Our little world interrupted

Life has been a whirlwind lately. The world has been interrupted by a virus and as everyone seemed to come to a sudden halt, life here stayed about the same…if just for a second. For it was not long after we also had to stop and reevaluate our response to what had developed into a pandemic. Even though we live in a little town farther for the cities near us, we had to make tough decisions as to how to protect our kids. When things started coming to a halt in the city north of the border, we also took it upon us to prepare for a quarantine. We stopped going to Juarez and a week later, we made a more definite halt.

It’s been almost 3 months since we have had a lock-down and it is such a blessing to be able to count on the staff here. There are only a handful of adults who actually live on the premises, so in order to pull it off we needed reinforcements. By God’s grace all those who were able to come and live with us, accepted and are now here serving.

It’s been hard on the kids’ whose families would come to visit since all visits have been suspended for all this time. Although some have called, not all have and it discourages the kids not to hear from their families. The caregivers have been working hard on having activities so as not to have them all bored. But boy do they have energy!

As part of the change we are also having to take on additional duties around the ranch. In my case I have to help out in preparing a couple of meals during the week and for a time I’d take care of the girls for a day.

I also began baking white bread at the beginning of our lock down, foreseeing we might need it eventually. So glad I did, for it came in handy one morning! We ended up having to improvise, and served cereal with bananas and a slice of bread with peanut butter. They all kept coming and saying it was delicious. I am sure I do NOT make the cereal any better than anyone else, so all I can say is it is God’s favor. Must confess though, it really touched my heart that just because I was serving they felt it was better. Hope that stays the same!

In April little E turned one. I cannot believe she still recognizes me. She is growing up and I am loving that I get to see it. She is still not walking but is getting there. Still a drama queen, though, and here cheeks are just as kissable as before. She loves adventure so I can only imagine how it will be when she starts walking and running.

At the end of April we got to go to spend the day at another ranch. We were not able to use the pool, but it was quite a fun day. Some of the ladies even made piñatas out of cardboard boxes. They did an amazing job! Even little E got her own piñata. We had been wanting to celebrate the kids’ birthdays and so we went ahead and did it that day. There were games for the kids, a “mechanical bull”, horses, chickens, rabbits, and dogs. Some of us got to ride the horse. It was very fun.

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That day out helped in lifting our spirits since quarantine has kept dragging out. Thankfully, it seems we are finally going to be able to lift it at the end of this month, June. As you can probably imagine, we had to rotate some staff. Due to personal and family situations some were not able to continue to stay at the ranch.

I am so grateful to God that He continued to provide the help we needed. We have adjusted our duties almost every month in order to keep going. It’s been an adventure, to say the least. We often say flexibility is the number one rule to serve here and so I am grateful that all the staff has been willing to stretch and even on some cases take on more in order to serve our kids better. It is a joy when you see others give of themselves and look for ways to help our kids. Below are a few pictures of our Passover dinner, which we had for the staff.

The month of June brought even more changes as the internship of a very special and talented gal, who cared for a couple the babies 24/7, came to an end. It was hard to say goodbye, yet it was a pleasure and honor to have her for as long as we could. Even though I would have loved for her to say, which I insisted indirectly for her to stay (actually not so indirectly), I think she knew God was leading her to something new. I shall look forward to seeing her next chapter in life and be in awe of all God will do.

Despite the loss of a caregiver, once again God has been providing the people to continue on. These are changes that our babies are having to go through as well, so please pray that God would meet them in their struggle to adjust to these changes. Please also keep us in your prayers as we will need someone more permanent to care for them. If you feel a call to serve, don’t dismiss it easily. Pray over it and even ask more about it and see if this is God leading you to come and join us on caring for these children who are dear to God.

For all of you who have been praying for us and reaching out to see if we have any needs, thank you so much. Thank you for allowing God to use you to bless us one way or another.