The Carrot Seed

" A little boy planted a carrot seed... and the whole world said nothing would sprout." - The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss 

For the majority of the children I work with in the Rio the whole world has said they won't succeed, they won't thrive, they won't amount to anything,... they won't sprout. That is sadly the story of two girls, Sarah and Monse. They come from rough situations and unsupportive environments where they have been told, they won't "sprout." 

I went to the Rio about a week ago with my tutoring supplies in hand. I hadn't ever tutored kids in Spanish before, but thought it couldn't be that much different than the experiences I had tutoring in the States. The three of us girls sat down in the comedor and I pulled out a supply of books that I had with me. The girls looked through the stack and then we all decided on The Carrot Seed (La semilla de zanahoria). As an early childhood teacher I am ashamed to say that I had never read this book before! We cracked the cover and began to read about the boy, the seed, and the disbelief of the world around him. 

" His mom said, 'I fear it won't sprout.'

 His dad said, ' I fear it won't sprout.' 

His older brother said, ' I know it  won't sprout.' "

I asked the girls how the boy must have felt. They said he felt sad and discouraged. I asked them if they ever felt like that, or if anyone ever said those type of things to them. They both nodded and we kept reading. 

"Everyday the boy pulled up the weeds that were growing around the seed and sprayed the soil with water. But nothing sprouted... And nothing sprouted... The whole world said that nothing would sprout."

 "Have you ever felt like the whole world is saying you won't grow and change and that you can't do the things you want to when you grow up?" I asked. Again there were silent nods. 

"But everyday he continued to pull up the weeds and spray the soil with water. And then, one day,... a carrot sprouted.... Just as the boy knew it would." 

The girl's faces were delighted as we got to the last page! "We knew it would sprout!" they said. "and the carrot is HUGE!!!" The picture on this page is priceless. The boy in the story has a wheelbarrow and one huge carrot inside. Not only did the carrot sprout, it was much bigger and better than any normal carrot. 

We closed the book and began to talk about how we are like carrot seeds. That sometimes people will say to us, "You won't sprout... you will never be good at math, you will never amount to anything, you can't be a doctor, you can never leave this place..." But what did the boy do? I asked. 

    "He kept working hard." Was the answer. "He didn't give up because he knew the carrot seed would sprout."

    "Hmm," I said, "what do you think we can learn from this story?"

     Sarita replied, "That if we work hard and don't give up, one day the seed will sprout."

     "Good," I replied. "But there is more than that."  I went on to explain to the girls that God created them with a purpose. That He has a plan for their lives. That it wasn't an accident that they were born onto this earth. "It may seem like the whole world is against you," I said. " Your mom, your dad, or your teacher may be against you, but God is always for you. He know the plans and the purpose and the future that He has for you. You are special. You are unique, you are dearly loved, and you will sprout."  

The truth is that God believes in these girls and supports them. He is pulling up the weeds in their lives and He is faithful to put water on the soil of their hearts. The whole world may say, "they won't sprout."  But God says otherwise....

"I know the plans I have for you delclares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

And when God sprouts a seed....watch out! It is bigger and better than anything we can imagine! 

Sarah and Monse writing and drawing pictures of themselves planting a seed and then the seed sprouting. 

Sarah (4th grade) coloring her picture of an apple seed. 

Sarah and Monse with their finished stories. 

Sarita Reads

Sarita has one of the saddest stories possible. She is 10 and lives with her grandmother in the Rio because her mom decided that she didn’t want her. Sarita’s spirit is very kind and gentle. She is very smart, loves to read and write, and is a huge help to her aunts with their little kids. Recently Sarita’s grandmother, who she was living with, took up a job in a children’s home not far away. Because Sarita’s grades started to fall when she went with her grandmother to the children’s home her grandmother has no longer permitted her to stay there during the week. Sarita is staying with a very young aunt in the Rio.  I know Sarita is lonely. The one person who seemed to care for her, her grandmother, has left her as well. You can see the loneliness on her face and it makes you sad.

Recently I have felt burdened for Sarita. I have started to try to spend quality time with Sarita each week. One day not long ago Sarita told me that she liked to read. I asked her if anyone ever read out loud to her and she said no. She went on to explain that sometimes she asks her uncle if she can read to him, but after a little bit it bothers him and he tells her to stop. She loves to read out loud. With this in mind, and a backpocket full of teacher tricks, I have started meeting weekly with Sarita and her younger sister to read and do literacy activities. While the main goal is quality time, not literacy, for these girls, literacy is certainly a byproduct that will help them for years to come. I am a firm believer that one of the main ways out of the poverty cycle is education. While Sarita seems to be on grade level, her younger sister, Monse is not doing great in school.

We have started meeting weekly to read together, play spelling games, and do writing activities. So far the girls have loved it and I have too! It is meeting a need in me to teach that I just can’t shake! The Lord has also opened up opportunities during out time together, to talk about Him, His plan for their lives, and how much each girl means to our Savior. These are by far the sweetest moments J   

Monse spelling her name and other words with Scrabble letters.

Sarita reading one of the books I brought for her. She loves to read and is good at it. 

Sarita and 2 friends working on a puzzle together. 

The finished puzzle! After they finished putting it together we played I Spy with the scene. A great way to wake up the brain before school. 

El Limon Trip

I had the awesome privileged to go to a children's home that is 5 hours away from Monterrey to serve for a week. We had a hardworking men's group come down so we decided to take them to El Limon to work on a project that B2B has been involved with for years. B2B helped the children's home build a sport court and are now working on the accompanying bleachers. The hope is that this sport court can help bring an income to the children's home. The directors plan to rent out the court for soccer tournaments and also plan to use the court to hose prayer gatherings and revivals. 

Mixed in with all the work was all the play! The children of El Limon are unlike any I have ever met. They are kind, loving, respectful, and have sold out hearts for Jesus. I had a wonderful week living alongside these kids. 

Some of my El Limon friends. These boys were playing their own kind of Nascar (see the video below). One thing that struck me about these boys is how kind they are to one another. The whole week I was in this children's home I never heard anyone fight... amazing when you have 42 kids! They truly cared for one another and helped one another.

Some fresh mangoes growing outside the casa hogar!

These kids LOVE to play games. They taught me a new form of Uno... now one of my favorite games :) The first day I sat down to play boardgames with these kids I was struck by a number of things. First, they had all the pieces to the game we were playing. After working in many children's homes I found this to be amazing! I don't think I have ever seen a boardgame with enough pieces. Next I noticed how all the kids followed the rules to the game. This was also amazing. Lastly, I noticed that when someone made a mistake or went out of turn, the children kindly corrected and helped that person to play!... After my first afternoon in El Limon I knew there was something different about this place.

Here Becca and I are creating a support structure for the bleachers... lots of wire, rebar, and twisting!

Hope with the power tools :)

Our group cooked and served a meal of arrachera to the kids at the home. They loved it! I was also amazed as I sat at a table with middle school boys and they waited for second helpings... the boys told me that it just worked out so much better to wait their turn and let the girls go first...seriously, who are these kids?????

Here is the team with all 42 kids, workers, and directors of El Limon children's home.

Toribio (tall) and Jose (small)! I remember Toribio from years ago when I would go to El Limon with my church mission team. He was about 6 back then. Now Toribio is 14 and much taller :) It was great reconnecting with him.

Me and my friend Jose :) 

This is a quick video I shot of the work going on with the sport court at El Limon, kinda gives you an idea of what we did that week. 

This is a video of the boys playing Nascar! 

Every Wednesday night the children's home has a church service. This video shows how these kids love to worship the Lord. They are not ashamed of dancing and praising Him for who He is. I love how the caretakers are right there with the kids. You can tell that these kids have relationships with Christ because of the wonderful role models they have caring for them. With 42 kids this place really functions like a home.  

One other thing that really impacted me about this home was the way the children seemed so whole. In many of the children's homes we work in the kids are very troubled, angry, hurt, etc because of things that have happened in their past. This place is no different. All of the kids here have a sad story. However, in this place the kids have found healing in Jesus and have been restored. I was stuck as on the last night a teen named Ada stood up to thank the group who had been serving that week. After saying thanks, she then started to preach. She told the men that she wanted to encourage them that God will never leave them nor forsake them. That He is always with them and has a plan and a purpose for their lives. As she was speaking I kept thinking, "this is what we should be telling her... she is the one who was abandoned by her parents!" I felt like the Lord showed me that He had healed Ada so much that she was now whole and able to minister this healing to others. Wow! We have had several teens in our Hope Program in Monterrey who came from this children's home and they all have amazing spiritual lives. 

Thank you God for this place, for the caretakers and the directors who are truly seeking after you and teaching the kids your truths. Thank you for the complete restoration you have done in their lives and the way they pour that healing out on others. Keep it coming! Amen.

My 25th Birthday!

On February 2nd, I turned 25!!!! A quarter of a century can seem daunting :) However it was a surprised filled day that I had the privileged of celebrating with some of the people I love most. 

This is Cathy Huffer. She is a wonderful friend, neighbor, and co-worker and can makes everyone around her feel very special! She came to my house in the morning to drop off homemade blueberry muffins and fresh squeezed orange juice for a birthday breakfast.... what a GREAT birthday gift from a great person!

I had a meeting to go to in the morning, but when I arrived back at my house I was greeted by this beautiful bouquet of flowers and a hand-painted card from Cheque sitting on my counter. Gotta love that guy :)

Later in the afternoon Cheque and I went out for lunch at IHOP. This was a big treat for me because I LOVE breakfast food and I love everything on the menu at IHOP! The only problem was then deciding what to order...I'll be honest and say I labored of the decision for 20 min. God bless my patient boyfriend! After lunch we decided to go bowling to celebrate.. neither of us have done any kind of bowling (except on the neighbor's wii) for years... we were both pretty bad, which made it really fun. Why is wii bowling so much easier than real bowling?

Yes, I ate out again that night! It was great! This time I was treated to an Italian meal by the B2B ladies. Here are a few that went out. After the meal all the waiters came out from the back singing, clapping, and bringing me a plate of cake! It was fun, and a bit embarrassing to have so much attention focused on me!

Later that night, Cheque came over with a birthday present. He had designed and made me an earring holder, however it is pretty much the coolest earring holder I have ever seen. I really like earrings and have many so I have been needing something like this for awhile. Never in my life did I guess that it would look this cool! That's Cheque for you. I have it hanging up in my bathroom and love using it everyday! It is pretty much a piece of artwork that I get to hang my earrings on. I'm obsessed. I love dating an artist! 

So that was my 25th birthday! It was great and I felt very loved. Thanks friends.