Birthday, funfetti cake, and Christmas in the Spring

Enil, Evert, Gelsin & Jose

Gelsin turned 16 this weekend! I love when I get to celebrate the boys' birthdays with them in person. Sending a happy birthday video just isn't the same. Gelsin got two Nike dri fit shirts that he loves, I made a funfetti cake, and it was also a great way to celebrate their week of final exams being over!! This week they start a new semester at school.

Gelsin, me & one of his brothers Jeremias

Melvin loves his new shirt and his new skirt! hah

Speaking of new clothes...these boys go through clothes SO fast--with playing soccer every day their clothes get covered in dirt, mud, sand (and an unbelievable amount of sweat...yuck) and the few pairs of clothes they have get washed and worn quickly. Thank you to those of you who have donated clothes, shoes, shin guards, cleats and soccer balls to the boys in the past!! In prepping for this trip I picked through lots and lots of clearance racks to find the boys quality Nike, Adidas, etc athletic clothes for cheap. I'm pretty sure the people at Kohl's and Fred Meyer thought I was a young mom with 10 kids with the variety of sizes I bought when I went up to the register haha. Each boy got 2 new shirts and a pair of shorts. Since we didn't have any wrapping paper, I cut up an old tie dyed bed sheet and used that as packaging...Melvin was also excited about that part of the gift and wore it as a skirt pretending he was a housekeeper. Never a dull moment with him!! :) The boys LOVED their presents and I was so caught up in the hype of it all I totally forgot to take pictures of them opening everything. But--I did get group pictures after they tried on their new clothes.

If any of you would like to donate any new or used boys clothes I would love to start collecting stuff for my next trip!
The boys are ages 14-18.
The younger three wear teens size medium/large and the older five boys wear men's small. 
They each have a good pair of shin guards now (thank you!!!) but new soccer balls are always welcomed because they also get worn out quickly. Soccer cleats are something that they out grow quickly, but by the time they're passed down to one of the other boys they're totally worn out and falling apart. If you have any used cleats I would love to take them off your hands!!
And if you come across soccer cleats on sale and think of the boys, they would be ecstatic to receive a pair of new cleats especially. Their shoe sizes range from men's 6-10.

The boys wearing some of their new shirts

After having our "Christmas in April" last night we went to Sunday night church. Our car is broken down right now, so a friend of Lisa's gave us a ride. Her friend is the one who started this church, and moments after hopping into the passenger seat he says "I would like for you to share your testimony tonight during the service. I think it's very important and something the group needs to hear." To give you some insight into how surprised I was, him and I really don't know each other aside from a few interactions here and there. I had also never been to this church. I have also never shared my story in Spanish. Or been asked to do so just minutes before church started. But! Like He always is, God is good and I asked the Holy Spirit to speak through me, smooth out any choppy Spanish, and give me words to say when I didn't know how to explain something. And that's what Him and I did. I shared how I came to know Christ not as a religious hobby but as a personal God and savior, how my life changed afterward, what I'm doing nowadays as a nurse, and why God has carved Honduras into a huge piece of my heart with each of these young men and what Lisa is doing here.
It's funny, because that morning I had this feeling like God was saying "Just watch what I can do. You ready?" And I hadn't really thought much about that until Lisa's friend asked me to speak at church and my initial thought was "What!? I haven't prepared for this. I don't even like public speaking." and then, "Just watch what I can do. You ready?" went through my mind again right after.


Today is Monday. I leave the boys here in Balfate in 8 short days. How is it that 2 weeks have already gone by!? Next Tuesday I'll leave here and spend three days in Roatan before flying back to the States. It doesn't really matter how long I stay here--every time I leave is more heartbreaking and I'm more homesick for Honduras while in the States. I can't quite put words to it, but I feel more at home here. Like this place brings out pieces of me that make me more who I am; who I'm supposed to be. My only explanation for it is that God is confirming the ache in my heart to stay here--"Yes, this is something that will be a part of your life for a very long time" is what I can imagine Him saying. Although there are several frustrating and difficult things with how life is here culturally (and as a gringa living here), and I do miss people and different things back home...the difficult things I face are severe, but also the joyful things are incredible and real too. Please pray I would be able to remain present every moment and open to what God is doing in each of these young men. Hannah Brencher, a writer I subscribe to, sent out her weekly email this morning and her encouragement was
"Be where your feet are". And I think that's perfect. Please pray I can be where my feet are and not taint this last week with thoughts of dreading going back to the States and how homesick for Honduras I'll be all over again. Don't get me wrong, I love my life in Oregon...but leaving Honduras is like leaving a strange second home that I never knew I had until a few years ago.

More updates to come soon! There's always a new adventure every day and I can't wait to share some of the things that happened today in the next blogpost! :)

Enil, Jose, Gelsin, Evert, Melvin, Franklin, Isaias, me & Jeremias