September Salad Bar
Hello everyone!!! I must say sorry to start off with because this blog is long overdue and I have been doing a poor job updating you all on what is happening here. Today's salad bar includes two new personalities from the Beehive (what we call the orphanage) and some interesting bacon-tid-bits on some changes in my life. Grab a fork and dig in....
The Beehive
As I had mentioned in my previous blog, the girls in the orphanage have been going through a process of transformation in which many of them have/and are leaving bad habits behind. There is still much work to do (parenting is never a seasonal job) and each girl has her own problems to overcome. With that in mind lets meet Karen.
Karen came to us in the second wave of girls that came to the orphanage. She is one of the lucky two or three who has both a mom and dad. When talking with her father he told me that they lived in the barrio Soacha (where many of the girls come from) and that everyday he goes to work as a security guard in the north side of Bogota (an almost 2 hour commute). He told me that his wife works sporadically in cleaning people's homes and that his daughter stays home all day. They struggled financially to care for Karen, yet it was apparent that they loved her, which was refreshing to me after seeing so many parents indifferently hand over their kids like they were an unwanted dog. Karen's biggest problem, which was quite obvious from the beginning, was that she had never gone to school in her life and was absolutely terrified of social situations. At 10 years old this was no longer just a little problem with being shy. She didn't know how to read or write and the idea of being in a room with more than three people made her go running for her room. When all the girls had arrived and were living in the orphanage, she would spend the activity times in her room.
Almost five months later you cant find Karen in the house when all the girls have left for school because she too is in class. Despite still being behind academically, she is reading and enjoying school a lot. In the mornings she works with Liliana on reading and mathematics and in the afternoon she goes to school with everyone else. She also has blossomed into quite the socialite and partakes in the fun with the rest of the girls.
Speaking of socialites, the next character to meet is Daniela. One must not be misled by the stature of this little girl, she is a giant in terms of personality. Daniela is a little sparkplug who always has something witty to say and is never lacking in expressive gestures that emphasize her clever comments. When she arrived she was much more reserved and was very argumentative. Although she has always been a loveable little girl, it hasn't been until recently that she has learned how to forgive.
Several weeks ago during the nightly prayers Daniela began to open up. That night's talk was about forgiving others and how Jesus has forgiven us. Without prompting, Daniela began to share about how her mother had beat her and how different people had hurt her. She then began to talk about how she was mean to other girls and to Ruth (the lady who lives there). Daniela told those she had hurt that she was sorry and asked for their forgiveness.
Although she is one of the youngest girls in the house, she was one of the first to speak up and her confession sparked a wave of more stories and forgivness. Many of the girls came out with stories of family members abusing them and they asked God to help them forgive those who had hurt them.
Life Changes
As many of you know I had quite the exciting July. Catherine and I flew back to Spokane June 30th and had a nice week at home relaxing before we left for Portland, OR to see my sister Erin, Andy (bro in law), and new nephew Wes, who is chubby and awesome (maybe the only time in your life when those two words go together). Afterwards we went to San Fran to see some friends get married and toured multiple chocolate boutiques as well as an interesting new chocolate company on pier 17. We then spent some great time camping with our good friends Justin and Heather Tillery in Cannon Beach, OR.
The Beehive
As I had mentioned in my previous blog, the girls in the orphanage have been going through a process of transformation in which many of them have/and are leaving bad habits behind. There is still much work to do (parenting is never a seasonal job) and each girl has her own problems to overcome. With that in mind lets meet Karen.
Karen came to us in the second wave of girls that came to the orphanage. She is one of the lucky two or three who has both a mom and dad. When talking with her father he told me that they lived in the barrio Soacha (where many of the girls come from) and that everyday he goes to work as a security guard in the north side of Bogota (an almost 2 hour commute). He told me that his wife works sporadically in cleaning people's homes and that his daughter stays home all day. They struggled financially to care for Karen, yet it was apparent that they loved her, which was refreshing to me after seeing so many parents indifferently hand over their kids like they were an unwanted dog. Karen's biggest problem, which was quite obvious from the beginning, was that she had never gone to school in her life and was absolutely terrified of social situations. At 10 years old this was no longer just a little problem with being shy. She didn't know how to read or write and the idea of being in a room with more than three people made her go running for her room. When all the girls had arrived and were living in the orphanage, she would spend the activity times in her room.
Almost five months later you cant find Karen in the house when all the girls have left for school because she too is in class. Despite still being behind academically, she is reading and enjoying school a lot. In the mornings she works with Liliana on reading and mathematics and in the afternoon she goes to school with everyone else. She also has blossomed into quite the socialite and partakes in the fun with the rest of the girls.
Speaking of socialites, the next character to meet is Daniela. One must not be misled by the stature of this little girl, she is a giant in terms of personality. Daniela is a little sparkplug who always has something witty to say and is never lacking in expressive gestures that emphasize her clever comments. When she arrived she was much more reserved and was very argumentative. Although she has always been a loveable little girl, it hasn't been until recently that she has learned how to forgive.
Several weeks ago during the nightly prayers Daniela began to open up. That night's talk was about forgiving others and how Jesus has forgiven us. Without prompting, Daniela began to share about how her mother had beat her and how different people had hurt her. She then began to talk about how she was mean to other girls and to Ruth (the lady who lives there). Daniela told those she had hurt that she was sorry and asked for their forgiveness.
Although she is one of the youngest girls in the house, she was one of the first to speak up and her confession sparked a wave of more stories and forgivness. Many of the girls came out with stories of family members abusing them and they asked God to help them forgive those who had hurt them.
Life Changes
As many of you know I had quite the exciting July. Catherine and I flew back to Spokane June 30th and had a nice week at home relaxing before we left for Portland, OR to see my sister Erin, Andy (bro in law), and new nephew Wes, who is chubby and awesome (maybe the only time in your life when those two words go together). Afterwards we went to San Fran to see some friends get married and toured multiple chocolate boutiques as well as an interesting new chocolate company on pier 17. We then spent some great time camping with our good friends Justin and Heather Tillery in Cannon Beach, OR.
We got back in time to finish our last minute wedding planning and had a wonderful time hanging out with our close friends and family. The rehearsal dinner in my parent's backyard was one of the most fun and meaningful times of my life and it was so great to share it with such great friends and family.
All the wedding activities went great and especially the ceremony, which Catherine and I really appreciated. We had our pastor from Bogota (Libni Gasca) do the homily and a good friend led the ceremony and vows.
We went off to BC, Canada for our honeymoon and it was awesome how God provided for us. I was a little worried going into July about having enough money to go out to eat and do activities on our honeymoon, however, God took care of it little by little. Friends of ours paid for our rental car that got us from Seattle to north of Vancouver. When we arrived at our luxury camping suite (www.rockwatersecretcoveresort.com) we learned that for some reason we got 50% off, so Catherine was treated to a massage and we were able to eat out which was a lot of fun. However, the honeymoon was really only 4 days long as we had to rush back for my little sister's wedding. Again, it was great to be with such fun and loving people and my sisters wedding went off w/o a hitch and I was able to catch up with a lot of people I missed at my wedding. Ahhh, how relaxing you might think (maybe)....no, the following morning after the wedding, Catherine and I were up at 5am to catch our flight back to Bogota. Its safe to say we were a bit in shock (especially Catherine) as she went to work the following day.
The shock has worn off though, and life is great here in Bogota. I have quite a few balls up in the air and am in the process of deciding which ones to catch and which ones let fall. I was recently reading my old pastor's blog and was really convicted on the need to be in prayer. I am a doer and getting busy is what I do best, but I constantly need to remind myself that the most important thing in my life is to be spending time with God. How can I make good decisions apart from knowing Jesus? In order to know him more, I realized I need to be taking more time out of my day to tell him my thoughts, ask for wisdom, give thanks for answering previous prayers...etc. It was a good wake up call for me.
Alright, enough for now. Take care all of you and please write to tell me how you are doing.
All the wedding activities went great and especially the ceremony, which Catherine and I really appreciated. We had our pastor from Bogota (Libni Gasca) do the homily and a good friend led the ceremony and vows.We went off to BC, Canada for our honeymoon and it was awesome how God provided for us. I was a little worried going into July about having enough money to go out to eat and do activities on our honeymoon, however, God took care of it little by little. Friends of ours paid for our rental car that got us from Seattle to north of Vancouver. When we arrived at our luxury camping suite (www.rockwatersecretcoveresort.com) we learned that for some reason we got 50% off, so Catherine was treated to a massage and we were able to eat out which was a lot of fun. However, the honeymoon was really only 4 days long as we had to rush back for my little sister's wedding. Again, it was great to be with such fun and loving people and my sisters wedding went off w/o a hitch and I was able to catch up with a lot of people I missed at my wedding. Ahhh, how relaxing you might think (maybe)....no, the following morning after the wedding, Catherine and I were up at 5am to catch our flight back to Bogota. Its safe to say we were a bit in shock (especially Catherine) as she went to work the following day.
The shock has worn off though, and life is great here in Bogota. I have quite a few balls up in the air and am in the process of deciding which ones to catch and which ones let fall. I was recently reading my old pastor's blog and was really convicted on the need to be in prayer. I am a doer and getting busy is what I do best, but I constantly need to remind myself that the most important thing in my life is to be spending time with God. How can I make good decisions apart from knowing Jesus? In order to know him more, I realized I need to be taking more time out of my day to tell him my thoughts, ask for wisdom, give thanks for answering previous prayers...etc. It was a good wake up call for me.
Alright, enough for now. Take care all of you and please write to tell me how you are doing.
posted by Jacob Grady | 8:36 AM
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