A: Absent, per Merriam-Webster, means showing a lack of attention to what is happening or being said : not attentive , aka Erin not keeping in touch or updating people on what is going on. Biggest strength, being attentive to those in front of me, biggest weakness, being so attentive in the present, that I loose track of those not present. Wrote a blog post and realized my last one was last December, so figured I would do overall update post and then post the other one tomorrow :)
B: Busy. It is exciting to be part of something that is at a crossroads of growth and expansion. The Missioners of Christ have come a long way since Carol, one of the founders, was invited to come to Honduras in 2001 to start a home here. It is crazy to here the stories of the "good 'ole days" and see how much we have grown and changed with the needs of the poor in our neighborhood and in Honduras. Now we are seeing a desperate need for a place of healing, physically, mentally and spiritually. A place where one can find hope. A place where one can receive accompaniment and grow into the person they are called to be. So the Missioners bought a piece of property in Cabanas, Honduras, on the border of Honduras and El Salvador, and we are now in the process of building a massive retreat center, personal retreat cabins, a camp ground to do outdoor and camping type retreats and cutting trails to the various waterfalls. As well as, designing the types of retreats and programs that will take place to ensure we are meeting all the needs. On top of this, our ministries here in Comayagua are growing steadily, or we are creating new ministries, such as helping the Mom's in our Mother's group find ways to make money for their family. They are currently learning how to make jewelry, shoes, blankets and carving knickknacks to sell. With growth and expansion on all sides, it can be a bit crazy and feel like we are running all day long, but it is beautiful to take a step back and see how much we have grown in just the time I have been here and feel so honored that I am a part of it all.
I found this meme and I feel like it sums up everything :)
Although some days it does feel like what I think I do (cooking, cleaning, walk long distance in hot sun and dust blowing in your face, chasing after kids), what I really do is experience the privilege of accompanying the people in our programs, in our neighborhood and people I meet through our Missions. I get to walk along side of them, hear their stories and give them the gift of being heard and recognized. Took me a hot second to see that as a gift I can give them. I wanted to serve and change lives but realized I don't have to "do" anything to make a difference. Just sitting and chatting with the person who came to the door or visiting and have coffee with mom and listening to how her day or life is going.
C: Coca-cola is life here. There are days when I feel like I live in a Coke commercial. If they ask if you want a "cold one" it means a coke. Comes in all forms. In glass bottles, plastic bottles, in a cup or my all time favorite, in a bag with a straw. Want to make someones day? Buy them a cold one. If you are eating cake? Have to have a coke with it. Literally their birthday song includes coke in the lyrics. If you have fried Chicken--means you will be having a coke too, because you can't eat fried chicken without a coke.
D: Director of Community. Back in August, I was asked to transition from the Assistant Director to Director of Community. I like to describe it as the "voice and soul" position of community. With everything we do, sometimes you need a person to ensure we don't become a Hotel of Missionaries running about, but are still growing as a home, as a community. I feel like the main thing I do is try to find a balance between all that we do to ensure everyone feels welcomed, "en casa" (at home) and has a firm foundation of support so they can serve all they meet during the day.
E: Eggs, beans, tortillas and cheese--breakfast everyday. This is a typical breakfast here. You can spice it up by adding any kind of veggie to the eggs or cooking the eggs different but normally they are scrambled. You can do refried beans, mushed beans or whole beans. And tortillas are a must. If you don't have tortillas, you can't eat. It is like the golden rule of eating here and never cease to humor me. And the cheese. It is super salty and when I first got here, I didn't like it. Now I crave it. What has become of me.
F: Farm Animals. I am constantly in awe of the farmers here. How they track their animals, I will never know. There are no fences. Around 6am in the morning, you will see them staking their animals (cows, donkeys and horses) in a plot where there is grass and returning home. If it is a herd of sheep, they just wander. Pigs, they just wander too. We throw out all our vegetable peelings for the animals and they have learned this. So now when you leave the house carrying a bucket, you get stormed. It is not uncommon to be on the phone and have to pause because the cow that was staked outside your window is mooing so loud you can't hear the person on the other line. Same with the donkeys, my goodness they can be loud. But what fascinates me is most the animals that are staked, escape, and yet the farmers always find them.
G: Gestos. Gestos=Gestures. I am the queen of charades. It started when I was learning Spanish. But now its become how I talk, all the hand movements. The community has soooo many embarrassing stories of Erin having no shame and breaking out in to a charades moment because I don't know the word in Spanish.
H: Heat. I have never experienced such heat before. Thank God we are in a cold front right now and its in the 70s-80s.
I: Itty-Bitties. I have never seen so many chunky babies before in my life. I love them because I can talk in English to them and just use a baby voice and they still give you the cutest baby noises. I am notorious for getting nothing out of Mass because I was making faces at the baby in front of me.
J: July: Thankfully everything worked out, and I was able to visit my family for two weeks in July. It felt so short and like a whirlwind but I was so glad to see everyone. It was very bittersweet. Bitter because everyone is growing so fast and they are doing different things and I felt a little on the outside looking in, but sweet because I received so many confirmations that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing and God is looking out for my family. (Photo from our sunflower patch adventures)
K: Kindness. Whether it is someone being soooo patient with me when I am stumbling in Spanish, or watching them pull together to serve a friend in need, or buying a coke for someone having a bad day, they teach me a whole new meaning of Kindness.
L: Little Things are the best. Like a friend helping you finish hand washing your laundry. Like sneaking off to the "Pulparia" (corner store) to buy churros (chips) and a coke and take a break from the craziness. Like showering on the left side of the house in the Guest rooms when there are no visitors because there is hot water. I live for the little things.
M: Ministries. I continued working this year with Casa Misericordia, the home for girls and women with disabilities, Hogart Nazareth, the girls orphanage and Becas, our scholarship program. In the first week of November, we had our "clasuras" (closing) parties with all the various ministries because we use November and December to prepare for the next year. So these past few days have been strange not seeing my kids or playing things to do with them.
(Photo: Casa Misericordia)
N: Nutella is gold. You can't find it here so when people come down from the states, we always ask them to bring down a tub and its typically gone in two days. I do not like Nutella, but here, I am normally the first in line with my spoon and crackers. It's like PB&J. I don't like Peanut Butter, but here, oh I crave PB&J. I think its just a familiar food craving.
O: O Todo o Nada (all or nothing). This quote is from Sister Clare Crockett and inspires me daily, which is why I chose to change my blog name to it. She passed away in 2016 the earthquakes in Ecuador and after learning about her, reading her story, her testimony....to give up everything and make such a radical change and follow where God is calling. I would love to say at the end, I gave everything, I gave it my all. So it has become my mantra, I try so hard to give each moment my all and be the best that I can be.
P: Plants are not my friends. I tend to over love them. But after the extreme heat of dry season and no rain during rainy season, all the plants on the second floor walk way and died. So after several weeks of gentle love and care, hauling water up the stairs, moving them around to get the right amount of sun, I have resurrected 8 potted plants and I feel like a proud mom.
Q: Quiet Fridays are so needed in our busy life. Fridays are days of prayer, reflection and quiet time. I used to hate silence, but now I look forward to it and can be a bit of a cranky pants if the schedule changes and we have to work on Friday.
R: Running Club is a thing now. "El Club de Maria" The club of Mary, runs at 5:15 am, Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, aka the days Mass is at 7am instead of 6:30am so we have time to shower. I am not a fan of running early in the morning, but it is the safest time to run and honestly the only time I have free normally during the day.
S: Sunflowers! Someone donated Sunflower seeds and we now have them in all parts of the house. I love seeing their bright yellow faces looking up. I won't lie, its a bit odd seeing them in November, but here it is perfect weather for growing sunflowers.
T: Tooley has become the name of choice. Erin proved to be very hard to say in Spanish, and Tooley is unique and they (Basically everyone I meet and the people I live with) enjoy the sound of it, though they spell it "tuli".
U: Unplanned would probably describe my day. Every day is challenge of growing in flexibility and rolling with changes to the schedule. You honestly never know what will happen and have to go with it. I tend to make my schedule, my plan, and then pray, "God here is my schedule, do with it what you will but at least let me get x, y and z done".
V: Visitors. We receive people from all over the world, whether other missionaries, people visiting the Missioners, old time missioners, or family members visiting. I love hearing all their stories, where they are coming from, where they are going. They can be so inspiring and motivating or humbling.
W: Washing Laundry will always be my least favorite thing here. Every day I wash, it is a mental battle to get myself to do it. I miss washer machines so much. I have gotten to the point where once I am doing it, I don't mind it, but its the making myself do it before I run out of clothes and have a mountain to wash.
X: Xerus, apparently this is the name of an African ground squirrel and although we don't have these in Honduras, we do have these massive gecko lizard type animals that like to sunbath in our garden and scare me every time because they can be bigger then a cat and move really fast. I couldn't think of an X word hence the intro with the ground squirrel.
Y: Yucca is a tropical plant where apparently you can eat the root of it. I do not like it boiled, its like a weird potato, but I do love it fried.
Z: Zestfulness. It is orange season! Who knew there were so many types of oranges. There are Oranges for juice, oranges for eating, sweet oranges, sour oranges, small oranges, and big oranges. Fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast? Why thank you, yes! Orange peels boiled with cinnamon to make the kitchen smell delicious, Que Rico! And my new favorite snack, the sour oranges mixed with hot sauce and a herb blend...I can't describe the flavor, it is very unique but I love it.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading my random thoughts of this past year. I will be posting other, much shorter, blog this week. I wrote them all but didn't want to bombard in one day, so I will spread them out.
Still need to get better at not necessarily taking photos, but being in photos. Normally I am behind the camera, year 2020 goals :)