Is This the End?

Now this is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end.  But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. ~ Winston Churchill

So, maybe this is my last post … what do you think?  You participated in this mission with us; you played a part in serving God whether you intended to or not.  After reading the many stories about how “WE” served the LORD in Honduras and made a difference in the lives of many people, are you willing for the completion of this blog, of this mission, of this ministry and your participation in it?  Perhaps some of you are … you’ve seen enough, you’ve read enough, your inbox has been inundated by “Mission to Honduras” emails … you did your part and now you’re done.  Some of you have NOT read the posts or the emails, maybe even deleted them as soon as they entered your inbox (… tsk, tsk, tsk …) but some of you … well, maybe you’ve really enjoyed being a part of this mission and receiving periodic posts and updates about the training, the preparations and the incredible things that were done in Honduras.  And maybe, just maybe you felt the difference that you truly made!

 

You helped this young man to know the Truth ...

You helped to give these precious children a month’s supply of vitamins ...

– look how happy they are!

You made it so that these people no longer live on a dirt floor!

You made a difference because this young man has hope ... 

You helped to make this little girl feel like a princess ...

You made a difference because you gave these three the opportunity to physically serve and spiritually grow in a way they never had before.  

We thank you!!  We really cannot express enough how grateful we are for the experience, for the opportunity to partner with you and to share with you how so many lives were touched, including our own!  And these stories that have been shared with you, to try to give you a glimpse into the work of the LORD that you supported are only the stories from the perspective of myself, Brian and Ben.  There were 44 other North American team members as well as the Honduran translators and the staff of World Gospel Outreach who worked with us each day … and they all have something to share from their perspective too!  Their lives were touched as well!

When I'm serving God, I feel like I can do almost anything and that is when I feel my BEST!  I can get up at 5am and NOT be “Crabby Abby”; I can stand in front of a crowd and pray or give a speech and shout out my love for God and NOT CARE what anyone thinks; I can hug and cuddle children who have lice; I can brush my teeth from a plastic cup; I can keep my mouth closed in the shower and only have the water on to get wet and to rinse off; I can encourage and comfort, and even assist, people who have teeth removed in a hot, stuffy room as I watch mouths fill with blood and sweat pours from my body … And at the end of the day, I can be grateful for having had the experience and gaining new perspective.  I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. (Philippians 4:12b-13The Message)

Imagine what we ALL could do each day, the things that could be accomplished, the satisfaction we would feel, … knowing that our day belonged to God and that all we did was for HIM!  

We ARE grateful that we were given the opportunity to serve the LORD in Honduras, but for me, ... it felt like it wasn’t enough ... the time went so fast and I still wanted to do more, see more, experience more, help more, love more … and it doesn't feel right to only do it once.  And I'm not the only one who feels this way.

This is the part where I tell you, dear reader(s), that Brian and I have decided to go back to Honduras next October, to serve the needs of the Honduran people and to care for the poor.  And not only have we decided to go back, we will be stepping up the adventure just a bit as we share the role of team leaders for a team that we hope the LORD assembles from our church. 

As a matter of fact, there are even several members of our team who are already preparing to return to Honduras in March, 2013, to serve at the World Gospel Outreach Ebenezer Ranch!  That is totally awesome!!

So, while I may not be posting very often for a while, I will continue to post.  I still have a few things I'd like to share about our experiences in Honduras, I have a few devotions up my sleeve and several photos that I can still share.  However, I do not wish to overstay our welcome!!  While I have enjoyed knowing that I have so many readers (yes, I'm blushing...) and we have been encouraged by many of your positive comments, notes and emails regarding blog posts, your continual participation is not mandatory.  Therefore, going forward, if you would like to continue to read posts pertaining to our mission trip to Honduras, general devotional thoughts I might have, or our future plans to return to Honduras, you can do so by one of three ways:

1) Send me an email letting me know that you would like to continue to receive emails/posts related to the Mission to Honduras blog (prenderbergs@gmail.com).

2) Receive automatic updates each time a blog entry is published by completing the following steps:

• Go to http://www.fromwisconsintohonduras.blogspot.com
• On the left side of the blog scroll down to where it says "Follow This Blog By Email"
• Type your email address in the box and click Submit. 
• You will be sent an email asking you to confirm that this is what you'd like to do.   

3) At your leisure, go to http://www.fromwisconsintohonduras.blogspot.com to catch up on any posts you have missed.

There is still so much work to do and many are still waiting in Honduras, around the world and even in the United States.  We are eager to be busy for the LORD!   

We hope and pray that GOD will lead many of you to continue to follow along with us, share with us, encourage us, pray for us and yes, even financially support us again what you are able, ... we are excited to have you continue with us on this great, Big, GOD Team providing for the needs of others and sharing the Love of Jesus with those who live in Honduras.  Until then ...   May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)

Friday, October 5 - Final Day of Brigade, Part Two

 Ben was assigned to Concrete on Monday but he was also assigned a second time for Friday, which he was very happy about.  I think that truly, he was relieved that he did not get assigned to Evangelism on any of the days, which for many was nerve-wracking and anxiety provoking, especially for those of us who didn't have a lot of experience sharing our faith.  

On the first day, many of us had the opportunity to walk to the home that was receiving the concrete floor during our lunch break.  I was very eager to get to walk through the neighborhood and get a close look at how most of the Honduran people live.  On our walk there, I spotted this sign that was posted letting the people know about the Brigade.   

We walked along narrow pathways between buildings where people live ...

This is the entry way to the 2-room house that was receiving the concrete floor ...

It was a very narrow and cluttered entry, likely because the family had to remove everything from inside the house.   

This is some of the family members; the woman is the middle of three generations living in or having lived in the home.  This area that they are in is basically their kitchen with the sinks behind them and the cooking area is in front of them (what would appear left in this photo).  

The "kitchen" is completely outdoors and mostly open, with only a partial covering over the cooking area.

The photo below shows multiple team members who worked on the concrete floor in this home, as well as our team leader, and seven members of the family who lives in the home.  The woman in the center of the photo in pink scrubs, holding the shovel, is Susan.  She was not one of the members of the concrete team, however, she was the primary reason that it was possible to put in concrete floors in three homes.  

Here is a photo of the mounded sand, rock and concrete that is gathered together before sticking the shovel in the center and adding water (as was described in an earlier post).

Rick, one of our team members who was with Ben on concrete on both Monday and Friday, again, wanted to take the opportunity to share the Gospel with the parents in the home, Mr. and Mrs. Zapata.  The parents were not believers and  Rick spent the time with them and he carefully explained the TRUTH about Jesus.  The way that he tells the story is so amazing and I wish that I could share it with you the way he shared it with the rest of us!  The details are not as clear to me, though.  I can tell you that what several of us did not realize is that two of Mr. and Mrs. Zapata's daughters were workers at the church where we were having Brigade.  

The daughters, Susan and Sharon, were already believers and had been praying for their parents and their family for quite some time.  It was a beautiful miracle to witness the revelation that Mr. and Mrs. Zapata had conceded and accepted Jesus as their LORD and Savior that day.  The announcement was made at the end of Brigade and their was great joy amongst everyone there!  We all prayed for and over the Zapatas and it was a great honor for Rick to be at their side through that special moment.  

Then an extremely emotional moment occurred ... and, of course, I had to capture it as best I could.  One of the daughters who was a church worker that had been praying for her parents to come to a knowledge of the TRUTH came over to her parents and collapsed into their arms in heavy sobs.  She was so overwhelmed with JOY and RELIEF and AMAZEMENT and before 15 seconds passed by, many of us were also in tears!    

Three generations of Zapatas have lived in this 2-room house and as was told by the parents, they had lived there with a dirt floor for 35 years!  Their home now had a cement floor ~ but the BEST truth about that is that before Friday, October 5, 2012, they had always lived on a dirt floor destined to sink into the murky pit of hell, but on that day, they went from dirt floors to cement floors with an escalator up to the golden streets of heaven.  What an amazing exchange and transformation for them, both physically and spiritually! 

And one more really beautiful, unexpected segment of the day was ... well, remember how I said that Ben was relieved to have made it through the week serving the LORD not in Evangelism?  Well, lo and behold, ... we found out later ... that Ben ended up sharing the Gospel with several of the family members, using the Gospel bracelets that we made and also giving his own to one of the children.  With Rick to translate, Ben explained the Gospel of Jesus to several of the Zapata family members, older and younger children alike. Ben didn't have enough bracelets and so at lunch time, he collected more bracelets from the stock and in the afternoon he made sure all who were without a bracelet had one.  

He said that as they left that day, more and more relatives were showing up!  No one had realized but it was later discovered that the houses on the "block" surrounding the house that received the cement floor were all filled with Zapatas, relatives to the Zapatas we are speaking about in this post!  The last thing that Ben saw as they were leaving the house, having completed the cement floors that day, was the few family members that Ben shared the bracelets and Gospel story with, sharing the same with other members of the family who had not been present when Ben originally shared.  

When sharing this story with others, Ben got really choked up and began to cry ... (so bittersweet for a mom) ... because he had actually witnessed the impact telling one or two or even four can make ... and we are confident that ALL of the Zapatas, and there were many, heard the TRUTH about Jesus.  The ripple effect was evident and Ben, and all of us, were so grateful to actually get to see it as it was happening!

 God bless the Zapata family with all its members and may their new Faith reach out to those in their family, their village and their community ~ for the Glory of God, AMEN!

Friday, October 5 - Final Day of Brigade, Part One

So, I don't know what to share with you first ... it was such an exciting day and a great way to finish up our Brigading Experience!!!

Brian and I were assigned to "Dental" ~ Woo Hoo!!!  I quickly pounced on the station that Ana Lucia was at because I had heard stories of her questionable mental state ...(okay, people basically said she is CRAZY!)... and I had also witnessed a few fun things in her area during the previous days of Brigade.  I am not ashamed to say that I wanted in on the "action"! And let me tell you ... ACTION is exactly what I got that day!!

We started out the day with a quick run-through of instructions as to what my responsibility would be.  For each patient, I would prepare the tray and provide the tools needed for "extractions", which is Ana Lucia's main role during Brigades.  After each patient, I was to quickly wipe down the dental chair with a sanitizing wipe and prepare the next tray.  Things needed for the tray included a section of paper towel, the appropriate tools which were, in most cases, a tool labeled a "calpule", which was basically an old-fashioned syringe holder for giving the Novocaine injections, a "thin elevator" (used for ... well, there's just no other way to put this ... digging the tooth out from the gums) and then also a wad of gauze pads. 


Some patients had difficult-to-remove teeth and then she would need a tool that looked like a pliers.  For those patients needing stitches, I had to retrieve two types of scissors, one called hemostatic and the other just labeled as scissors.  Some tools were simply named and labeled with numbers, such as the #1107 and the #151-S.  There was also a #151 and if I remember correctly, the difference between the #151 and the #151-S was that one was for children, while the other was for adults.  It was VERY interesting and educational!   

The photo below shows the dental tool sterilization area!!!  The tools would be cleaned in a sudsy, bluish water/liquid and then placed into the toaster oven!  Don't you just love it?  Primitive ... yet effective!  Not everything has to be difficult!

I think that in Honduras it is probably the same as in the USA - "nobody loves going to the dentist!"  I certainly don't!  But after spending time with Ana Lucia, I really wished that she was MY dentist!!  Ana Lucia is an amazing dentist, originally from Nicaragua, and we were allowed to administer care at the Brigade under her dental license.  When children would come to her chair, only needing a cleaning but terribly frightened, a song was sung, accompanied with some fun motions, and by the end of the song, the children would have huge smiles on their faces.

Then they would let her do her work ...

 ...and when she was done they'd have a smile on their faces!

                                   

The other dental stations mostly did teeth cleanings, fillings, and other miscellaneous dental work with a few extractions (but I don't think they had nearly as much fun ... shhh!).

Well, except this one time ... hahaha ... no, really ... at Brian's station, a 4-year-old boy was brought to his station for extractions.  The boy's two front teeth were so rotten that they were basically GONE other than the roots still within the gums.  I found out from Brian afterwards what had happened; apparently the boy was so frightened that he was screaming and crying and they were having a very hard time keeping him still.  

There were a total of four dental stations and there were two stations between Brian and me.     

I don't remember what patient we were with at the time but I remember being really distracted by the crying and I kept looking back towards where it was coming from.  Even Ana Lucia was getting distracted.  The crying that this boy was doing was SO distressing that I finally stood up and shouted out at the top of my lungs "PRAY".  I think I got the attention of several people and with a few nods, I am sure that many started to pray because the boy suddenly calmed down.  But then, after a few more minutes, he began to cry again and the dental technician who had been trying to extract his teeth gave up and it was decided that his teeth would NOT be extracted.  Poor kid!

Interestingly, that was one of a string of incidents that happened that day that we are convinced was part of the Spiritual battle taking place in and around our area(s) of work for the LORD.  More on that in a minute ...

What do you think of the photo below?

WOW, isn't that tooth amazing??

Ana Lucia was called over to the station just next to ours for assistance with an extraction ... and this is the tooth that was extracted!  Ana Lucia said that the size of the tooth and especially the diameter of the roots is very unusual!  All I can say is "OUCH!"

Another incident that I am confident was an attempted "hit" from Satan but was beautifully intercepted by "the good guys" was as follows: Our chair was a revolving door; when one patient was complete, the assistant would shout out "extracción" and the chair would be filled. Well, at one point, ...strangely..., we had no extractions.  We were just sitting there with an empty chair and no one to fill it!  That was odd!  So, I stood up and decided to look around, maybe take a few photos, when all of a sudden, Gabriela, one of our Brigade Coordinators, fainted!  She was just a few feet from where we were and she was slumped in a chair, about to go to the ground!!  Several of the staff, including Ana Lucia, pointed towards Mike, our Team Leader, ... I even think they shouted out "BIG MAN", which in retrospect is rather funny but definitely appropriate for the situation.  I quickly shouted his name and pointed to her and said "our chair is empty" and without any other words Gabriela was very quickly laid in our dental chair.  One of the nurses came over to assist along with the other Brigade Coordinator.  Gabby was really upset and confused but within about 15 minutes,  her status had improved and we were able to move her.  Now how many of you realize that God kept our chair open for a very good reason??

Next, you need to know that the church building that we were in was much smaller than the church we worked at earlier in the week and it was very hot that day; with the number of people that were inside the building, you can imagine what it was like.  There were some good fans in most of the areas, except the back of the building ... where we were.  So, it was REALLY WARM!  This was likely the cause of the fainting per the medical staff (after running Gabby through a gamut of questions).  However, the "hits" kept on coming and the attacks were strong that day!  A while later, still without a fan in our area, Ana Lucia had dealt with a few difficult extractions, which obviously exerted quite a bit of physical effort and she seemed to be feeling unwell.  A couple of times she appeared to be dizzy or losing her balance.  Finally, the toll had been taken and as soon as she finished with a patient, she excused herself, running out of the building to a location where she could "be sick".

A short while after that, one of the other dental technicians somehow had a drop of anesthetic get into her eye!  I have no idea!  But after her eye was flushed, I'm sure she had a Coke!  It's a little bit of happiness, I tell you!

I am happy to report that Coca-Cola is the universal "CURE-ALL" as it was given for fainting, vomiting, headache, fatigue and mood enhancement!! 

This little girl's name is Elsa.  She came for a quick cleaning at the end of the day but as soon as she got into the dental chair, she got really nervous and was about to cry.  Out came the "festive tooth song" and voila`, she was much better!

She was thrilled even ... plus, I think the inside of her mouth was a bit ticklish!

She was a REAL cutie-pie!!

The most difficult, yet amazing patient of the day was Karla.

If I remember correctly, Karla came to our chair right around the time that Ana Lucia excused herself when she wasn't feeling well and the other Assistant/Translator was away for a bit too.  What I do remember is that Karla and I were alone for a few minutes.  She looked only a little nervous ... I patted her arm ... we smiled at each other. 

I said, "Cristo te ama!" (Jesus loves you!)

She said, "Jesus loves you too!"

SURPRISE!!  Karla spoke English!  I wasn't expecting that ~ but interestingly, Karla was in front of me at the time when I did not have a translator and we were able to communicate with one another!  Coincidence?  I think not ... God knew what He was doing!  Karla has a great love for the Lord, Jesus, and she knows that He is always with her! 

What I didn't know at first and found out after Ana Lucia and the Assistant returned is that Karla  only had seven (7) teeth in her mouth!  The ones she had were the ones in the center of her bottom jaw, six incisors and one cuspid; she had no bicuspids or molars on the bottom and she had NO top teeth at all! 

After Ana Lucia spoke with Karla for a moment, it was told to me that Karla had her top teeth removed last year, at a Brigade similar to this one.  She had no money to pay to a Dentist.  Her remaining teeth were in really bad shape and there was risk of infection and other serious problems.  Normally, this extensive of work would not be done on Brigade, however, Karla would not be able to receive this care anywhere else.  It was decided that her remaining teeth would be removed.  Ana Lucia was very gentle with Karla and she talked soothingly to her and asked her multiple times if she was uncomfortable at all.  Each time, Karla would raise up her finger and wag it back and forth slowly as if to say, "no, no, ... I feel nothing."

In the photo of Karla and me together, the white that you see in her mouth is gauze.  I told her that I would be praying for her and would always remember her.

All in all, everyone fared well and kept going ... even me when I was asked to wrap my arm around a patient's head and clamp my hand around her jaw while Ana Lucia worked really hard to remove the tooth!  WOW!  I felt like I had the woman in a head lock!  And then when Ana Lucia was stitching up the woman's gums which were pretty tore up from the extractions, she had me hold the tool in place to keep the woman's cheeks back and as I watched her do the stitching, she struggled a bit with the last one because of the extent of the gum-tearing.  She attempted to go through the gums four times before I began to think to myself, "hmm, that doesn't look so bad, maybe I ought to ask her if she needs a hand?"  ... NO REALLY, that is what I was thinking!  The CRAZY was contagious  ... and I LOVED it!!!  God was definitely with us throughout all the chaos and the crazy, the scary and the silly, the heartfelt and the hopeful! 

It was amazing to be able to hold the hands of these people, to smile at them and assure them with my eyes that everything was going to be okay.  Several of the patients asked if I would pray for them before the procedure and I did as I held their hands tightly, sharing the power of the Holy Spirit with them to give them courage and strength.  On one particular patient, I could see that Ana Lucia was having trouble getting a tooth to come out and I prayed, "Just pop it out, LORD, ... just pop it out ..." and "POP" it went!  Imagine!  It just POPPED out!  Serving the LORD in "Dental" is something that I could do AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN!

Thursday, October 4 - Brigade Day Three

On Thursday, October 4, it was actually our third day of Brigade, but only our first day at the new church, Iglesia de Torre Fuerte, or Strong Tower Church.  When we arrived at the church, there was, of course, a large crowd of people lined up waiting to be seen.

Brian was assigned to Evangelism.  Ben was assigned to Children's and I was assigned to Pharmacy.  Here is me and my friend, Jenny, who was also assigned to "la farmacia".

All the meds are in trunks and the trunks are categorized and labeled by medicine groups.  For example, Trunk number one had vitamins for adults and children, Iron, Prenatal, Calcium, Multivitamins, etc ... Trunk number two had pain relievers ... Trunk number three had antibiotics for children and so on.  

People would come in to the Medical Area and be seated in the "waiting area".  Each "family" was given a basket and when they were seen by the doctor or medical team, their information would be completed on a form that also listed what they were being prescribed.  Then one of the church workers would escort them from "Medical" to the "Pharmacy Waiting Area" and one of our team would be given the basket and we would collect the prescribed meds. 

The three people (who are Honduran and work for WGO) would check the meds and give them to the "patients".  In addition, each person would be given an anti-parasite medicine and this was given at the table. 

                               

Working in Pharmacy was really interesting and very educational!  We were given some basic instructions but, as was the case with a lot that we experienced on this mission trip, much was learned "on the fly", which is potentially more beneficial and allows for greater understanding of the whole process, I think.  For example, everyone who came through was to be given multivitamins, even though the form didn't necessarily have it marked.  After the staff asked us several times for vitamins, we asked about this and we were told, "oh, everyone gets vitamins".  In addition, several times when we had grabbed multivitamins for an adult female, they were put back (by the staff member) and prenatal vitamins were taken instead.  On some sheets, a staff member actually noted that the female was nursing.  In other cases, we would merely make the deduction as they were holding onto a child less than a year old.  So, because Jenny and I were paying attention, we  just started retrieving prenatal vitamins instead of the regular multivitamin and this made the process move along a bit more efficiently.

We saw this woman come through Medical; we first spotted her when she was in the waiting area to be seen.  She had three children with her and it was apparent that she was pregnant as well.  She seemed very frustrated and she looked tired.  Her children appeared a bit afraid and one may have been ill because she was crying and obviously very upset.  It was difficult to watch because her mother seemed to lack compassion and she seemed only to get more irritated.  After being seen in Medical, she was sent to Pharmacy where we filled her prescriptions.  The woman's name is Ingrid and she is only 22 years old.  We can only hope and pray that one of our team members was able to communicate the love, peace and grace of our Lord Jesus to her and that she was encouraged and carried unto Salvation.

I was able to catch a few glimpses of Brian in Evangelism throughout the day; it appeared that he was really engaged and enjoying talking with the people that God placed before him.  If I remember him correctly, I think he met with 45 people and about 15 of them either were already saved by Jesus while the rest either recommitted themselves or accepted Him for the first time, which he felt was amazing!  That is fantastic to me since on my day in Evangelism, I spoke with 25 people.  

This man had been in a gang and Brian was showing him the "Flip Book" that he created to explain the Gospel using Romans 6:23.  If you missed it, you can see the post about Brian's flip book here: http://fromwisconsintohonduras.blogspot.com/2012/09/one-verse-evangelism-brians-flip-book.html 

This was the Evangelism area (in its entirety) - it was very close quarters.  Nobody seemed to mind! :-)

At one point during the day, there were two children who were waiting for their mother who was in Dental having a tooth extracted.  Her son had just had one of his teeth extracted and her daughter was with them too.  The daughter was visibly upset that she could not be with her mother and she was in tears for quite a while.  One of our team members, Hannah, who was working in Dental took the opportunity to hold the little girl and cheer her up.  

The little boy sat down in a chair nearby.  He looked pitiful with his mouth full of gauze as he had to sit there waiting so I took out my trusty mini-Magna Doodle and went over to him.  We played together for a bit, taking turns drawing pictures and showing one another our creations. 
                            

This must have caught the attention of the boy's sister because she came over and wanted a turn as well. 
                                      

                         

After a little while longer, they had to use the bathroom and as their mother was still being worked on, I decided that I would take them.  The bathroom was upstairs so off we went.  Upstairs was also the location of the Children's Ministry, where Ben was working.  He saw me and came over to see what I was doing so I shared the story about the two children.  Then all of a sudden a little girl came over, very confidently, as if to inquire what was going on.  Ben pointed to me and said, "mi Madre".  She gave me the 'once-over' with her eyes and only half-smiled at me.  I said, "si, my hijo," pointing to Ben.  And she, matter-of-factly, replied something to me, that I was unsure of, other than she clearly said the name "BEN" and then she went and stood right next to him!  It was hilarious!  She wasn't too sure of me ... but she sure did know Ben and that was all that mattered to her!  So, of course, I had to take a photo of them! 

The difficult part about being in Pharmacy was that some of the people were clearly very ill; some of the children were crying.  Nearly every woman who was seen in Medical was prescribed vaginal cream for yeast infection or vaginitis and we ran out of our stock of this ointment before lunch.  Towards the end of the day, we ran out of Ibuprofin; thankfully, we were able to substitute Naproxin but we also ran out of both adult and children's Benadryl and antihistimine and we had no substitutes.  There were a few other things that we ran out of as well and if we didn't have it, they didn't get it.

There were some really great things about working in Pharmacy too!  One was that we had a really good view of most of the areas of ministry (with the exception of Children's and Concrete).  We could see all the people, church workers, staff and team members.

Children were really happy when they received their vitamins!

We could look into all the faces of the waiting people, make eye contact, use friendly gestures and, of course, SMILE at them and PRAY for them!

But, selfishly, one of the things we just might have liked best was getting to hold BABIES!!!

Here's Jenny with a little cutie-patutie!! 

This little dumpling was so wide-eyed! 

BUT THIS LITTLE DARLING ... OH, HOW SHE STOLE MY HEART!!!   

I just wanted to smother her with kisses and hold her forever!

She just kept patting her hands to my face and looked directly into my eyes; it was amazing!  She was so soft and she smelled so good ~ fresh and clean and sweet!

Jenny and I noticed that about this church ... most of the children who came through seemed to be made to look their best, especially the babies.  They all looked and smelled as though they had been bathed or cleaned up really well and it was a noticeable difference from the first church.  Ahh ... I know what some of you are thinking ... and, no, I had to leave her with her very capable mother but I was definitely crazy (and still am) about that little pumpkin!