Esperanza

Note: I am going to be sharing some pictures of my new little sister, but due to her special needs some may be bothered by her pictures. If you do not know how to look at her through the eyes of God, please do not continue reading. Also, please do not share her pictures or details apart from this blog.

Ok, so I wrote this update a week and a half ago, but didnt feel like it properly portrayed my thoughts or feelings, so I held off. Well, due to the chaos of our house, I am just getting back to it and I am just going to post it. I am sorry if  what I say does not make sense, please just try your best to understand, and if you don't, that's fine. 

If you would like to read more about the following post (from some people who are better with their words) feel free to visit...

My dad's blog http://hopeforhome.blogspot.com/2013/09/loving-hope.html

or Brittney's blog http://brittneyfulp.blogspot.com/2013/09/esperanza.html

"Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my HOPE is in you all day long." -Psalm 25:5

For me, as a Christian, I feel that hope is such a simple concept yet, at the same time so complicated. So, to just hear it broken down I looked it up... "Hope- The feeling that what is wanted can be had" (Dictionary.com). Ok, simple enough. The hard part is putting that into "action" while still looking through the eyes of God.

Let me further explain....

I hope that one day I will be able to visit Wrigley Field and see the Cubs kick the Yankee's little butts. I hope that one day I will be able to tour Venice, Italy. The list goes on. But really, in the end, when I am standing before God, will it really matter if I got to see all the things I wanted? Of course not!

But... then there are things that are a little closer to God's heart. The state of someones heart, the impact we have on others... a child's life.

That leads me to another form of "hope"... I would now like to introduce you all to the newest Fulp, Ruth Esperanza (Hope in Spanish). Esperanza has Kleeblatt Schadel Syndrome. "This syndrome is caused by premature fusing of the fibrous sutures, resulting in abnormalities of the skull and facial bones," (a quote from my dad's blog because I sure don't know how to explain it). People often call it "clover head" because it causes three large lumps on the head. Before we actually received her, we looked at pictures of this syndrome online.... but nothing compared to the severity of little Esperanza's case.

Borrowing a miracle, Esperanza will pass soon. No words can describe the difficulty of this. We receive a new little sister, and the same moment we are falling in love with her, we know that we may only have her for a few short moment. As Britt said, "We get to carry her to Jesus." That is an amazing privilege and a terribly difficult responsibility.

This is where the real hope in life becomes hard. We, as her family, hope that she will stay with us for a long time, but God might not want the same. We hope that He will choose to miraculously heal her, but God might choose to do that through taking her. Hope no longer becomes simple.... it is rather complicated. How to you really balance your hopes and wishes with His?(Please do not get me wrong, I am in no way doubting God's plans, just explaining the confusion that sometimes seems to come along with a life submitted to Him.)

We must learn to hope, but with the full realization that that might not be Gods will. We must learn to hope while (at the same time) surrendering our hopes and dreams to him.

But, in all things, we serve a wonderful God. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. Our God reigns.

"When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

What ever my lot you have taught me to say

It is well, it is well with my soul"

September 15th was Guatemalan Independence day, so...

From 14 of the 17 Fulps....

Feliz día de independencia!!!

(Happy [Guatemalan] Independence day!!!)

Very last thing.... we received a 3 year old boy on Monday, Christian... but I will update you on him (probably) over the weekend :)

Hogar de la Esperanza

Few updates:
I am assuming most of you know, Hogar de la Esperanza is up and running! Praise God!!!!
For those of you who do not know, I (with God's guidance) have decided to stay here in Guatemala for about another year to help run the home. I am still planning on returning to Uganda, but I want to open a home for special needs girls there, so this is preparation.

I will start by introducing our 3 new family members.

This is my little man, Rafael (7 years old). He was the first child in our home to make Hogar de la Esperanza a reality. Rafael was added to the our family on August 22, 2013. He is my little snuggle buddy.

On the afternoon of August 26th, Jenifer (11 years old) became an unofficial Fulp. She is one of the funniest, most unique girls I have ever met. Jenifer can talk and she ALWAYS speaks her mind. She is a blast, I love this girl. 

Sweet Alejandra (11 years old) was our 3rd arrival. She joined our family on August 26th just a few hours after Jeni. Alejandra is one of the most joy filled girls you will ever meet. She can not talk, but she communicates through pointing and facial expressions. She is a very bright little girl.

To continue, basically my "job" is schedules, medicines, feeding, changing.... you name it. So, in a nutshell, I get to take care of kids and love on them full time. It is a total blast! Between me and my mom, we take charge and make the plans. From 8-5 we have volunteers who help. Having more people around to help, it allows us to do one on one time with the kids, allowing them to learn at their own pace and at their own level. It also gives us time to do stretches and physical therapy stuff with the kids each day.

Brittney, Kristin, Me, Kathlyn, My mommy (aka Wanda), Emily A., Aura, Emilee S., and Taryn

Morning is for physical therapy and educational play. In the afternoons we spend time outside with the kids... going on walks, playing in the courtyard, etc.

In the evening, after the staff goes home, we just hang out as a family. Playing games, talking, watching a movie... I love our expanding family!

Even though our lives are getting crazy (well... more crazy then they were before) we still make plenty of time to still goof.

Prayer requests:

1. Pray for wisdom as we are making decisions on how to properly run the home. We have a lot in place but seeing as we are still very new, we have to make changes to better fit everything.

2. Prayer as we are bringing in more kids. We are licensed for up to 10 kids... and we have NO idea who these kids are or when they will get here. Prayer for that to go smoothly.

3. As always just pray that we will be led by God on a daily basis. That we will each grow closer to him each day and in so, bring those around us to him.

Last thing. If you do not get my facebook post (which lets you know when I update my blog), and would like a an e-mail letting you know when I do, just send me a quick e-mail and I will add you to my list. (Even if you had previously done so, please do it again, I have to re-do the distribution list).

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers and support.

Dios te bendiga (God bless you)

"His faithfulness continues through all generations"

Sitting on our roof the other day, I was thinking a lot about the amount of money I have to raise before I can go back to Uganda (and ya, I was stressing a bit). After a little, I reminded myself that the reason I had gone up to the roof was to do my devotions.... not to stress about the future. So, I opened up my bible to my next reading... and this is what I read.

Psalm 100: 2, 3 and 5
Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture... For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

I then felt stupid for stressing.

So, basically, I am prayerfully considering sticking around here a little longer and helping out with Hope for Home and Hogar de la Esperanza to get some very helpful basic knowledge.

Prayer requests:
1. Knowledge for the next step(s)
2. Financial support as he sees fit.
3. Peace for the future.

Thank you all for the prayers. I will try to do a bit better at keeping you all updated (its just a little hard when I don't have anything to update you on :P )

No longer a Mzungu

So sorry, this is long over due.

First things first..... No longer a Mzungu (thats what Ugandans calls white people). I have learned to sit sideways on the back of a motorcycle (for when I wear dresses or skirts), I am working on learning a little bit of Luganda (one of the more common languages there), I carry kids wrapped up on my back, and I got my hair done.

African braids.... fun experience, terribly look. (this picture was taken here in Guatemala, but its the best picture)

Since I last updated, most of my time was spent with Ekisa.... but I also spent one week with Doors Ministry (for those of you who dont know, Teisha and I spent a few weeks ago with them back in the fall). Doors Ministry has 2 main parts to in, a slum school and a home for street boys. Each day I would spend some time each day at the school, then later I would go back to the home and help some of the boys practice their reading.

I got to teach an art class at the school.

Here are a few more pictures from my time at Ekisa...

We took some of the kids swimming :)

I left Uganda Monday morning (the 10th). I had about a 9 hour flight to London where I met my cousin, Angelina, and got to spend the night there with her. 

(picture of us on the tube)

The next day we went to the airport, got checked in, and had some coffee together while waiting for the flight. After that, I had about a 9 1/2 hour flight to Miami, 5 hour layover (where I watched a movie and ate american Wendy's!!!!! Twas a big day), then only a 2 1/2 hour flight to Guatemala... where I got to see my family!!!!! It is so good to be home but I sure do miss Uganda.

So, I started out by saying that I was no longer a Mzungu.... that is a lie. As a white person in an African country I will always be a mzungu.... and I think I am ok with that :)

Let's throw in a few long days...

On Tuesdays, at 8:15 am all of the mamas, volunteers, kids, strollers  wheelchairs, backpacks, diaper bags and lunches piled in a bus and a van and pulled out of Ekisa. We set out on a 3 hour drive on our way to the Zoo (each adult with a child on their lap). It was a really fun day, but also very stressful. 

But first, the kids all had to get ready... which means their smart clothes :)

Everyone was paired up and divided into groups. One child to each adult... and everyone was assigned a group (each with a leader). Josh was my buddy. He is a very interesting little boy.... he often fears white people (that's the way the Ugandans say it).... but he is improving. Josh often likes me, but not always. He is defiantly my boy, I love that boy like crazy!

When we got to the zoo, the first thing we did was sat down and had a snack (after the long drive the kids needed it). Some of the milk that was lugged that far was bad, so we put it aside.... and the monkeys got a hold of it. There were a LOT of monkeys... and they were NOT afraid of humans. At one point, Luke (one of the other volunteers) took some of the boys to the bathroom. On his way back he heard Jason yell "Zeke!", and when he (Luke) looked over, he saw Zeke laying on the ground and a couple monkeys jumping off of him. 

Now, here are a bunch of other pictures....

This monkey totally looked like a Dr Seuss character...

So, that was Tuesday....
on Wednesday... 1 Ekisa nurse, 4 volunteers, 1 driver, and 7 kids piled back in a van and headed to an appointment at the hospital..... another 3 hour drive. This day was super stressful. We had 3 kids that couldn't walk (one of which cried if you put him down, or handed him to Luke) and we had 4 kids who could walk but ether had autism or were mentally disabled.  Normally that would be fine, but when you have kids that are really hungry cause its way passed lunch time, who are super sleepy and grumpy, you don't have the amazing ladies that know how to properly keep the autistic children calm, and you are in a hospital hallway.... it gets difficult. Luckily we all made it out alive :P It was quite the adventure :)

After a long day, Zak was wiped out.

On the final leg of the last trip, I took a minute to figure it out.... over those 36 hours, I spent about 14 hours traveling back and forth... and about 11 of those hours I had a child on my lap. Oh, what fun :)

The one advantage of having to get up super early, is seeing the amazing sunrise! God is amazing!