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| Which Way Is Up? Oh, that's where the stars are....It seems like every so often there comes a time where one has throw out the archor in the flow of life and just confirm which way is up (that's where the stars are), which way is down (that's the direction water balloons go when thrown out of the bathroom window), that the sun really will come out tomorrow (rainbows come after the storm, remember?), and that, above all, God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good. Not that you ever doubted it. It more like when you just wanted to tumble off the merry-go-round and catch your breath and make sure that not all the world was spinning and maybe even catch your breath. Anyways, all that to say that I return with new energy and recharged batteries... | | |
| The Mind of a ChildAs a Teacher and Older Sister, the following made me laugh...
Anne had come home from school the previous evening, to find Marilla away at an Aid meeting, Dora asleep on the kitchen sofa, and Davy in the sitting room closet, blissfully absorbing the contents of a jar of Marilla's famous yellow plum preserves . . . "company jam," Davy called it . . . which he had been forbidden to touch. He looked very guilty when Anne pounced on him and whisked him out of the closet. "Davy Keith, don't you know that it is very wrong of you to be eating that jam, when you were told never to meddle with anything in THAT closet?" "Yes, I knew it was wrong," admitted Davy uncomfortably, "but plum jam is awful nice, Anne. I just peeped in and it looked so good I thought I'd take just a weeny taste. I stuck my finger in . . ." Anne groaned . . . "and licked it clean. And it was so much gooder than I'd ever thought that I got a spoon and just SAILED IN." Anne gave him such a serious lecture on the sin of stealing plum jam that Davy became conscience stricken and promised with repentant kisses never to do it again. "Anyhow, there'll be plenty of jam in heaven, that's one comfort," he said complacently. Anne nipped a smile in the bud. "Perhaps there will . . . if we want it," she said, "But what makes you think so?" "Why, it's in the catechism," said Davy. "Oh, no, there is nothing like THAT in the catechism, Davy." "But I tell you there is," persisted Davy. "It was in that question Marilla taught me last Sunday. 'Why should we love God?' It says, 'Because He makes preserves, and redeems us.' Preserves is just a holy way of saying jam." - Anne of Avonlea, Lucy Maud Montgomery
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| Beware: If You Pray... He Will AnswerJust wanted let you know that we're HOME! The Taller-Although-Younger Sister had an awful fever the night before and Mom didn't feel quite too chipper, but between the 5 doctors and 4 nurses in our family, they stuffed us full of magical pills and we were all able to leave for the airport at 4am. We also promised ourselves that we wouldn't do such an early exit again... 
I spent nearly all of Monday at the Hogar. At first, I was going to leave at noon... But somehow it kinda stretched until 3pm...And then Tía still needed to write a letter to for me to take. I knewit would take her forever since every other minute little ones would run up to her. And her phone wouldn't stop ringing, either.
So I decided to go with some of the older kids to join the others down at the creek.
Now my idea of going to the creek is going down a dirt path, climb over a few rocks, and TADA!
Imagine my surprise when Daniel (aged 18, been there 4 yrs, Tía's right hand) plunged off the paved road and onto an otherwise invisible path... Anddown the inner side of the mountain we went! The path was steep and usually not more than 10 inches wide. It did haveabout an inch of grass acting as guardrail. Oh, and there was the creek about 100 ft or so below... Just waiting to catch you if you fell. Isn't that nice to know?
Danielled the way and Ophelia brought up the rear. At one point, the pathdropped a bit more (translated = straight down). Daniel called back,"Oop! Gonna be a little hard for the señoritas..." Which meant me. heh. Ophelia grew up in the mountains...
"We won't be coming back up this way", said Daniel. Made sense since the path was about to crumble off the side of the mountain anyways, due to the heavy rains.
We finally came to creek, hollered, and couldn't hear a soul.
Daniel decided the best bet was to head up the creek, so off we went...
It'shard for me to say how far it was... I tend to measure everything bycity blocks, but somehow that doesn't seem the best way to measure inthis setting.
We were hopping from rock to rock, trying to avoid sink holes, clamber up alongside smaller waterfalls, etc. Keep in mind that the walls of the mountain go pretty straight up on either side, so youreally don't have much choice of where or how you're going forward.
Of course, this had to be the day I wore my 'straighter' denim skirt. heh. And my nice suede flats. HA! yeah.
I felt like the whole time, they're watching me. I'm a señorita. I'm in a skirt. I'm in nice shoes. Yet somehow, there I was laughing, "It's just like a movie, guys!"
It went pretty well until we came to a not-so-small waterfall... that went straight up about 6 ft or so.
ok. ummm... this is going to be fun.......
It is amazing how an impossible slab of rock can sprout little nooks for your feet and hands if only you look hard enough. And with a friendly handwaiting at the top, anything is possible.
This whole time we haven't heard a peep from the group we were going to join. Finally, Daniel decided to leave us at the foot of Really High Waterfall and see if the others are up at the top. So up heclimbs... It's about 100ft up. I didn't think to watch...
The whole week I had been trying to get through to the Older Kids (ages10-18). The Little Ones and I got along just fine... But somehow, I just hadn't been able to crack the code with the Older Kids.
Ophelia and I are sitting at the foot of the waterfall of pure water... And we start talking. About her family (five kids). What she likes (soccer!). And earrings (she likes any kind).
Maybe this is bigger than just a trip to the creek.
It seems to so weird to think that in 12 hrs I would be on a plane headed back to Washington, DC. Oh. And I hadn't hardly packed at all. I decided not to let that mar the moment...
Daniel drops down to tell us that no one is around.
oh well. It was a nice hike. Let's go home...
Which means we have to go back the way we came. Down the rocks, through the brush, to the waterfall. You thought the 6 ft was bad going up? ha. yeah. Try going down! But the steps and nooks are still there, thank God.
Then I came to a smaller waterfall.
Me: How should I go down?
Daniel: (shrugs) However you like...
So I jumped. And went down....... A little deeper than was expected. (ok, yes, believe or not, I slightly shrieked). hahahaha!! Daniel didn't tell me that again. But it was great to see the look on his face... Before when he didn't think I would jump and after when I went down a bit more than expected.
Ophelia was regaining cheerfulness, "It's just like a movie, isn't it?"
Daniel: "Like Indian Jones and the Anaconda River..." (or whatever it's called....)
We decide to go back up the path-that-is-crumbling since it's not all THAT bad... I mean it's gone in some places, but what of it? We're almost to the top... Almost to safety... When Daniel hears a very faint shout.Next thing we know, he's down the path and before long he's hollering for us to follow. We are becoming good friends with the path-that-is-crumbling. heh. And the creek still awaited about 100ft below to catch us... Poor Ophelia gasped every time she heard me rustle. She thought for sure I was going to tumble...
Then it's back up the creek, over the rocks, up the slab of rockwhich is getting to be an old friend, past the original waterfall, to the beginning of the creek which comes from an even bigger waterfall of clear pure ice cold water from the top of the mountain.
Hector (14) told me that I was pretty good at the hiking. That made me happy since he doesn't dole out compliments very much. Honestly, though, I think you would be good at it too if you went up and down a stretch a couple times and knew where all the sink spots were and which stones wiggle and where the sinking sand is... Don't forget thedeeper-than-it-looks waterfall, too.
By the time we got to the spring, it was time to head back...Several of the children were very cold. I don't know how they managed to get down, but apparently, it wasn't good for the return trip.
The suggestion was make to scale the Very Tall and High Waterfall. But the teacher nixed that idea.
Daniel almost left us to go tell my aunt 'that we would be late'...But finally he decided to stick it out with us and let her look at the clock to figure it out.
Off we go, nearly 20 of us, mostly children ages 9-12, with a few older children like Samantha(14),Hector, Gloria Rachel (17), Daniel, Jose Daniel (15) and one teacher.
We really couldn't take the path-that-is-crumbling this time... It'd fall away underneath us for sure!!
So we push on down the mountain, hoping to find another way out. This could take awhile....
Too bad you couldn't see us... Felt like a group of refugees goingon and on. :)
Miss m'Lizabeth was still under survillence. How long was she gonna last?
Next came the THE waterfall. yeah. All the little boys, little monkeys that they are, were ready and willing to launch themselves down... Teacher said that the girls couldn't do it.
Only other option was to go around the mountain wall were there was really no path and you took it one step at a time... And hung onto the vines and roots as a safety precaution.
By now, Jose Daniel (14) was my escort as we inched across the mountain wall...
JD: 'It's like a movie! It's like I'm a hero in a movie!!"
heh. no kidding, dude.
One thing that this adventure taught me was that when you thought that you couldn't go on... You could. And somehow when you looked down at thecreek full of rock, crabs, and snakes, you realized that failure was not an option. You have to live to end of the movie, remember???.
Then the path-that-didn't-really-exist kinda vanished altogether. This is the point where you suddenly wish you had climbed down the falls. We had different boys stationed, propped up by different tree roots to catch you when you had to slide down to where the path resumed to takeus down to our beloved creek of dirty water that was so rudelyinterrupted by an amazing waterfalls..
After my slide (which, btw, was very exciting), Daniel hollered tome in English as he brought up the rear, "Elizabeth! You just wanted astory! You just wanted a story to tell when you go home tomorrow..."
So it really turned into more than a hike. It was a chance to break down barriers that hadn't caved into anything else.
Me: Samantha, do you have a journal? You have to write about this tonight!
Daniel: (to me) Do you have a journal? Are you going to write about this tonight?
It's kinda hard not to break ice when you're calling to one thegirls that they can make it, telling them not to look at the chichicaste welts (it's a type of poisin ivy plant that if you brush against the leaves, it will prick, hurt, and swell like a bee sting), or when one of the boys is holding onto your waist in case you slip...
Daniel: Do you do this often?
Me: Well... It's been awhile...Nothing quite like this...
It was all worth it when he said,
"Welcome to our world."
Who cares about ol' shoes anyways??? Some things can't be bought.
Eventually, the stream dissapearred into a tunnel in a concretewall. We tiptoed up the tiny steps (we joked it was Tikal), then crawled up the mountain (tellme what trails look like again?). This was slightly harder since thereweren't hardly any roots/vines to hang onto. But one look down told youthat not making it wasn't an option. Thank God for friendly hands! Once we made it to the top,there was a path that took us to the main road.
I never knew that pavement could look so beautiful.
I wish you could've seen us... Kaki pants where now dark brown, whitesweatshirts had new patterns, and all our shoes were full of sand and dirt. We looked like a rag taggled group of refugees.
But we were happy. Daniel said he felt GREAT! Nothing like a real adventures to get out the kinks from painting all day.
"If you PLAN an event, something is bound to go wrong. So it's better to just let adventures happen..."
Apparently, we had wandered a good bit down the mountain trying to find a way up to the main road. But now that we were out, all we had todo was hike back up the mountain. You know, that road I was always gladI didn't have to walk up? yeah. that one...
Tía was so glad to see us. You would not believe the amount of dirt that came out of our shoes! Poor poor shoes.
But the ice was broken.
I was on the Friends List.
Tíawent into the storage room and dug out a pair of dry jeans without anypockets and a pair of recycled crocs. TADA! They actually fit, too.
Moral 1: If you hike for over three hours practically nonstop, you may be VERY VERY sore for several days.
Moral2: If a snake skin is laying across your foot, you do not need to freakout b/c a snake skin cannot hurt you. It is also preferable to discoverthat it is just a snake skin BEFORE someone deals a deathblow with itover your foot. (This did not happen to me, btw.)
Moral 3: If you ask for God to open doors, He might send you down into a mountain and over a waterfall.
Anyways, I guess you could call this 'going out with a bang'...Thank you again for praying for us. We are excited about what the future holds for us and the vision He is giving us for future ministry. | | |
| We´re back in the City! We were all sad to leave the house at the foot of the volcanos. But we´re back at my grandma´s house...
On Saturday I found out that I would have the opportunity to run a VBS style project for about 45 boys at the Hogar... They are on their equivalent of Spring Break and about to bust with energy... So I had about 48 hrs to throw a program together. Surprisingly, I wasn´t a bit stressed... Isn´t God faithful??
I often sense spiritual warfare going on... Praise God that He is mighty. We truly appreciate your prayers...
On Sunday night I got a call from our friends in Antigua that they were going to make the trek in by bus to come and help with the Hogar! What an answer to prayer... Now there would be 5 of us for 50 kids. ;) Then, on Monday morning, my aunt told me that another group of Americans would be stopping by... Turned out to be a great missions team from a evangelical church in NE. What a blessing to have them there to round up the 94 kids (ok... so I slightly miscounted... heh. I was never good at math...)
It was so encouraging to see God answer prayer... At this point, I´m on my own for the rest of the week, but somehow I don´t feel overwhelmed... We´re off to a good start... However that doesn´t mean that we don´t still need you to pray for us... Sometimes it seems like when you start winning, one has a tendency to relax. But the Battle is far from over. :) From the now famous Ritzy Hole in the Wall, Elizabeth | | |
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True
Just keep telling yourself that it's really funny and pray that your cell phone has enough juice to call your dad...
