We just can't stay away....

So we are about to complete our 5th month back in the states....the last couple of months have been pretty emotional.  We had many visitors as well as a great Easter and Mother's Day.  Our friends Wayne and Stacia that have four kids our kids' ages came in to visit us, the Nichols family was in for Relay for Life and stayed with us too, then we had or pastor Jeremy and his family from Roatan, come in for a couple of days too.  It was fun to catch up with everyone and truly awesome to see how easily we pick up right where we left off.  It had been over a year since we had seen Wayne and Stacia and the kids, almost two years since we all saw the Nichols family (their son Lat stayed a week with us Roatan last year), and four months since we had seen Jeremy and family in Roatan......needless to say, God placed each of these families in our lives for a purpose, many purposes really, and I can honestly say that they are all like family and will be for eternity.  So cool.

Well, we just can't seem to stay away from what God has placed in our hearts, the need to serve the kids back in Roatan.  This weekend we are collecting used sports equipment at the Conroe YMCA to send down to Roatan, Honduras.  The mission teams that we have gotten to know over the past couple of years as well as the engineers that are headed there for a month in June will be adding this gear to their baggage as they continue to give back to the community that we grew to love and still long to help.

Trey and I have been kicking around so many different ideas about ways we can use our non-profit to help others and it always seems to go back to gearing up underprivileged kids with sports equipment and enabling youth to GO and GIVE back through sports camps and VBS, volunteering at the clinic and our Church back in Roatan.....Awesome opportunities for young people and adults alike to step outside the box and follow HIM.

This reminds me that God has "a plan...for us to prosper...and give us hope and a future" (taken from Jeremiah 29:11)

Please be praying for us to open those doors that HE places before us and to grow in HIM for all that HE has planned for us.

God Bless,
Connie and Family

Freezing temps on our tropical toes!

So, I totally had to blog about something a little more upbeat after my last blog.  You can only waller in your sorrows for so long, that self-pity thing can become viral if you don't watch it...thank God for his grace when we feel so doubtful.

So, the low for tonight is supposed to be around 18 degrees Fahrenheit....that is SO darn cold for our thin, tropical blood!  We only thought that our toes were cold when we first got home, there is even snow in Texas! 

One Month Back Home

So it has been one month since we got back from our journey to Roatan....Some days have been good, others not so great.  It is definitely difficult to adjust to such change:  NO ONE that we know or are close to could possibly understand or GET what it is I am speaking of.  We love our friends and family and enjoy sharing our journey with them, but seriously WE could not have understood the hardships that we endured unless WE had walked in our shoes that we are presently still in.  It is not so much that we need validation that we gave of ourselves and our family in HIS name, but just someone that GETS it to simply listen and really KNOW what on earth we speak of and need right now.

Holidays in Motion

After getting through Halloween and being in charge of the haunted house at the kids' school,  we barely got a breath of air when we began the journey into Thanksgiving.  Our church hosted a HUGE potluck dinner at a local resort.  It was absolutely beautiful with tons of food and fellowship, the kids swam and played while we all ate more than our bodies could possibly handle. We were not sure what to expect of a Thanksgiving in Honduras, but a great time was had by all along with many new memories.  We actually spent Thanksgiving day at the beach with the kids.

More Birthdays, Goodbyes and Travel.....

This past week Trey went to Texas and Arizona for the week.  It was his first trip off-island in 10 months!  Not only was he able to gain a new appreciation for the the little things that we can sometimes take for granted here on Roatan but he was able to have a ton of quiet time while driving across Texas.  The slower pace of life was much missed, as he juggled his "schedule" to include meeting after meeting in various places from The Woodlands all the way to Flagstaff.  He was unfortunately too busy to stop and see many of the friends he would have loved to spend some time with, but Trey was able to make some contacts with others that would possibly play a part in our future in the next few months.  God has a funny way of placing people in our lives at just the right time to throw us off of what we "thought" or "planned" for our near future.  Gotta love the surprises!

We saw our lastest house guest, Holden, return to Montgomery.  It sure was fun having a teen ager around to help shuffle kids on the scooter and get to to know the youth that we spend so much time with.  It seems like each young person that we have had as a guest in our home these last few months, has bonded with not only our kids and family but also with the youth group. It is so much fun to see the kids grow to know oneanother and build life long friendships.  Both Holden and Taylor have succesfully recruited Kenfor, one of our youth group members, to come to the states once he gets his passport.  We have some amazing kids here on Roatan and the more they can see outsiders that have willing hearts, the more they can visualize all the potential for their future through getting an education and never giving up.

Our oldest daughter, Anna, turned 11 last week.  We had the youth group over to swim and play wii and eat cake and ice cream.  It was a blast!  The weather has been very rainy and cool at night, so the kids were freezing but loving every minute of throwing eachother into the pool and sliding on the make shift slip and slide on our tile patio.  It was crazy and the best part was Anna getting her cake in her face, she loved every minute of it!

We have quite a few things going on with youth group and church each week.  The toddler class that I started, mainly due to the fact that my two youngest are a little disruptive during the kids church class, is doing great.  We have at least three and sometimes four toddlers each week and the older kids are now able to learn scripture and pay better attention to the lessons each week.  We are getting more volunteers so that will eventually free myself and Melissa to actually attend a church service.  I can honestly say that is one of the things I miss most, of course air conditioning and Walmart are pretty high on my list, but attending worship would be wonderful.

Trey and Mike's baseball is still going strong, twice a week practice with their first scrimmage this weekend!  The kids are amazing and such a testament to what hard work and determination can do.

Please continue to pray for us as we make some large decisions about what our family will be doing at year-end.  We have a great opportunity to possibly stay part time here on the island while spending the other part of the year back home, not sure where home would be, but it would be a great break both ways if it should work out that way.  Eyes to see and ears to listen...

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Fam

Fall is here and a new guest arrives

Today is the first day of Fall and we are not anywhere near the cool temps most are enjoying back in the states.  But, hey, we do live on a tropical island with year round warm temperature and beautiful blue water & white sandy beaches....some trade off, huh?

Parker just had her 4th birthday, it was so much fun.  We had a Tinkerbell pinata that was bigger than her and the power was out the whole party too.  Roatan!  Gotta love not worrying about such things as melting icecream and the blistering heat and bugs while celebrating a young persons birthday.  She had a blast and never even noticed that we didn't spend much but instead enjoyed every minute of us showering her with love.

This past weekend we welcomed a new guest, Holden Smith - 19, he will be here for four weeks helping out in the community and getting to know the island.  He arrived with three giant suitcases full of medical supplies for Clinica Experanza, they were so excited and appreciative of the efforts from way back home in Montgomery, Texas.  Thank you to each of you that went above and beyond to ensure that the medical needs of the poorest in the community will continue to be met.  One of the other big things that Holden wanted to bring was the colonia baseball team shirts and hats.  His mom had them printed up and sent with Holden.  These are such special items for the kids on the team, they cherish these items for they have never been on a team or had a uniform before.  This week we will be taking team pictures and individual photos for them, a surprise for the kids that will blow them away.  Each week they continue to progress and will soon be ready for their first scrimmage and game. 

Trey and I have taken a day here and there while Holden has watched the kids for us, some much needed time to just chill and enjoy the island.  We went on a scooter ride across the island with our friends Jeremy and Melissa.  It was like a mini vacation for us and we were only gone a few hours!  This island is so beautiful.  It is hard to believe that within such beauty there can be the inner areas that are so poverty stricken and in need while surrounded by abundance.  We definitely have made a priority of making sure people that we know and meet are aware of what they can do to help.

Anna and Wiley were in the Honduras Indpendence Day parade, the first time their school has participated in this, so it was a very special day.  It rained like crazy through the entire parade, sooo much fun for the kids and of course it gave us parents and teachers an excuse to act like kids too.

Please continue to pray for our family as we begin making some major decisions about where we will go as our year here on Roatan comes to a close....sounds so weird to say that out loud.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

Summer is over and school has begun!

Summer is over?  Where did it go?  We have been so busy that when we finally look up and see that we are entering the end of August, it is a little mind boggling....Our last visitor, Lat Nichols - 14, just left last weekend and completed a week of serving the community and doing lots of fun island stuff, Anna and Wiley have started school at the bilingual school here in Sandy Bay and we are beginning to prepare for the many fall outreaches with the church as well as baseball season kicking off.  Never a dull moment here in Roatan!

We are also in the midst of thinking about what we will be doing when we return to the states at the end of the year.  So strange to actually talk about that and even more strange to know that this fall will fly by and we had better be prepared for all that God has ready for us.  Our flights have to be booked by January 17th or we will lose them, so we now have to decide where in the world will the Vick family land next?  We have a couple of different ideas as to what we might want to do, however, we are truly waiting to see where God leads us and what doors HE opens.  Talk about dropping to our knees and letting HIM take control; faith in its most true form.  This not the easiest thing to do, but we know that our needs will be met and that God has awesome things planned for our family.

Please continue to keep in touch and let us know what is going on in your lives!  We love you guys and thank you for following our journey.

Take care and God bless,
Connie and family

 

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy

This week we had a blast with the short term mission team from Roopeville, Georgia.  Having met them last summer, we picked up right where we left off and never missed a beat.  Anna and the youth pastor, Chris Altman, were up to their old pranks and rest of the team made it feel like we were back home with southern friends again.  Just hearing their accents when they speak was refreshing to us! 

The team let our youth group pair up with them while they delivered rice and beans and prayed for the families as we distributed care packages to the youth in the homes.  The packages were filled with shampoo, toothbrushes/toothpaste, deoderant, feminine products, etc., all items donated by rChurch members and the church matched the donations too.  Uphill, in the heat, through tiny foot paths into small shacks called homes is where we spent the better part of a day, our youth will reap the rewards of a changed heart for a very long time.

My mom and her husband came to visit and got to see firsthand the ministries that we are a part of here in Roatan, Honduras.  It was so great to see them in the trenches and to hear their response to the life we have chosen to live through the grace of God.  We spent some time at the beach and pool of course and the kids got some much needed grandma and grandpa time.  While we were sad to see them go, we had a wonderful visit!

When we dropped off my mom and Gary, we prepared to pick up our friends, Craig Vance and his 16-year-old daugher Taylor, visiting from our neck of the woods.  So great to see them!  Craig will be here for the next week and then he and Anna will return to Texas while Taylor stays for another couple of weeks to do service work here in Roatan.  So thankful to Ray Koehne for donating his Continental miles and the ticket to give Anna a visit to the states for a couple of weeks.  She is so excited and has planned to spend a few nights with several different friends and family while there.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

It has been an absolute whilrwind around here!

The last two weeks for us have comprised of spending most of our time in la colonia with the short term mission teams.  It has been crazy busy and we are enjoying every minute of it!  Well, the heat is a bit much, but at least we are surrounded by water to cool off with!

The team from Talapoosa, GA was awesome last week.  They had VBS, discipleship classes, soccer and baseball sports camps, delivered rice and beans to homes and so much more simply by setting a good example for other youth in la colonia.  This team is amazing in that they really bond with many of the youth and plan to skype with one of the lw4r interns to check on the youth and continue to keep up with all that is going on here with us and the kids in la colonia.  We sure do miss 'em!

One of the young adults from this team actually just announced to his church that he would like to serve in music ministry for his career!  Trey and I plan to help get him back to Roatan to help out before school starts again in the fall. 

Take care and God bless!

Connie

Fourth of July in Roatan, Honduras

On Saturday, after we picked up the team from Talapoosa, GA we got them settled in at the SonRise Mission Inn in Sandy Bay, grabbed some lunch and headed for church set-up.  Sunday we had church and take-down then an afternoon of swimming and hanging out as we prepared for the week ahead. 

As far as Fourth of July celebrations, we opted out  because we were gearing up for Monday and decided to stay at home and swim with the kids instead of venturing out.  There are a few gringo establishments that actually had some fire works and celebrations, small compared to what we are used to in the states, but still patriotic. The power actually went out at about 7:30pm and thank God it came back on in about an hour or so because it was a very hot and still night. 

Here are a few shots of children's church and the take-down side of all that goes into a church without a permanent home.  It is amazing that all of the equipment fits into a small enclosed trailer, it is like a jigsaw puzzle getting everything inside it.  We also started a toddler classroom about two months ago and it is going really well; this enables the children's church to really blossom and pay attention to the lesson.  Good stuff.

Take Care and God Bless,

Connie and Fam

Dropping off and Picking up...

So, every Saturday for the next few weeks we will continue to drop off one short term mission team and pick up another one.  It can be fun to go to the airport because you never know who you might see and get to catch up with.   It is also quite a sight to see our little pick-up loaded down with luggage as well as the lw4r truck all loaded down and then a van and another SUV busting at the seems with people.  We will definitely have to get a shot of that and post it so that all can truly appreciate it.

The team that we dropped off was from Jacksonville, Florida and consisted of 26 people.  It was a huge team for a short term mission trip but with a big team they can have a big impact.   They did VBS, soccer camp, added two rooms onto a house, laid water lines and ministered to the people of the colonia.  Because they had plenty of helpers and were pretty organized, we mainly helped move people from place to place and joined in on the activities.  These next few weeks will be a little crazier with smaller teams but so fun and rewarding.   

The team that arrived today is from Talapoosa, Georgia; 12 people total.  We had the opportunity to get to know them last summer when we helped out with VBS and sports camp.  They are just an amazing group of young adults and leaders, I definitely want to expose my kids to them every chance we get.  It is not often enough that you see first and second year college students that follow the Lord and choose to give back year after year; we pray that our kids will be the examples to others in the same way.  So, instead of using their money to go on some vacation, they have willfully chosen to help the needy children in Roatan, Honduras by doing VBS, soccer and baseball camp, running water lines and so much more just through leading by example.  The kids in the colonia actually remember them and call them by name because they have returned year after year; very cool stuff. 

This should be an exciting week and we look forward to sharing with you!

In the pictures above: Anna is with Aylisa, a girl from the colonia that she met last summer (see 7-6-09 blog); Wiley is in the window of the open-air church; and Anna and Eduardo are running around the house that the team added onto.

Take care and God bless,
Connie and Family

Moving, Baseball and Friends from Texas, It doesn't get much better than this...

So, after spending the first half of this year getting all settled into a house here on Roatan, we have moved into a different house in a totally different area of the island.  Some might say it is less safe, however, we have bars on the windows and a "watchie" to help keep intruders away.  This island is not known for violent crimes, but break-ins are common and expected if you are careless. 

We were moved into our new house less than a week when we welcomed Eric and Tara Kendrick and their two sons as guests.  So exciting to see friends from Texas and to show them the island and all that we are involved with.  They were even able to bring a few extra bags full of baseball equipment that many friends from home took time to collect.  Thank you, Eric and Tara for lugging all that extra baggage along with your two babies and all that is required when traveling with kids! 

With only a few days to give them the grand tour, we hit the ground running and barely got them to the house from the airport before Trey and Eric took off for baseball practice.  It was the hottest part of the day and I think EK forgot to put on sunscreen.  But, once they got there, the kids from the colonia were so stoked to each have their own mit and a selection of bats and balls to choose from.  Thank you to everyone that donated items and went out of your way to give back!  These kids will thrive because of your generosity.

We hit the beach, took them on a tour of the colonia and the water project with Henry from lw4r, visited the local Honduran school in the colonia, took he baseball team swimming, went snorkeling, and ate some great food.  Time flew by and we miss our dear friends. 

Take Care and God Bless,

Connie and Family

Little Ones With Birthdays....My how time flies!

This past week we celebrated Laney's second birthday!  We can hardly believe that it has already been two years since we were blessed with her arrival; she is so stinkin cute.  It is amazing how quickly they develop their own little personalities and views of those around them, God bless her for dealing with three older siblings all the time.  She is one tough cookie, we always call her our little bull-dog because she can face plant into the concrete and might cry for a second or two but always is ready to get back up and keep going.

We have been without an oven for over a month now, so Melissa was so kind to jump in and volunteer to make Laney's birthday complete.  So, Melissa ended up baking cupcakes and a cute tiny cake just for Laney.  We celebrated after church set-up on Saturday and everyone was so excited to have a treat after our hard work.  Thanks Melissa!  And happy birthday little Laney lou!

Take Care and God Bless,

Connie

A new family arrives

The Tichi family recently arrived, they have three kids (6, 7, & 8), so our kids are pumped to have even more kids to hang out with and get to know.  They are from Durango, Colorado and have made a three-year commitment to Living Water 4 Roatan.  Wow, they are amazing in their faith and willingness to serve others!

Mike and Trey have been diving once or twice a week and getting to know the island kids that are the dive masters.  Talk about some life stories; these kids from the island have had some pretty tough lives and know nothing else of what life could look like.  It has become a great opportunity for a couple of good dads/husbands to minister to these kids about all the possibilities that this life has waiting for us all.

Last week, their family started taking a truck-load of kids from the colonia over to the ball field to play baseball.  The kids are so interested in learning and playing sports; yet another great opportunity to take our kids and model what being a family can look like.  The kids in the colonia have a very different view of how a family operates; abuse in every form imaginable, neglect, you name it.  All it takes is the commitment on our part to model a positive lifestyle and they will never forget that there really is another way to do life.  Praise God for this awesome opportunity to love on these kids and let them just be kids in an unconditional environment.

Today, we will hit the ball field and hope to eventually get a team or two put together for the fall ball season.  Very cool stuff.  Trey sent out an email to recruit donations of baseball equipment, lots of replies and people cleaning out their old ball bags to donate.  Eric and Tara Kendrick and their two boys arrive on June 21st and it is looking like they will be bringing a couple of extra bags full of everyone's ball stuff!  Thanks Kendrick family!

Take care and God bless,
Connie

New guests....creepy crawly ones!

Okay, so we signed up for this knowing that we would have to forgo many amenities, however, never in a million years did I ever think that we would be living with this many different creatures (inside our home), not near it or around it or passing by it, but literally INSIDE of it!

Our guests that never let us down are the geckos. They are actually pretty cool looking, they are almost albino looking and come in all sizes; small as a matchstick up to as long as a $1 bill. Just be careful when you are eating. If you should hear the familiar chirping sound that they make coming from above you on the ceiling, get out from under them, because they drop poop like a seagull. Too funny the first time that happened at the dinner table, PLOP! Right next to my plate of food; hey, it could have been IN my food.

We also have an unusual amount of gnats if we leave any kind of fruit out. Forget any crumbs on the floor, the wee-wee ants will come fetch it up for you. Also the fruit bats are all around under the eaves of the house. They have their own little chirping sound that they make too and then swoop down starting at sunset. The kids love scaring them, and of course, they are the first to run screaming away when they do swoop down.

Our newest guest was found on the ceiling of our bedroom. A black, fuzzy creature with eight legs; yes, a tarantula, above our bed…so, I was of course freaking out while Trey was balancing on a bar stool with a broom in one hand an empty Pringles can in the other, trying to shoo it into the can. What a sight to see Trey, the tarantula-whisperer at work. Too funny! He safely caught it and now Wiley has a new pet. The kids catch crickets or june bugs and feed the tarantula the live bugs.  Spidey immediately pounces on them and sucks their juices out. EW!

We actually found a scorpion in our bathroom just recently. Must have been seeking water…along with all the frogs that hang out in our out door shower! The kids absolutely love taking a shower with all their “pet” frogs jumping across the shower and out into the jungle trees. Gotta love island life!

There is a large iguana that lives in a tree next to our house, the island guys are frequently stopping by to admire her.  She is bright green and appears to be pregnant; a delicacy for the locals I have heard.  I pray that she stays safe.  The kids love looking for her and seeing if she has grown any larger.

Oh, and a cat had kittens in the woods near our house, so we are so excited about making friends with our newest neighbors.  They are so stinkin cute!  I better get out the sudafed and benadryl...love it that my kids are so into nature, where else could they experience all these walks of life at once?  Embrace the day for sure.

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

Ah, the joys of receiving email from home!

Wow, where to start? The outpouring of support from friends is just amazing! Since our last update we have gotten emails from many of you that are very encouraging; we cannot express enough our appreciation to each of you in how much this means to us.


Being so removed from the everyday grind is great in some ways but very tough in other ways. We miss our friends and family back home so much and could not possibly ever replace any of you. Just know that we think of you often and that we are in very good hands while here on the island. Our new friends here on the island are priceless. The fact that they survive each day what we go through and endure is a testament in itself to how strong they are. They have chosen to do life with us while we are here and we are grateful for it.

God has placed each one of you in our lives for very specific reasons and whether friend or foe, we are grateful to be given the opportunity to make the best out of every situation in HIS name.

Thanks again to everyone for shooting us an email, you have no idea how great it is to hear from each of you!

Take Care and God Bless,
Connie and Family

Build a House and Family Comes In For a Visit!

The past couple of weeks have been crazy with preparing for the Dwellings house build and then the actual week-long erection of the home in Gravel Bay, Roatan Bay Islands.  It was a very intense time in that the days began at sun-up and did not end until sun-down while the temperatures were reading around 95 with a feels-like temp of about 120 or so and full-on humidity.  The guys were such troopers and we actually got to host Tom and Dennis from Alternative Missions at our house.  What a treat to hang out with friends from the states and actually take part in building a home for a family in need.  The family was not just in need, but dire need, the single mom of three had a dirt floor and tin walls combined with an outdoor shower/sink/kitchen area that was one in the same; no indoor plumbing or electricity and no relief from the heat or bugs.  This family actually got to see a modern day modern day miracle: God's people giving unconditionally.  We are all these people, we just need to follow through with the many ways HE has lead us to give back to the community.  A smile, a pleasant conversation in passing, a sandwich, or even a house; what have you been called to do?  Do it with pleasure in your heart and you too shall be blessed.

Engineers from Northern Arizona University

Trey spent last week with a group of engineers from Northern Arizona University.  They visited last year and saw the needs of the people of the colonia and couldn't stay away.  They applied for funding for a water treatment facility in the colonia and decided to return and further assess the needs of the people before moving forward.  As it so happens, engineers are very intelligent, but not all people realize what they were so blessed to realize:  when you give to a needy community you MUST provide what they see as their need, not what we as Americans see as their need.  They met with several of the leaders of the colonia, as well as the mayor of Roatan and other engineers from the island.  The consensus was that the people want more clean water and a new school.  So, back to the drawing board to see what sort of support they can get for funding the NEEDS of the people of the colonia.  It is an exciting time to see Trey light up with enthusiasm while being a part of this incredible endeavor.  His heart is moving and he is listening intently for guidance by the One that has placed us here.

Take Care and God Bless!
Connie

Painting the town...er, school

We spent Saturday painting at the Sandy Bay Alternative School.  We ended up completing four classrooms; all very large with very high ceilings.  Whew!  We worked our rear ends off spackling, sanding, taping off trim, painting and chasing kids around.  We had a family from Oklahoma and one from Michigan, several teachers from the school and neighboring schools as well, some of the students and were even blessed to have a paint contractor, Tom Corwin, that took the bull by the horns and made sure we had everything that we would need to complete the project right.  He did a great job and it is evident in the results, beautifully painted classroooms that the kids and teachers can be proud of!  The director, Miriam, was in awe of the volunteers and children that chose to spend a day or two gettting their elbows dirty (or painted) just to give back to the community.  We all ended up at the pizza joint down the road and ate about a dozen pizzas and then hit the hay.  It was fun to let the kids play and the adults hangout and fellowship. 

This day was a great opportunity to show others what Christians are all about, giving back unconditionally. 

Take Care and God Bless!

Connie

The wheels on the car go….

Well, you usually have no reason for concern about your wheels when they are going round and round, however, in Roatan anything goes. Or so we are finding this out…

Yesterday, Melissa, Carmen and I, as well as all six of our children, all loaded up in the car to take a quick trip into Sandy Bay to drop off Carmen at her home and me at the school for a meeting. As we were driving, we noticed a strange noise, maybe a tire was flat or about to blow out, not really sure about what it was we pulled over and walked around the car to check it out. Nothing. Okay, so we were on our way down very steep, hilly, curvy, pot-hole-filled roads. We decide yet again that the noise needed to be checked out because it was not only heard at this point, we could feel the car swaying back and forth, somewhat like the feeling of an earthquake, only in a moving vehicle. As we neared the chosen stopping point, the car made a very loud noise and began to lean and try to swerve out of control; we braced ourselves and yelled for everyone to’ “HANG ON!” The car stopped and we looked out the front of the car and saw our wheel rolling downhill away from us, down the road, and over the ravine into the jungle! We left quite a trail along the road where the car rested its axle on the blacktop, dug in and kept going downhill to where we finally stopped.

We were shaking and thanking God that everyone was okay and in disbelief of what had just occurred. Immediately, three men came running out of a bar at the corner of the road and just jumped right into the jungle and began searching for our wheel. What a blessing to have good Samaritans, even in a third world country. We called Trey, he was down the street dropping off the engineers that had just flown in and was in route immediately. The lady that runs the bar grabbed all the kids with Carmen and they took them to the outdoor terrace to have a soda and get out of the street. Everyone was in motion making sure the kids were okay and trying to figure out if a round, damaged wheel would fit onto a slightly flattened axle. How did the wheel come off? All of the lug nuts were just gone, not there. Either someone stole them or borrowed them and did not return them or they somehow worked their way off. The tires have not been changed or serviced in quite some time, so we can rule out faulty workmanship. The nice taxi driver that stopped to try and put the wheel back on was unable to do so, so we called the mechanic and he was on his way in the next 30 minutes. They were able to get the spare wheel on the car and deliver it to Melissa’s house later that afternoon.

I cannot express how scary this was and the reality of how much more differently this could have turned out is still being processed. We are so thankful for God’s great presence in protecting us and our children. What an eye opener in the midst of so many other adjustments that are going on right now in our lives; to just remember to be thankful for the little things like hanging out with the kids and doing fun stuff as a family. We very well could have had all of those things taken away in the blink of an eye, but we were spared that reality. Thank God.

Needless to say, we now regularly check for a full set of lugs on the tires and everyone wears a seatbelt, even if we have to double buckle. Life in the tropics, you never know what each day will bring; new lessons on life and giant tests of faith.

Take Care and God Bless,

Connie