Got up this morning early to get ready for the toy/gift distribution. Had cold grilled leftover chicken from last night for my breakfast. Yum!!
German picked us up about 8:30 and we met a few of the translators and Pastor Miguel at the stoplight. Joe (one of my Nica sons) brought me, Mary and German each a set of little houses that can be used as bookends or whatever. He said they were made in La Paz Centro and he had to ride his bike to get them and hurry to get back to the stoplight in time. I love mine because Joe gave them to me. Mary loves hers because she has other little houses to go with them. German shared some tearful thoughts and revelations with us and said that the little houses represent his house that he is building and a bright new year. We had some awesome moments and a few tears in the van this morning. We are a family that supports and loves each other. I'm humbled to know them all.
We arrived at the Sewer Ponds and gathered all the families around. Pastor Miguel had made a list of families, including the ages of their kids ages 7 and under, when we were there a few weeks ago teaching classes. It was a little chaotic, but everyone got gifts and we had fun giving them out. Joe, Hixel, Oscar, Chico, Gilda, Miguel, Mary, German and I were on hand to take care of everyone. We took lots of pictures and even got a group shot of everyone.
I made sure to get a picture of Dariela and her father. I have a pic from the summer where I'm holding her as a little baby. She is growing up into a bigger baby girl. Her dad had seen me on the street one day after I got off the bus and he stopped to talk to me. I mentioned that in an earlier post. It was fun to see him again. And Dariela is sooo cute!
When we first got out of the van, some of the ladies called out hello and some of the kids came up to give me hugs. It was so nice to start building little relationships with them. They are always so happy for us to come.
After leaving the Sewer Ponds, we stopped at On the Run to use the bathroom and get some drinks. Then we headed over to the Concrete Pit to distribute toys/gifts there. We finally got everyone gathered and Miguel started going through his list with the lady who seems to be the head of the neighborhood. It was total chaos there and we finally got a gift for everyone. We took lots of pics there, too.
It was 12:30 when we finished, so we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Callejon, and I treated us all to lunch. It is a treat to me to get to eat there and I was blessed for us to all go together. I had my favorite, churrasco, a steak with a chimichurri sauce. Yum!
Then we dropped everyone off so they could go home to their families. German ran Mary and I over to Radio Shack to see if they had one of those photo card readers for the computer. They didn't, but I did get a flash drive so that I can save Mary's pics on it for her. We then stopped at the bookstore/office supply store that we had visited a week or so ago, to pick up another notebook for Mary and I wanted a couple of smaller ones. Then we stopped by the stoplight to get a watermelon from a nice fruit stand. As German was walking back across the street to the van with our melon, he popped into a store on the corner. He found one of those card readers for me. Yay! I had just been thinking to myself that I shouldn't be too disappointed that I couldn't download my pics right away (I had left my camera USB cord at home), since it hasn't been too many years ago that you had to wait a week for your film to develop and print. After that talk with myself, God blessed me with a card reader after all! Thank You Lord!!!
As we were driving home, German said he was getting sleepy. I was in the mood for a nap myself, but refrained once we got home. I got on the computer to download the pics. Mary went over the pages that she is going to teach tomorrow. German pulled the van up to an angle and he and Saturnino worked on checking out the brakes on the van. None of us got our nap, but that was okay.
I worked on sorting some leftover toys so that we can take them to Miguel tomorrow to give as Christmas gifts to the 2 churches that he works with. Mary and I also finished filling the bags for the translators and their families with gifts. We'll take them with us tomorrow to the class and give them out. Then our Christmas duties will be done.
I had some of the great cabbage slaw from last night and a piece of grilled chicken for dinner. Yummy! I've had way over my portion of protein for today! I came up to my room about 6:30 and took a shower and turned on some Christmas music, opened up my Spanish verb workbook, uploaded pics to facebook, and enjoyed my evening.
I'm actually ready to read and go to sleep early. We had an early start and busy day. It feels good to be tired and clean and ready for bed. I hope I can sleep through the night tonight. Last night I was grinding my teeth in my sleep and woke up about midnight with such pain in my left jaw from my teeth all the way up through my ear to my temple. Oh man, did it hurt! I got up and took some aspirins, put stuff on my tooth to numb it and held back tears as I laid still on my pillow and held back the tears as I prayed for my Father and Healer to take the pain away. It hasn't bothered me too much today and I hope that it will leave me alone tonight. If not, I know that God will get me through it. I am definitely going to the dentist and doctor to fix my teeth and my ear when I get back home. Hope it doesn't cost too much, or I'll have pain in my wallet! ha
God takes care of me in many ways. Some I don't even realize. I know He is always there for me. I am so thankful to Him. I don't deserve His attention at all. I pray that I live each day in the way He has planned and that I can bless someone in His name.
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