2020

I'm not very good at sharing. That may be obvious to you, as my word of the year is "share" and I haven't even managed to write a blog a week. For one, I'm busy and tired. But more so, I think I'm overthinking the whole thing. Like I'm waiting for this Divine inspiration, this deep meaning to life, before I can put words to "paper." It dawned on me, however, that I started this whole blogging thing four years ago to simply share daily life with you. And it felt more meaningful and purposeful then, in the ordinary, than it does now, waiting for the extraordinary. So I'm going to try to go back to the daily and see if I can't be a better sharer. Today I'll share a little story from Randy and my trip to California on Wednesday. Wednesday is our "descansa" -- our rest day each week. Some Wednesdays we don't get off the couch. But that isn't always restful. We live at the children's home, so we still ...

Most mornings our children have a time of devotions before they eat breakfast. They like to sing songs, followed by a time of Bible reading, and then ending in prayer. Today Mama Imelda, our administrator, led devotions for the children. She titled the devotion: "The Heavy Backpack." The Scripture she used was Salmos 55:22, Echa sobre el SEÑOR tu carga, y El te sustentará; El nunca permitirá que el justo sea sacudido. Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. -Psalm 55:22 Mama Imelda explained that when we try to carry all of our burdens ourselves, each burden is like adding another book to your backpack. The kids could relate to this because their backpacks are burdens! Any time I pick them up from school, one or more of them try to pawn their backpacks off on me to carry on our walk home. And I don't blame them! They weigh a ton! She explained that when something hurts our feelings, we have...

This week we officially became card-carrying residents of Mexico. We celebrated with street tacos and binge-watching "Santa Clarita Diet" on Netflix. It was as anti-climactic as it sounds. "I thought I'd be more excited," Randy said, when we sat in the car staring at our green cards. Which really are green. After 7 months of time, money, and paperwork, we were worn out. Only to be told we'd have to start the process all over again every October. More paperwork. More money. More waiting. Randy and I are very clear that this is where God wants us to be at this point in our lives. But that doesn't mean it is all easy or all fun. It's a lot of waiting. It's a lot of paperwork. It's a lot of doing things wrong first, so that we can be corrected and then told how to do them right. It would be easier to just pack up and walk away. But we are committed to the process. For better and for worse. Until God tells us othe...

One year ago today Randy and I laid eyes on San Felipe for the very first time. It's hard to believe that so much has happened in only a year's time! We knew in our hearts during that first visit that this was where we wanted to be, that this was where God was calling us, but a lot of other things had to fall into place first before we could make the move. If you feel God calling you to make a change, if you know you can't keep going the way you are going, if you feel the urge to do something new or different, whether you are scared or happy or impatient about it, remember to trust the process. This could be the year that everything changes for you! For 6 months after that first visit, Randy and I prayed and planned in our heads and waited and then jumped with both feet into this new adventure. We've been living in San Felipe now for more than 3 months. It's been both harder and more wonderful than we could have imagined. First of all, we feel incred...

What does a "typical" day at Sonshine Hacienda look like? Even though no day is the same, we do have a pretty tight weekday schedule that we keep to, that looks like this: 6 a.m. - First pickup of the day: cook & 2 morning mamas 6:30 a.m. - Pablo, our maintenance man, arrives for the day 6:40 a.m. - Drive our 2 secondary (junior high) kids to school 7:15 a.m. - Breakfast 7:30 a.m. - Drive home our 2 night mamas 7:50 a.m. - Walk our 11 primary kids (first thru 6th grade) to school 9 a.m. - Drive our 5 kindergarteners (ages 3-5) to school 10:30 a.m. - Snack time for our 3 toddlers 12 p.m. - Pick up our kindergarten kids 12:15 p.m. - Lunch  1 p.m. - Pick up 2 afternoon mamas 2:30 p.m. - Pablo heads home 2:45 p.m. - Drive home the cook & 2 morning mamas; pick up our junior high kids 3 p.m. - Walk to school & bring home our primary kids 4 p.m. - Afternoon snack & homework 5 p....

Yesterday was a day of doctoring. My grandma had surgery in Ohio. One of our kids went to the doctor with a sore throat. And Jovi met our new vet for the first time. Any time you move, you have no choice but to find new things that you like: new restaurants, new walking paths, new directions, new friends, new entertainment. And new doctors. Of course you don't actually have to move for this to be an issue. Your doctor could move, or retire. Your insurance could change, or you could have to see a specialist for the first time. Regardless of the reason, finding a new doctor can be challenging. Whether it is for you, your pet, or another family member, it can be stressful. Sometimes you are lucky enough to find a good one the first time around, but other times you have to shop around. Jovi spent a TON of time (and money!) at the vet's office in California last year. Months of searching for what was causing her pain. But in those months, I came to trust our veterinarian....

Sonshine Hacienda was all set to open in December of 2011. There was a grand opening celebration and everything. When the government suddenly decided that all casa hogars -- children's homes and orphanages -- needed to have a 10-foot fence surrounding their facilities. It was another 6 months of fundraising and building before Sonshine would actually open. Maybe it is because I live behind a fence -- las cerca -- or because the people in Las Manitas, where we live, are so creative, but I am fascinated by the fences in our neighborhood. There are fences made from the ocotillo cactus, which grows wild in Baja... And fences made from old fishing nets (San Felipe is a fishing village, after all). There are fences made of pallets (they must be fans of @Pinterest)... And fences made from used tires (there is no limit to the number of tires discarded on the side of the road, thanks to the number of pot holes and off road vehicles in Baja). But my personal fa...