Thursday, March 15, 2012

Heart & Flesh

Casa de Fe happenings:

the roommates saying goodbye to Victoria :(
Our roommate Victoria who was here for 3 weeks left on Monday to go back to Canada. Pray for her as she starts a new life in a new city (Toronto). Pray that she would find a job and good group of friends that would be able to support her in this transition.

Tandy, Dwight and their son Jonathon are in the United States for this month visiting family and introducing them to Jonathan. Pray for them that they would get the rest they need while at home and that their time with family would be blessed.

Nicole and Rubi are my characters
We also have some new short-term volunteers. Christin, from Australia, is helping the Pre-Kindergarten kids and teaching photography and art to the older kids. She is super rad to have around and of course I love getting to hear her Aussie lingo and accent. We also have a married couple, Rick and Rebekah, who are helping incorporate a new ESL (English as a second language) curriculum. They will be here for a month helping us learn to teach this new curriculum they created and will also teach English classes here at Casa de Fe, next school year.
my buddy Telmo!

Telmo got his feeding tube taken out on Monday.He is now eating on his own, which is a huge answer to prayer!




 Maribel is in the process of going up for adoption. She is 12 and has been at CdF since she was 4 and not heard from her family since she arrived. But on Monday her aunt came to visit. She is still pretty emotional about seeing family she hasn't seen in 8 years. She doesn't even remember who her parents are. She is in a lot of pain and it breaks my heart. Pray for Maribel as she deals with being in contact with her family for the first time in 8 years.

Anthony, Moises and Junior will be going to live with their mom soon. They are brothers who came to us because the mom was in jail and the boys were left to fend for themselves. Once out of jail, she came to visit often expressing her desire to have her sons back, but Patti Sue wanted to make sure that she could stay out of jail so she was in a trial period. She finished her trial period and could be taking the boys any day now. Anthony is in my second grade class will be greatly missed.
Saturdays at CdF

Pablo, our 15 year old boy, got moved to a teens’ home in Quito yesterday. He has been at CdF for 4 years. This is another answer to prayer because it is a better situation for him and our kids as well. The teens’ home is more equipped to deal with his disabilities that we just didn't have the resources for. Pray for Pablo as he adjusts to a new living situation.

RAIN!
Saturday we got a new missions team from Mississippi. Melissa gave them a tour of Shell and then we met them up at Casa de Fe to hang out with the kids, playing kickball and using sidewalk chalk with the little ones and playing in the rain. Sunday night we went to dinner with the team and boy were their accents thick! They had plenty of questions about Alaska and enjoyed telling me about their lives in the South. They are convinced that I have to try their "boiled peanuts" and crawfish.
Rosita and I after playing in the rain

Tuesday we got a new baby. Her name is Evelyn. We are not sure how old she is but we know that she has cerebral folate deficiency and some other medical conditions that we don't know about yet. Pray for her as she works with the therapist here that some of her medical conditions would improve.


What God is teaching me:

As I come out on the other side of the spiritual battle I had been going through for the last  months, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. That doesn't mean the battle is over, Satan is always going to try to get me to lose faith. But for now, my faith is intact, if not strengthened from the testing and it feels awesome. God has taken my heavy heart and made it light I had forgotten what it feels like, it's refreshing!
God is teaching me a lot about surrender. I tell people all the time that they just need to surrender to Jesus, but I'm not sure if I atually do it myself. I'm such a hypocrite. I want to make my own plans because it's something I can control and at least I'll know what's coming next. But truly surrendering to Jesus isn't like that at all. It means giving up control of EVERY aspect of our lives and it freaks me out! Most of the time I only surrender things if I think it will benefit me in the end...is that really even surrender?
I’m coming up on the time of year I dread the most, mostly because it has always been a season where I have to make decisions about what I'm going to do for the next season of my life. And if you know me at all, you know that I don't like making decisions I take that back, I loathe making decisions. I honestly wish that God would give me a 10-year plan with all the details of what I'm supposed to do so I could just do it and not have to decide things for myself. Then there's the other side of me, the side that loves the adventure and uncertainty of life and the journey God has me on.
But back to the whole surrender thing, God has been calling me out on my lack of real surrender. He said, "Kelc, you can't make a decision based on what you're going to get out of it, it has to be all about Jesus." It was like a dagger to my heart. I am so prone to rationalize and make decisions based on what I think will benefit me. My surrender can't be for personal gain. So I must ask myself, "where does Jesus fit in when I am concerned about my natural relationships?" Will I desert Jesus with the excuse, "Yes, Lord, I heard you call me, but ______________ needs me and I have my own interests. I just can't go further."(Luke 9:57-62) "Then", Jesus says, "you cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26-33) I have to be willing to give up everything and everyone dear to me to follow Jesus for the sake of the gospel. If I'm really surrendered to Jesus then it will go beyond my natural devotion.
So here I stand, trusting and surrendered.

3 comments:

Laney said...

Hi. My name is Lane. I came down to CDF last summer with the team from Brookhaven, MS. I was just checking up on everything/everyone and you did a great job of updating in this blog entry. Thank you for all that you are doing. I'm not sure I will be able to make it down with the team this year, but I will continue to read the blogs and try to stay updated.

Lane Brown

StephF said...

Kelcy! I am bringing boiled peanuts JUST FOR YOU in May! If I could figure out how to transport crawfish through customs, I would bring those too.

Thanks for taking care of my guys, looking forward to meeting you soon! :)

Kelcy in Ecuador said...

Steph! Sooo excited to meet you and experience the famous boiled peanuts I have heard so much about! :)