The first day of 2013 and his is the first voice I hear. As he proceeded to tell me that everything was fine, the dogs are good, Lucy's head is completely healed, I start to feel nauseous. Me and pregnancy do NOT get along, at all. But I lay in bed and listen to how Theodore has no mats in his hair and Mercy is constantly running around and playing, how he has planted 44 plants in our septic system and the other guard left at midday yesterday to tend a sick child. I listened to Theodore barking in the background and I smiled. I couldn't have asked for a better wake up call to start off the New Year.
We've been home since December 13th, well really the 14th, just to visit our families and spend Christmas together, and it has been nice. Okay, well if you minus the nonstop throwing up from being pregnant and now the flu. I have been nearly bed, or couch-ridden over the past three weeks with very few exceptions. We found out after being back for only a couple of days that the reason I haven't been feeling well for the past 5 weeks would be due to the presence of Baby Haynes. What a surprise. Now we are at 7 weeks and 2 days and on a prescription medicine so I don't lose anymore weight. I suppose the baby came at the best time because now I can get my first prenatal exam with an English-speaking doctor in good sanitary conditions as opposed to having to drive 5 hours to Guatemala City, hunt one down, and hope it's good.
So we got a good, big Christmas present this year and although I am not sure how we are going to make everything work in our new 24x28 sq ft studio apartment, the Lord does.
We moved in about a week and a half before coming to the United States and completed Phase 1. Phase 1 included buying the land, leveling the land, hiring a contractor, building the garage for the children's home with a small, one-room apartment on top for us to live temporarily, completing the water system for 50-60 people, the septic system for 30, the eletrical system for all, the fence that encircles the property, the front gate, and planting the grass and the trees and bushes that will grow into a wall along our fence line. Check. Thanks to God, we got it all done in 2012.
With that being said, I feel it is time to add that we are 'oh' so far from being finished. This new year, 2013, will be a busy one, and even more so since we will be bringing in a new family member, Lord-willing, in August. We have been praying for the Lord to do a miracle. A big one. In order to start the next part, we need $40,000. That is a lot of money to us. What we hope to accomplish over the first half of this year is to build the steel structure that will support the main building of the children's home, lay the foundation, and frame the walls and the floors. We hope to finish the downstairs by the middle of the year and if we do that, we can start saying "yes" to the orphans that are soon to be sent our way. We can not shelter anyone, however, without a shelter. We want to use teams from the US to come and frame up the home and finish the first floor and have been talking with a couple of people about making these mission teams a reality.
By the end of the year, I would love to see the entire main home complete and us hiring staff and giving life to 20-25 children. But that is a very ambitious goal.
I have no doubt that the Lord is going to make this happen, just like He made 2012 happen. When we moved to Guatemala, we literally had a few clothes on our back and just at $2000 in the bank, and look what He accomplished! He is amazing, and He will do the same this year, and every year following because He is the Father to the fatherless, the Defender of the orphan. He is God Almighty, all-powerful and nothing stands in His way. He will receive His glory- from you, from us, and from all those precious souls that come into the kingdom along the way. What a joy it is to get to be a tiny part of what He is doing and I can say that I would not change not one single thing about the life He has placed me in....
except maybe this morning sickness...
I want to invite those of you who are not already on this journey with us to get on board. Get on board. Become a part of what the Lord is doing all over the world, making His name great. Don't just sit on your butt and read blogs and call yourself a part of it, get on your face and pray, lift up your hands and worship, get others involved and spread the word, jump in with us, ALL in, and surrender to the Lord what is rightfully His...all those things you hold so dear. God wants to see you prosper spiritually and bless you spiritually. He wants you to get dirty with us, to get uncomfortable with us as we rely soley on Him. Isn't it greater to give than to receive? Let's make 2013 the greatest year, the year of giving more than just a couple of minutes, a couple of prayers, a couple of dollars...let's sacrifice a little and find out just what God means when He says that it is greater to give. He has been waiting on us to get up and start giving our lives....
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