on friday, I was working with the construction crew led by mrs. vhale. I had a ton of questions about what I should do/how I should do it. Even though I was disrupting the smooth flow of her own work, she always stopped to answer my questions with kindness and grace. The really amazing thing is that everyine else on the crew was asking just as many questions as I was and she still was very kind and gracious to us all. It reminded me of how Jesus would probably be…

One funny story I have to tell. We had all been watching the girls giving people rides on the twirly-thing and when they stopped, me and colin (?) gave aaron a ride. He was going pretty high/fast when he finnaly told us to stop, and I tried pulling back on the rope I was holding (bad career move). I suddenly found myself jolted off my feet and flying through the air almost as high as aaron was. I went around once or twice, then my hands could stand it any longer (they were already kind of beat up by the jolt) and I let go to be sent flying what felt like dozens of yards (actually about 6-8 feet) away. When the innitial dizziness from my reentry left, I found I had landed with my head about 3 inches from the corner of that low, concrete wall (the one around that small tree). I don’t know what would have happened to my head if it had hit the wall at the speed I was going. Thank God.

Cesar and Obed with their runny noses giving us kisses…

Jovany pretending that he didn’t speak English -when he understood and spoke it perfectly!

Cesar not wanting me to do hand motions to the songs, but wanting me to just keep my hands on his shoulders the whole time…

Miriam giving me her snake to bring home…

So many kids writing thank you in our journals and telling us that they love us…

Esmeralda sticking her tongue out and laughing this great deep “belly laugh”…

Alfredo finally connecting with us…

Anna and Elizabeth calling for Mia to play football.

The thrill the Ranch kids had with getting the glow necklaces and bracelets. Most (if not all) had never seen them before! (Yeah, Amy!)

They love pens, bouncy balls, and stickers.

They loved everything that we did with them.

They loved us … and we love them!

Thank you, God, for this opportunity to participate with what You are doing there at the Ranch with these kids!

On Friday Miriam asked me in Spanish what was the name of my daughter. Mia had to translate for me - and told Miriam that my daughter’s name was Krystin. I had told Miriam that I was sad to be leaving her, and she had given me her tametag. I was contemplating all this as I walked toward the kitchen. Amy came up and talked to me, and I told her what Miriam had asked and I began to cry. As Amy and I were standing together, and I was crying, a voice from the front of the Ranch kids dining room called out, “Stop the crying. You’re making us sad.” It was Jovani! Well, I went from feeling sad to laughing. The kids were SO great!

Well, I must mention Obed painting the sidewalk. Okay, so that wasn’t so funny for those who ended up scrubbing the cement, but what a little-boy thing to do! Poor guy didn’t have a clue he was doing something bad. That was on Monday — we’d soon learn that such actions were not unusual coming from Obed.

I really enjoyed getting to know Ms. Vahle and Weaver better, as well as Amelia Weaver (well, MOST of the time ;)) and Jillian Metzger. It’s amazing how you can set behind people week after week for months (or even years!) on end and hardly speak, yet living with them for one week and you’d think you’d known them forever! There were others that I knew on a superficial level, but challenging circumstances and and long van rides allowed me to get to know them on a deeper, spiritual level.

I was also impressed by the general attitude of the team. I am aware of oh exhausted I was by the time it came time to care for the kids, and how I didn’t really want to go BACK to painting after lunch, and how exhausted I was in the mornings, and how frustrating it could be to try to share two sinks and three showers with some thirty-five ladies, etc. etc. etc. but there were attitudes only of servanthood and humility. That’s the only way this trip could work, and it was on display everywhere you looked.

Finally, I was most-inspired by harmano Dean’s love for the kids. From the first time I met him at the airport and chatted at lunch, he spoke so fondly of “[his] kids”. It actually took me a little bit to determine that he was speaking of the ranch kids and not his biological children. He spoke with so much love and that love wasn’t ONLY spoken — it’s lived out daily in the way he trains his staff, relates directly to the children, takes an interest in their pasts and their lives, seeks to disciple and discipline them as he feels led by God, and so much more. Rancho3M glows with the light of the Gospel and it’s beautiful to see.

I could write more…but that will do for now. =)

Adios! (I still find myself slipping in a Spanish word here and there. I accidently ordered at Starbucks the day after we returned home in Spanish! Oops!)

Sharing evidences of God’s grace every morning was also really neat. Additionally, throughout the week, Mrs. Sawyer and Emily each came up to me several times and asked either what I had read in my Bible, how I had been experiencing God’s grace, or how they could pray for me, which was all a real blessing. Thanks guys!

Another definite highlight for me was playing with the kids and just knowing how blessed we were even to be able to interact with them, as not all groups are. Their joy and friendliness was amazing.

There were countless funny moments on the trip. I think it was on Monday evening when I watched two of the little boys (about 4-years-old) take an unraveled plastic lei that they had been given earlier, string the handle of a bucket of chalk through it, and tie the two ends of the plastic rope to the metal bar of the monkey bars. They then proceeded to take a stick and hit the bucket of chalk as if it were a piñata. It was SO funny! Hearing Mr. Mullery’s Tarzan yell while we were up on the hill the one night was also very comical. Some other funny moments were watching one of the guys (Logan?) get chased and sprayed with shaving cream, the antics in the girls’ dorms at night, haggling with this one man at the market, doing paper-maché, and more.

Thank you Mr. Whitacre, Mr. and Mrs. Echegoyén, Christine, Mr. Adamek, and everyone else for making this trip possible!

I am so greatful that God allowed me and my mom to go on that trip. I was amazed at the joy that everyone had. From the kids to the staff to our team. no one ever complained and we were eveen singing as we worked. God really helped me see that there really can be joy through serving others.

Thanks to everyone who went for having an amazing atitude and for making the trip only that much better^_^

Lizzie J.