Red, Blue and Purple

The countdown has begun. We’ve been here in the States for nearly six weeks, although in some ways it seems like its been longer. Coming back always feels refreshing. I liken it to a mother taking a few hours away from her children to regroup and coming back missing them and ready to tackle the tasks at hand. That’s a bit how I feel about leaving Honduras for a short time. Sometimes getting away to rest a bit really renews our fortitude to be able to continue on with renewed passion and zeal. It’s such a good feeling to be able to look forward to going back home! Our time in the states has also been extremely encouraging. We just love connecting with old friends and meeting new people. This trip, in particular, has been extra fun as we’ve had the opportunity to meet up with several different friends who we’ve not seen in many many years. For all of you who we’ve connected with, we have been richly blessed.

Rest too, is important, as a dear friend reminded me this week. We’ve been able to find rest, and have a couple of different things in our schedule to have some time to relax.

The kids have been enjoying their time here with their cousins and grandparents. Sometimes we get questions like, “What is a gift card?” “What is a garage?” and are always reminding them that, yes they can actually flush the toilet paper, we remember that even though we are from the States that isn’t exactly who we are anymore. We are not 100 percent Americans. We are a mix of American, Honduran and Miskito- with a dash of crazy thrown in. Some people like to use the visual picture of play-dough. Lets say, American is red, and Honduran is blue. They are two different colors, but when a person lives and engages in another culture a piece of that culture is added. So now we have a red blob with a piece of blue. What happens when you mix them? If you squeeze and work the play-dough and you’ll end up with a lovely color of purple. Let me just say too, that no two blobs of red with blue added will turn out exactly the same shade either. Some people adapt well, and others are more resistant. God has been good to us and I feel like our kids are very good at adjusting. I’m thankful that our kids have the opportunity to not just be red, but to be purple. Who knows, maybe someday they may even add another color entirely?

As we wrap up our time here in Ohio during the next few weeks. We are so grateful for our communities who support us and have blessed us so richly with thoughtful cards, food, housing, prayers and just giving us a few hours out of their own schedules. It means a lot to have that support and know that we are being backed by such a great group of people. May God be praised, and all the glory go to Him!