Hello there. I truly don’t know how four months have passed since I last wrote a post. My apologies. Things have been busy, but that’s still no excuse for letting this much time pass.
We are still in the construction process. We can see the finish line, and we are really pushing to get there. We hope to be moved in by the end of August. Jessenia and I have continued to learn lessons along the way. While we have had our disagreements, I am truly thankful for how the LORD has used this process to bring us together in a new way. These last two months in particular have been blessed. The Holy Spirit continues to build unity among us as we build the houses.
Jessenia truly has been amazing. She genuinely cares for all the guys working for us, and they recognize that and respect her for it. Our timeline obviously shifted when we had to scrap the original contractors and their work, which made me restless. But Jessenia has assured me all along that the replacement workers we hired are doing good work and that the houses will be great. When I step back and think about the big picture, I know she’s right. If we finish by the end of August, as we anticipate, we will have built two houses in less than 9 months–even with all the time lost due to the first contractors. That’s pretty remarkable, and to me is evidence of the LORD’s hand upon us and the construction.
As we were warned, building on our own has taken us over budget. First we had to pay to fix all foundational problems left behind by the first contractors. Then we made some simple changes that greatly increase the functionality of the houses, but have added to our costs. The original contractors have not honored our signed agreement to refund a portion of our initial deposit, so we have begun a legal process that could take many months to complete. With the way things are here, we don’t know how it will end, even though it’s a very cut and dry case in our favor. Our trust and hope are in the LORD and His judgment from the Throne. Despite all that, we believe we still have enough funds to make the houses inhabitable. Once we are moved in, we can continue to raise some funds for the smaller projects to help finish construction. We are so thankful to all who have given towards this construction, and we can’t wait for this phase to be completed!
The children finished the first semester and got a few weeks off of school. They returned last week to begin the second semester. Overall, everyone seems to have adjusted to the schedule and routine of early morning pickups, school, tutoring, and arriving home in the early evening. I’m personally excited by how much easier our schedule will be once construction is finished. Instead of being divided in various places, we will all be together on the same property. This will also hopefully free up time to allow us to provide extra support to Francisca and Alba, the children’s mothers.
Of all the children, Margine is the one I’m most concerned about. She is not doing well in school, and I believe it’s a reflection of her struggles at home. Her mom, Alba, is trying her best. Alba loves her children and wants the best for them, but she is limited by her own upbringing and life experience. We met with her a few different times during the semester to talk about our concerns and offer constructive support. Having Margine at home all the time has meant Alba needs to rediscover how to be her mom all the time. She seemed to have the misconception that she had to make up for lost time by allowing Margine to do what she wanted. As a result, Margine has demonstrated a lack of respect for her mother and her authority, which negatively affects her brothers as well. In a recent conversation with Alba, the psychologist and I were able to explain this to her in a way I believe she understood. Her desire for her daughter is for Margine to feel loved, accepted, cared for, and hopeful for the future. Throughout our time together we reiterated the importance of discipline and affection–words & actions–to build her children up and bring unity to their family. To close our visit, Alba prayed a beautiful, heartfelt prayer of gratitude and petition. She recognizes she needs help, and we pray she continues to seek the LORD and Godly wisdom.
In the Mayorga family, Jeremy is the one who seems to be having the most difficulty with the transition. He’s had a lot of change this year, and I believe he doesn’t handle change well. Our program changed, he transitioned into high school, his family moved houses, and he entered puberty! He surprised me by saying that the change he felt affecting him the most was their family moving houses. In the first quarter, I received many emails from his teachers with discipline complaints. Francisca (his mom) and I met with his teacher and she explained some of the issues they were having at school. Most of the problems stemmed from friendships. Jeremy seems to have responded to their requests positively, and the complaints from his teachers all but stopped. Aside from that, Jeremy seems to struggle with negative thoughts. I’m not sure where it stems from, but please join us in praying for him and his self-perception.
Ezequiel and Noel continue to work hard to get caught up in school. The elementary and high school principals were telling me the other day how impressed they are with the two of them. Noel works hard and is self-motivated to succeed. Of course it is still a massive challenge, and he battles feeling inadequate. But the longer he perseveres, the more comfortable he gets. Ezekiel loves being at school. He has been a little slower in catching up than I expected, but he is progressing well. Bianca probably enjoys the program shift the most. School is a joy for her, and she recently participated in a Model UN type program. She loves being at home with her mom, and shows signs of a healthy self-perception. Vanessa also loves school, being at home, and her friends. However, it seems to me that she is a little distracted, something we haven’t seen before. Her grades in school dropped across the board the second quarter, but my conversations with her have not discovered a cause. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will make it known, that we may help Vanessa through.
Please pray for us as well! School starts up for me in two weeks, and we are all feeling stress as we try to finish construction. May we trust the LORD with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our strength, and with all our bodies! And may the Peace of God that surpasses all understanding hover over and abide in you today.