learning.serving.loving.: Adios Honduras

I cannot believe that I will be leaving in the morning! This month has flown by and I've loved every minute of it. I made friends here in Honduras that I will remember forever. I had completely new experiences, learned more than I thought I could, was put out of my comfort zone, learned to be okay out of my comfort zone, laughed A LOT, loved A LOT, and learned A LOT! Today was the day that I have been looking forward to since the beginning/dreading since the beginning. It is bittersweet, because I am soooo excited about seeing my family and friends, but I am so sad to be leaving the kids here at Emmanuel.

Olivia and I had originally planned to spend the night with the special needs girls, but instead we watched a movie with them after we showered them. It was fun being able to hang out with them. We decided to self timer a picture, which was hillarious and after everytime they would go wild and start cheering. They are precious and I will miss them so much!

But anyways, the other day I was able to take a "sibling group" out. This was so fun, because I know how much my family means to me and I can't imagine how much more they mean to each other here. Not having parents, but only having each other. It is very difficult for siblings here at Emmanuel, because they are all relatively close, but don't really get to see each other much. I got to take Wilmar and his 2 brothers and sister to the Tienda (the store) and we got to hang out for the afternoon! It was fun seeing them get so excited to see each other! Truly warmed my heart.

Today with the Special Needs kids we are talking about God creating the animals this week so we decided to paint their faces like animals. We did over 20 kids, and it was a sight! It was really fun and they enjoyed it. The special needs yard looked like a jungle with all the kids running around.

Tonight, we thought was going to be our last time to shower the special needs girls, but they asked us to come again in the morning. Tonight after everyone was showered we were all sitting on the couches talking. One of the girls started crying about us leaving and then it spread and with 10 minutes, every girl in the house was in tears [including myself]. At that moment, I felt like that was the best thank you present ever (weird I know, tears=present?). But after giving over 400 showers in one month to see every girl in tears over the fact that we were leaving meant so much. I really felt like I had been able to make a difference in these girl's lives despite the fact that I can't speak Spanish. Maybe that is why God had me shower the girls, so I could build relationships with the girls considering my talking to them was limited. God is good! I can't even think about how much I am going to miss the special needs girls. I am used to being with them all day every day, they are so full of joy and can truly lift anyone's spirits. They will be missed dearly.

For dinner tonight, all the volunteers put their food together and had one last meal together. One of the other volunteers, Rachel, taught me to make crepes. I was so excited, because I am actually becoming domestic. Dad, I plan on making you crepes before we leave for Dothan...get excited! But we all sat around and told stories and laughed a lot. It was great hanging out one last time.

I'm going to sleep now! Adios and America...I'll see you tomorrow:)