Learning To Step In To The Flow of Life

Day 4 – Wednesday at Orphanage Emmanuel

Today was my day to do the devotion for our medium-big boys. Thanks to Kate, who is the most prepared person I know, I had a whole lesson idea and a bag full of snacks – otherwise known as sheep food. All of the lessons have been centered around sheep and the Good Pastor. My lesson was on hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd. Preparing for this was harder than one would think when you consider you have a translator working with you. We talked about how to recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd. We talked about how there are a lot of other voices we’ll hear, but when we learn to recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd, we will be able to hear His voice above the others. We played the hog call game that they seemed to enjoy. It was supposed to illustrate the point that you can hear and follow a certain voice above all others. Who knows??

I saw Jose and Rudolph this morning. I like those boys! They asked if I would be at the farm today and I had to tell them no.

Today I signed up to assist with cookie decorating with the medium big girls. This was my first foray into the world of the girls. We headed over to their house at 10 a.m. with a pan full of cookies, craft sticks, and frosting. The girls were waiting for us in their dining area – which is like an outdoor picnic place: long tables and benches under a cover with open sides. At one end was their kitchen.

Decorating the cookies consisted of passing out a coffee filter (used as a placemat) to each girl, handing out two cookies on the filter, and then giving them a craft stick full of frosting – their choice of either blanco (vanilla/white) or chocolate. Then they smeared the frosting on their cookies, licked the stick clean, enjoyed their cookies and then licked the filter clean of frosting. I would guess they don’t get that often? In the past they used to include sprinkles as part of the decorating but I heard that was somewhat of a disaster so the team decided to forgo that this year.

The girls seemed to enjoy the activity. They were all friendly – but what I loved was to see them smile. The sad and defeated looks of the people, especially the children, I witnessed on my way here really made an impression on me. The girls’ laughter warmed my heart.

I didn’t have anything else to do until 1. Cheryl asked me to help her cut hair over at the Power Toddlers. Of course I’ll do that! I used to cut my boys hair. I told her that so long as they weren’t looking for anything precision I’d be fine!

In the meantime, I chose to embrace the white space. I sat in the gazebo with my Bible Study and journal and again meditated on Psalm 1, verses 2 and 3 this time. “But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”

The Lord has revealed how verse 1 applies to this place – the brokenness of the world. What about these verses? These are verses of wholeness. They teach us how to live whole.

Emmanuel is founded on the Word – Psalm 27:10. They know the importance of the Word and of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. There is not a day that goes by that the children are not given some kind of teaching and training in the Word. The goal of Emmanuel is to prepare these children with a solid faith foundation so that when they leave here they will be prepared to face the challenges of the world with Jesus as their Rock.

The fruit is evident in the amount of work that gets accomplished by a team that is not prepared to accomplish all of it. The fruit is evident in the generosity of people all over the world who simply give and therefore provide all that the orphanage needs. The fruit is evident in the faith of the people here. They don’t know where the provision comes from physically, they simply know and trust that it comes from the Lord. And it does.

The fruit that is borne is evident in the smiles and laughter of the children. These children live with hope because they live on the foundation of the Word of God and the love of Jesus. They know they are safe, but more importantly they know they are loved. Their smiles and their laughter are quite the contrast to the broken world just outside of their gate. They speak into the understanding of what living whole does for a person. Rudolph told me he wants to grow up here. Many of the older children choose to stay. They choose to come back and work at the orphanage. Many bring their fiancés so they can be married in the chapel here. Some bring their children to be baptized here.

Is every child a success? No. But Emmanuel has its roots deep in the living water of the Word and faith and they teach the children to do the same. It is a place of wholeness for these children. It is a place that bears tremendous fruit because of the delight they take in the Lord. That’s what we need to do to live whole! Delight in the Lord!!

Delight is on my mind as we head to the Power Toddlers for the hair-cutting. It is not nearly as chaotic as it was the first time I was there. We have come at the tail end of their afternoon siesta – nap time.

Soon, hair was flying! We were doing the basic buzz cut – nothing fancy. We decided that we really could have just held the clippers and let the little ones just wiggle and fidget and we’d be just about as successful. The boys were adorable. One wanted a mowhawk – which the house dad promptly vetoed. Only one cried. 29 little boy heads later, we were done. By then, the boys were going full throttle in the play yard. Even though I raised boys, I had forgotten that they are always on the go and so much fun to watch play.

Covered in hair, a shower was a must, and immediately! I missed our 3 p.m. activity with the boys. I think they were making sheep out of marshmallows and pretzel sticks. I haven’t been good about making it back there for that. I realized later that the better yes would have been to just go to the boys’ house for that activity. It was an opportunity to step into the flow of life there and I missed it because I was more concerned about being clean. I was the only one who cared that I was covered in hair. It would not have killed me to wait another hour.

There is a mid-week Wednesday worship service that we all attended. I missed being at the farm today, but hoped to see “my” boys at church. However, I discovered later that the medium-big boys do not go to the Wednesday night service. Instead they have a Bible study in their house. I was disappointed – I had wanted to introduce Rudolph and Jose to my husband.

Our team presented a play based on Jesus’ reinstatement of Peter found in John 21. “Peter do you love

me? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Then feed my sheep.” The sheep theme continued. They did a great job and the kids loved it. Then Kate delivered a really great message to the kids. That gal is truly talented. It has been a blessing to see her in action here!

Today was a slower day again. But that was okay. I have become more comfortable with the down time. There is a lot of opportunity to sit and enjoy being with one another.  This I love.

 

Lord, thank you for haircuts and plays. Thank you for frosting covered smiles and cookies. Thank you for continuing to create a new heart.

Blessings from Honduras,

Denise