Daughters of Purpose

June 6, Saturday

The kids having a bit of fun trying to "capture the flag" 

Today was such as great day! I started off the morning with a bit of reading, Marcos lent me Kisses from Katie (It's about a girl who now lives in Uganda- Great read to add to your list and it has pictures!).  A few hours later, Megan and I headed to breakfast with some of the other women teachers.  Becca made the most delicious pancakes I think I've ever had! There was fresh fruit too!  Things I love.. yummm. It was really nice getting to know Becca, Megan, and Carrie better.  They are all hilarious and so passionate about what they do!

Marcos's attempt... :)

Megan and I went to the market to find hair ties, bananas, and turtle food-- you know the normal stuff.  A woman, named Leslie, who drives a bunch of the kids around passed us as we were walking back and ended up giving us a ride back to the house before we headed over to the girls' home called Daughters of Purpose.  These girls are so funny!  Granted I only understood about three words of any conversation, but their personalities shone through all of that.

Regina and I watching everyone
climb the flag pole

Daughters of Purpose houses girls from birth to about age 18.  Many of the girls in the home have faced unbelievable abuse, mostly from within their family.  Several of them now have babies to care for beyond just themselves.  Megan seems to know when they needed a shoulder to cry on, some tough love, or a giant supply of fun. Basically, she's super awesome!  While at Daughters of Purpose, I did a bit of braiding, some dancing, watched the Parent Trap, and got to know a bunch of the sweet girls.

Later, I went out to dinner with Marcos, Anna, Dani and Elia (like Ellie) to a fun restaurant with live, authentic, Guatemalan music.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and the food too!  Back at the house, the first ever interns that More Than Compassion has hosted arrived and were eating their first meal in Huehue (more on them later!)

Anna is a volunteer from Spain.  She's staying at the Fund for three weeks, she knows four languages well (Spanish, English, Catalan, and German) and knows parts of others, and she's amazing!

Dani and Elia are dating and working as phycologists at the Fund.  They are also from Spain and have poured everything they have into caring for the kids at the orphanage.  Once again, people that naturally exude love and compassion, which          
                                                               I can understand without being able to speak the same
                                                               language.  It's really something spectacular.

I've been doing some reading...

With my new work life (compared to school life), I've had time to read books I want to read, but never had time to because of school related reading requirements.  It's been SO GREAT!  I love reading and think it is a wonderful way to learn more about the world around you without ever leaving your bed or your comfy couch.  (Not to say that you shouldn't ever leave those places, because you should definitely experience life for yourself!)

Here are five very brief reviews, in no particular order, of a few books I recommend you take time to read:

1. Packing Light   By Allison Vesterfelt     
The author goes through her journey of leaving everything, literally everything, to follow her heart and travel the country.  She talks about her many layers of baggage and what incidents made her realize  she even had any.  I love her honesty with her feelings and thoughts along the way.  Vesterfelt has a beautiful way of analyzing those thoughts from a post-journey view point and through that, raises questions we all face.  How do I deal with my baggage?  What baggage do I even have??  What areas/aspects of my life am I absolutely unwilling to let go of?  I have many take-aways after having read this, but one of the biggest is that vision changes everything.  My outlook on life, the people in it and the moments I happen upon, is completely affected by the perspective I put on it.  It is not always possible to be happy about the way life turns out, but you can remain positive in that it won't stay that way forever.  This one is HIGHLY recommended.... by me.  :)


2. The Circle Maker   By Mark Batterson       

If you're looking for a spiritually challenging book, this is a good one!  It opens with a story about an African man who is bold and faithful in his prayers.  From there, Batterson pairs personal stories of failures and successes to share how he learned to pray big prayers, much like the African man.  Though you don't have to take everything he says as truth (as is true for any book), I was encouraged by his trust and boldness in the way he approaches prayer.  Dream big. Pray hard. Think long.

3.  The Alchemist   By Paulo Coelho        

A shepherd boy named Santiago herds his flock around the country side to earn a living, until he meets an old king.  This happenstance reshapes Santiago's direction and leads him on his way to find his "Personal Legend."  I enjoyed this one because it has Biblical references, but is written as a fable.  It took me a little bit to really get into this one, but I ended up enjoying it.  The moral is an uplifting one about following your dreams, even through major, life-altering obstacles.  

4.  Divergent   By Veronica Roth        

Set in Chicago, this dystopian novel follows a young girl trying to figure out who she is.  The society she lives in is broken into five different sections: Abnegation-the selfless, Candor-the honest, Dauntless-the brave, Amity-the peaceful, and Erudite-the intelligent.  Find out which virtue best suites you, as you learn more about Beatrice, the heroine, and how she handles the truth.  Filled with so much detail, it was easy for me to get caught up in another world.  It doesn't mean a lot when I say this is a great book, because I love science fiction and I love reading. BUT when my roommate says this is a great book and is caught reading the first two books in the trilogy during every spare moment and then proceeds to buy the last when her coworker keeps forgetting to bring it in to work for two whole weeks, that means a little more.  Christine classifies herself as a slower reader who really only likes non fiction, so the Divergent series has to be good, right??  RIGHT.  Set aside a weekend for this one. 

5.  101 Secrets for Your Twenties   By Paul Angone        

While some of these secrets aren't really secrets, I liked the reminder to live life to its fullest and experience moments while I'm not "tied" to any particular way of living.  The author puts a secret up and then elaborates on why it is important to know or do in your 20s.  This one is a light read that you might not need to purchase, but I did enjoy the laughs and advice tid-bits I picked up.  

Brought to you with love on this fine Sunday and now I will return to my Christmas movie-thon..  Holiday Inn down, White Christmas is up next and then The Holiday..  Who doesn't love old movies, dancing, and Jude Law?!?