Pronounced Gree-pay
Otherwise known as the common cold... whatever you want to call it, I've had it this week.
It started on Monday with my whole body aching, which turned into sinus pressure Tuesday, a killer throat on Wednesday, sore throat and ears on Thursday, sniffles on Friday, and a chest cough today.
Apparently, gripe has been going around here lately and it's no surprise I caught it. I'm only around kids every single day.
Believe me when I say Mariflor has been covered in protective prayers head to toe every night!
I've felt like I've floated through this last week in a daze, but I've come out so grateful despite the ickiness. Ester and Omero have done so much for me in making sure I feel better. When I lost my voice for English class, Ester stepped in; Mariflor and I had dinner with them one night; Omero ran out to get me Halls and sinus medicine one day; and Ester brewed up the most amazing tea I've ever tasted when we all got stuck in the rain yesterday. The tea was so famously good that everyone who entered the kitchen all of sudden came down with a cold, too.
I'm really going to miss my Dominican family and friends when I go back to the states for the holidays. Onelfy (Omero and Ester's son) asked if I'd be spending Christmas with them and I had to break the news to him. He just couldn't understand why I didn't want to spend it with them... about broke my heart as I contemplated whether I ought to tear my plane ticket!
Good news, though. I've booked my ticket back here the first week in January, so God willing, I'll be back before he knows it. But I still have a few weeks here and I'm looking forward to completing this year with joy and gratefulness.
Of course, there was yet another reminder this week that we live in a terribly broken world. We found out that Fa, the young child Erika and Victor took in a year ago after his mother abandoned him, was taken back by the mother, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. It is a heart-breaking story involving prostitution, child neglect/abuse, drugs, and manipulation.
Fa's sister, Rocio, was taken by her mother while I was in the states this summer so I didn't even have the chance to say bye to her. Same with Fa now, too. Two Wednesdays ago Omero, Ester, and I visited with Erika and Victor, and I remember Fa just waking up from his nap and greeting us with a timid smile before we left. He is just the cutest little boy with the most beautiful eye lashes. This Wednesday the house was somber without him. Fa knows Erika and Victor as his mom and dad, and it brings me to tears that he's been torn from them to do God knows what.
We know that the mother is pregnant, due in December, now with two little children under 4 years old to care for. The scenarios that run through my head scare me for how she is getting the money to take care of them, but that's to say if she's even thinking about feeding and clothing them. She didn't do that before.
All we can do is pray. Pray for Fa and Rocio's protection, for cleansing, for Jesus to reveal Himself to them. Pray that their mother turns from her ways, truly comes to know the Lord, and live a changed life. Pray for Victor and Erika to be comforted by the Holy Spirit in new and deeper ways. And pray for her unborn child to be safe, healthy, and strong in the Lord.
It grieves Jesus far more than it does me, Victor, or Erika, and we know that His Spirit is interceding with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26).
When you start feeling sorry for yourself- you have a cold, you lost your job, money is tight, or you just don't get your way- there are people in far worse situations. I'm thankful for what I have and for a God who keeps things in perspective and promises never to leave us.
Otherwise known as the common cold... whatever you want to call it, I've had it this week.
It started on Monday with my whole body aching, which turned into sinus pressure Tuesday, a killer throat on Wednesday, sore throat and ears on Thursday, sniffles on Friday, and a chest cough today.
Apparently, gripe has been going around here lately and it's no surprise I caught it. I'm only around kids every single day.
Believe me when I say Mariflor has been covered in protective prayers head to toe every night!
I've felt like I've floated through this last week in a daze, but I've come out so grateful despite the ickiness. Ester and Omero have done so much for me in making sure I feel better. When I lost my voice for English class, Ester stepped in; Mariflor and I had dinner with them one night; Omero ran out to get me Halls and sinus medicine one day; and Ester brewed up the most amazing tea I've ever tasted when we all got stuck in the rain yesterday. The tea was so famously good that everyone who entered the kitchen all of sudden came down with a cold, too.
I'm really going to miss my Dominican family and friends when I go back to the states for the holidays. Onelfy (Omero and Ester's son) asked if I'd be spending Christmas with them and I had to break the news to him. He just couldn't understand why I didn't want to spend it with them... about broke my heart as I contemplated whether I ought to tear my plane ticket!
Good news, though. I've booked my ticket back here the first week in January, so God willing, I'll be back before he knows it. But I still have a few weeks here and I'm looking forward to completing this year with joy and gratefulness.
Of course, there was yet another reminder this week that we live in a terribly broken world. We found out that Fa, the young child Erika and Victor took in a year ago after his mother abandoned him, was taken back by the mother, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. It is a heart-breaking story involving prostitution, child neglect/abuse, drugs, and manipulation.
Fa
Fa's sister, Rocio, was taken by her mother while I was in the states this summer so I didn't even have the chance to say bye to her. Same with Fa now, too. Two Wednesdays ago Omero, Ester, and I visited with Erika and Victor, and I remember Fa just waking up from his nap and greeting us with a timid smile before we left. He is just the cutest little boy with the most beautiful eye lashes. This Wednesday the house was somber without him. Fa knows Erika and Victor as his mom and dad, and it brings me to tears that he's been torn from them to do God knows what.
Rocio
She is quite the character!
We know that the mother is pregnant, due in December, now with two little children under 4 years old to care for. The scenarios that run through my head scare me for how she is getting the money to take care of them, but that's to say if she's even thinking about feeding and clothing them. She didn't do that before.
Alexander, Erika and Victor's son, has not been the same since she left.
All we can do is pray. Pray for Fa and Rocio's protection, for cleansing, for Jesus to reveal Himself to them. Pray that their mother turns from her ways, truly comes to know the Lord, and live a changed life. Pray for Victor and Erika to be comforted by the Holy Spirit in new and deeper ways. And pray for her unborn child to be safe, healthy, and strong in the Lord.
It grieves Jesus far more than it does me, Victor, or Erika, and we know that His Spirit is interceding with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26).
When you start feeling sorry for yourself- you have a cold, you lost your job, money is tight, or you just don't get your way- there are people in far worse situations. I'm thankful for what I have and for a God who keeps things in perspective and promises never to leave us.
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