How and Why Roatan, Honduras

Many have asked how did you find Roatan, Honduras and why did you choose to go there as opposed to somewhere else? About eight years ago, when Trey's mom, Phyllis, got sick from meningitis, we enlisted a care-giver at his personal care home in Conroe. This gentleman had a house on Roatan and told us a little bit about it and the people of this island. It sounded beautiful and laid back and just wonderful. We did some research over the years and always thought 'what-if' and 'maybe some day'. Well, life presented many different paths over the years and we just couldn't make it happen on our own. Of course not, God had to open that door when the time was right. I have often wondered why we have had so many obstacles and lessons to be learned, now I kind of understand, I only wish I had been a faster learner.

Last summer, just after we had our fourth child, Laney, Trey went on a mission trip with our church, Fellowship of The Woodlands, to Costa Rica. He was moved in a way that I had not ever seen in him. The experience of actually traveling to another country (the far reaches of the earth) and discipling through something like building a suspension bridge over roaring waters for little children to cross, was just what he needed to be a part of. That was it. Since then, we have done hours of research in hopes of seeing an open door. In January of this year, Trey took me to a different part of Costa Rica, trying to find something comparible, and nothing presented itself.

While Trey was in Costa Rica with FOTW, our house actually sold after only being on the market for a week. Shortly thereafter, hurricane Ike hit and the house we had been building on Crystal Beach suffered almost zero damage; this great investment is now a vacation rental property for the summer. Not long after that, Trey was laid off from AmReit, a commercial real estate/construction company. Then, out of the blue we were blessed with some great commercial and residential jobs that Trey took and ran with. For every door that closes, another opens...

In April, Trey did his company books and could see that there was nothing in the pipeline for the next month or so and it was then that we knew that all the things that had happened in the past six months had led us to a place that made it possible to take the time that we now had available and go.

Somehow we kept coming back to Roatan as a possibility in our research. Trey emailed a couple of outreach groups located in Roatan and it was from there that we felt the opportunity had presented itself. Henry and Frances of LW4R were the most excited to hear from us and said, 'come on'. Henry had even come by our rental house the day we arrived to welcome us in-person.

This has been the how and why that led us to Roatan, Honduras. We hope to give others the itch to step outside the box if led to do so. Our pastor, Kerry Shook, says that the best way to feel better about your current situation is to give back to others. At this point God can then open your eyes and help you see what is truly important in your life.