My mom

Over Christmas break, I spent three wonderful weeks back in the States. First, I flew into Cleveland, OH for one of my girls’ weekends with two long-time friends, Linda and Cecile. We laughed, cried, talked, shopped, ate and watched movies. Then Linda and I drove back to Goshen where most of my family and friends waited.

 

 

Wild Women of Waterford

It was a glorious two weeks of seeing how much the grandkids had grown, talking and laughing with friends catching up on their lives, visiting some favorite restaurants and, yes, more shopping. I had been warned about culture shock – being overwhelmed by all the choices at Walmart, for example – but I guess I hadn’t been gone long enough. I was just thrilled to be able to buy some chocolate chip mini-muffins!

 

 

Grandkids

Those two weeks ended with my family weekend. For several years now, we have rented a lodge at Epworth Forest and all my kids and grandkids who are able spend Friday through Sunday together. I think the lodge sleeps 32. There were 28 of us this year and one family was not there. We may have to find another lodge. J

 

Dani and Andi

 

My final stop in the U.S. was College Station, Texas to visit my son, Jay and his family. Again, such a special time playing with my two granddaughters and catching up on Jay and Tommie’s lives.

 

 

During my entire visit, I always knew I was returning to the DR. There was never any question about that in my mind. I thoroughly enjoyed everything I was doing with all the special people back home in the States but my apartment, my job, my other kids were in Jarabacoa. That’s why my reaction when I returned to the DR caught me by surprise. Culture shock, maybe. More like emotional shock – arriving back at my apartment in Jarabacoa, it hit me that I would not see my family again for a year. And, I had to ask myself, “Why? Why did I think that I wanted to come to a country where I couldn’t understand anything that was said around me? Why did I want to be so far away from my kids and grandkids?” That night, for the first time since leaving my home on April 28, 2014, I cried myself to sleep.

I wish I could say it was a one night thing, but it wasn’t. God’s mercies are new every norming, but my attitude and thoughts weren’t. My questions continued throughout the following week. I even questioned the warm weather and the green leaves on the trees. Having prayed to miss blizzard conditions on my visit to Indiana, now I realized that living in the DR meant I would also miss the fresh new life that spring brings. As I stepped back into my routine, I was faced again with the mountain roads, crazy drivers, power outages, dirt, bugs…..the list could go on and on. At some point the thought occurred to me that this struggle was all about commitment. I needed to remake that commitment to God, to Kids Alive, to the children and work here, to myself. To be honest, I wasn’t ready to do that at that point in time.

Today, I am ready to make that commitment again – and this is why. During that week of struggle, I watched the movie, “The Good Lie.” It’s the story of the lost boys of Sudan. While the children in the DR don’t face soldiers hunting them down with machine guns, they do face other “enemies” – starvation, physical & sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, illness and other medical problems for which there are no readily available remedies.

 

 

This battle became very real to me last week as I had the privilege of enrolling ten more children in the sponsorship program. Looking at their faces and then listening to their stories of convoluted family relationships – not knowing how many brothers and sisters you have because your mother and father have had so many partners, not knowing who your father is, generations of sexual promiscuity. Suspected physical and sexual abuse, but no proof and even if there was proof, there is little legal recourse. Parents abandoning their children to go to other countries, legally or illegally. Extreme poverty, neglect, starvation.  Without the schools and homes Kids Alive provides, many of these children face destruction and death just as surely as any child in an actual war zone.

   
So I am here. I know I will need to remake my commitment over and over again. I will struggle with missing my family and friends. I will struggle with the realities of life in Jarabacoa and the DR. I will get tired and frustrated and, sometimes, sad.

But I will also experience joy and laughter and good times. I will be a part of the transformation of life for as many children as possible. I will see the smiles, the changes, the growth and the renewed health. Jesus said, “Let the children come” and that is why I am here – to help provide a safe place for even more children to come.