Mama's Visit

One question I am most frequently asked is, "How do your parents feel about you living overseas?," and I am so blessed to be able to respond that they support me 100%. Being physically distant definitely has its challenges and comes with much sacrifice, but  Mama often says, "I'd rather have you overseas right in the middle of God's will than in the same county but not following the Lord!"

After almost 6 months of separation, she and I were fortunate to get to spend some much needed time together this past week. She came to visit February 9th-19th, and there aren't enough words in English or Spanish to describe how special it was to give her a little glimpse of my life here.

The majority of the pictures from her trip are on her camera and, regretfully, I forgot to transfer them to my computer before she left. I did, however, manage to snap a few with my phone, so I thought I could give you all a little look into our time together. Enjoy!

Motorcycle ride to the beach

With Jochi after his baseball game

Leading our students in a game of BINGO on Valentine's Day

At the pier with El Morro National Park in the background

The fancy windchime she made with items she found on the beach

And just like *that,* her trip was over and is now just a wonderful memory. If you see her, I'm sure she'll tell you lots of stories and show you even more pictures. BUT! Be careful...she just might convince you to come down and visit too :)

Humbled

December was FULL of celebrations.

We celebrated Elizabeth's 14th birthday with pizza, games, cake and ice cream.

(Me, Elizabeth, and Dori Luz posing at pizza)

We celebrated Carolina's move into her own apartment and her steps towards independence.

(Putting the first food item into her cabinets!)

We celebrated visits with friends we hadn't seen in months (the Zarzuelas)...

 (Joanni and Luz Maria leading us in song)

(Nena giving me a fancy hair-do)

and visits with friends we hadn't seen in years (the Batistas).

 (Nicol and Coral)

 (Edison and Bryson)

(Bryson, Mineli, Nicol, and Me)

We celebrated new shoes for Christopher and Marcos (thanks Roberta!)...

and King's Day with special presents for the kids from one of the town's dentists.

(Lisy-Lou looking fancy :o) )

When I started writing this post, I thought it was just going to be a quick little picture update to help get me caught up for the chunk of time that's passed since I last blogged. I became unexpectedly emotional, though, as I scrolled through the pics once they were uploaded. You know how things just, sometimes, HIT you?

All of a sudden, I was smacked in the heart with the reality of my life with these people over the past 4+ years. During that time, I've watched as their snaggle-tooth grins morphed into their permanent smiles, seen clothing that swallowed them whole turn into high-waters and 3/4-length sleeves, heard their voices awkwardly crack and then become very manly, examined report cards, had countless tickle fights, and been their worst enemy one day then their best friend the next.

These are my people.

They are the ones who stop in front of the house on their way home just to say 'hey,' the ones who get mad at me when I don't call and check on them regularly, the ones who make fun of my Spanish pronunciation errors, and the ones who give me hugs so stinkin' hard that they take my breath away. They are the ones for whom we get to provide opportunities, dream BIG dreams, and pray they grow into men and women who love the Lord with their whole hearts.

The ones pictured above only represent a handful of the kiddos/young adults/adults who are 'ours'. Loving them well isn't always easy. Many of them no longer even live in the same town as us, so distance alone makes things difficult. It can be tricky to know what's best for them, what's within our realm of possibility, and how to empower instead of enable.

Honestly, I think I've been taking the blessing of living life here for granted. The Lord has placed His desires for these lovelies on my heart, but I've become so tangled up in the day-to-day that I seem to have forgotten.   This 'one wild and precious life' I've been given is meant to be lived out with purpose, not to just mark off items on the daily checklist.

Hmmm...feeling a bit humbled...

Terrill 'Mario' Kucera

This summer, I spoke with many of you about specific prayer requests for this upcoming year. They may have varied slightly from person to person, but I am confident that practically everyone heard about our desire to have some men come alongside us in ministry. I definitely didn't know what that would look like or who it would be, but I knew for sure it was a necessity.

Enter Terrill Kucera, a.k.a. Mario here in the D.R.

(Having a treat at a little bakery we found)

Over the past while, God has been doing some CrAzY-awesome things in Terrill's life and has led him to a deeper understanding of what it means to 'deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow.' Just what does that look like for him? 

Oh...ya know...just...forsaking everything he's known in his 24 years, moving down to the DR indefinitely, and raising 4 Dominican teenage boys...no biggie :o)

You can click here or here to read more of his new perspective on life, but to give you a quick summary... he worked for the same organization that I first came down here to volunteer for, developed a life-wrecking love for the kids at the orphanage, finished his time with said organization, found out some of the boys needed to leave the orphange but didn't have family who could properly care for them, felt the Lord urging him to become their guardian, and moved his whole life down here to take care of them.

(Leading the boys in devotional)

They live in San Pedro de Marcoris, the birthplace of homerun legend, Sammy Sosa. This unfortunately means they live on the completely opposite side of the island, but thanks to technology and fairly direct bus routes, we're able to stay in frequent contact. Here's a little map to give you an idea of their location vs. ours.

I share this with you first of all to let you know how the Lord is continuing His good work here in the Dominican by using one of His children to love those whom some have incorrectly deemed 'unloveable.'

I share this with you second of all to let you know that, after receiving the 'thumbs-up' from my Financial Manager (a.k.a. my ridiculously awesome Mama) , half of the monthly budget we have set aside for Ministry ($50) will be going to help off-set the costs of feeding/clothing/raising the boys. 

I share this with you third of all to ask you to pray about how you can be involved in both Terrill's and the boys' lives. He needs people to walk beside him, encourage him, offer advice, and even support him financially. His monthly requirements come to $650, so if you'd like to give, you can go to his blog by clicking here and donate through Paypal. If you'd like more information, you can either email him at tkucera.mario@gmail.com or me at ckitts3@gmail.com.

(Hanging out in our living room)

Terrill, having you in the picture this year has been an absolute answer to prayer and we are continuously blessed and encouraged by your friendship. Thank you for challenging us to think deeper and love harder and for keeping it real with a touch of sarcasm. :o)