I Have An Awesome Savior!

7-23-13
       Yesterday was full of wonderful things. Angela and I watched 3 baby girls for the morning.

I only have a picture of Erika (on the left) and Valeria (on the right). Brittany was the other little girl.

 Erika is blind and possibly hard of hearing. When she came to Hogar De Vida, she was tensed up and wouldn't move her little arms away from her body. Erika has come a long way, but she still remains somewhat stiff. I spent time with Erika, working to help her open her tiny fists and stretch her little body. She was very reluctant at first, but over time she began to work with me. Having watched nurses and therapists work on my niece with some of these things, it gave me some ideas on how to help her. I used musical instruments and "touchy, feely" objects on her skin. And boy is Erika ticklish. She laughs and laughs when you tickle her, but she doesn't like it very much if you stop. It was a blessing to be with such a sweet baby girl.
       I was amazed to watch little Tatiana work in the house with the Tia while the others went swimming. She helped clean everything, helped us feed babies, and played and sang with the little ones. She'll make a great mother one day.
       After lunch, everyone took a siesta. Many members of the team have become ill. Barbara was sick, Angela had a bad fever, my aunt is sick, and now others have woken up this morning not feeling well. On the bright side, it only seems to be a 24 hour bug. Today was supposed to be our excursion day to the beach, but it's been  moved to Thursday due to all the sickness.
       Other blessings of yesterday were hanging up more baby clothes, a nice rain storm, playing with the children in each house, hearing a child sing Jesus Loves me in English, little Axel teasing me in English and chasing me around, sweet ways of communication, and fresh mangos!
       After dinner, Helen shared her testimony. I have never heard such an amazing story. As she talked about the battles in her life and relating them to Jeremiah 29:11, I was in awe. God has used some thing in every testimony shared so far that has spoken to me. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my very favorite verses. When I am tempted to doubt, worry, or become angry & frustrated with God, I remember this verse. It has helped me so much through the passing of my niece and offers me hope and healing. With her sharing of this, it also brought me tears. God knows what I need to hear and when I need to hear it. Isn't He awesome? Of everything I've been learning this week, I think the over all theme has been the pure awesomenesss of my Savior.

Highlights: Music in the soccer field(school kids practicing), spending time with Angela, closer bonds between team members, late night laughs with my "roommates" about the events of the day, Julio swimming and laughing.

School kids in the soccer field

Bonding!

Angela & I (I couldn't find the other pictures...so this is from when we returned to Texas)