Of Cages and Friends

January 14th, 2008 by Lil

New Scenery

January 14th, 2008 by Lil

I am sitting behind a desk at an inn in Lancaster County. I have finished most of my work, except for folding some towels, so for the rest of the day all I have to do is answer the phone and check in any guests. And I get paid doing it :-). God just dumped this job into my lap, and I am enjoying it, for the most part. I do a lot of cleaning, but the benefits of the job outweigh that.

We try to keep this place immaculate. By immaculate, I mean not one single hair in the shower, shiny mirrors, spotless floors (we rub them dry with a towel), windows that get cleaned every time the room is cleaned, a front office that gets dusted twice a week, etc. The towel folds are placed facing toward the shower, the bathmats are arranged with the stripe exactly meeting the edge of the tub, and the box of soap is set precisely on the middle of the washcloth. What a difference from the orphanage!

When I have extra time here, I work on computer courses online. I love it! Right now I’m learning more about Excel, and next is Power Point. Maybe I’ll even do some college courses online, if I get addicted. I am also debating about taking an accelerated course at a college this fall.

Technology! Technology! I am quite old-fashioned, but I actually broke down and got a cell phone. I’m already feeling like I don’t want to be without it. I might even buy a laptop computer. The hard decision: Buy a cheaper model that might give out in a few years, or an expensive one that will hopefully last a long time?

Well, I should go fold those towels!

Good Bye

January 2nd, 2008 by Lil

1 Comment

The last few weeks in Mexico were one busy blur. One of my main goals was to share the plan of salvation with the moms. I had been praying about it for months, and finally I got the courage to ask Mother Virginia if I could have some talks with them. Yes, yes, she assured me, I could have them as often as I wanted. Actually having them was a different story. First of all, the children kept staying home from school for one reason or the other, and having the talks with them at home was next to impossible. Another day, the psychologist was scheduled to come. Much to our shock, (not) he never showed up.

Eventually I did have two talks. The ladies listened very attentively, but I suppose I will never know the effect that the talks had on their lives. I had to think of the verse in Ecclesiastes: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” One of the ladies told me she thinks I will go to heaven, but that she will go to hell. Before I left I told her that that is a lie from Satan. Satan wants her to believe that she doesn’t have a choice in the matter, but she does.

Orphans Week was full of activity. About seventy young people from all over the United States journeyed to Tijuana. We filled about half of a big motel. Each day we divided up into about six different groups to help different orphanages, an old people’s home, and some house building projects. I was on the committee, so that meant a little extra work in helping take care of the money (I hid about $5,000 cash under the mattress), making sure everyone had a room to sleep in, helping to keep seventy people busy, etc. It was a fun kind of work.

After Orphans Week, Carolyn and Judith and I went back to the orphanage for two days. Cleaning out the refrigerator and cupboards and putting all our miscellaneous stuff back in their rightful places took more time than I expected. We spent a lot of time just sitting with the children. We gave the babies baths one last time, much to their delight.

Tuesday after the children came home from school, we said goodbye. Most of the toddlers were sleeping, but I bent down and kissed their dirty little faces anyway. Then I hugged all the rest of the 70 children, and the moms. I wished I could have cried. I cry about weird things. And then I don’t cry about sad things. Horacio and Uriel unlocked the big iron gate, and our eggplant-colored Explorer was soon bumping away from the place where I had just spent the most dramatic six months of my life.

Now I’m home. Lancaster County seems like a high class vacation resort. Our house seems like a palace. My bedroom seems like a five-star motel room. Incredibly blessed.

Adjusting is my next big project. I am looking for a job (any ideas??). I am trying to “fit in” once again. I am trying to make sense of this abundance. I am praying that our time at the orphanage could have made a difference for eternity.

A big thank you to all of my faithful supporters who have prayed for me, for those who sent encouraging emails, for those who left fun comments on my blog, for those who care about my life.

With love,
LillianPhentermine No Appointment

Frustrations and Fun

January 1st, 2008 by Lil

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Dear friends,

(This post was written January 12, but I didn’t post it till now, so it’s a little outdated).

New Year’s Day was the most boring New Year’s Day of my life. The children didn’t have school. I wanted to take the children upstairs to read stories, but the upstairs right now is FULL of Christmas donations, so I wasn’t allowed to do that. We decided to do laundry so that the day would go faster. It was a beautiful sunny day, thankfully, and we actually had a reasonably enjoyable day.

This whole Christmas vacation for the children was frustrating. Even though there were some beautiful days, the children were not allowed to go outside on the patio. They might get sick, and then where would the money come from for the medicine? So they sat inside and watched TV, day after day. I had been looking forward to taking them upstairs to read stories or maybe do other activities. Guess what? Piles and piles and piles of donations came, filling up about half of the upstairs. No, I wasn’t allowed to take the children up for fear they would take something from the donations. That doesn’t make much sense to me, because a lot of the donations get sold again because there’s such an overabundance. Who would miss anything?

I sound kind of pessimistic, don’t I? God must have mercy on disgruntled missionaries, because last weekend He sent Curtis and Kenric and Michel, some fellows from California, to cheer us. They came to line up work projects for Orphans Week. Friday night they took us out to an Italian restaurant, and Saturday we traipsed along with them to visit different orphanages. The convent we visited was like a scene from “The Sound of Music,” with the nuns in their habits hurrying along the well-kept paths, and a statue of Mary smiling down at us. We also visited El Faro and Zion, both orphanages that we help during Orphans Week. I love observing the different orphanages to see how they do things.

Sunday afternoon we decided to look up Berta, the former kitchen lady, who had left the orphanage about three weeks ago. First we went to Calimax, the grocery store, to find her son to ask where she lives. He gave us directions to the street, and told us they live in a black house. We searched and searched, but no black house could we find. Finally a boy at the hole-in-the-wall grocery thought he knew who we were talking about, and gave us vague directions to an alley that led off the street.

When Berta answered our knock on the door of their two-room apartment, her joy at seeing us made our search worthwhile. I was amazed at the change in her countenance. At the orphanage, the circles around her eyes and her sad face haunted me. Three weeks of rest and freedom had cured her of her winter-long cold, and had put a glow on her cheeks.

We had a wonderful visit. She has found work at a dentist’s office, and is hoping to save up money to slowly have a better standard of living. I have a lot of hope for them. Her son is a Christian, and I hope that he can be an instrument in leading them to Jesus. I encouraged her to find a church and seek God. That Sunday afternoon visit is one of the most rewarding things that has happened since we came.

Last week, we all went into Mother Virginia’s office. I think she knew something important was happening. We told her about two girls who are coming for a week, we told her the dates for Orphans Week, and then we told her that we are leaving in a few weeks. I think her sharp intuition had prepared her for that, because she didn’t act overly surprised. She thanked us for all that we’ve done for her. At one point she even had tears in her eyes.

Leaving here will be very difficult. Staying here would be even more difficult. We feel at peace about our decision, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy. In some ways I feel like I am abandoning the children. They love us. Yesterday the whole orphanage went to Burger King, and Carolyn and Judith agreed with me that every single child would have chosen to go with us in our vehicle if they could have had that choice. That love we feel from them is only because God has loved them through us. I feel so unworthy of that.

So yes, I’m finally going HOME!. I bought a nonstop ticket for January 30. Nonstop. That totally describes my feelings about going home. I appreciated my family and heritage before, but being here has increased their value to something totally out of this world.

Till January 30, we will be busy. Next week this time we will be getting ready for Orphans Week. I will probably not write any more of these emails until I’m home. Hopefully I can write one last one from home yet, to let you all know about Orphans Week.

Only because of Him,
Lillian

News by Lill

Of Cages and Friends

January 14th, 2008 by Lil

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New Scenery

January 14th, 2008 by Lil

1 Comment

Good Bye

January 2nd, 2008 by Lil

1 Comment

Frustrations and Fun

January 1st, 2008 by Lil

No Comments

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