Laughter

If you would have told me years ago that one day I'd be living in the Dominican Republic on my own, preparing to teach English as a second language for the first time ever, and have temporary guardian rights to care for a sweet, little, Haitian baby... I might have raised a brow and laughed in your face.

Isn't that what Sarah did when God told her she'd have a baby in her old age?  I've always loved the name Isaac for how it literally means "he laughs."

I sometimes hear the words of David from the YouTube video"David after Dentist" in my head...

"Is this real life?"

Yes.  It is.  And, I love it.

I'll be the first to admit that having the Suchers leave for two months and handing some important tasks over to me was overwhelming at first, but in my times with the Lord recently, He's given me such a peace in knowing that His grace is sufficient and He will not give me more than I can handle.

However, He gives me just enough to push me to the edge of knowing that I can't do anything without Him.

I dropped the Suchers off at the airport on Thursday and they've been covered head to toe in prayer by brothers and sisters here.  I know that the Lord will bless them richly in spirit and in funds to be able to return restored and fueled to carry out His Will!

So, how did my first full 24 hours go with Mariflor? Let's just say I found a deeper respect for single moms everywhere.

She slept through the night, with only a few moments of tears, but awoke the next morning at 7:30am with laughter.  Yes, little giggles and callings for me to get up.  What a joyful sound to awaken to!

I had forgotten to pack toys, so she took interest in my cupboards and found entertainment in placing colored clothespins in plastic containers.  We colored, read stories, and watched Sesame Street before she got tired and took another long nap.

She moves too fast!

Coloring a Birthday Card for Barb

She didn't like the mat being on the floor so she found the drawer of dish rags  (she's so smart)

When she woke up, we had lunch and then sat out on my balcony for nearly 30 minutes just taking in all the sights and sounds.  The birds tweeting, the crickets chirping, the wind blowing, the sun shining... it was such a beautiful day to enjoy God's creation.

Before we knew it, it was time to transition and she went to her next location for the weekend.

The most precious moments were when she would randomly stop what she was doing to give me a hug and lay her head on my shoulder.  I had been asking the Lord to put a peace in Mariflor's heart and allow her to feel comfortable, loved, and safe with everyone who would be watching her...  He's definitely heard and answered my prayers!

Now, about that teaching English bit... I still have little idea of how my first lesson will go, but I'm trusting in God that all the pieces will come together.  The kids know me as "Laurena" but in order to receive the respect I need, I might start going as "Profe Laurena."  I'll be sure to check back in and let you all know how that experience goes...

"A joyful heart is good medicine" (Proverbs 17:22), so I'm welcoming laughter in the days ahead.  Mariflor is contagious at that!

Scrapes and Wounds

Yesterday, I walked into Redemption Village expecting it to be like any other day... to play with the kids and come out drenched in sweat.  Well, I played with the kids and still came out drenched in sweat, but also with another's blood stained on my shirt and caked on my arms and feet.

It all happened so fast.  One minute we're smiling and laughing.  The next moment I'm sweeping a little girl off the ground with a busted lip and blood dripping from her mouth.  

After placing too much faith in me to catch her from the swings, this little five year old girl found herself face down on the broken gravel.  A joyful moment turned into painful shock in one miscalculated reach.  My maternal instinct kicked in and I immediately swept her in my arms.  

I ran us straight to the feeding center where the pastor and others were able to pour water in her mouth to clean the wound.  The poor thing had scraped her gums badly and had a mouth full of dirt and blood.  All I knew to do was hold her close, pat her back, and say "esta bien... tu eres muy valiente" over and over again. 

Her little brother, maybe three years old, came to see how his sister was doing after the fall.  He just looked sympathetically upon his big sister, placed his hand on her arm, and asked if she was ok.  She laid her head on my shoulder and rested against me for a few moments as kids began crowding around. 

It hurts me so much.  There was nothing I could do and it wasn't my fault.  This was the little girl who, moments before, was freely moving from one gringa's arms to the next, fully trusting that we all were strong enough to support her.  So much faith in people she hardly knows.  Her faith in my ability to catch her was unfortunately misguided.   

There was no way for me to know what she was doing.  The same sort of thing happens all over the world, because kids will be kids.  They learn what they can and can't do through these experiences and they miraculously bounce back.

And oh, how easily I can relate as a child of God.

How often do I put my trust in the wrong things and turn away my gaze from the Lord?   Even if only for one second.

That's all it takes.

Sunday's sermon at New Life was profoundly impacting for me. It was about the parable of the sower and the condition of our "soil" to receive God's word in our hearts (Mark 4:1-20).  The enemy prowls around to steal, kill, and destroy any truth the Lord breathes in us.  So we must break up the fallow ground (Hosea 10:12) to allow the healing words of God (Proverbs 4:22) to be planted, hidden (Psalm 119:11), and protected (Proverbs 4:23) in our hearts.

It happens so subtly, too.  The moment my eyes turn from God and His Word, failing to remain vigilant and protective of the Truth in my life, Satan jumps at the chance to snatch it.  I was convicted through the message to break up the hardness in my heart, to ask for forgiveness, and to feed upon His Word in a lasting manner, intentionally guarding every word in His abiding presence.

"My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ears to my sayings.  Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart, for they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.  Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.  Put away from you crooked speech and put devious talk far from you.  Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you.  Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.  Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil."                      

 Proverbs 4:20-27

Even though we crash and burn, the Lord is there to sweep us up in His arms and speak His word over us.  It is never His fault when we fall, but Jesus gladly bears it.  He does not scold us nor say "I told you so" (though, our scrapes and wounds do a good enough job of that on their own).

He is a God of compassion, mercy, and forgiveness.  His Spirit is life, His word is healing, and His path is sure.

My days are numbered here in the Dominican Republic.  I'll be returning to the states the end of this year and God willing, I'll be back for a length of time in the spring.  But I don't want to miss a single word or experience the Lord has for me while I'm here.

I don't want my soil to be fallow or for the seeds He scatters to be snatched by birds of prey, scorched in the sun, or choked by thorns.  I want to be fruitful for the Lord.

~

On a different note...

The Suchers will be leaving for the states on Thursday for nearly two months on furlough.  As a majority of my time here had been devoted to teaching their daughters, I have now lost my best students!  However, I've picked up some new tasks to keep me busy while they're gone.

In addition to the bible lesson every Tuesday before the feeding program in Redemption, I will be teaching English Tuesday and Friday afternoons at one of the schools there.  Wednesdays I will visit Erika and Victor out at Playa Laguna and run errands to keep the mission going.  Monday nights I will continue helping with youth group at New Life Church, as well as lead Children's Ministry two Sundays a month.  My free time will be spent planning lessons and, more likely than not, on my knees in prayer!  I most definitely cannot do any of these things without God.

Oh, and remember Mariflor? Unfortunately, she will not be able to travel with the Suchers to the states.  We have a friend watching her on the weekends, another amazing woman watching her during the weekdays, and I will be watching her on the weeknights.  The Lord has placed such a joy in our hearts to care for Mariflor and we're all trusting God's ways are perfect.

I'd say I have plenty on my plate to keep me busy for the next two months!  I'm sure I'll have some fun stories to share in the days ahead!

Los Milagros de Dios

Miracles.

We can't explain them and there's no use trying.  We don't get to choose how, why, or even when God performs them.  He decides and His ways are perfect.

Mariflor is a miracle.  That is the name of the beautiful, little girl whom the Suchers have taken in from Redemption Village.  

I haven't shared the full story with you yet because, not knowing God's plan, I've felt the need to be cautious.  I'm not one who likes to get my hopes up, nor others', if there is any level of uncertainty (and believe me when I say there has been a lot of uncertainty here).

Yet there's something about uncertainty that makes leaning upon the Lord a whole lot easier.

I first met Mariflor back in January during my first week in the D.R.  Barb had taken me to visit Redemption Village and we stopped by to check on Mariflor's health.  Barb had been keeping an eye on her health since the previous fall where her heart was first captured by this precious child.

I remember walking down the dirt road and stopping at a little shack with a family-run colmado out front.  The grandmother emerged from the house greeting us and bringing Mariflor out for us to see.  If you know Mariflor now, you wouldn't believe the frailty in her little body.  Her legs and arms were so tiny and her tummy was swollen, a common sign of malnourished children.

She had no diaper on and the grandmother thrusted her into Barb's arms.  Mariflor was so quiet amidst the present chaos of Creole and Spanish translations.  She just stared so intently up at Barb with the biggest brown eyes.

We went back to check on her weekly until one week in February when she was so ill.  At 10 months old, she was easily at a 5-6 month development stage and less than 12 lbs.  Rick and Barb took her to the medical center where the doctors prescribed the appropriate medicines and care.  The Suchers decided, with the grandmother's urging, to keep Mariflor until the medical care was completed.

Even then, I was guarding myself from becoming attached to her, which proved to be a difficult task.  I was living under the same roof as the Suchers, so I saw Mariflor every day and witnessing just how weak she was.  The first day she was with us, she was so subdued and couldn't even muster enough strength to roll over on the bed.

All we wanted to do was hold and love this little baby and hope that maybe, somehow, the love we had would transfer and be absorbed into every fiber in her tiny body.

At the end of her medical care, Rick and Barb went to give her back to the grandparents to be told, "No, ella es tuya," in other words, "She's yours."

You can imagine the surprise, shock, joy, stress, fear, anxiety, love, and confusion that exploded that day.  The Sucher girls were ecstatic that they could have a baby sister, while the adults were filled with concern that brought us to our knees in prayer.

What just happened? And just when Rick and Barb thought they were past the days of baby bottles and pacifiers...  Funny how God works.

If I actually spent the time writing out all the stories, the ups and downs, the tears and the laughter, the prayers and the miracles that these past months have carried with Mariflor, it would take millions upon millions of words.  Mariflor came to us in February so malnourished with sickle cell anemia to the point of lifelessness.  Today, she is now one of the most joyful, intelligent, and rotund little babies I've ever seen.

THAT is a miracle.  I'm no doctor, but looking at her today, I'd say she's been touched by the healing hand of our Savior... and He's still working.  

The Suchers have been teaching Mariflor about the love of her Savior and she has learned to praise our Lord with the words "Amen" and "Hallelujah!"  She is growing everyday, learning how to talk, and using her sturdy legs to walk everywhere.  I thank the Lord for bringing her into the Suchers' lives and mine.

I've decided to reach out to my faithful prayer warriors here and abroad through this entry.  One thing the Lord is planting deep in my spirit is the knowledge of how powerful the prayers of the upright are.  He wants to hear our prayers and for us to be rooted in His peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:4-7).  He gives to those who ask in faith (Matthew 7:7-10) and He withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11).

So I'm coming to you to ask for your prayers.  The Suchers have plans to return to the states the end of September through November, and the only way they can bring Mariflor with them is for certain papers to be approved here in the Dominican.  Government processes here are difficult and long, so we are asking for a miracle.  God's hand is clearly upon Mariflor and we are simply praying that God's will be done in this situation.

There is something so beautiful about loving another's child as your own.  So many of the missionaries here are in the process of adopting children they were never searching or asking for... yet God knew all along who He wanted to care for His children.  You can't prevent the Lord from filling you with a love that He's intended for you to share with others.

I don't plan on pulling a Katie Davis and adopting 14 girls, but the Lord has been stirring something deep in me for the abandoned, forgotten, and unloved children of this world.  I know I wont have to go searching, but the Lord will guide my every step.

Thank you for your prayers for the Suchers and Mariflor! We are trusting in God's perfect timing and will.