April 10

Happy Sabbath! (:

I love Sabbaths. We usually go on some nature outing with the kids. Today some of the kids went to the lake, some went to the river, and others went to visit someone’s grandmother. There were only a few kids left at the Hogar and at first I enjoyed the sweet quiet time by playing guitar outside. That was great for a while, but being with kids all the time, I get bored a lot easier if they’re not around. I went back into the courtyard to find two girls laying there listening to music. I brought some lollipops and plopped myself down on the ground where they were laying. They had watched the movie “Mouse Trap” the day before and they were telling me all about it. Apparently it was the best movie ever made. After telling me about all of it and it’s glory, they convinced us to go up the mountain behind the Hogar. We gathered up the rest of the people who stayed… which weren’t very many (Five was the total count).

It was such a beautiful day. The five of us climbed up on top of a water tank and looked out at the view. I had brought a bag with me because the kids said there were mangos. Unfortunately some of the other kids had been there sometime before us and picked all of them. We were bummed, but the kids said there was still hope because there was a tamarind tree if we walked farther. We kept going up the trail and to my surprise, the trail opened up to a big open space. The sun was shining through the blossoming trees and there wasn‘t a person in sight. The kids brought us to a tamarind tree and two of them climbed right up (these monkey children all climb trees in a split second). Tarynn followed the kids up while Maria and I stayed below to catch the tamarinds. Sometimes our heads would actually catch them (which wasn’t always an accident).

After that, we went the other way to visit Dario’s mom. She is such a sweet lady (just like her son). She gave us some food and let us pick some mangoes from her tree. Her other son (another monkey child) climbed up the tree and picked the mangoes for us. After experiencing the pain of tamarinds falling on my head, I decided I wouldn’t test the mangoes.

We rushed back as the sun was setting and made it just in time for worship. We all sat under the stars listening to the worship talk. I must confess… I wasn’t listening to a word she said. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much God has blessed me. Days like these remind me how much God delights in us. He wants us to enjoy his nature and enjoy the company of his other children.