Endings Bring New Beginnings

      The morning of my departure for Honduras, my chapter in life coincided a little too appropriately with the final chapter in my Bible reading.  Deuteronomy 34: The Death of Moses.  Now, don't worry, it wasn't a "this-is-my-death-sentence" foreboding type of message.  Rather, when I read of the Lord showing Moses the promised land he wouldn't be able to set foot in before he passed on, I sensed the Lord was speaking to me about "the promised land" I was leaving behind.  You see, I'd just spent the past two months intentionally visiting and reuniting with loved ones back in the States. As I was surrounded by dear friends in joyful one of the most joyful celebrations of love I'd ever experienced, saying goodbye to my Texas community after Megan and Daniel's wedding was more difficult than I expected.  After parting from my Houston community, I spent some difficult but fruitful time dealing with various unresolved places in my heart that were easy to run away from when I was a thousand miles away.  However, even in the midst of some difficulties, I experienced so much joy reconnecting with my family, watching my sister dominate on her high school volleyball team, reconnecting with MI friends and campers, spending time with my cousins in Ohio, and sharing in the joy of two more beautiful weddings.  After that, though, it was my time to move forward--time to leave "the promised land"--all the beautiful fruit that I saw budding in my friends, family, and community--behind.  Not that my ties back home would now be severed, but those relationships, I knew, would inevitably look different.  But, as this time in the Word reminded me, God is with me (and them) in this transition.  Remembering that the Lord is sovereign, that the Lord is who takes care of our journeys, and how he is the one in charge of the grand story, I was able to end my stay back home covered in the His peace.
     Though my chapter in the States is behind me (for now), a new, extraordinary chapter has begun. Aligning appropriately once again with my Bible reading, the Lord has impressed upon my heart as he did with Joshua, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).  And you know what?  He has been.  Already I have experienced so much joy, love, and connection here (one of my most consistent prayers before leaving)!  I could spend my time taking this post in so many different directions right now, because my heart is so full of gratitude.  But, for your sake (all you readers who have stuck with me to this point), I will end with just a few highlights of my time thus far:

• Playing LOTS of soccer!  (My favorite is playing keep away with one boy at a time.  If I play an actual game I get a little too distracted... By the time the ball comes my way, my brain is already in la la land)
• Running after Ismael--the boy who loves to steal anything off of me so that I'll chase him down.  He has more energy than me... "Estoy cansada" doesn't fly with him.
• Meeting a few young girls at Villa Olympica (where the boys go for soccer practice).  I got to teach them "Go Fish" (Pesca!), wow them with a card trick, and practice my terrible cartwheels ("estrellas") with them.
• Watching "The Hulk" with the littlest boy here, Noe, sitting beside me and explaining what was happening to me (which wasn't all that helpful since his explanations weren't exactly in my first language...).  Afterwards the boys played their own Hulk, as they pummeled each other, while sitting on top of me... "NO ESTAS EL HULK!  NO ESTAS EL HULK!"
• Movie nights, cooking experiments, Jillian Michaels videos, and lots of laughter with my wonderful roommates!
• UNO, hand slap, SPAZ, and muchos mas juegos with the boys!  Years of camp and babysitting have paid off!
• Practicing Spanish... Aida and Ana, the two cooks, kept trying to explain all the different slang to me... hopefully some stuck... but since they were explaining everything in Spanish there was mostly smiling and nodding going on on my part.
• Playing soccer and learning a dance with the girls from Villa Linda Miller, the neighboring community.  The boys are their soccer "trainers" on Friday nights.  Ismael told me that one of the girls there is his girlfriend ("novia").  I don't think she knows that... Pretty sure that happens all the time.  Hahaha ("jajaja").
• SO MUCH MORE I COULD SAY!  But I'll leave it at this--even as exciting as all of the above is, the best time is my time on the porch early in the morning, as I read, journal, and pray.  There is no way I could experience the love, joy, peace, and fellowship out of an empty tank.  We love because he first loved us.  The Lord loves me, these boys, the staff, everyone back home, and beyond far more than I ever could.  Knowing that He is greater.  Knowing that he is for us and not against us.  Knowing that he loves us... His love is the greatest gift, and wherever I go, whether Texas or Illinois or Michigan or Ohio or Honduras, his love remains constant.  He will never leave me or forsake me.  And because he is with me, I have nothing to fear.
  
  Hasta luego!!!!
  
  Kelsey :)