Well, it's been more than a year since we arrived here in Honduras. This has been the longest we've been away from PA without a visit home. It's, of course, almost impossible to truly explain how we feel about living here at La Finca. We know that God has called us to serve and help here, but that doesn't always make the day to day frustrations and stresses easier to handle. There are always moments of joy and satisfaction with small improvements in respect and attitudes from the kids and with times of positive interactions with the youth, but dealing with over 90 children is never easy and usually at least slightly overwhelming.

We want to serve with joy. We want to love each child the same and unconditionally. We want to show Jesus to all we come in contact with. We want to respond to problems and requests calmly and patiently. We want to be welcoming to all who ask.

AND we want to take personal time with God to nurture our relationship with Him. We want to take time for each other to protect our marriage. We want to take time for our children to protect our family. We want to take time by ourselves to protect our sanity!

The difficulty is how to "budget" our time, how to make sure we are following the Spirit's leading, so that we are doing God's will and not what we or others think is best.

May God's Spirit guide each one of you as you seek to find balance in your lives.