Make the House a Home Day!!!

Sorry for the delay in posting... life has been BUSY!!!!

Yesterday we had the fun task of shopping for items to help "Make the House a Home"!!  A HUGE thanks to all of you who contributed to this part of the project... it was such a blessing to have extra money to buy some extras for each family!!!!

Our first stop was the local furniture store... Sami's!!  There are not too many options for stores (no Walmarts or Ikea!!) so you make do with what is available... pretty much all used items... for us we'd likely send most of it to the dump, but for these families, it was simply wonderful!!!

We chose 3 sets of tables and chairs, 3 dressers and this pile of mattresses!

Next we found a bike store as one of the dads had a bike as one of his top priorities as an "extra treat" and method of transportation.  We picked a pretty blue one for him :)

Then it was off to the grocery store... 3 carts running up and down the aisles grabbing basics like rice, flour, beans, oil, salt, spices, then a few perishables like eggs, fruits and veggies and then some soap, diapers and toilet paper.  We filled each cart and spent less than $100 per cart!!!

Meanwhile, back at the build site, half of the team members were finishing off some painting and building shelves, etc.  I love that so many good friends and family are with me on this trip!!!  My soul sista and sister-in-law was on another build, but loved seeing her in action painting as she absolutely LOVES to paint!!!

This is Lyndon who is ALWAYS having fun making jokes or acting out.  He likes me taking pictures of him especially when his hair looks perfect!!!

And as we remind each other every day, this project is NOT just about building a home, but also building relationships with those in the community.  There is no shortage of kids ALWAYS around ready to hug, play and distract us (which is a very good thing!)  

We ended off the day with a super fun trip back to the community school yard after dark where we threw down some tarps and then showed the movie "Tangled" in Spanish with English subtitles and handed out popcorn and glowsticks for the kids.  We had to bring out a generator to run the projector, but boy did the children (and adults) giggle and enjoy the whole evening!

All in all, it has been one of the most amazing, difficult, wonderful, heart wrenching, eye-opening, fantastic experiences.  We do debriefing with our group every night (which I LOVE) as there is a lot to digest.  Personally I am constantly processing inside my head and heart and it will need to come out soon in writing (some I promise to share with those of you interested in reading).  Just know that it truly has been life changing for ALL... the families we have built for AND the families that have come together to do the building and I highly recommend it!!!  You cannot experience this and not be changed for the better :)

And... as though I needed any more emotion heaped on me, my daughter has decided to get baptized this weekend in the ocean along with 5 other youth.  I will expand on this in another post, but I cannot think of much more that excites me than knowing my daughter's heart has been affected too as such a tender age and her desire is to simply love and live like Jesus.  

Off to bed (BTW, Christy... I can now feel your pain... will explain when I get home!)