Loving & Learning
I stepped over a massive spider and ducked as a bat dive-bombed me, slapping at a mosquito; that’s how I got out of my shower (in which I made constant eye contact with two cockroaches) the first night here at Familia Feliz. And honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way. Or maybe minus the spiders.
I hadn’t been afraid of anything about Familia Feliz until I pulled my last suitcase through the door of a yellow house across the field from where the other four SM girls are staying together. And I haven’t been jumpy about living creatures until I got out of the shower to hop into my net-covered bunk bed. I sang “todo el mundo en su mano está” (He’s got the whole world in His hands) to myself — and I’m so glad He does!
I am living in la Casa de las Lilas, helping Teacher Abi parent eight girls ranging in age from three to thirteen. Full of questions I understand fifty percent of (and can answer a quarter of), these girls have already won my heart with their smiles, giggles, enthusiasm, and doe eyes. My name is now “Ticher Kati,” and I love it!
I woke up Sabbath morning to so many sounds. Bugs, all sorts of birds — especially oropendolas — a bat in my room, some animal scampering around, and little voices not too long after. “There is just so much life here!” I thought as I looked up at the tin roof and two-by-fours above my mosquito net.
So much life to love and so much life to learn about!
Las Chiquitas
La Casa de las Lilas is best described as bubbly. Our cup is running over with noise, games, food, chores, smiles, and singing. These are my girls:
Nirza (3 años)
Nicol (6 años)
Milenca (8 años)
Lisvania (8 años)
Ana Isabel (11 años)
Mariana (12 años)
Maribel (13 años)
Soledad (13 años)
Of these eight, one is a baby who loves to play “donde está Nirza” and blow spit bubbles, two have brothers in the house next door, three help me resolve conflicts with the others, four have family that come to visit them on Sundays, five have lice nits that I pick out when they sit in my lap, six take turns helping cook supper every night, seven ask way too many questions for me to answer, and all eight are tone deaf when we sing before meals. And it’s the greatest.
Loving
“The God who created the universe did not create too many children in His image and not enough love to go around!”
(Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie)
Southern warned the SMs who applied to come to Familia Feliz that it is the single most emotionally taxing location, but also the most rewarding. But that statement was only words until I arrived and began to learn the stories and struggles of these kids. And now all I want to do is hug them and tell them that they are so loved and valued and worthy and that everything will be ok.
But I don’t have enough words. Even in English.
When Mariana didn’t have family to visit her on Sunday, she was very frustrated because I wouldn’t take her to swim in the river. Try as I might to explain that we had to wait while her friends had visitors, she wouldn’t accept my answer. I hugged her as she cried buckets and ranted about the river, which I could understand but not respond to. Zoro came to the rescue to console her, and I was grateful but also sad that only one of us could do so.
Alejandro is a little boy in first grade who is literally Curious George. He is the absolute cutest, most energetic kiddo whose grin could make a statue smile, but he also has severe ADHD and dyslexia. Helping him in the classroom is rewarding when my methods work, and heartbreaking when he bursts into tears after writing four grammar words that take him thirty minutes to copy. Right as I was feeling good about finishing math with him in time for recess, his focus timer was up and he’d had enough. And it broke my heart.
I think that loving hurts more the more you love. But love also comes in the form of smiles, and there are more grins than tears here.
Nirza is my little arm extension who is learning Spanish just like me, and mispronouncing it, too. Her favorite word is “mile,” which she means as “mire” (“look”). She is fascinated with tiny things, especially baby weeds in the garden, and scrunches up her nose and pinches her fingers to tell me about them. Her baby teeth, dimples, tongue wiggling, and pigtails are so endearing it’s worth having aching shoulders from carrying her around!
Milenca loves bear hugs whenever she sees me at recess or in the house. When she puts her hands on my face and looks straight up at me and tries to reach my height, I can’t help but smile. This morning she exclaimed, “¡Ticher, su cara!” (“Your face!”) “¿Mi cara?” I asked. “¡Su cara es muy bonita!”
A favorite moment this week was making banana muffins after school with Emilianne and the girls! One massive spill, lots of sticky fingers, twenty-four mashed bananas, and a propane oven later, three dozen muffins and a cake pan came out perfectly!
There is a whole lot of loving here! I never hear Emilianne talking without a laugh. I never see Carlo without a kid or two using him as a jungle gym. I rarely hear Zoro speaking English. I always see Maddy loving on babies and calling them “honey” in a baby voice. And everyone plays till they drop then plays some more!
Learning
My job description is house parent of Las Lilas and assistant teacher in first and second grade. And with that comes a lot of learning.
Sunday was our first day where all the long-term house parents left, leaving me as the sole “house parent” on campus (in name only) and the other SMs helping in each of the houses. AKA we got thrown in the deep end for twelve hours!
That day Emilianne and I observed how a large kitchen knife was first used at breakfast to cut fresh watermelon. After that, it was used to cut open a new bar of laundry soap (which doubles as dish soap, and vice versa) to wash our clothes in the outdoor sink. Then that same knife was taken to a grinding wheel by an eight-year-old and sharpened aggressively, then immediately used as a machete to cut weeds in the yard and to till the vegetable garden. Then that knife was used by another girl to cut her leg where a bug bit her, “because it itches.” Then, after I cleaned it myself (since dishes are often rinsed, not washed), that same knife cut dirty potatoes (because we had no running water to wash them) in the dark kitchen (because the power went out) for supper and minced garlic for the fried rice. What a knife!
We should have used that knife to cut the cardboard for covering the screen window by my bed. Instead, T. Abi and I forced old boxes in front of the iron bars. And it’s a good thing we put them up, because it rained so hard all night that I could hardly hear myself think as water pounded the tin roof in torrential sheets. We got up to add more cardboard by our clothing shelves, as everything was getting soaked rapidly. And we killed five cockroaches in the meantime.
Resourcefulness? There is no other way to live! Save everything! Reuse that cardboard! Use that gift’s wrapping paper for a shelf liner and the tape to hang photos! And those jeans can be used as oven mitts!
Cleanliness? It’s relative! If the dirt isn’t visible, it’s probably clean enough! And urine is sterile, right?
Tea tree oil? Wear it everyday along with bug spray like perfume!
Heat? Put on a jacket if it gets to be in the 80s!
Nature? We’re part of it! Don’t bother trying to avoid it!
Communication? It’s mostly body language! (Although I say a lot of “si,” even when I don’t know what’s been said, and “otra vez” when it sounds important.)
Entertainment? Put on any music and dance! Give kids a pen and paper and call it a gift! And piggyback rides are always free!
Free time? LOL!
Days off? I haven’t had one yet! But eventually we’ll get assigned days where a few of us can go into town together!
Blogging? Write late at night (AKA 9:00) laying exhausted in bed!
Breakfast? It’s the meal I’m in charge of for my house every day! Let’s see how many ways can we cook rice, oats, bananas, potatoes, and eggs!
Teaching? Just say “siéntate” (“sit down”), “escucha” (“listen”), and “mira” (“look”)! Know your numbers and alphabet and you’re set!
I am the assistant teacher for the first and second grade class, but I’m learning more about numbers, letters, and commands than those eight are!
Perfect Weakness
Josh Wright sings “What You Could Do With Me,” and I resonate with every word of the song:
“So I don’t have to be
the strongest
‘cause You are perfect
in my weakness.
If You can move a mountain
with faith like a
grain of mustard seed,
I wonder what You could
do with me.”
Love from las Lilas,
Katie-Jane
🤍
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“This was one of many incidences when the Lord has shown me that the more I give of myself, the more He fills me up. The more I love, the more love I have to give.” – Katie Davis |
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“God had set her in a strategic place to love others, and now she was excited to be part of His plan.” – Jennie Allen (con Nicol y Nirza) |
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Just a friendly pet who dropped from the ceiling onto Benjamín! |
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| Kudos to the guys with all the energy! |
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| Milenca mía |
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| La Casa de las Lilas |