more than enough of everything

j and kids
Originally uploaded by faithful nomad.

today was amazing. we started the day with breakfast outside, then just pounced on the kids. later we came back for lunch, which we also ate outside. the food was really, really good. it was too much for us, always rice, chicken, fruit, and iced tea. often there were beans and tortillas too, and for four people it was a constant feast. we joked that we were eating better than we did at home.

after lunch, brad and i washed the dishes and he commented to me again how wild it is, the way our paths have crossed. i agreed, and confided that it had almost never happened. i almost chickened out of emailing him in the first place. brad and i almost never met, which means that certainly i would never have gotten to know laura or shane, or jonothan, or any of these people that have changed my little corner of the universe. it was a cool moment to realize how God watches us and pushes us to do little things, little mustard seed things that turn into great big things that i could never have anticipated. afterwards, laura took a nap, jonothan kind of disappeared, and brad and i read for a while outside.

the four of us gathered back up a little while later and we did the yo-yo thing and went to put in a few hours with the kids before dinner. back at our cabin we had some dinner on the late side, and had a really nice time talking about the week. this was the last day for the boys and we were all feeling it tremendously. we talked about our little family dynamic, which let me echo, is amazing. we all spent day and night together, like couldn't have separated if we wanted to, but no one wanted to and the result was euphoric.

after dinner we went back to the campus and jonothan did the most amazing thing: he shared his story with the kids. j's father was not around while he grew up, and these orphans were stunned to have this in common with him. so jonothan told them that God was their true father, and shared some verses where God says exactly that. then brad played some guitar while the kids had some quiet time, praying and just sitting still, then we all erupted in hugging and things livened up a bit before the boys had to head out. we did the disappearing act thing again so the kids wouldn't get too upset, then we headed back to the cabin where the boys packed. we said a few good byes, had a prayer together, and they took a taxi back to managua.

laura and i immediately felt their absence. the house seemed so much bigger, which probably had something to do with there being fewer guitars lying around. but we kind of took a deep breath and looked forward to my last full day, tomorrow, and talked about laura's decision to stay another week by herself.