2020

There are some days, weeks, months, years when you feel like you have nothing to show for your hard work. And then there are months like June of 2019 when you put an entire second story on your house and all of that hard work suddenly becomes visible! This was our house in APRIL... just one story, pouring cement footers and creating a front entryway. And MAY... tearing out the old trusses and setting floor joists so we could put on a second story! During the first week of JUNE we put on the floor for the second story and Randy put in a staircase and started building walls! On June 13, we invited friends and family over to raise the exterior walls. (Thanks Tim, Darlene, Eric, and Dad!) And then we let our nieces put up the interior ones. (Thanks girls!) A week later the new trusses were delivered... (Thanks David!) And in a matter of 3 days we had all of them set in place too! (Thanks Dad!) Randy then framed out the bathroom (I can't be...

Our first adventure in Nebraska was to the Museum of the Fur Trade  in Chadron. The museum didn't look like much from the outside, but the artificats were incredible, spanning from furs to seeds to guns. Even their website is worth a visit! So well known and well researched is this place that they were called upon during the making of the movie Revenant (featuring Leonardo Dicaprio) to autheniticate every little detail. We ventured west from there (because why would we go east toward our final destination!) to another museum, but it was so hot that all we really wanted was an ice cold slushie. We stopped at the "Dairy Sweet" and had the best slushie of my life. You know how you usually run out of juice about halfway through? This one was blue raspberry all the way to the last slurp! AND the "barista" (what do you call someone who makes slushies???) convinced Van and me to add nerds to our drinks. Genius! So, so good. While we waited for our drink perfectio...

Sonrise Christian Academy. This is the school being built by and right next to Sonshine Hacienda​, and is one of the reasons we moved here when we did. We've watched the foundation be leveled and the walls start to go up and obviously want to do what we can to support it. That starts with construction, but we hope to also help with scholarships and general expenses as the school opens. Why does San Felipe need a new school? Because here at Sonrise Christian Academy, teachers will be paid (which doesn't happen regularly in the public schools), curriculum will be top notch (they currently only go 4 hours a day and still get plenty of recess... how does this prepare them for college?), the kids will get the education and attention they deserve (rather than being expected to drop out by 6th grade)... we're already looking forward to coming back to Baja to see the finished product! ACTION STEPS FOLLOW Sonrise Christian Academy on Facebook . DONATE to the Sonrise G...

Maybe it's just Randy and me, but we tend to wait until the last minute to pack our bags, and take on a ton of other projects (that we've been putting off) at the same time. Sure, I'll write a book this month. Sure, Randy will put in a new water heater for you. Of course we have time to take the girls out for pizza and the boys out for a dune buggy ride and have a slumber party with all 21 of them while buying last minute souvenirs and squeezing in a 30-minute massage. If you are a procrastinator like us, you get it. And you get why I'm playing a little "catch-up" and "I don't have time for a lengthy blog or photos" today. So here goes: my next 3 donations went to Habitat for Humanity , Baldwin Wallace University and GreySave . *** 40-40-40 ... Day 28: Habitat for Humanity When Randy and I let our friends know that we would be leaving San Felipe next week and traveling east, our friends Dave and Pam responded, "We'll be in Lo...

Any time we have anything "extra" (clothes and food, for example) or expired (food, meds, etc.) which we can't legally keep at the children's home, we take them to an organization here in San Felipe called "Volunteers Without Limits." Volunteers Without Limits was formed when two existing organizations joined together: the San Felipe Food Bank and an organization that supported families with children and adults with disabilities. Since some of the work was being duplicated -- providing food for families with special needs, for example -- it only made sense for the two to combine. The organization now provides food (both prepared food for the elderly and sick, and bags of food for families to prepare themselves), wheelchairs/walkers/canes/crutches, etc., hearing aids, oxygen tanks, medication, daily wellness checks for the elderly, blankets and clothes and air conditioners to local families, diapers, prosthetic limbs, etc. It is supported through do...

When I put out a call to my friends on Facebook for missions/organizations to support during this 40-40-40 adventure, Trezò (Haitian/Creole for "treasure") was the first to be suggested. The recommendation came from my friends Ryan and Sonja. Ryan and I went to high school together and -- no offense Ryan -- he didn't come to mind when I thought of all the people who I expected to respond to my inquiry. (That being said, there were a lot of people I did expect to respond who didn't. Is it because they aren't givers? Or they didn't see the post? They didn't find it relevant? Or simply didn't take the time?) But perhaps it was because Ryan's response was so unexpected that I felt so drawn to include this organization in my Lenten adventure. If Ryan and his family felt so passionately about this organization that they would sponsor a child -- sending money every month for a kid who they've never even met -- there certainly must be merit in it. Af...

Time for another guest blog! This one comes from my friend Nathan Sheets, who interned for me while I was the Communications Editor at Friends United Meeting in Richmond, Indiana. Now Nathan is working in Hollywood as the EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of an organization that is working to end isolation and homelessness in Hollywood. What?! How incredible is that?! He shares with us just a taste of what The Center at Blessed Sacrament is all about: THE CENTER “The Center is a place that not only helps you. It’s been a place where I’ve discovered how to help myself.” Long before any of the current staff knew the place existed, "Social Services at Blessed Sacrament" and the staff/volunteers therein were devoted to facilitating a chaotic shower and (occasional) meal program, where people shuffled in as fast as the showers they were allowed. John F. was around in those days. “It wasn’t pretty,” he laughed as he talked, recalling how his life has transformed from tho...

Time for another guest blog! This one comes from my friend Jeff Laycock, who I went to high school with. When my nieces were born and spent time in the NICU, Jeff reached out to me to assure me that even though it was scary to see them so tiny, with IVs in their heads and tubes up their noses keeping them alive, it was also the safest, best place for them to be. He knew, because he had just been through it with his son, Hayden. Who has to be the cutest spokesperson for Nationwide Children's Hospital, BuckeyeThon, and ending Pediatric Cancer that I have ever seen. Here's their story: BUCKEYETHON Our story starts when my pregnant wife, Bri, and I went to her 20-week appointment to find out the sex of our baby. The excitement of the day soon turned to confusion, fear, and sadness as the doctor explained that the heartbeat of our unborn child, a boy, had dropped into the 50s from the typical 180s since the last time Bri had visited. He told us he suspected congenital he...

The first time I met Randy's mom, in 2014, she gave me a heavy amethyst necklace and said, "Welcome to the family." (Jewelry was her love language!) The next time I met Marie, she told me that she still had relationships with her former daughters-in-law. (All her sons went through divorces.) After confronting my own petty insecurities, I realized what a beautiful lesson this was -- that her relationships weren't based on "marrying in," but that I too would have the opportunity to develop a relationship with her independent of my relationship with her son. On our California wedding day she told me that I was "right" and "good" for Randy. A parent's blessing is a powerful thing. Six months later, Randy and I were playing UNO in the hospital waiting room while Mom underwent exploratory surgery. We watched as the doctor came in and out, telling families that surgeries went well and their loved ones were in recovery and they could vi...

Randy and I set off huge fireworks last week with the kids in honor of our one-year anniversary at Sonshine Hacienda . A year ago we were nervous and excited, expectant of all that our time here would bring. It hasn’t been anything like we imagined. The kids, obviously, bring us the most joy. There are 17 here now, but 18 others have come and gone in our time here — 35 opportunities to love and care, to provide a safe and nurturing environment. We’ve seen them arrive, dirty and hungry with intestines full of worms, arms covered in cigarette burns, eyes black and blue. And we’ve seen them leave with new clothes, new shoes, new spirits of hopefulness. They’ve taught us so much about what is important in life. And they’ve stretched our patience to the limits just like any other child. Our teenagers lie and manipulate just like yours do. Our toddlers throw tantrums just like yours do. Our kids get the flu and throw up all over their beds just like yours do. O...

When Randy and I visited Sonshine Hacienda in August of last year to finalize the plans for our move to San Felipe, one of the first words I realized I didn't know how to say in Spanish was "share." Imagine working with children all day, and not being able to tell them to share? The lack of this one word in my vocabulary made me feel completely incompetent. But this one was easy for me to memorize, because as soon as I learned it I started saying it every day, often multiple times a day: COMPARTIR (pronounced: comb-par-tier): to share Of course, I've added lots of other words to my vocabulary in the two months that we have been here. ( Google translate  and I have become fast friends.) Other important words to know when spending time with children are: puzzles - rompecabezas  kick - golpear fall down - cayó trust - confianza angry - enojado itch - picar stuffed animals - peluches hair bows - moñas  lice - piojos Give it to me - darmelo ...

While many of my friends are saying "thank God 2016 is over" and "looking for a bigger and better 2017," I can't help but think what a great year it was. And a huge part of that was God calling me to live intentionally. Because Randy and I chose to follow God's call to live a life of intention, it was much easier to leave California knowing that we had made the most of our time there. We went on over 40 hikes and dates last year. We spent intentional time with family and held special dinners for our grandkids on their birthdays. I read more books than I have in years, and enjoyed regular Bible study, making new friends and growing deeper in my faith. We went out of our way to make others feel special, and listened to God calling us to something new and brave. I would never have imagined, last January when God placed "intention" on my heart, that we would end up here. It's amazing how much can change in a year, when you are open to new horiz...

We woke up Friday morning, feeling confident that our second day at the Border Crossing would meet with instant success. They might wave us straight through, or ask for a small fee, but either way we anticipated having lunch in San Felipe with our kids! Jovi and I walked around the city of El Centro in the morning, and when we returned to the hotel saw Randy shake hands with a man in the parking lot. What could that possibly be about? The night before, while searching for a hotel on my phone, I found several advertised at $17, “for adults only,” so I wasn’t exactly excited about Randy doing any dealings in the parking lot. But when I approached, Randy introduced me as his wife and the older gentleman shook my hand with glee and called me “sister.” He drove off, and Randy told me that the man had grown up in a wonderful children’s home after his dad died and his mom couldn’t afford to take care of him. We have stickers on the side of our car that say “Sonshine Hacienda” so he had...