Laurie's Everyday Notions

Although our team was reluctant to leave the comfort of our air conditioned bus, we were stuck. Everyone had to evacuate the bus in order to get the bus back on the road. Look at this view that we may have missed if we were still on the bus, busily chatting with our teammates.    We were headed to the village of Los Limones to distribute bags of food and other items our team had brought (clothing, art supplies, toys and personal care items).  Our team packed over 27,000 meals! Earlier that week we had prepared the food bags to bring to Los Limones. Our team made an assembly line and we quickly began filling the bags with Feed My Starving Children  "manna packs" as well as packages of nuts and dried fruits. The manna packs consist of rice, protein, dehydrated vegetables and vitamins, a combination which could literally save the lives of malnourished peo ple.  "The “dry corridor,” located in easter...

I fell in love with the home before I even saw the view. It was our first day at Hope of Life in Guatemala.  Raphael, our translator and guide, was showing us the houses that had been built on campus which provide family-style orphan care. As he explained the vision behind Safe Haven Village, a vision to provide orphans not only a family environment but also one which could give the children an opportunity to live with siblings, my heart skipped a beat. It wasn't until I walked into the house, into the modest living room which flowed into the kitchen, that my eyes welled with tears. I whispered to my daughter, "I feel like I'm home". No, it looked nothing like my home, the home in which I live, but it felt like a place in which I could easily call home.....a place in which I was meant to be. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I continued my tour down the short hall which led to the 3 bedrooms - a room for "mom and dad", a room with bunk beds for the boys and ano...

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them,  "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.   I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."   And he took the children in his arms,  put his hands on them and blessed them.    Mark 10:1 3-16 This week my daughter and I are serving with World Help at the Hope of Life in Guatemala. The picture above is just a peek, a mere glimpse, into the fabulous day that we had today. The girl in the crib is just one of the many disabled children who live at "Kelly's House". She doesn't communicate with words but with her eyes, with coos and with sweet smiles. She, as well as many   all of the children, have stolen my heart.  I have so much to...