For the first time in my nearly 4 years at the Finca, MY PARENTS CAME TO VISIT!!! They were at the Finca for about a week from July 31st through August 7th, & it was an incredible way for them to understand the mission on a deeper level and to really comprehend what I do on a daily basis and why I have fallen in love with this mission with my entire heart.
The Finca is a nearly impossible place to describe to somebody that has never visited our beautiful home in rural Honduras, partly because the lifestyle and the way of living is just so different from what we are used to in the United States. Due to my parents being unable to visit for my first 4 years at the Finca for a variety of reasons largely outside of their control, I often found myself struggling to explain to them my struggles, hardships, joys, and moments of peace during our conversations every other weekend because of the inability to adequately explain my day-to-day life in a way that they could understand. Since they have now visited and understand the Finca life in a much deeper way, I am excited to be able to more genuinely share with them my moments of joy and moments of hardship throughout my week during our phone calls.
I was relatively busy during their time at the Finca prepping for my vacation, completing exit interviews with our large summer volunteer class this year, and being the driver on most days due to staff shortages. However, due to our large missionary class this summer, my parents were ALWAYS able to find something to do, whether it be shadowing Teddy in kinder, shadowing a summer volunteer in their English classes, helping Lizbeth out in the clinic in some capacity, hanging out with the small kids during pre-PAVI, or helping out in the other ministries that we have at the Finca. They also REALLY enjoyed the sense of community that we have fostered within our missionary house, as we eat all of our meals together as a missionary family and have lots of spontaneous conversations throughout the day in our living room and kitchen.
My parents also got to enjoy the natural beauty that we are blessed with at the Finca!! We had lots of fun beach time with our Finca kids & enjoyed a couple sunset swims and walks along the beach as a missionary community. One of my favorite memories was walking along the beach at sunset with my momma talking about the incredible place that is the Finca and why I have the calling to be here for at least the next few years. PRAISE GOD THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO VISIT!!
I actually left with my parents and most of our summer volunteers on Thursday, August 7th for my yearly vacation in the United States! I returned to the Finca on Monday, August 18th, so my vacation was a touch short this year. However, IT WAS INCREDIBLE AS ALWAYS!!! I got to spend some quality time with my three nephews, Theo (age 3), Wesley, (age 2), & Felix (age 1)! As you could probably imagine, they are at an incredibly fun age to play with and to tease, and I really enjoyed playing the fun uncle role while I was back with them for about 10 days.
Nick, my twin brother that lives in Dallas, actually coordinated a flight back to KC on Friday, August 8th that landed at about the same time as me and my parents’ flight from San Pedro Sula. It was an INCREDIBLE, INCREDIBLE gift to spend the entire week with Nick, joking, playing outside, wrestling non-stop, and having a few alcoholic beverages with my best friend. Nick is super busy with his job throughout different parts of the year and I am super busy at the Finca, so we don’t do a great job of staying in contact throughout the year. However, the great part of having a twin brother is that it doesn’t really matter how much you have stayed in contact throughout the year, you are always able to pick right back up where you left off like you still lived together in your parents’ house!
Alyssa also came in from Denver half-way through my time in KC, so the SQUAD WAS BACK IN TOWN!! We had the entire family together for a boat ride and taking the Christmas card picture on Alyssa’s first night in town, and then we had a sibling only dinner the next night at Kyle’s house where we got to cook together, laugh together, have heart-to-heart conversations, and simply enjoy one another’s presence! FAMILY IS A REMARKABLE GIFT, & I WILL ALWAYS BE SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE SUCH AN AMAZING FAMILY AND SUPPORT SYSTEM!!
The last highlight from my vacation in the US was celebrating my grandma’s 95th birthday party on Saturday, August 16th!!!! We celebrated the party with my entire mom’s side of the family at one of my aunt and uncle’s houses in Omaha, & it was a really special time to see all of my aunt, uncles, and cousins. I hadn’t seen some of them in the 4 years that I had been at the Finca, & let’s just say that life has certainly changed for most of them. I hadn’t seen at least 1/3 of the people at the party in my entire life, as many of my cousins have gotten married & have started having kids over the last 4 years. What a wild time to be away from the family for so long!
As always, I am happy to be back at my home at the Finca after my vacation in the US, but it was such an incredible gift to be able to spend quality time with my family and friends back home!
Please pray for our missionary community during our retreat next week & for the new missionaries that are currently studying in Antigua, Guatemala!
Please let me know how I can pray for you!
God bless!