Welcome to the party pal!

I am not sure why that line from Die Hard was triggered in my mind, but there you have it. There is some press in the US now about this whole political shenanigans that are going on here, and I feel a little like ol' Bruce Willis leaning out the window to see Reginald VelJohnson. Well, maybe not quite like that....but you get the idea. Or not. I feel I should mention something about the political scene here because I have seen some other more alarming reports being shared, and I am not sure I share those thoughts. Sure, things are not the best they have been right now, and there is some uncertainty out there, some confusion, some wondering how this is all going to work out...but is that not life in general? I am not saying we should ignore the signs (Matthew 16:3) but at the same time...scaring people here and in the US and around the world with speculation and conjecture beyond what we actually know seems irresponsible to me. I suppose it might make staying here seem more noble or something, but the truth be told despite all the "stuff" going on...life is fairly normal right now. If that changes, I will be the first (ok, probably not the first) to report it here, but I look forward in faith in Christ, not hopeless or being carried by the currents and the waves, but steady ahead in what God has for us....wherever and whatever that would be, but not fretting one way or another about what would come, because there will be suffering, there will be trials, there will be problems...finding them should not surprise us, and we should be prepared. Enough of that, I will get off my caja de jabon.

Today we visited the hospital. Several wards were not eager to have us due to the A-H1N1, but I was privileged to go through the orthopedic ward, but not hurried. I got to see Maria...who I keep seeing as it keeps turning out, as she has been there for over three months. It gives me joy, and sadness that this girl has been there long enough to know my name. I met another mother outside waiting for her daughter from surgery...she knew my name as well. A sample of what is usually seen on these visits...nothing is normal per se, as you will see, but here goes: We met a girl who had been shot in both knees (not even 10 years old) a child run over by a car and back again for surgery on all the screws they put into him that are coming out, a boy who broke his leg, and then his parents took him by boat for three hours, carried him in a hammock walking through the mountains for three hours, and then by bus for two hours, the boy pictured who lost most of his index finger from pulling up on a football goal which fell on him....kids from the North, South West and far, far East, kids that were looking for mamones and mangos, kids who got hurt playing football, and did not even score a goal....all this and more, but the one thing that unified them was their hunger for someone to care, to show Christ's love. It was cool to let them pick the North American that would pray for them (they all liked that) and to share some of the great Lego toys we procured ($1,000 worth for about $15) from another mission here....Legos that they can use for hours to make different things...and they have hours, and days, and more. One boy was so proud to show us his very cool airplane before we even left the ward.




I saw these yesterday, there were more than one....taking garbage and turning it into art to beautify Valle de Angeles. Whoever did these angels (nice plug for the city) deserves a big pat on the back, what a great idea. The more realistic angel with a fanny pack though...that was going too far.












And this, the smallest avocado (ripe mind you) that we had ever seen. No, I did not try to peel it to get at that very small sweet spot. Cantaranas is not known for this specific breed of tiny avocados, it remains a mystery. If you are up for a laugh....google what avocado means, not in Spanish, but the original language from whence it came.