Graduation Day

I love to write, the problem I have is that by the end of the day I am just too tired to do anything. My mind is always busy, as a matter of fact I often think about all the things I would like to write about, and I am always talking to myself. All of my deep musings seem to stay in my head, however, and I never seem to have enough energy to transfer it to paper.

Friday was another one of those days. I even went to bed feeling rather guilty because I had promised myself that no matter how busy I would be I would definitely write something before I went to sleep and of course, I did not. I crawled into bed that night thinking about the Apostle Paul and how he might have felt. Please know I am in NO way comparing myself or life with his exceptional one, only those verses where he said that what he wanted to do he did not and what he did not want to do, he seemed to do.
I started off my day waking between 5 and 6 am with a couple of cups of tea and a nice time reading my Bible. I need quiet alone time in the morning to get focused and plan my day. Lauren and I collected what things I needed and off we went to the center for the Friday morning breakfast. Soon after we arrived I remembered I had forgotten to buy some medicine for one of the babies we care for so off we went to the farmacia to get it. I had intended to give the medicine to a psychologist who works with us so she could give it to the mother in hopes that the mother would open up about the abusive situation she lives in. By the time we got back to the center many people were waiting to see me.
It is the same all the time, people want to see me because they have needs. People give me stuff to give away and people ask for stuff all the time. I do what I can with what I have. A new family came in and needed help, and the kitchen staff put together some nice food bags for them. At the same time another man came looking for work. With great shame he asked if he could have some food. It breaks my heart to see grown men cry. I tried not to cry as well. Then moving about the families and checking on kids I greeted who I could and making arrangements to visit who I could during the week. There are so many needs.

I then took little MariKena into my office to give her a dress and shoes that were donated for her graduation. I planned a time so we could get her all cleaned up and do her hair. I had no idea how I was supposed to be at 3 different kindergartens at the same time, 2pm. Taking a quick look at my schedule I realized I also had to check up on Sam and Eden’s schooling at 1pm, how was I supposed to get this all done?

Lauren and I collected the things needed to check on one of my favorite elderly women who had been quite sick lately. We began the long decent to her house and found it a horrible mess. She was laid up in bed with swollen legs and unable to eat. We coaxed her into eating a bit and helped her rub some pretty smelling cream on her face. I must find a couple of people to help me clean up her little shack. Kittens and baby chickens and other creepy crawlies were evident all over the place. She is the sweetest woman, I love her dearly and it can be so hard to help people in these situations. She is normally cheery and smiley but today she was out of spirits because she has been so unwell.

We made our rounds and then headed back home to get dinner on and help Sam and Eden with their schooling. I really wanted to stay and help them a bit longer but as I had to get to these schools I grabbed my gear and started running and I don’t think we stopped until well after 10 pm that night. The first school was Sor Juana Jardin where my godson, Moises, graduated from the Tercer. He is such a chatter box and I affectionately call him my little “pajaro”.

Then I ran off to the Kindergarten near the center and watched several more children graduate and get their papers, including MariKena the little girl we helped with her dress and shoes. She looked adorable and it is the first time I have ever seen her cleaned up. The whole family was all cleaned up as a matter of fact. That is one of the things I try to offer some of the families who do not have access to running water.

DIF had asked if I could house a displaced family for the weekend. DIF is similar to our Social Services and although I am unprepared to receive a family I couldn’t very well leave them on the streets for the weekend so I did what I could to help them get settled into the comedor area. I was going to have to get back up the hill to ensure they had everything they would need for the weekend.

Lauren had offered to help at the orphanage so we got her ready and dropped her off for an even of looking after children at the toddlers house and doing some cleaning in the kitchen. I had just enough time to get Noah ready for his TaeKwonDo class. Right after I dropped him off I received a message that one of the children at the center had been hit by a car and my dear friend was quite in hysterics about it all. I had to go check on her no matter what. I collected Noah and then checked on Lauren at the shelter and ran Noah home, helping the children get their dinner and ready for bed.

I ran up the hill to check on the family that DIF sent me, and I was so grateful to see them getting along with the family that lives there. I arranged toiletries, food and bedding for them the best I could. I tried to see how the momma was doing, apparently their situation had been bad for a long time. They would be getting government help on the Monday. I made a mental note about how we needed emergency beds and bedding for surprise situations such as this.

When Lauren was ready, I ran and got her and then visited my friend. She is one of my dearest friends and I am so grateful for her in my life. She has sure been through a lot lately. Gratefully, we got word that the sweet girl was not badly hurt and by 9pm we had hopes that the day would slow down. My days are not normally as busy as this, but Fridays do get overwhelming because of the free breakfast and the weekend. I realized we needed a few things at the store and we pressed our luck running to the store because the storm was rolling in fast. As a matter of fact, while we were in the store the storm came with a vengeance.

We made it home safely and I was grateful we finally had good power as we have had serious power problems from a recent storm. I sat for a while on the sofa listening to the rain. I expressed sincere gratitude to the Lord for the calmness on the streets as we had some terrible violence just two nights before. Two rival gangs engaged in a heavy firefight that lasted well over an hour. This took place just one block behind us. Just six weeks ago, a man was killed on our street in a narco related gunfight.

I closed my eyes and thought how nice a bath would be, but since we do not have a bathtub I showered and decided to just go up to bed. As I closed my eyes, I thought about all the things that happened that I wanted to share through writing on my blog. The abused woman who I told was beautiful and had her whole life ahead of her, and how she blushed and smiled so pretty. I thought about the little girl who got bathed and all cleaned up for her graduation day. I remembered how lovely Joanna and her family looked all bathed and properly dressed. My eyes misted when I remembered the man who cried in my office today because his situation is so hard. Then I thought of my sweet elderly Chila, who smiled her precious toothless grin as I gently rubbed pretty smelly cream on her wrinkled elderly face.

Then of course at the other moments throughout the day. Sleepy children waiting for their breakfast around the dining table early this morning. Noah loudly playing with his cars. Helping Ella read a story. Destiny reading to her dog while brushing her hair. Noah holding my hand as we walked to his class. The kids running yelling “Mommy” every time I drove home. Lauren all grown up and helping at the center. Hugging my dear friend and trying to cheer her up when she was hurting. Finally, in all things thinking about Him who gave me what it took to do it all. His grace, His mercy, His love because I don’t have it on my own accord. I really don’t. These precious thoughts filled my mind as I listened to the torrential rains outside. The breeze blew the rains in so I got up to check the house and windows and as the last window was closed I told Him how grateful I was for a roof, a family, for clean nighties and a soft pillow. I am sooo blessed. We all are truly blessed. That is the final “habit” I have every night, is expressing gratitude for anything and everything I can think of. There is so much to be grateful for isn’t there?