Thanksgiving evening, we had dinner with Team Honduras –
less Marie, who was in the States visiting family. There are three families in
the team – plus Marie. Three couples with ten children between them. Ages ranging
from two to sixteen. So, for dinner at Cori and Nates, we had twenty-one people
in attendance. Cori had invited a young teacher who is in Honduras at a private
school, teaching English. She is recently saved and needs a mentor and friend.
Her boyfriend was in the country visiting her. He attended as well. It was a
great evening spent with good Christian friends. We talked pretty late into the
evening while the kids entertained themselves with the Wii we had brought to
our grandkids. I struggled to remember names of both adults and children
through the evening. By the end of the week, I had the names pretty well assigned
in my mind. It will help me pray for them individually. By the time we finally
got to go to bed, Mama and I were past ready. The air conditioning units were turned
on and we finally cooled down enough to relax. It was not a particularly hot
evening, but it took a while for the lower evening temperatures to cool the
house to the point where it was comfortable. Travel included, it was a long
day.
Throughout our time in Honduras, Savanna was our constant shadow.
Especially Victoria’s. There seems to be a special bond between Savanna and
Victoria. She included me and Mama in her snuggles and attentions, but most of
her time was lavished on her Aunt Tori. She became a little less clingy as the days
wore on, but at the beginning and at the end of our time there, Savanna and
Victoria were inseparable. Saying our final goodbyes at the airport were difficult.
Made possible by the fact that they are not really goodbye, more of a “see you
later”.
Friday morning, we got out the Christmas tree and decorated
for “First Christmas”. We had brought some presents with us, so we could
celebrate Christmas with Nate, Cori and the kids. It was a family affair. It
took some time to get things set up to Cori’s satisfaction – and several trips
to the nearby mall. But we managed to get everything up to spec by that
evening. Victoria had packed and wrapped enough movies that the kids were
allowed to open one per day. As the days progressed, we added presents to those
already accumulating under the tree.
Saturday was our trip to Lake Yojoa. On the way there, we
came to a beautiful four lane bridge that was not connected to the road on
either side. To cross the river, we had to take a single lane bridge that
looked like it was built at the turn of the last century. There were no
indications of how to manage the flow of traffic. When we got to the bridge, the
traffic was crossing towards us. By whatever indication known only to the Hondurans,
our line of traffic started to cross the quarter-mile long bridge, and Nate rolled
with the flow. He told me it was an unusually short wait. Once across the bridge
and off the rough dirt bypass to the bridge, we were driving on a nice two-lane
road with and unfinished two-lane road off to the side. It had almost as much
traffic on it as on the completed side. We had lunch at the lake. A boat ride
on the lake. An uneventful drive home – across the same one-lane bridge. We did
stop on the way home to buy some fruit from a roadside stand. As a thank you
for our purchases the lady gave us a frond of little bananas. They had a
pleasant but unusual flavor.
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| Hope Children's Home - Honduras |
Sunday was church in the morning and dinner with the staff
and children at the Children’s home. More on that tomorrow.
While we were in Honduras the twins decided to start
walking. When Brittany was at the farm with us several weeks back, the girls
would “walk” on their knees but did not seem interested in doing so fully
upright. Now they have begun to discover the joy of mobility. It will be fun to chase them at Christmas.
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