Kaleigh's last day....

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; Ecclesiastes 3:4

Today was a joyful day, because I could rejoice that I had met Kaleigh, we had a lot of good times, a lot of good talks, and she is a special part in my Ecuador experience! I'm so thankful that God sent us both here at the same time! But it was also a sad day, because it was time to say goodbye..

So we spent are last day doing what we all love to do! Spend time together, with the tias, outside, and last but most definitely not least! With the children!

The sun was brilliant!! We took the toddlers for a walk, a play session and a snack in the open air!

It was so hard not to fall asleep!

KALEIGH!!

Our little partners!

So Natasha and I cooked up a storm this afternoon, (post to follow, when I'm not so exhausted!). We had a goodbye party with all the children for Kayleigh, and another volunteer who were both headed home! Then this evening we had a little farewell dinner at our house! Yes, it was our first time entertaining, and it was very fun! We were so blessed to have all of these ladies spend their evening with us!

Goodbye Kaleigh!! God be with you till we meet again! :)

Two weeks in Ecuador!!

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Another day at For His Children, I never get tired of these guys!

All the baby's were waiting for their bottles when I came at 7 am, so I jumped right to it!!

I love these little lion suits they have!

I never get tired of holding them!!

What a sweet little girl!

This little guy's hair just cracks me up!!

Fed and dressed, I wore them all out!

The girl from Switzerland, we have not figured out her name, but I have certainly enjoyed her company!

This is a handsome little guy!

Priceless every one of them!

A room full of babies, needing family's to love them!

Haha I love this one! She just woke up and her hair was sticking up from her pony tail the day day before! Her pajamas's were super big, hence the leg sticking out behind, but she was just a smiling happy girl!

Later morning we went on a walk with the toddlers, which I haven't done since my first day here, I was amazed by how more ordinary all the things that totally shocked me, two weeks ago! I tried to capture a few things that really caught my attention the first time!

These were my little traveling companions! They look totally thrilled to have a Wisconsin driver!

My first glimpse of Ecuador!

I love, love, love the mountains!!

Everything is fenced in and gated!

Yes, there is a lot of trash on the side of this road, including a toilet, a lot of dogs, a dog house, the neighbor hood liter box.....(ya it smells pretty bad), a lot of graffiti on the fence (but that's everywhere!!).

Yes, I think that they hand stick all of that glass into the cement, this is all over the place too!

Very pedestrian friendly.... not! But its ok, if someone hits you, don't worry they will go to jail!

This hardest part of today was finding out that the little boy that was suppose to go home with his mom, was abandoned yet again....I don't understand! I love him so much and I have only known him for 2 weeks! But God know the details, and He has a wonderful plan for this precious little child of His!

Natasha is doing much better!! YAH Praise the Lord!! Today she was back on her feet a little more and it was wonderful! I didn't realize how much I missed having her around the last couple of days! She is an amazing interpreter! But also a very special friend!

I was able to talk to Kayleigh a lot about adoption today, which was really neat! She has two adopted sisters! Adoption is truly an amazing thing!

We went downstairs this afternoon and they grabbed me, pulled me to the couch and attacked my hair again! O the pains of being beautiful! I don't think I have ever know little girls that love hair as much as they do! But how can you tell them no, even though I think I won't have much hair left by the time I leave......

The children were so full of energy! It was a little crazy! I just laugh when I think of all the people that said that about our house, that was nothing compared to this one! But you can't help loving each and everyone of them!

Serving in the little things

O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise Him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Praise ye the Lord. 

Psalm 117

Well after a wonderful night sleep, I headed to the baby house this morning! But after 2 hrs. of playing with baby's and toddlers, I start to wonder isn't there anything more I can do? But then I think of the children and their needs, and honestly what more do they need than for someone to show them Christ love? and what better way to do it then to play with them and show them someone cares? Sometimes we think serving God should be something bigger! Its never having a moment to sit down! Its doing big things, saving the world! And sometimes serving Him is big, but on a day to day basis, most of the time its little things, the little things we tend to look over and think are unimportant, the things that won't make a difference! Well it might not make a difference today, or tomorrow, but in eternity it might! We don't always know the impact we had on someone, but in eternity in will! How amazing to hear and see about the impact our "little" serving had. Because Little is Much when God is in it!

So I played with baby's, toddlers, older children, I pulled a wagon, watched them jump on the trampoline, danced with them, walked around with them, held their hands, encouraged them, and nothing bigger this morning, but I absolutely enjoyed it! Lord willing, I will have the opportunity to do it all over again tomorrow!

Well its 70 degrees and sunny outside, inside our abode its usually freezing!! So someone brilliant had the idea to open the doors and try to warm it up in here! Well it worked!! Yah! Why didn't we do this sooner???

Highlight of my day, seeing a little girl who has no mommy, daddy, or siblings, playing with a teddy bear like a baby, wrapping it up in a blanket and walking around cuddling with it. Even though she has her own need of being loved and nurtured, she still is giving of herself even if it is only a teddy bear.

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This week the Child Sponsor Coordinator is here from the states so we are doing some sightseeing with her! So we went Metropolitan Park, the largest park in Quito, it had lots of trails and woods! So I felt like I was back in the country!

I just love these mountains!

 A lot of driveways and walkways are made from packed rocks (for lack of a better way to say it).

Everything was so green!!

They had a lot of random stone figures....

9,600 ft. in altitude

and that's me!! :)

Enjoying our last day's together!!

This should be the passage to the secret garden...

I feel like I am in the juggle around these things! They are really tall!!

Tidbits of Ecuador....

So then we came home and had burrito's! and I spent the evening visiting with the pretty sick Natasha..... (No thanks to the park!) Then climbed into bed early, as we were without WiFi  didn't hurt us a bit! ;)

Monday's Musings.....

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 118:22-23

Today as I watched the children, I seen what they could become, the ones that so many have just thrown away, God is raising them up! As I was holding the babies, all of Gods promises for them were swimming through my head! God has a plan in everything, so I am determined to rest in what God is doing today, even though I can't see how Gods going to make sense of it in the future. He is my God, and He is their God, He is my Father, and He is their Father, He is providing and caring for me, and He is providing and caring for them, He loves us, rejoices over us and delights in us!

I have a prayer request for my dear roommate Natasha, she has been pretty sick and today she ended up going to the doctor, and she has a sinus infection, cold, fever, sore throat and anything else that goes with all that!! So she feels pretty miserable! Please pray for a speedy recovery!

Today was a little different, we did lots of little random things! But I think we got a lot accomplished....

We went grocery shopping....

Figured out how to use a ATM in Spanish....

Mailed my first letter.... lol and I forgot to put UNITED STATES on it!

Paid rent.....

Visited the house where we will be moving to shortly....

Cooked beans....in the crock pot!! It worked much better!! :)

Hugged and Kissed the sweet babies....ok that pretty much happens every day! but its always special!!

But it was weird to not spend most of my day with Natasha! Ok maybe I did, because I kept coming back to the house....

The highlights of my day were....

Swimming!! :) Yes, they have a therapy pool, and now that the children are not so sick with colds and all they decided to start using it again! So I took our new little guy, and He loved it! He would splash , then wipe his eyes, then repeat! It was so much fun to watch him! Not to mention the water felt amazing and it was so warm!!

and..

Watching the same little guy standing on his tip toes trying to pull every toy off the shelf, he was so persistent! Even when the toy was half as big as he was! Then when he triumphantly had pushed/pulled every toy off the shelf, he climbed up and sat down with a huge grin!

It made me wonder how persistent I am about things, or do I give up when things seem impossible? When they might knock me over? or when I might be in over my head? I serve the God of the impossible, but does my faith fail before I reach what God has for me?

Wow, the lessons you can learn from these little ones! They are such a precious gift, and I'm so thankful that I have the privilege of knowing them! Each little smile, accomplishment, or minuet of holding them, makes everything that I went though, to get to where God has me today, completely worthwhile!! Because in all my struggles today, God has a plan for tomorrow.....and as for God, His way is perfect!

Reckless Faith

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27

I just finished reading this book....Reckless Faith by Beth Guckenberger

It has a powerful message that stirred my heart, compelled me to have more compassion, and dared me to trust God more, for my every need, for He is my God and Father!!

Throughout the book it kept mentioning promises that God has made to orphans so I decided to do a little research of my own and these are promises that I found that God has made to orphans.

Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless. Psalms 10:14

A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. Psalms 68:5

The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. Psalms 146:9

~ Cause (someone) to stop feeling distressed or anxious about something.

Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. Jeremiah 49:11
~ to keep safe from injury, harm, or destruction

Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. Hosea 14:3


Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; Exodus 22:22-23


It has been amazing to look into these verses and see that God has promises for each and everyone of the children here!! They are His own! He knows each one by name and loves them!

God providing for the orphans through warnings to us....

Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: Proverbs 23:10

Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:17
~ Defend, bring justice to

If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. Isaiah 7:6-7
~ exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner

Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. Isaiah 22:3

We are to be the voice of the voiceless, the hands for the helpless, the friend of the lonely, using all of our means to defend and care for those in need!!

I found it amazing that one of Gods curses for the wicked man is that his children will be orphans.

For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lordof hosts. Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Isaiah 9:13-17

Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that speak evil against my soul. But do thou for me, O God the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness. I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads. Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to thy mercy: That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, Lord, hast done it. Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice. Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle. I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul. Psalms 109

From the land where I am in the taller minority.....

I actually am taller than a lot of the Ecuadorians!! That is a change!

So its Saturday........we kinda had a change of plans, so I enjoyed a relaxing day.....

Well after we got all the boys fed anyway!!

I love how they all looked that way!

 These pretty little ladies were just waiting for their turn....

But by 8 am, we were done and there wasn't to much to do so I went home and did a little cleaning, laundry, ya you know the drill!

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So I decided to show you around our "neck of the woods".

This is the guest house at For His Children, we will be staying here for a little while longer...

Living room, it is very inviting and cozy!

Our little laundry room...

The kitchen..I would have to say this is probably where 80% of the excitement happens....

The dining room...I love sitting here early in the morning studying as the sun comes out....

That is the loft.....

and I'm sure the rest is of not to much concern! It has been such a blessing staying right here by the orphanage! Its all kinda connected actually...down below us is the toddler house, next to us is the office, and connected to the loft is where we have music class!!

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So I should update you on our cooking adventure.....

So first you make a list, then you go to the store.......

But nothing in the store is quite matching up to what you have in mind....

And you have to interpret the label.....

So its always an adventure just to go grocery shopping!!

So we bought dried beans and dried corn to to make soup....

So we started boiling them...no problem!

Well the water boils at a low temperature and the water evaporates very quickly!! so you have to watch it like a hawk!!

Its what you do with what you got! and we have a small sauce pot and LARGE kettles!!

Well, our corn ran out of water...so we picked out the good ones, threw them in a large kettle and kept boiling!! :) It took about 3 1/2 - 4 hours to cook these things!

So we asked a tia to come and show us how to light the oven.....

So the tia comes in and see water boiling in one pot and a few kernels of corn boiling in the other pot and thinks we are starving and quite cooking illiterate! So she shows us how to light the stove and is giving us instructions, (Natasha translating back and forth) she looks in our pots, starts rummaging through our supplies and comes back to the pot to put stuff in, and this is like my masterpiece, ok we have boiling things all day to make this soup!! I am horrified!! What is she doing?? is she going to add stuff to our pot?? She can't do that!! That's our soup!! So I say, NO! Natasha trying to keep up with everything starts talking to the tia, telling her we are going to make soup, and have plans for it already. So she gives us so more instructions then leaves us to make our soup.....well it turned out pretty good, and we all appreciated it very much!

and we got our bread toasted!! :)

I never imagined cooking and shopping could be this much work!!

 And since we never run out of enthusiasm to try another adventure!!

We decided to try out the big water filter..... It literally is like a big stone flower pot with no hole in the bottom, but when we woke up this morning the bottom was full of water so apparently it worked!! and better than waiting on the little one when we have a big kettle to fill with water......

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So among the commotion last night, the tia told us we had bought the wrong kind of corn for boiling, it was for toasting!! So this afternoon I decided to make some toasted corn!

So I toasted it in oil then added salt, it is actually very good! So now we have a snack, since we almost out of snacks from home........

And since we have had like no dessert.....we decided to make a tres leches cake!!

But we decided to play it safe and bought a mix and a pre-mixed carton of the 3 milks!!