband and wife and also as we look into finances for the future.
I am in awe of what beautiful work God has done in my life. I get to be a missionary in this beautiful country. I am learning nursing skills and meeting lovely families along the way and I get to marry my best friend.. all while living with a mountain of adorable children and a wonderful staff. There are days, like today, when I get to sit and drink coffee and enjoy the cool night air, but more importantly I get to enjoy what a wonderous work God has done and continues to do in my life as a missionary. Please keep sweet Jose and his family in your prayers as well as the other children and missionary families here. Hands. It seems as though these past few months my hands have been busy, carrying boxes as I moved into my new Casa (house), warming the hand of Renan as we walk around and look at the sky, debreiding wounds at the hospital, using a pencil to help some of the children with afternoon homework sessions, folding one hand into the other as I beg God for help and wisedom, or using them to clap at Thursday night fellowship as one of the other missionary shares a praise that God has done this week. Because of this, I have found myself thinking a lot lately about hands. My hands and the hands of God. Throughout the day we use our hands for so many little things, whether it`s to push off the sheet to get out of bed, or to put on a pot of coffee to help us get the day started. Our hands are always moving. - As Christians we are called to be the hands of God. - Learning. I have learned so much in the past two months. I have learned that I am the worst at updating and making blog posts on time (forgive me). I have learned that my patience is very thin and I need to learn to have more patience like the Lord has with me. Patience with others and patience with myself. One important thing I learned is from something I experienced a week or so ago. The head missionaries of the Children`s Center went away for a few days over the weekend and I was asked to be on ``labor duty``. One of the girls who is currently living in the home was very, very pregnant. I did not think too much of the favor when it was asked of me because she was a few days away from her due date and they were to return the next day. To make a long story short, they got held up for an extra day and she went into labor on my watch! We headed off towards the hospital as I tried to keep my facial expressions far far away from what I was feeling inside. All I could think was, ``How do I comfort her? I have never had a baby, I barely know when labor starts.`` We made it there with plenty of time to spare and I prayed over and over again to know what to say and what to do to make her feel as safe as possible. The first thing I remembered was that when I am scared and in a situation that I do not know what is going to happen or if I can do it, I always hear the holy spirit whisper to me that I am always going to see tomorrow. Tomorrow may be in heaven or it may be here in dusty road Balfate Honduras, but I will always make it to tomorrow. So I softly reminded her that she could do this and that she would see tomorrow and that she would have a beautiful baby girl to accompany her for all the tomorrows she would see. Four hours later the missionaries arrived and took over as I rushed off to take a shower, ( thinking that her labor would not be happening for at least a few more hours). Little did I know, thirty minutes later popped out sweet baby E and she had made it through and was going to make it to tomorrow. At first I was disappointed to hear that I missed the birth. I felt like I was there for the difficult part and I did not get to enjoy the miracle and right then is when God taught me something new. He taught me that we go where he wants and we do what he asks us to do, we are his hands when he needs and we are his feet when needs. He has so graciously chosen us to do the work that he could do and do it ten times better. I may not have been there to see the birth, but I got to be exactly where he needed me and I got to comfort her in a way that I only knew how to comfort someone becuase I have felt God comfort me in that way. I learned that we may not make it to the finish line of every race we start, but we get the chance to run and to run with all we have, and that is more than enough for me. Changes.
A lot of things have been changing here lately. Like I mentioned above, I have moved into a somewhat larger house and I love it so very much! I am starting to take on a few more small rolls at the hospital and am learning so much more than I ever imagined. I am going to start back doing some physical therapy with Cindy (13 yr old with Cerebral Palsy) and doing some work with another disabled child here at the Children`s Center. I am starting to raise funds to begin the process of becoming a Honduran resident so that I can stay here longer amounts of time. Last but not least, school is almost out and the rain is going to come and so my afternoons will be filled with running in rain puddle and playing games with all the children. I have never been a big fan of change, but as I look back at the past two years of my life and see all the changes in my surroundings and the changes in myself as a Christian and as a woman, I would say that change is the best thing that has happened to me and I look forward to more changes God has waiting for me. If you are interesed in finding out how to help me become a resident or read why I am trying to get my residency here, please clink on the link named, ``SUPPORT``. |