one month? already?!?

as i sit here in the mi esperanza house, listening to the bustling capital city traffic outside, i can't believe i have one full day left in honduras. the weeks have rushed by, yet looking back i realize how many amazing experiences i have had here, how many exhausting, crazy, unexpected days have been thrown my way, and how many memories i will hold very dear to my heart. i am thankful that so many faces and scenes are forever engrained in my mind, mental pictures that will keep me humble and forever mindful of God's continuing grace. i don't know what to expect upon my return to the United States. there are things i miss, like my independence. i want to be able to get into a car, obey traffic laws, drive around town, run errands, without having an escort. i appreciate the safety i have in the states. and as i long for this element of my life, i can see multitudes of women and young girls walking along the highway at dusk, putting themselves in danger of burglary and rape here in Honduras. i met a young girl in a village called Villa Nueva Sector Ocho who shares my birthday. Little Estefani turns 7 the same day i turn 18, and while i am at home celebrating with family and friends, she will be spending her day in the same clothes, same place, same crowded house. i want to put her in my carry on. how far could i get? she's small enough that perhaps i could declare her as an infant sitting on my lap. i want to give her an amazing 7th birthday. but it's more complicated than that. and it's ok. one of the most monumental things i have learned here is that things are allowed to be complicated, and can stay complicated....trying to fix everything results in frustration and exhaustion. God has Estefani living in Villa Nueva, and He has me living in Indiana. He also brought me to Estefani that day, He brought us together to translate Mary Had a Little Lamb into Spanish and to bring smiles to both our faces when we learned what this Saturday meant to both of us. We parted with hugs and a very exuberant "Feliz Cumpleanos" (Happy Birthday). I think of her constantly, and will continue to on every July 19th. i so wish i had a picture of her now. my heart aches for the kids i have come in contact with...but i have faith that God will continue to protect them. i fear that the comfort of my life back home will slowly numb the impact of my trip here...but i've come up with a solution...to come back as soon as possible. i know it is difficult to imagine how changed i feel, how much spiritual growth i've experienced in the month i have been here, but i know God planned on Honduras changing me more than me changing Honduras, and i am so okay with that. i hope that i have been able to relay to you all my experiences here and the amazing work that God is doing here, through the hands of countless devoted people. please continue to pray for the work here, and if my writing has inspired any questions about Honduras or mission work, please feel free to contact me. i will never get tired of talking about it. please pray that Janet and I both have a safe trip home on friday. again i want to thank all of you for supporting me on this journey and for keeping in touch with my blog...it means so much to me that so many people are interested in this work. with this final post, i praise God for my family, my safety, and the opportunity to learn so much from the Honduran people. see you all back here on my next trip!!! in His abounding love, annie
p.s. i've attached some additional pictures from the last few days:
this is Marina, who lives in the same neighborhood as Estefani...this is her with her house...she's standing on the edge of the stream, and the house is across the bridge. this denim shirt was all that she was wearing that day.
some of the kids hanging out on the bridge in the same neighborhood. the girl in the middle has some kind of mental handicap.
this is the road in the community...you have to cross the stream (by car and on foot) to get to the other part.
i thought this man was sweet...and characteristic of most Hondurans, he has a 2 liter container of soda on his shoulder.

this is a picture of the taxi strike i talked about in a previous post...all of these taxis are empty, with most of the drivers up front at the fence. talk about a traffic jam...it was very difficult to get around this mess!!