January 2016 and some NEWS

After arriving back in Belize in early January, Dennis and I have been very busy.  The weeks are flying by at very high speeds.  I wanted to share some of whats been happening!

This is a Mot-Mot!  Bigger than an average robin and it makes a soft hooting sound that is very pleasant.  Unfortunately, in this picture the rest of its tail is not showing.  The tale goes on another two inches and forms into a separate, round flat shape at the end.  This was in our walk way out in front.

Some of our first visitors when we got back.  Diego, Lucia, Michael and Diana.  They loved the new puzzles and concentration games .

Our house from the back., that is us tucked into the trees on top.  Our jungle paradise is no more.  The land behind Bridge the Gap was bought and has been bulldozed.  This of course, makes us very sad.  The good thing is that you can't see this from the other side, so Bridge the Gap is mainly unaffected by all this.

This is some of our boys flying Dennis's famous paper air planes in the front of the bungalow.  You can't see all the cleared area behind us from this side.

Elvis, Roberto, Hermalindo, and Michael.

 This is Dennis outside of Rio Frio Cave up in the Pine Ridge area.  It is worth the drive which is extremely rough.  The small river runs through the bottom but you can still walk all the way through to the other side which is visible just a few feet in from the front.

There is a trail that goes around through the bush to the other opening.  This is part of the stone wall that is just beside the opening.  I have always loved walls and cliffs like this.

I have a small reading group that I work with in the library.  We read about bats and created this poster which is a life-sized picture of a Flying Fox, which is a fruit bat found in Australia.  It has a wing span of five feet.  And don't let the stern faces fool you,  these boys totally cut up when I finished this picture.

Our Thalia and Dennis.  I am not sure she totally trusts him.  His nick name at the school is Mr. Trouble.

We got to visit with Sulma and her new baby Aleena.  It just so happened that Sulma's brother and his wife had a baby a week after Aleena was born.  I got a lot of "Grandmothering" in on this visit.  All the little ones are the neighbors who always come over when we show up.

Aleena Clarissa Sho

This is Sulma holding Aleena and I am holding Laura.  They came over for a visit and we made some awesome banana bread.  Laura is in Standard 6, she is the young lady who went to the Spelling Bee last year.  She is going to try again next week!

Two more of our girls, Roxana and Delmy.  They come to church with us sometimes.

This was a wonderful visit from Daniel and Allison Priddy.  They were cruising, literally, and spent some time in Belize with us and the Browns.  

January has flown by.  I usually wake up every Friday and remark to Dennis, "It is Friday again!"  Time seems to be speeding up as we enter into the second half of the school year.

Dennis and I wanted to let all of you know that we have decided that it is time for us to go back home to Tennessee.  It was not an easy decision, but we feel that we have done what we needed to do here in Belize.  The thing is, is that it is not over.  The foundation has been laid for lasting relationships that will continue for the rest of our lives.  We will still be coming back, hopefully as often as twice a year.  But now is when we let the seeds that were planted begin to grow.  There is nothing to do but water and tend the garden.  As the bible says we hopefully planted the seeds on fertile ground and now they must grow on their own.  They cannot be dependent on us for who they will become, that is between them and God.  We are just truly honored to be a part of God's bigger picture.

We have only five months left to share with them and love as much as we can.  It will be incredibly hard to leave, but we will be coming back for a visit in November.  So, the kids know that we will be coming back and checking on them.  We do look forward to being home with our sweet grandchildren and kids.  We miss them very much!

Love you guys!

Sharing Some Late Holiday Pictures

Dennis, Molly, Daniel and myself.

Dennis and I were very blessed to be able to be home for the holidays recently.  We had a wonderful time with the family.

We were building a beautiful gingerbread village!!  Look how cute Amy and Keira are with their matching dresses.

We were tickled to be able to go to Keira's school Christmas party.  The little ones stood up and sang songs for all of us.  Well, at least those who remembered the words and weren't running around the room.  Keira did great!

The teachers were wonderful.  They had the students make little plates with the children's hand prints and baby Jesus on them.  (Just a little note here about my hair...Yes it is way too short.  One of the kids in the village told me not to be worried that it would grow back.  Most of the time they kind of scrunch up their noses and ask me why I cut it.  This time is was not exactly what I had envisioned when I asked my hairdresser to make it a little shorter around the ears.)

This is Mary and Gary Merrill.  While visiting with us last year, they had gotten close to one of our girls at the school.  So that young lady drew pictures and collected things to give them as a Christmas gift.  It was precious to see the collection of items that she gave them.

Before we left Buena Vista we had most of the students sign a big Christmas card for Greater Life Church.  This is Pastor Jamie, Amy, his wife and Katie their daughter.  And, yes, that's my husband Dennis behind them.

One of my favorite things to do is spend time in the kitchen with Keira.  I don't even remember all the pumpkin recipes we made.  I can't wait for Benaiah and Aela to get old enough to join us.

We were at church for the annual Christmas program this year!  None of our grand kids are in this one but it is adorable!  It is good to remember that all over the world this still happens in spite of those who don't care for Christmas!

So, now the montage of family holiday pictures.  This is what we normally get when we try for family photos.  I love them!!

Both of our girls looked good in this one, but Daniel and Keira looked the wrong way and Benaiah was clearly getting tired of the whole thing.

This is by far, my favorite.  The only one who did well was Memory.  I am not sure that Amy and Memory knew what they were getting into when they became a part of the Lucas Family!

While we were home we didn't get to see Aela and Benaiah as much as we wanted to because they were sick, which of course, then made Ben sick also.  We were, however, thrilled to be able to be at Aela's First Birthday!  Even though it was a little early, she said that we needed to be there.

Grandpa and Aela

One of my favorite pictures of Benaiah the Dino Trainer!

He is not even afraid to put his finger in the dinosaur's mouth!

Our friend Mike from church playing with Aela and the dinosaurs.

Memory painted the dinos pink and purple!  It looked great with the green decorations!

Of course, big brother had to help open gifts!

We were laughing because Aela received three of the same present.  But, she loved them all!!

And then there was the birthday cake/cup cakes!!!

Best picture ever!!!

It is always so good to go home and be with the kids and our church family.  We had a wonderful visit.  Truly amazing how time flies!!!  We didn't get any snow, it was actually in the 70's when we first arrived.  But by the time we left it started to get a little chilly.  

Sorry this is so late.  We hit the ground running when we got back to Belize!  Really missing everybody!

Love you guys!

First Marathon Bible Study

It took me a while, but I think I have developed a bible study that works for my girls in Buena Vista.  It has been over two years here and we have spent much time getting to know our kids at the school.  The phonics program and the library have changed how the kids read and their appreciation for reading has increased.  All this time however, we have been trying to develop a regular bible study group.  And after many different attempts I think I have found a way of spending quality time with my girls in small groups.  And it seems to make a difference.  We are able to get into some intense bible reading and a real understanding of God's word and how it applies to these girls.

My first class was in November of 2015.  I sent out invitations to all the girls in Standard 6 at the school.  I told them it was a "bible study" and not just fun time at my house.  A few didn't seem too interested and a few more couldn't make it because their families go to church on Saturdays.  But I had a wonderful group of girls and we all had a great time.

Each of these young ladies has a story to tell.  Most of these girls are getting ready to be done with their education, with the exception of Lorena, who is going to graduate from Eden this spring.

We started at 9am and went until 3pm.  We covered who God is, what the bible says about  salvation and Jesus and how His sacrifice relates to each of the girls.  We ended with talking about how we live our lives as Christians.  I had more but it was too much.  During our time together I had them color in the art page, it says, "I Am A Daughter of The King".

Sisters!!!  If Delmy sees this she will be angry with me, but I loved how much fun they were having!

This is a much sweeter picture of the sisters.

During one of our breaks these three started laughing until they cried.  It was something about a kangaroo!

We see such potential in these young ladies.  I am glad to be able to speak words of truth to them in the time we have together.  The bible says that God has a plan for each of them!  I am so blessed to be doing what I am doing.  God is truly great!

Love you guys!

WHOA, I Got Way Behind !!!

Just had a wonderful visit with family and friends in Tennessee!  It is always an odd jumble of emotions when you live in two different cultures.  We know we will always live in a state of conflict because of it.  We are so happy to be in one place but we miss the other terribly.  We feel the same about the people in both places.  We love you all!!!

Dennis is out working on the Bronco. (Real shocker there...)  And I am just realizing that my last blog entry was in October.  Not good.  So for the next few days I am going to load up on blog entries.  Most will be pictures but those are usually the best anyways.

This one will be just a few pictures from some happy times at home with the kids and church family.

Night time as we are flying out of Atlanta and into Nashville.

Air plane wing looked sturdy, always a good thing.

Hoping to get actual people in the picture but the best we could do is the cars.

Us girls decorating a gingerbread village.

Keira in the morning!!

We were able to visit with Molly before she went home for Christmas!

The old barn in the back yard.

Cold morning in Tennessee.

Keira's first year in pre-school.  Kind of like a pre-pre-school.  They sang some great Christmas songs for the parents!

Me, Amy, Keir's cool plate, Keira, Sam and Dennis

Shane had knee surgery and Keira wanted to master the crutches.  She refers to Shane as The Giant.

Although she had a lot of help she never quite mastered the crutches of the Giant.

We delivered a package from Renely, one of the young girls in the village, to Mary and Gary.  They really connected to each other when they met over a year ago in Buena Vista.

Renely had quite an awesome collection of items to give to Mary and Gary.

Greater Life Church received a giant Christmas card from Buena Vista School.  We had almost all the kids sign it!

This is our Benaiah.  He wasn't feeling so good here.  Later we found out that he and Aela were sick.  We didn't get to spend as much time with them as we wanted to.  It was more than a little disappointing.  But we will make up for it later!!  I do have a whole nother son and daughter in law that are not pictured here yet.  We were able to spend some time with Ben and Memory a little later during our visit.

This is Aela our littlest grandchild.  You want to squeeze her don't you??!!!!

Almost a year had passed since the last time we saw the family.  Little Aela was just born when we left last year.  It was such a blessing to get to know them again.  We really look forward to the day when we are just down the road from them and they can come and play whenever they want!!

When we went to church on that first Wednesday back it felt like we never left.  An odd feeling of family and being out of the loop all at the same time.  When it comes to family and friends the "loop" doesn't matter as much as you would think.  We have history and love, and that along with the presence of the Holy Spirit makes the time together all the more  sweeter.

Love you guys!