Wednesday, March 30, 2011

We Made It!

We made it! On Tuesday March 29th, we woke up at 5:30 AM in Chicago. We showered, finished packing our bags, ate some breakfast with our friends, and headed to O’Hare International Airport for our 10 AM flight. The first leg of our flight was almost 5 hours to San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador (which neighbors Honduras to the West). During our flight, a Latina woman came up and asked Hailey for a few diapers for her friend who had two young children and no diapers! Not surprisingly, Hailey gave away two of our last three diapers. We figured that every airport would have diapers for sale, but we were wrong. During our one-hour layover in El Salvador, I scavenged the entire airport for diapers, but found none. They had enough Wii games, cologne, and perfume for the entire country of El Salvador, but not a single diaper. Luckily, Micah didn’t have a wet diaper.

Finally, we boarded our last flight and after a short time in the air, we descended into the Tegucigalpa airport, approximately 10 hours after leaving for the Chicago airport. Luckily, there was a short line to get through customs. As soon as we arrived at the baggage claim, an anxious airport employee (he was probably anxious because we are Gringos, or white-skinned, which means we have money) rushed over to us and loaded all our bags onto a small cart. He helped us get our bags out through security and into the entry-way to the airport where we would be picked up. Once we told him that we didn’t need to go any further because we were waiting for a ride, he dropped our bags on the floor and looked at me with an “I’m waiting for my tip” look. It was his lucky day; I didn’t have any money except a $20 bill. After waiting 10-15 minutes, Glen arrived and we were off to our new home.

The car ride was a couple hours. Micah did pretty well, although he was very tired and hungry. The last 8 miles is very bumpy and slow, and I’m pretty sure Hailey was thinking, “What did Joseph get us into?” Once we arrived, the students welcomed us and we enjoyed a time of introductions, singing, and question-and-answer time. We unloaded all our bags into our new home and quickly headed to bed. Micah slept well until 5:30, and Hailey and I tossed and turned most of the night.

Today is our first full day here. We are excited to share more about our experiences in the coming weeks, but it is time to get to work here.

Adios!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Last Day In The States

We arrived to Chicago on Saturday and have had a great time with our friends, Jeremy and Tiffany and their precious daughter, Ashlyn.  I am sure many of you have heard this from us, but this past month has been such a blessing and it couldn't have worked out any better.  

Spending time with family and friends in Oregon and Tennessee was definitely a necessity for us and it really was so wonderful to spend quality time with everyone.  I had a few photo shoots during our travels which was fun...I hope to post those pictures in the next few weeks once we get settled in our new home and get the internet and computers set up.  We were blessed to be a part of my little sister's engagement last Thursday...Congrats Sweden and Dustin! :)  Joseph and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a weekend getaway to the Smokey Mountains. And now, after a fun and busy couple weeks visiting family,  we are with some great friends and have time to just relax and get some reading done and get a little more mentally and spiritually prepared for our big move.   Micah has also enjoyed his play time with his friend, Ashlyn :)

So, we just praise the Lord for coordinating all of our visits and travel plans this month. We are at a great place and know it is all because of Him.

Well, we should pack up our suitcases again and get ready for the morning.  

Hope you are all doing well and experiencing God's hand in your lives as well; we know He is at work in your lives and that gives us great joy!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The House is Almost Done!

Here are three recent pics of the house...one week from today we will be in Honduras.








Thursday, March 17, 2011

Making Decisions

It's been a while since Hailey or I have posted on our blog since we have been traveling and spending time with family and friends. Once we get to Honduras, I'm sure we'll have much more to write about. But for now, I will write briefly about something I have been thinking a lot about these last few days.

I am so grateful for the people in my life who have helped me make decisions. I have been blessed over the last few years to create close relationships with people I trust who have been able to provide wisdom and advice in many situations in my life. People like my two pastors in Seattle, some close friends in my Bible Study group, my family members, and good buddies from college have all played an important role in many decisions I have made. In our individualistic society, many people cherish the fact that they can make important decisions without input from anyone else.

Not Me!

I value input from other people. How can I make a sound decision based solely on my own opinion and limited experience? Why do some people feel that making decisions without hearing different opinions is a sign of weakness or dependence on others? And why is dependence on others often seen as a negative thing?

I am a firm believer that seeking advice, counsel, wisdom, and input (or whatever else you may call it) is an extremely valuable thing. I always want to have people in my life who are not afraid to say the hard things - people who are not afraid to hurt my feelings or say something I may not agree with because they believe it is something I need to hear. I want to be a person who will learn from others so that I can make the best decisions for me and my family. I also hope that I will be the type of person who will share my experiences and knowledge with others in order to give them a different perspective or help them make decisions as well.

Of course I understand the responsibility of making my own decisions, but why make them alone? Why not include others?

Hailey and I are in the middle of making some important decisions in our lives, and I hope we continue to seek advice in these decisions.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Honduras Update

I want to share some photos that I received this week from Hija, the woman who runs the University in Honduras that I will be teaching at.

The students during the first week of English Classes:


















The students working out on the farm with a huge Papaya:


















Three new chicks that will provide eggs for our small community:


















Sharing a meal together in the "dining room":


















Preparing a meal together:


















The students studying together at night:


















Although I wrote about missing friends in my previous post, seeing these pictures makes me excited about getting to Honduras at the end of this month.

Enjoying Family, Missing Friends

It's hard to believe that we have already been in Eugene for 5 days. Micah has gotten to hang out with his cousin Riley several times, and it has been great to see the two of them have fun together. We have spent a lot of time with my parents and sister, and also got to see my brother and aunts and uncles. We've also been able to read, study spanish, and even go on a date! Overall, we are having a great time with family.

But as much fun as we're having with family, it is still hard to be away from Seattle and to know that we are not returning in the near future. We will not spend every Wednesday night with some of our best friends. Hailey will not spend Sunday afternoons with Danielly at D-Group, and I will not spend Wednesday afternoons hanging out with John. We will not see our church family every Sunday morning. We will not have friends over for dinner on a regular basis, nor will we get invited over for dinner at friends' houses often. We will not have Friday night "Movie Nights" after we put Micah to bed. All of these things we will miss. All of these things we are already missing.

But we are still excited for our time in Honduras. I will follow up this post with another that has pictures from the first week of classes at the University I will be teaching at.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

A Grateful Family

Here is a link to a short video posted by a man whose daughter is a student at Leadership University in Honduras - the university that we will be teaching at in one month! It is in spanish, so many of you will not be able to understand. The gentleman in the video introduces his mother, wife, and two children. His son is 20 years old and his daughter (who is a student at Leadership University) is 18. He is very thankful for the opportunity for his daughter to study with Art For Humanity.

It is fun to see how grateful the student's families are for the opportunity to study at Leadership University. It makes us all the more excited to arrive in Honduras on March 29th!

www.youtube.com/maihonduras