learning.serving.loving.: La Clinica= LIFE

Well the 2 boys in the clinic has grown to 5 boys and 1 girl all with chicken pox! It is quite an adventure in the medical clinic (la clinica)! Since there are so many kids in there I have been spending a lot of time in the clinic trying to help a little bit. I've spent the night a few nights and I absolutely love it, the kids are just so precious. Last night I was laying in my bed about to go to sleep and I overheard one of the volunteers saying that her sister was in the med clinic and needed some help because they were acting up. I immediately jumped out of bed, put my shoes on, and went to help hahah! At that moment I felt like a parent and I needed to go take care of my kids...I guess that was a sign that I have been spending a good amount of time with them! Last night I was trying to get Wilmur to fall asleep so I started reading him "Cat in the Hat" well it actually had both spanish and english in it. I decided I would attmept to read to him in spanish, I thought I was becoming so Honduran. As I was reading he would be giggling, because I couldn't read Spanish...I can't even speak it, not really sure what I was thinking! haha We both got a good laugh out of it. About halfway through the book I asked him if he wanted me to read to him in spanish or english and he said ENGLISH...I guess it was that bad!!! I feel so bad for the kids because I know they are so uncomfortable and are bored being confined to a big room or the porch of the clinic. The little girl in the clinic is the big sister of one of the little boys in there, and I love getting to watch her take care of him. The other night his fever just made him extremely irritable and he was misbehaving and acting out of control, so we were trying to calm him down and the language barrier made that really difficult. Sweet Anna with a 102 fever got out of bed, despite the fact that she felt awful and went and layed on the ground next to him and tried to talk to him and get him to calm down. It reminded me a lot of my siblings and how much we all truly care for each other and I know that my siblings always looked out for me and took care of me too, much like what Anna did! There are not that many movies in spanish here, so in the time that I have been there we have watched Stuart Little maybe 9 times and Transformers 11 and then these Spanish cartoons 8 times, and then some other random movies hahah! Hopefully they will start feeling better soon and will not have to be in the clinic for too much longer!

Funny story...in the morning my alarm is set for 5:15, so I have a few minutes before I go shower the girls at 5:30. Well this morning I guess I was really tired, because I didn't wake up until 5:25 (I know it's not that big of a deal, but I usually pop up right when my alarm goes off). So I ran from the clinic to the girls house to go shower them. Well I didn't even look at myself in the mirror this morning and when I got there they all asked me if I was tired hahah. Guess I looked THAT bad:) Anyways they kept making me lay down on the couch because they wanted me to get some rest, they turned off the lights, gave me a stuffed animal, and played with my hair! It was absolutely precious to see them take care of me when I apparently look tired! I think it is so neat to watch the kids here truly act like a family and care for each other, and I guess I'm now a part of their family because they sure did take care of me!

Tonight we went to shower our girls and somehow got extra wet tonight...Olivia and I decided to get in the shower with our clothes on and let them wash our hair! They thought it was hillarious and it really was. Let's just say I am extremely thankful for warm water...their shower was FREEZING!!!! But it was a great memory!

Other than that nothing really new has been going on, this week most of my days/nights have been spent either in the med clinic or showering kids hahah but I wouldn't have it any other way!

I'm still in shock that I only have 3 more days here, this month has FLOWN by! The Lord has taught me more this month than I ever imagined I would learn. It's been an extremely humbling experience where I have learned that I can serve God in anyway that He calls me to, not just the glamorous jobs, but ANYTHING (ex. showering special needs girls everyday, staying with kids who have chicken pox, changing toddlers diapers without wipes, etc.)! And I've really learned about the body of Christ and how we all play different parts, but it works perfectly that way.We all do our part in order to glorify Him. Sometimes we have to serve the Lord in ways that we don't really think He is getting the glory in (ex. showering special needs girls everyday, staying with kids who have chicken pox, changing toddlers diapers without wipes, etc.) hahaha, but ultimately He IS getting the glory through everything that I do! I've also learned what TRUE JOY looks like. If you heard some of these kids stories before you met the kids you would imagine Orphanage Emmanuel to be a dark and angry place, but SURPRISINGLY some of the kids here are the most JOYFUL people I have ever seen. It is such an encouragement to see that people can be happy ONLY because of God. Because according to the world, these people should not be happy, but God has filled that hurt with joy and happiness. Emmanuel is such a special place and I'm getting really sad thinking that I am going to be leaving these sweet kids in a few days. The girls here are so sweet, and despite the fact that I don't speak Spanish they are still so accepting of me. A majority of the time I struggle with understanding what they are saying to me and attempting to talk to them, but we make it work. I've really learned that love speaks all languages and I find that encouraging to know that I can still show them God's love even without talking. Although I do have to say that my spanish is much better. I can somewhat carry on a spanglish conversation with most of the girls. I'm sure I sound ridiculous, because I don't put words in the right order, don't congugate words, and have a funny accent, but I can usually get my point across. I'm about to try and catch on some lost sleep so good night from Honduras!

"And we know that God causes ALL THINGS to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His Purpose." Romans 8:28