A Happy Heart

"A happy heart is like good medicine, but a broken spirit drains your strength."
Proverbs 17:22 (NCV)

I know many people have asked me about the trip and when I'm going to share stories, but honestly I'm not ready yet. Anyone who has been on a mission trip knows it takes a while to decompress and process everything you've seen. I'm still in the processing stage, but I thought I'd share some of the lighter moments that kept us going.

Couldn't help but snap this photo at the car rental counter. Glad to know we have options.

After we got our trucks and were loading up, Stephanie and I were looking for an English radio station. We found one, kind of. A cover of "Discovery Channel" by the Bloodhound Gang. Yeah, 'cause that song needed a remake.

It was because of that song though that we realized we graduated the same year, and we were both at the Purdue vs. Michigan State game in East Lansing in 2000! We both remember it as a cooooooold game. It's nice to find friends down here who understand what "wind chill" and "lake effect snow" mean. :)

This is what I wrote about our hotel the first day. "We're leaving the Villa Nuria hotel for Copan today. It's pretty much indistinguishable from a condo in Florida. Except the electric fence and guards with guns."




I have plenty more happy memories to share. Later. :)

The Meaning of Worship

I know I haven't posted any Honduras stories yet, but it's tough to get those thoughts on paper and convey exactly what I want to say. I have half a dozen posts started, but none finished. This one, though, is easy enough and I have been excited to share it.

Confession- I was not looking forward to attending Dr. Cruz's church in San Pedro. I figured it'd be long, hot, and in Spanish. Well it was long, but it wasn't hot thanks to multiple AC units, and even though the music was in Spanish, it didn't matter because it was SO MUCH FUN. More on that later.

There was a guest preacher from North Carolina, so while much of the service was in Spanish, the sermon was actually in English. We kind of got the feel on how the translating works. There's a balance for keeping the train of thought going, but also pausing often enough for the translator to keep up. The parts of the service that were in Spanish with no translation were still really emotional, so even though I really had no idea what was begin said, I still understood what was going on, if that makes sense. Plus I thought it was good for me to be more sympathetic to guests in our country who don't speak English. I've never been one to think "if you want to be an American, learn the language," but it's still very different being on the receiving end. 

So I'm not going waste my time trying to explain how JOYFUL the service was, because I took some video. Keep in mind the service was three hours long, but they kept up this energy and enthusiasm THE WHOLE TIME. Definitely different from the way we worship most of the time. 

This video is just of the offering. Now we were there on a special Sunday (it was a birthday of the church), so I don't know if it's like this every week, but I thought it was so much more in the spirit of giving than just passing a plate around! (I apologize for the poor quality of the video. I was using my old point and shoot camera, which doesn't auto focus. Boo.)

So in the end, I was wrong. The service was one of the highlights of the trip for me. Just goes to show you always need to have an open mind, AND an open heart. 

Honduras Day -6

Thanks to Joe Stokes for my beautiful journal! I'm not much of a journaler, but I hope to dedicate some time each day to recording my thoughts. I know I'll be glad I did! I'm going to share an edited version of my entries here with you. I hope you enjoy. :)


T-minus six days.

We've been planning for this trip for so long, it's hard to believe the day is almost here.

Christians don't own the market on good works, or even just good people, but I do wonder how people can make it through hard times without looking toward God. I know I need His strength right now. I've been through rough patches in my life, but it does seem like it's all coming at me from every angle these days.

I know I was given the gifts of leadership and teaching. It's just that sometimes, I wish they hadn't been bestowed upon me. That's A LOT of responsibility, and I'm weary. I want someone else to carry those burdens for awhile. Give me the gift of patience! Or compassion! I could stand to sit in the back of the room with my mouth shut for once.

That box I've kept locked up- the Amelia box? Well it burst wide open today. I can barely stand to write about leaving her. What will I do next week? The thought makes me physically ill. I look at our schedule and the words "free time" induce panic. Lord, keep me busy. Don't let me think about my little girl at home, asking for me.

That she's sick right now doesn't help. That I can't stop her from getting hurt; that it's my fault, is unbearable. I want to take her hurt away and make it mine. Let me hurt for my child.

EC's surgery is tomorrow. I know she'll be a trooper and make it through with flying colors. Her poor mom though. I can see the anguish in her eyes. I pray for peace for her. She will not rest, I know, until this ordeal is over.

God giving his son for us is the symbol we need to understand his love. Anyone would give their own life, their own suffering, for someone they love. But to give your child- your ONLY child- is a much greater gesture. Only a parent understands that. How we would do anything so our children never feel pain or hunger or grief.

This is what gives me anxiety about this trip. The mothers and their babies. We are the same, us mothers. We all want the same. To love our children to the fullest.

It is arrogant of me to think my life is better than theirs. This realization, which came to me recently, is what I hope will get me through. We may have cars, lavish houses, a college education; does that mean our lives are better? No. To grow up loved by your parents, community. To know God and live a simple, godly life free of distraction, that may be as God intended it. We should be so lucky!

This is my mission. To learn what love and family truly mean. This is my burden, my cross to bear.

Slacker!

I am so so so far behind on blog posts. If I think about posting, but don't actually do it, does that count? If so, I'm on top of things and you're just days behind in your reading. :)

I'll do some quick posts of what I was up to in the month of May.

Mother's Day Craft

I bought these adorable felt heart ornaments at Target's after-Christmas sale 3 for $0.10! That made it affordable for the whole sixth grade to do and we tied in a symmetry lesson as well. The kids had fun making them and I think most of them even made it home! I know moms love getting handmade gifts from their kids, no matter how old they get!

My favorite moment of the day was when I was setting all the supplies up one of the boys said, "Are we making Mother's Day gifts?"
"Yes, we are."
"Oh good. 'Cause I'm flat broke."

At least he knew he needed to do something for his mom!

Space Bowl

On a whim, I decided to stage a parents versus kids Space Trivia Bowl right before the kids went to Space Camp. I had about a dozen parents show up, which was awesome. Maybe if I do it again with more warning, more can come. Anyway, all the parents and about half the kids got buzzers. We had to do it in Dana's room because the software and hardware wouldn't communicate with each other using my laptop. I finally just gave up. I made about about 30 questions on everything from Sputnik to the Shuttle program. Garrick had the highest score of course, but I was able to throw in a couple trick questions that stumped even him. A fun time was had by all. :)

End-of-Year Gifts

For the last day of school, I made little gift boxes for all my students. It was pretty inexpensive; about $1 per kid, and again, I think most of them made it home. Anytime I do these kind of things I have to accept the fact that about 25% of the kids really won't care at all and will throw it away on the way out the door, 50% will at least keep it for a little while, but 25% of the kids will really appreciate it. I do it for that 25%.

Here's the poem that goes with the items:

A little box of hope 
A star so you can shine in the darkness 
An eraser for life's little mistakes 
A paperclip to help you hold it all together 
A rubber band to remind you to be flexible 
A marker to make your mark on the world

You can be as creative as you want and work within your budget to make pretty much any little items work! My steal was the favor boxes- dollar section at Target, 5 for $0.30! They weren't even marked on sale, so that was a bonus when I got to the register!

So that was the end of another year in sixth grade. What a crazy, whirlwind year! Who knows what next year will bring? Keeping my fingers crossed that someone will realize 32 kids in a class is RIDICULOUS and give us our fifth unit back. Until then, I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to focus on my Honduras trip and making the most out of the days I get to spend there! I already have my first blog post in my head. Maybe this week I'll get it down on "paper". :)

Adios!

The Bag Lady

I love bags. A large portion of my enviably large closet is dedicated to my bag fetish. I just can't seem to stop buying them, although I hardly need any. But I keep hoping I'll find the perfect bag. Alas, it doesn't seem to exist.

In the meantime, I have a million bags each dedicated to their own purpose. Having a baby opens one up to a whole new host of excuses to buy new bags. And yet, like the bag itself, the contents of a perfectly organized, perfectly "be-prepared-for-the-worst" diaper bag seem to elude me. My goal is to compile a list of the contents of a diaper bag at different ages and stages. I'm going to start with age 1+ because that's where I am now, but I'm going to work backwards to coming home day. I'm hoping all my mommy friends will help me and maybe even contribute pictures of the contents of their bags!

Today, these are the contents of my one-year-old daughter's diaper bag:

• One change of clothes (onesie and shorts for summer)
• Wipes
• 3 diapers
• hand sanitizer
• diaper cream
• Reusable bag for dirty clothes or dirty diapers
• Disposable place mats
• Wipe-off bib 
• Sanitizing wipes
• One food pouch (We love the Earth's Best yogurt pouches!)
• One individual serving apple juice (I can't believe how many places do not have kid-friendly drinks!) 
• Snack trap containing baby trail mix
• Blankie with paci on a strap
• Extra paci
• Sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• Teething toy
• Cosmetic bag containing: advil, tylenol, teething gel, bandaids, extra hair clips and rubber bands
• Compact umbrella
• Board book

If I get ambitious, I'll spread everything out and take a picture. 

What should I have that I've forgotten? It's hard to find that line between being prepared for anything and packing everything but the kitchen sink!

*Also in my car is the "emergency bag" that contains extra diapers and wipes, a changing pad for back-of-the-car diaper changes, hand sanitizer, another food pouch, and an extra outfit. In the back seat is a bag of car toys- a stuffed dino, glo-doodle, board books, and teething toy. ALSO behind the passenger's seat is another pouch with wipes and a diaper. Can you tell I'm paranoid about running out of diapers? It hasn't happened yet!

Very Hungry Caterpillar Button Art

I love button art. I think because A) I'm not an artist at all, but this makes me seem creative and B) it's whimsical without being too babyish. So I was going to do a very cute rainbow for Squirt's "big girl" room, but decided to go with the Very Hungry Caterpillar instead. And as a bonus, it made a very cute decoration for her party. :)

Step 1. Sketch out the shape on an artist canvas. For this project, I used an 11x14. I wish I had done larger. Buttons seem small until you're trying to do button art.

Step 2. I had to use markers for the finer details. There was no way buttons were going to cut it. I thought it would ruin the look, but it really didn't!

Step 3. Okay, so I didn't really do a step-by-step progression here, but this is where you fill everything in. I had tubs of colored buttons. The reds could really be sorted into dark red, pink red, orange red, etc. Pick a hue and run with it. For the body of the caterpillar, it's not just green. There's lots of variation in the picture, so I tried to mimic that.

Step 4. More accents with the markers. The top of the caterpillar is outlined in yellow.

 Step 5. Hair accents make the caterpillar fuzzy.

Step 5: Show off your handiwork!

First Birthday

We survived birthday week. There were some points this week that I thought it wasn't going to happen. Like when I lost my voice on Thursday, or when Squirt's 12-month shots left her bruised and cranky ON her birthday. Poor thing.

But in the end, I do think we accomplished the goal. Remembering her day of birth with joy, not sadness.

Unfortunately, her birthday will forever be linked with the tornadoes. To this day, whenever anyone asks her birthday and I say, "April 25," they make the connection. Or they say, "I'll never forget the day you came home from the hospital."

Yeah, neither will we.

But I digress. Today was about the JOY of the last year, not the stress of her first week.

About four months ago I decided her birthday party would be Very Hungry Caterpillar. It's her favorite book, has been since she was old enough to pick her bedtime story. Pinterest is FULL of VHC ideas (Link to my board here). Some easier than others, I thought it was a theme I could pull off with little effort. Unfortunately, since I've had so much time to think about it, the simple "cake and ice cream with the family" went a bit overboard. But I don't care because I had fun.

The best part about this theme- it's all about the food. And honestly, what else is there to do at a one-year-old birthday party? Garrick and I had long decided we would only invite family to the birthday parties until our kids are old enough to have buddies that they want to invite. That being said, we weren't going to do any crafts or games for the adults. (Although this morning I thought it would be fun to make everyone list all the foods from the book from memory. Alicia, my brother's girlfriend, correctly named twelve! And Andrew is quite the artist, so I gave him a VHC coloring page, which he and Alicia colored for her memory book.)

We had Squirt's one-year pictures done this morning, so I'll have actual professional photos of her dress, the VHC quilt I made, and some of the party stuff soon. I'll definitely post it!

Some of the things not in the photos:
1. The "game" I came up with was pretty fun. I wish I'd thought of it sooner so I could have had a good prize! (The "prize" was the empty helium canister.)
2. I bought a miniature version of the book to use as a guest book. Everyone loved it.
3. We did pre-scooped ice cream in cupcake liners per Pinterest. That and the cupcakes made serving cake and ice cream a cinch. Which was good since I was upstairs hosing someone off.
4. We bought a helium canister because we thought it would be cheaper than buying individual latex balloons at $1.29 +tax each. I don't think it ended up being a savings. I'll know better next time.


Here's a rundown of my execution of all the Pinterest ideas I found. Since none were original ideas, I'll just post the pictures. It's up to you to find the original pin if you want to copy it! If anyone is doing a VHC party in the near future, let me know and you can borrow all of my stuff!

Flowers, using orange slices to brighten the look.

Watermelon (cut into butterfly shapes using cookies cutter. Wilson bug set found at Joann's) and Strawberries. 

Apples and Oranges

Lollipops from Party City. Great party favor for big "kids."

Salami (butterflies) and Swiss Cheese (caterpillars) cut with the cookies cutters. FYI- cutting salami with a cookie cutter is not as easy as you might think. Cheese was easier than you might think. The butterfly crackers come in the Pepperidge Farm Entertaining Pack.

Chocolate cupcakes (cake mix+greek yogurt+water) for the grown-ups and white cake for the babe.
This was actually my husband's idea.  Even though I had seen it on Pinterest, he had not and came up with the suggestion all by himself! Impressive!

The spread

Gorgeous dress made by Squirt's Nanny.
If you must have one, contact her via Etsy! She's very good at custom orders.

Frame off an artist's canvas. We got pictures with Squirt and everyone at the party.

Boons!

Memo board found at Joann's and button art by me. Ok, so that was original.
I'm going to do a post on how I did that sometime soon.