Making lemonade

So, Mark and Susan were here starting on Thursday, and we were so busy and having fun that coming up to put a blog update on seemed just too far away. They left this afternoon, so here I am.

First...they had barely got here, and then the rain started....hard. So hard in fact, the first time I had ever seen hail...in my life was while we were going to lunch. The rain stopped by the time we left, but by then the damage had been done. Roads flooded, rocks everywhere, general traffic malaise. We were still able to get around in the Defender, but it was something to see. Then it rained the next day, and the next. We had water running down the walls in places, and a lake in our patio of probably 8". All in all, it could have been worse, and in some parts of the city it undoubtedly was.


We spent part of our time trying to get the lights in our house fixed. So many burnt out bulbs, a ballast, a starter, a broken plug here or there, while our electrical bill will certainly go up, it will be nice to be able to see again. Cecilia was especially happy, as her room has not had any light for...oh, just about since we moved in here. Add on top of that fixing, looking at, and correcting several computer issues (including one at the clinic) checking the water damage in the man cave (ah, great, more work to be done there!) We even had time to enjoy a picnic with Union Christian Church at a park on the way to Valle de Angeles on Saturday, which was good for all involved (the kids even got to go swimming in a pool just their depth.)





And at the clinic...construction continues. The roof is the big ticket item that needed to be done as soon as possible. That soon has become this week, with pouring starting today. Oscar is in enough of a hurry to even rent a mixer if you can believe that. After that gets done...well, we shall see. We are hoping to re-open in the new facility in February, but that will depend on finances in how quickly we can work to make that happen.









And this last picture...I could not resist. All I have is a caption.


"When life gives you lemons...make lemonade."

X Nadir Mora Pinto

X....is Oscar's contribution to the baby's name to be established at a later date (he did mention at the hospital thinking about Oliver, his dad's name, but nothing definite.) That sparked a discussion on Oliver and how rare (or to Julia "old sounding") it is, and then Arturo and what meaning that name has here. Always good to learn new things.

They had to do the C-section because of some bleeding...and the baby was briefly caught up in there or something to where he was being suffocated (thus the plastic box for oxygen...meaning no one could hold him for the first 24 hours and that the AC for the room was off making it feel like a long term sauna)

(He was long...how long? Long enough. His weight was 8.6 pounds.)

Julia was remarkably already up and walking...12 hours later, she mentioned she might be home today or tomorrow. Wow.

I do not normally go in for these sort of things...but for the record I think he looks like Oscar. Then again, that might have more to do with his scrunched up face and being a new born than anything else.

They thank everyone out there in internet land for their prayers!

Baby born

C-section...11:36pm 9/22....Oscar thanks everyone for their prayers. More information later...when we are cleared for a visit to the hospital.

Julia in the hospital

Oscar and Julia are in the hospital...no baby yet. It started at 10 or 11 this morning...Oscar says the doctor sent them back to her room (dilated...but not enough)

More news when I have it...they appreciate your prayers.

15 de Septiembre

Yesterday was independence day here in Honduras (and several other countries in these parts that got their independence from Spain on the same day.) Since we have two interns, and two little kids, we went to see the big parade for the first time in eight years. Similar to what we remembered, but a lot more trash (the newspaper said this morning that the clean up crews supposedly collected 15 tons of it.)

The one big difference I saw later in the press (and on TV) was the involvement of Mel Zelaya (the president), instead of putting forth the usual "long live Honduras, yeah for independence, etc." speech, he took the opportunity to promote the ALBA (the semi-CAFTA for socialist countries) and was received with quite a few boos, whistles, etc.

As if not popular enough...he then invited the "Bloque Popular" a very left leaning group to have a parallel parade with the students (the normal parade only involves schools.) Why? Well, they support ABLA as well (my favorite part being the sign they had plastered on the front of a truck driving with them...Chavez, Morales, Zelaya and Castro) and when they arrived at the national stadium...they were greeted with more boos, etc. and thrown water bottles and probably more.

Of course we delayed receiving the credentials of the US ambassador when he arrived last week (in solidarity with our Bolivian brothers...also not a very popular move...Mel says now it will happen this week)....add all that up plus what has been said and the past....and it is not exactly a friendly time for the US in Honduras.

We enjoyed the parade (can you believe I found a spot in the shade below a billboard the whole 45 minutes we were there?) and getting to visit Doña Elida whom we had not seen for many moons, and then actually taking a nap in the afternoon!

Enjoy the pictures of the rather unique outfits worn for the parade. Some were traditional, some were more modern, and some....I assume the design idea was to stand out, and some of them certainly stood out, in good ways and ways that sometimes made me say yikes.

Dangerous

It occurs to me that we live in dangerous times, my friend. No shock there, just more obvious today.

For starters, some of you might remember Sebastian, who has done some construction work for us this year on the clinic off and on. He was walking home Sunday night (he lives a block from the clinic) and two robbers (imagine living like this, which is a typical story...they live in his neighborhood, and he knows who they are) wanted his cell phone, so they stabbed him to get it (no "hand over the phone" or anything) the reason they did not ask...because they were trying to kill him. He raised his hand and that kept the knife from going into his chest.

If you remember Alejandra, who has translated for us, her brother came today to do some prep work for the new car alarm for the Ford (those that have been here know why we need a new one) and luckily he was in the front of the bus he was riding...because he saw thieves in the back holding people up.

And if all that was not enough... I am driving the Ford with at least one part of the suspension hanging by its lonesome. Not extremely dangerous...but I have to take it easy. The Defender needs work too...but our mechanic is in the hospital/treatment center (again...he has a drinking problem...binges to the point of putting him out of commission.)

Things here are fine...we are fine...but...things here can be dangerous. We are safe because 1.) God is protecting us 2.) we take precautions. But, one can never really be "safe" and that is why we have our faith and trust on something beyond this life, which can change at any moment...no matter where you live.

In other news...we defeated Jamaica (Ha-my-ka for those of you boning up on Spanish pronunciations of foreign countries) 2-0 last night on our continued road for the World Cup qualifiers. I am sure any friends outside the US know exactly how their respective teams are doing...those in the US? There are fans there, I know that, but the people that read this blog? I am guessing none or almost none know that the US is undefeated in its grouping (which...in all honesty, is not the strongest grouping around.)

Night out?

So I am sure all of you are up on Honduran World Cup qualifier action. I know people get together for big games in the US...but really, at least what I have seen pales in comparison to the general unity of action here.

I knew the game was last night, but what I did not know is that Julia offered to watch the kids so we could go out. Hmmmm. So, we ran some errands, and then tried to go eat. Did I mention there was a game versus Canada last night? We finally did end up eating somewhere that was not too busy...but after driving by many an eatery (which was easy...there was hardly any traffic anywhere!.) It was as busy as Valentine's or some such thing...except everyone was perhaps eating, definitely drinking, oh, and watching the game. Some places had just TVs, some had projectors, some had entire tents to handle the overflow with TVs and big screen projectors...it was nothing short of amazing (normally I would be staying at home to watch the game and not get to see such things.) They even had a group gathering at one of the indoor stadiums here (the game was in Canada) for many a person to go and watch the game in solidarity.

We did end up somewhere with TVs...and a big screen set up for the event, and we got to see most of the game...Honduras 2-Canada 1.



In addition, when we were driving around, some restaurant or bar (we have never been there) was setting off fireworks. I have never had the opportunity to take pictures on my camera with the "fireworks" setting...wow, it did a great job (I have included a sample...makes a great desktop background on my computer.) We literally parked and watched them set them off these fireworks 30 feet from where they were launching. Safe? That question entered my mind...but possible because...everyone else was watching the game! I have not seen fireworks that close to me in quite some time (they were not that high.)

Osama McCain and our itching ears

I see a fair amount of TV from the US, not as much as possible, nor do I seek out election coverage that much, but I am continually amazed at how much we tend to see the other party as more than just the opposition, but the enemy...or even the enemy himself. People shout boos at the mere mention of the name of the other guy (or gal) at best...at worst we say they are the anti-christ or make threats to leave the country (and what is wrong with that?) if so-and-so gets elected, as if it would be the worst thing in the world.

And I can more than assume that there are people at both those conventions and spousing such opinions that say they are Christians.

#1...if we are Christians, why are we worried about who gets elected in the first place? Sure, we can vote and work for one candidate over another...but to the point of worrying, calling names, dislike for the sake of dislike, hate, or worse?

#2...if we are Christians where is our love for everyone, for our enemies especially...(that is if you can even call either the enemy)? (Matthew 5:43-48)

Instead we condemn and at the same time fail to listen. We do not seek a common ground from whence to education or evangelize...instead we negate the very idea of a changed mind...on both sides ("that is why I believe, and I will not change and neither will you, so let us just leave it at that.") promoting that condemnation, or to the other extreme almost as if we do not really care, or are more worried about the mere possibility of offending someone despite the possibility of a changed heart (on both sides in some cases.)

I am not suggesting we compromise the essentials of being a Christ follower. But how about a little compassion? How about trying to think from the other side of the argument? How about thinking about what Paul did when he was in Athens (Acts 17.) He saw the idols people were following...and instead of booing, writing them off, or just screaming condemnation...the Bible says he was "greatly distressed"! He searched for a starting point and went from there. Some sneered, some wanted to hear more. (sound familiar?)

Bottom line? I am greatly distressed....are we living out our faith, or is it just button we wear on our lapel? Are we preaching in and through our life, or just sitting on our duffs in complacancy? Let us read, remember, and put into practice 2 Timothy 4:1-5

1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

It is upon us

So I was shopping yesterday (for the milk project...celebrating "Kid's day" tomorrow with some very special treats....candy and apples...just no candied apples.) and it happened.

Yes, everything was already up and displayed, I can only presume they had this ready in late August since it had been a while since I was there. I refrained from getting a picture of the end cap display of candy canes and Christmas cookies.

So, I know "early" is redefined every year by retailers but I am curious if anyone else has seen a similar seen already in their neighborhood, the place that you see each day.

By the way, our lawsuit (what an enjoyable first!) proceedes with regards to the Ford. When will it get out? Who knows. In these processes here, you turn your life (in this regard) over to the lawyer you trust (or you hope you can trust...in our case we trust her) and just pray.

The clothing container was successfully unloaded today. I was busy in the AM trying to figure out the Ford situation with our lawyer (as much as was required of me) and Oscar took my Ford to get started, and Celeo came and they paid another guy with a pickup...since the road is in a continued abismal state, we knew from the get go that it would get no further than the bus stop, and even making it there is something of a minor feat given the rest of the road just to get there.

And in our continued theme of spending time together, Cecilia and Soren joined me for a leisurely trip to the grocery store this evening where we were treated to macaroni salad by the folks at Hellman's (now with omega-3! Oooooh) and a little nutrional packet for kids that they thoroughly enjoyed. It was the firs time I saw the new nutritional pyramid so we talked through it (Cecilia was adament that ice cream should not be included as a healthy food.) Nothing like enjoying a berry granita while discussing healthy foods. I chose this picture to show that Cecilia was passing the drink (we had an order of sharing) and that Soren is taking some very funny pictures as of late (you should see the other three I did not include.)

Prayer request

Gender called me this morning....for prayer for brother Escoto (the older man who owns the coffee plantation above Sampedrana who has been very helpful in the development of the Church there from day one) he either has a lower back infection (he has had back problems for more than two months...and been in the hospital several times for surgeries and such) or abdominal cancer.

Supper out...with theological implications

So what do we do for fun here in the happening burg of Tegucigalpa you ask? Well, we have fun...just perhaps not what most people might consider fun. Saturday we did not have a date, but did skip out leaving Julia in charge long enough for dinner. And what with the foodcard debit card here giving 20% free for use at certain restaurants, well, it makes it hard sometimes to go other places knowing you are getting that discount. Not really wanting much of anything though, we decided to hop to each of the included restaurants that were hoppable, the topper being that Burger King had a quadruple burger (hey, I was running the race the next day) and hash browns...at night! (we also got a little something at Little Caesar's and Church's Chicken.) We ate at Dunkin Donuts, but by the time our little items added up, we were not hungry for any more....so we just sat in their place and ate, loiterers we were! Believe it or not, there are a few more chains included in this deal as well...all owned by the same investment group. Why else would I eat at Chili's?

I could not help but see this sign at Burger King while we were waiting to show them my undercooked burger. Of course the main theme is their "have it your way," but for those that can not read it (because it is small, or it is in Spanish, or both) the last two placards that caught my attention most read: "come with your friends, come alone, come with your girlfriend, come with a friend's girlfriend." and "However you want to come is fine. Because you are at Burger King and things here are your way."

Why did this bug me? I guess the biggest reason is that it exemplifies to me post modernism (in a religious sense...not the other 10 ways or more it can be defined) at its best, and how I see people reflecting that in their view of God. Hey, you want to cheat with your friend's girlfriend? Have it your way...it is even funnier that way! As a matter of fact, whatever you want, however you want it, that is cool too...because after all, things here are however you want them to be (to their credit...I did not see any sign saying no shirt no shoes no service, and their funny sign on the door "PULL, feel free to push all you want, but this door is pretty stubborn" but I wonder how flexible they really are on this whole philosophy.) In the end, you define what is good, how you want it, so go for it, whatever that might be.

And I guess the real reason it bugged me is that it is so close to what a Church should be, yet so far away:

"However you want to come is fine. Because you are coming to God, and He loves you and wants to make you His way."

You can push Him away all you want...but He is still God.

And if I am totally off base here, or the rare ground beef went straight to my brain...please inform me.