Happy INDEPENDENCE DAY, Guatemala!

The last couple of weeks have flown, I am convinced life has never been busier and I can assure you I am not one of those wonder women who can pull off life as busy as this, flawlessly, looking fresh as a daisy with mascara still on at the end of the day...nope, not me! Just ask my friends and mom who I call at least once daily to say "Now, how on earth do I pull all of this off" ...still not sure of the answer to that question, knowing myself, not sure I will ever know and I am kinda wondering if the Lord is intentionally planning it this way!! We have put the petal to the metal with adoptions, not knowing what next year is going to bring with the political climate and the Hague and I have been so excited seeing the Lord bring some amazing and precious families forward for children through Amor Del Nino and Casa Bernabe and we are having many families traveling to bring their children home. I am positive that I work with some of the most remarkable families and ministries in the world, seriously....the Lord allows me to be in a position to see utter selflessness, humbling faith, passion, vision and a love that has hands and feet that are put to action and I am not talking about a couple of people, I am talking about a host that God has raised up who are dancing on the streets of injustice over the children here in Guatemala...do you have any idea how exciting that is?!
We have a team who is talking, praying and trying not to crawl out of our skins we are so excited about what God could be pulling together in starting a children's home/ministry....I have two very dear friends flying to Guatemala from Michigan the beginning of October, leaving their hubbies with the kids (thanks husbands!) and coming down here for a fact finding, girls weekend...we plan to look at houses, school, visit some ministries together and just kind of get practical about what this would look like if the Lord moved us to do this thing. I can't wait...I love these friends and I love seeking the Lord within community like this...so rich!!!

Speaking of friends....after some e-mail communication, I was finally able to meet these couples last week...it was this incredible INSTANT connection for all of us. Lindsey, Chris, Amelia and Scott thank you guys for your hearts and friendship, can't wait to see you again in Guatemala soon!

AND...directors of The Shepherd's Crook Ministries and my good friends, Scott and Kathy Rosenow also came to Guatemala for a few days to bring home their son Ethan and were able to visit Amor Del Nino and Hermano Pedro while they were here as well!!


TODAY was INDEPENDENCE DAY here in Guatie, so my good friend Sharon and I met for breakfast and then caught the tail end of the parades and marching bands, a true Guatemalan experience and we had a blast and Madi danced to the drums and even raised her hands and praised the Lord.... bet you didn't know you could do that to band music...I am not sure why she is so cute, but she is and it makes me want to eat her most every second of the day...it doesn't help that she is infatuated with baby dolls, dancing to any music and would be perfectly happy if we read "Goodnight Moon" no less than 10 times every night!

I had my cute neighbor Jenny ( see picture below) come over for lunch this week and not only is Jenny so much fun, she is also quite insightful...she offered excellent child training advise for Madi "Train and maintain, Melissa" I was like "Wow, Jen that is really deep and good" which encouraged her to repeat it several more times, which was a good think, I think I needed to hear it several more times "Train and maintain" I like that and trust me, I will take all the help I can get!! Closing this random post because I have to get up early for church tomorrow and will post randomly again soon, I'm sure!! :-) Thank you, each of you for your support and prayers! We send out love from Antigua Guatemala!