We’re here in Gracias, and settling in nicely.  That said, there’s a lot of new stuff to figure out and get used to.  But first, a quick financial update.  It is with great reverence and gratitude that I get to tell you between what we have already received and commitments that have been made, that we seem to be fully funded for the year, according to our best estimates.  Praise God for seeing fit to bring us to this point, and thank you so much to all those who have so generously given to some guy doing some thing somewhere, and his wonderful missionary wife and children.  Please continue to pray for us… we will strive to bring glory to God through all of this.

So our flights went great and the kids did amazing.  Well, pretty much amazing… I mean, they’re kids.  Somehow we managed to get 4 large suitcases, 4 carry-ons, 4 backpacks, 2 car seats, and 1 guitar onto the plane one way or another.  And I can’t really even play the guitar.  I’m just gonna look silly when I can’t play it later, either, and I’m hauling it back to the states.

The tricky part came later, when it was time to ride the bus to Yamaranguila, the town where we stayed Wednesday night at the girls’ home (or farm), where we also stayed last June.  Apparently, there was some kind of accident on the road we took, and the 4 hour bus ride took more like 6.  And it was sweat-while-sitting-still weather with no AC.  However, that prompted us to pull over at a nearby restaurant that had AC inside and a legit play area outside.  I mean, I think I had a pretty good attitude the whole time, but it was yet another reminder that some bad things in life simply aren’t worth complaining about, because we have no idea what’s in store for us.  No situation is so bad that it can’t be made worse by failing to be patiently faithful.  When we got closer to Yamaranguila, we bought some killer fried chicken, then ate it back at the farm, and crashed for the night.

In the morning, it was time to go pick up our new car at the school.  We wired the money for it to another missionary in Honduras a month or so ago, and the school got it dialed in and got it to their campus in Yamaranguila for us.  It’s a 1997 Toyota 4Runner, and we know you’re jealous.  Only trouble with going to get it was that the car we were gonna take to pick it up wouldn’t start, so we took a motorcycle.  It was during that motorcycle ride that I was provided with a clear reminder that God promised to keep me and my family safe in Honduras.  Nothing bad happened, I’m just easily frightened.  We got the car back to the farm, and off we went to Gracias, following behind Jake and Rachel Compaan, keeping up as best we could.

We got to Gracias, and naturally, there was a huge truck blocking the street to the house we’re staying at.  They had just poured a concrete ramp at the end of the road, and it needed some time to set.  There’s a way to drive around, but apparently it’s an old river bed, so it was better just to carry the suitcases a little ways.  We got inside to meet Carlos and Rina and their daughter Rebeca, who live in the lower level of the house, and they’d even made us a custom bilingual welcome sign.  Then we went up to the school for a bit, where they had prepared an incredible Honduran lunch for us.  I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the food, but we’ll see.

We explored the school grounds, and Sam and Evie got to see what a real grasshopper really was… they’re about the size of your pointer finger.

The rest of the time, we’ve been scoping out different places in town, buying groceries, getting our new 8-digit Honduran phone numbers, unpacking clothes, playing uno and old maid, struggling through conversations in Spanish, enjoying Honduran food, and even catching a few minutes of a local soccer game.  Stephanie is slated to go into the clinic tomorrow morning, and school orientation starts for me on Wednesday.  Life has been significantly slower this weekend than we’re used to lately, and thank goodness.  We haven’t gotten much of anything done yet, and indeed, we’re grateful for that.  It’s just really nice to finally be here.

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