Well it's Saturday afternoon here at the school. Rafa the handyman is quietly moving things around the school, the girls are up at the camp, Noel left for a bike ride and I've been sitting/lying out on the porch, listening to podcasts and getting over the last of a cold I had this week. I wonder if my body just knows it's a cold February for most Canadians back home, and decided I needed to share in the fun. Soar throats for everyone! :P
Overall this looks to be a good week on the health front for our little house.. Amanda was sick all last week with something crazy, but is now .. almost better? Noel and Katharine seem to have managed avoiding the stomach bug.. and hopefully we'll all sleep well this week. As for me, thanks for your prayers, I can walk again (some kinda bug or just over exertion made me stiff for 2 weeks.. ouch). I'm learning the joys of stretching after sports, drinking water, and of not eating leftover spicy hot dogs from the SuperBowl party 4 days prior. (Let's not talk about it)
Last Saturday was pretty unique for Honduras.. we went up to the dedication ceremony for Alfredo's orphanage project:
Providence Ministries.. Pretty amazing. A beautiful house with a family all moved in. Two loving parents to take care of both their kids and adopted orphans. One big happy family. More houses are being built, all of them around the new hospital Providence built last year on the land they bought the year before that. You can get to it using the road they built on the bus they own that regularly transports teams of doctors from the U.S. to do free surgeries. If anyone wants to put their money to a cause that's really doing a lot.. Providence is it.
Patriots vs. the Giants, live on Honduran Cable TV.And besides that, Alfredo throws a great SuperBowl Party! None of us actually watch American football, but we had about twenty people over there Sunday night. I think 5 of us watched the game around his fuzzy TV, while Alfredo's, Isreal's and Tim's kids ran around the place and swung on hammocks out back. Sweet. Alfredo has a big family of his own and they also have just started caring for two newborn baby's who's mom can't support. Practice what you preach happening right there.
Speaking of preaching, I've just been gazing off into the hazy blue afternoon sky listening to a Podcast from the Meeting House back home. All the churches here are in Spanish (surprise surprise) so I get a lot of my churchin' up online these days. They did a series a month or so ago on the God Debate. I remember Kevin mentioned wanting to read and discuss "The God Delusion" by Dawkins' on a postcard from his honeymoon (random) .. it's mentioned in the podcast so I'm writing it here before I forget again. (Kev send me the book!)
I like the premise of the first of the series,
Common Ground (40min). It's about how religion and specifically the church have been one of the most destructive things ever to hit us over the head. Atheist writers call us on it, and it's humbling but true. Not the cheeriest message to ever come from a pulpit, but humbling and freeing when you remember Jesus felt the same way towards the established religiosity of his day that had lost its way. We happened to watch
The Mission last night on Noel's laptop and it seemed to resonate the same feelings. The Jesuits are just doing their thing, helping people, then the Church comes and wrecks it all for political reasons (I didn't ruin it, it's still a great movie, DeNiro is great).
There's probably more to say about all that.. but I'm off to the camp for the evening. Oh and pray for Noel, he just got back from his bike trip, and some unknown bug bit him again. Scorpion? Who knows! :P
Thanks also to Jeff & the Havenwood staff! The soap and toothbrushes and eveything will be much appreciated by the kids at the orphanage!
This is Carlos Edwardo, he's everybody's hero :)
This is Ibon, she's at the kids home CASA Hogar, she's in my grade 3 class, and she wearing a very large first basemen's mit! Grant gave us 4 other mits in kids sizes.. a good start for the baseball program!
Jen grinning as per usual! We got 30 hockey sticks!
Javier!
Karolyn with the new left handed glove :)
Thanks for filling suitcase #1 Grant and Havenwood!!
