Mother's Day and a few random thoughts.

Last Sunday was Mother's day both here and in the US, unlike Father's day, which is is celebrated not only on different days but in different months.

Sunday, being our family's day of rest, we woke late and lazed around the house enjoying the cooler weather than we had been experiencing the past few weeks. The rains still have not arrived, missing the traditional May 3rd date by a long shot, no real surprise there (and as I write this on the 17th we still are without rain), but the skies are less smoky and the air clearer even though.

One of the things about Siguatepeque is that there are very few decent restaurant choices and those we have tend to offer the same fare, typico or typico. Personally, I much prefer to eat at the street vendors sidewalk stalls, but these aren't places one would normally take one's wife or mother on Mother's day, unless one is extremely unwise....something I have on occasion been accused of.

Instead of going out and fighting crowds of people trying to squeeze into the two nice restaurants, the boys and I decided to cook a special meal for Barbe. Del Corral, our local super market, usually has excellent ribeye steaks, well mottled with fat, tender and priced at only $4.60 per pound, so, we decided on ribeyes, baked potatoes, corn and yeast rolls. To top it all off the boys made a cheesecake, Barbe's favorite dessert. Also from the boys, a bouquet of yellow roses and homemade, handwritten cards, a family tradition.

Best Mother's day dinner in Sigua

Barbe's Boys

Flame broiled ribeye

Over all it was a beautiful, relaxing day. I'm grateful for my wife and the the mother she has been to our boys. For so many years while I was on the road she had to "hold down the fort" so to speak, homeschooling the boys and keeping things running at home. Now, here in Honduras she keeps our ever busy house/Institute running as well as taking care of 8 month old Carlitos. 

Other random thoughts.

I have been restless lately. I am once again feeling the need for travel and adventure. Honduras, as much as I love our life here, is becoming increasingly common place and normal. It's genetic and I know this and so I try to guard against it, but even still....my heart longs for the vista of new places, of never knowing what's around the next bend, of being on the move. I will be going to Roatan this week, a place I have never been...maybe that will help for awhile.

We will soon be losing two families we have been very close to here in Sigua as they prepare to move back to the US. They will leave a huge hole in our circle of friends. Ben, in particular, will be losing one of his very best friends. We are going to miss you guys, Haglers and Cadmus'.

Ben and Colby (center) with other "best buds" Grant, Jake and Gus

Sunday; a day of rest

Carlitos and Thomas catching a Sunday nap together

Sunday has become a true day of rest for us. And I look forward to it each week. I see the wisdom, God our creator, used when He made a day of rest mandatory and legal, because without it, many of us wouldn't take the time to rest, relax and focus on Him, our families and the rejuvenation of our own personal spirituality, energy and emotions.

From 7:30 in the morning until 6:00 at night, Monday through Friday and often on Saturday, we have students and teachers in the house as our Spanish Institute of Honduras goes about it's business. On Tuesday evenings our home fellowship group meets for dinner, laughing and visiting, Bible study and prayer. Throughout the week, visitors and friends come and go. All day, every day, we work, we clean, we run errands, hold meetings...work, work, work, go, go, go.

So Sundays have become our family's day of rest and togetherness. A day to sleep in, have a nice breakfast together, read and relax...and nap. We love the hustle and bustle that exists here throughout the week, but I love the peace and quiet of Sunday.

People ask us if we attend church. The answer is yes. Our Tuesday night home fellowship group has become our church, our place of encouragement, our support, our place of prayer and fellowship. It's not that I am against going to church on Sunday, it's just that, unfortunately, "church" often becomes just another "busyness" on the one day that we have set aside to rest, defeating the purpose of the day.

Our one exception to this is that every other Sunday we drive the hour to Cerro Azul for the Bible study we have been holding for well over a year and a half now. Even that is restful. We sit in the shade enjoying the cool breeze that wafts down from the mountains that surround this tranquil mountain village at the end of a dirt road 10 km off the CA5. We sip hand roasted coffee and visit with each other. Sometimes the boys swim in the cool mountain stream which tumbles down through the large boulders just a few yards away from where we relax. There is no urgency, no schedule, no plan. Just time together in community.

There is a huge part of me that admires the Latin culture with it's "mañana" attitude. Myself, being a hard driving, self motivated, North American type A personality, it sometimes drives me a bit crazy, but there is much we Gringos could learn from it. So here's my advice.

Go ahead, take a break. 

It's okay to quit for one day a week and just enjoy God, life and family. 

You deserve it!

Busier than ever

It's April here in Siguatepeque, Honduras. Of course it's April around the world, but it means different things depending on where you are. In Boston for instance, spring has arrived and flowers and trees are beginning to bloom. It's a beautiful thing. But here in Sigua, a normally perfect place weather wise, it's awful. It's the warmest month of the year, averaging mid 90s. This morning, and for several weeks prior, the air has been so full of smoke I haven't been able to see my beloved mountains from my second story porch. The smoke hangs thick and heavy in the hot air as farmers all over Honduras burn their fields in preparation for the May corn planting. Clouds of dust billow up from the cars traversing the dirt streets of the town. The wind lifts the dust and transports it through the open windows and doors and covers everything in a fine layer of beige. Our normally lush lawn looks like a desert wasteland. My head hurts and my sinuses are a wreck and for these three or four weeks each year I wish I were somewhere else.

I can't wait for the rainy season to begin, for the air to clear, for life to reenter the vegetation and the dirt to stay on the roads where it belongs. Historically, or perhaps wishfully superstitious, the rains are supposed to begin on May 3rd. Hmmm, we'll see. Last year, if memory serves correct, the rain came on May 17th. Either way, it is near. Thank God.

Mom and Alfredo

Whew, it's been awhile since I've written. I can't believe how busy life has been. Mom and Mark flew down on March 17th to visit. Mom has since returned home, but Mark is here for awhile or until he leaves for Europe in July. He has been a huge help to me, running errands and going to the airport, etc.

Mom is 82 years old, and for her this trip was a bit long, but she did great...even returning to Boston by herself. It was so good to spend time with her. We didn't do much besides sit on the porch visiting. The weather was perfect for us, and especially for her because when she left Maine there were still 2 feet of snow on the ground. She spent a lot of time with Carlitos and even visited with Alfredo.

Mom spending quality time with Carlitos

Carlos is growing so fast. He'll be 8 months old soon. He's is personality plus with a capital P. He might even be a bit spoiled. He certainly is used to being held all the time, so he isn't real happy when he has to entertain himself. He is crawling, enormously engaged with people, loves food, has big ears... he kind of reminds me of myself actually. Even has a bald spot, although mine is considerably larger.

It is unlikely that we will be able to adopt him (we would if the opportunity was given us) and with each passing day we are more attached to him and he to us. We are beginning to see the heart dangers of foster care. When I think of giving him up, it tears my heart out. He is our baby, We are the ones who went through the sleep deprived nights, the ones who cared for him when he came to us at 19 days old, small, skinny and quiet. Well, I keep telling myself, we went into this knowing what the game was...or at least we thought we did.

Carlitos and Thomas, playing

The Spanish Institute of Honduras is growing rapidly and we are quickly becoming a recognized name in the missions world as a quality language school. Almost monthly we add a new missions agency to our growing list of clients. A big welcome to BMDMI and World Gospel Mission who recently sent us their first students. Keeping houses rented and furnished for our incoming families and finding Honduran host families for our single students has kept me occupied...never thought I'd end up being a landlord here. We are currently looking to hire another 2 teachers bringing us to a total of 13. I love seeing what is happening here and just want to say this. We have great teachers and great students, all of this adding up to a really great school. Our slogan is, "Come as friends, leave as family" and that's what we are. ( Check out this video of the Institute one of our talented young students made for us)

Another event that kept me busy was the arrival of Pastor Steve in February. Together we visited villages far, far up into the mountains on barely passable roads and he also helped me baptize three people at our bi-weekly Bible study in Cerro Azul.

Continuing our Clean Water for Schools Project, drilling another well and working on presentations for two huge, new manufacturing projects, hosting Living Hope Adoptions Agency's very first adoptive family here in Honduras as well as helping to create from the ground up the all new Honduran Childrens Alliance, something I am hugely excited and passionate about, are keeping me more than busy.

And there's this new idea I have......