By: Hanna Thomas
What a wild few weeks.
Just going to be real- we were having some serious behavioral problems/defiance with one of our girls. Our other girl wasn’t even talking to us. I would literally ask her if she would prefer pancakes or eggs for breakfast and she wouldn’t say a thing.
We had some sweet friends from Rennaissance Church visiting and we were blessed to be able to spend lots of time with them. Not only did they come clean our house one day, we also had the chance to go eat dinner with them twice which was a treat as we haven’t ever eaten in the Rancho as a family. I was so glad to be able to spend an afternoon with my friend from Ren Church, Lisa, just talking and drinking some iced coffee by the pool. We dreamt about the future and her plans of building the soccer field and my dream of starting a competitive soccer team. We laughed and talked about our families and looked at pictures. It was a blessing in that time especially because I felt so overwhelmed with the challenging behavior that was happening in our home. Lisa reminded me too that this behavior is so normal for teenage girls.
Then, we found out that our newest boy, Auner, was going to have surgery in a week for his cleft lip.
We also were trying to figure out when we would go renew our visas. Without kids, this would be super easy. But with 6 kids, arranging the nanny, cleaning the home before leaving and making sure everyone was prepared to be without us is way more of a challenge.
Roxana and Andres were also scheduled to have their court hearing to determine if they would leave to live with their uncle or if they would stay here.
Our emotions have been all over the place. In the last two weeks, there have been some extremely good days and some really bad ones. But, we made it through and we feel so much better and so much stronger and we are reminded to cling to Jesus in the good and bad.
We ended up finding a great little Airbnb so we could go to the capital to renew our visas very affordably. We even got to bring our dogs and RELAX! For real, what is that word anymore? Crazy though, we got back and one of our girls was gone. She was sent back to her family after her court hearing and we didn’t have any idea that would happen. That’s one of the hard things for the kids here, they want to stay but often the judge decides otherwise. We are hopeful that she is in good hands.
Auner’s surgery went amazing and we are 1 day away from him being able to eat solid food again. We have also in this process have turned all of our kids into protein smoothie fans. The fact that we can put avocado, spinach, PB, protein powder packed with vitamins, and banana into a blender and turn it into what they think is as good as a chocolate milkshake is a HUGE win!
A lot of you knew about the court hearing for Roxana and Andres and were praying with us- that they would not have to leave. Thank you for praying with us. They came back home with us after the court hearing which was a huge relief for Andres and Roxana. They were so happy to be back with us in Casa 5.
We’ve also had some change of heart in our girl who was struggling. We are so thankful. That change can only come from God who is capable of changing hearts. We will continue to love her and be consistent and expect respect but we will also continue praying for her heart. She is a strong girl and has so much potential in her life!
We also were so thankful to have New Life Christian School visit. One of the dads who was on the trip (and also was also with us on previous trips when we were deciding if we would be moving) volunteered to make us a video! This is something I’ve been praying for. I’ll fill you in soon about that. Spending time with our friend Nancy was so sweet. She took the time one night to come hang out with me. She told me to sit down and she spent the next hour giving me a massage. It was such a gift!
If you finished reading this and are like “What the heck, her poor brain is full of so much” don’t worry, I’m feeling the same way on a daily basis. #momlife but, #blessed.
Sorry, can’t end this one gracefully, I have to go cut up a mango for Roxana..
