Murder and being Mom for the weekend

*Wrote this a few days ago, but just now posting...*
How have I already been here a week?! It feels like I picked up right where I left off two years ago with the boys. They’ve grown up so much, but still have their contagious giggly laughter and snuggly hugs even if some of them are older and “grown up”. So much has happened in the past week, I don’t even know where to start. I haven’t been able to blog much because the power has been out every other day and when there’s no power there’s also no water…which makes our day much more complicated and we have to rearrange our day around this.

The beautiful mosaic sign at the entrance of the future home!!

This past week, let’s see…the boys have hauled up the mountain several truck loads of sand and cement, and other building supplies for the workers to build a septic system for the new house. It’s a huge undertaking and a lot of coordinating/planning, but it will be SO great to have this important part of the house done soon!!

You never know what the day will bring with the boys. I am getting really good at communicating and coming up with consequences for when the kids don’t listen, give attitude, slam doors, get in fights with each other, talk back, and sometimes end up running away from home over a small misunderstanding among each other usually related to a toy or they thought someone took their shirt, etc. But--With all that said, the boys are learning and growing. Since the boys are used to living on the streets without any structure or “house rules”, this concept takes a while for them to not constantly fight against instruction. Sometimes, I would say at least a third of my day is spent settling disputes, grounding someone, assigning extra chores, and explaining to them that I want the absolute best for them—and that’s why I won’t put up with them using violence or attitude to solve problems. And recently, most of my day is spent talking and instructing the boys, and a good chunk of it is explaining to them why something is wrong or right and reminding them what the house rules are and why we have them. **Update: Today was awesome and everyone got along well for most of the day!! We celebrated with going to the beach in the afternoon. :)
Although it’s exhausting at times, when one of them sets aside their pride and sincerely apologizes to another (or to me!) for whatever they did, it’s beautiful. Humility and settling disputes with words instead of threats and violence just doesn’t happen here. The kids have never had to communicate and work through their problems in a healthy way before and by living here with Lisa they’re taking on some major growing pains and maturing into men who are respectful, love God, and honestly go against all cultural norms for what is considered normal and acceptable. It’s incredible to see the growth in the boys that are still in the house from two years ago. My last time here, one of the boys recently had set part of the house on fire and we had to keep matches (which we use for the gas stove) literally under lock and key. But today, he is so much more mature, has conviction about when something is right or wrong, and genuinely thinks of others before doing something. He has one of the sweetest hearts but one of the most painful pasts I have ever heard someone share. And although I do keep an eye out for him in case he goes back to his old ways, I’ve come around to trust him since his spirit is so much more peaceful and grounded. 

Melvin being a goofball and wearing a cowboy hat

People who know about Honduras always ask me with worry in their voice “Why…are you going there? You know it’s dangerous, right?” Or if they don’t know anything about the country they say “Oooh! I bet it’s so pretty there! Have so much fun!!” Although I love the people here, it’s obviously not a vacation destination. This week there was a murder down the road related to a cocaine deal that went bad. For the past couple of weeks, people have heard a small boat come up to the shore at night to an area where a white truck was parked across the street. One night someone heard shots fired from a gun that sounded like an AK47. Through the grapevine I heard the man that was killed wasn’t from around here and nobody knew him (and in this area everyone knows everyone even a few towns over!!) ...which means more people from further away are discovering how convenient the shoreline is to use as a short cut back onto the cocaine highway. This all went down at night, but earlier that same day a few miles from here a young boy about 10 years old was hit by a truck going way too fast, and he didn’t survive. His body and his bicycle flew way far away from the truck and it was a very graphic scene. Lisa was on her way to La Ceiba and was passing through the little towns on the way and came up on this scene right after it had happened. The saying here is that if there’s a few people gathered in the middle of the road, there’s a dead body. And unfortunately this really is people’s first thought...and most of the time it’s true. The son’s dad was sobbing and screaming in very descriptive words how he’s going to kill the man who did this when he finds him. The truck was still there, and the driver was mixed in with the crowd blending in. When it comes to drugs, violence, and even accidental deaths, the unspoken custom is to not know anything but if you do know something about what happened you never speak of it. Because if someone says something about who killed who, etc now they’re involved and someone is just as likely to kill them for ratting someone else out. And then we have family members killing other family members of a witness, etc and it's the cycle that never ends once it starts. So people were around the boy, and I’m sure a few knew who the driver was, but everyone behaved as a naïve passerby in order to preserve their own safety. If you kill someone, on purpose or by accident, your best shot at not getting killed is to leave the country.

Dia de Ninos

On a lighter note, Thursday was Dia De Ninos and the kids all had piñatas and a TON of candy at school. We celebrated at home with a cake (I know, I know, more sugar) and a small present for each kid. **See picture of kids with Nemo pinata and all their candy** I also stuffed my suitcase with the leftover soccer balls and cleats that everyone donated for the boys a year or two ago so I gave them two new soccer balls to share. We’re saving the cleats for another occasion since they’re not all the right sizes for everyone. Side note—I’m literally struggling to type all of this because it is so hard to focus when my entire body itches. I look like I have the chicken pox, but don’t worry, I’ve just been eaten alive by mosquitos! The boys think it’s hilarious and enjoy seeing who can count the most bug bites on me each day.

Jeremias with more candy!

Although the point of this trip is to see the boys and help Lisa with everything, my biggest goal this trip was to relieve Lisa for a few days so she could take a mini-vacation from the daily chaos. After a week of the to-do list getting longer and longer, and each day something major happening that prevented her from leaving, she left to enjoy some peace and quiet for a few days. Surprisingly, the boys have been pretty good so far! **knock on wood** Please pray for our safety, peace in the home, and for this weekend to be a time of reflection in the boys’ hearts of how much they appreciate everything Lisa does and sacrifices for them. Please pray over Lisa’s time away that she would be able to truly rest and not worry, and that God would heal her and prepare her for this next season with the boys. And for those of you worrying about Julie and I alone with a house of 10 boys, we have one of Lisa’s employees sleeping in the main house with the boys so we have a man on the property just in case something comes up. 
I'm editing and finally posting this almost 3 days later since I first wrote this because, for the moment, we have wifi. I have only FOUR more days left here. Please pray that God would continue to do big things this next week!!!