October 2008

October 2008

Dear Friends,
Enrique and I have seven children in school from the first grade to the eleventh grade. Keeping up with all the school activities keeps us running. There are meetings with teachers, special programs, sports, and so much more!

Recently, the lower school had a talent show, where several of our children participated. Each child was allowed to perform whatever they wanted, as long as it was pleasing to the Lord. The whole idea of the talent show was to give glory to God. As each little child got up to perform, the teachers and kids, cheered with great enthusiasm!

And, as in any talent show, you could say some had more talent than others. We watched, as one little six-year-old girl got up to sing and forgot the words to the song. She nervously continued to sing. The more she fumbled, the more the kids begin to cheer her on. Soon she began to sing with all her heart and her courage begin to rise. The children all cheered as she sang her song to the Lord. It was so wonderful; every child that performed received a standing ovation! It was the sweetest talent show we have ever attended.

Once again, I was reminded that God doesn’t look for perfection but willingness. My husband, Enrique, likes to say, “What I cannot do is what I must do, in order to be able to do it!” That reminds me of our little Maddie, who is learning to walk; although she is getting pretty good, she still stumbles and falls. To keep her from being afraid or crying, our children clap and cheer for her, even when she falls. We have found this really helps and motivates her to get right back up and try again.

The truth is, all through life – not just when we are little – we stumble and fall, but with lots of love and motivation, people are more likely to get back up and try again!

A family is the best place to learn to love. Enrique and I have seen how important it is for children to be in a family. When someone falls or makes a mistake there is that team of love and support that they need. Even in our failings, we have to cheer each member on so we can continue to get back on our feet!

Please pray for us as we are making some big decisions that will affect many people’s lives. The plans for the children’s home that we are building are all finished, but we are still waiting for building permits. We are on Costa Rican time and things do move a lot slower here. We are also in the rainy season and have had very much rain; this, too, has slowed things down. But we are moving forward and hope things will not delay much longer. In the meantime, God is opening doors for us to reach out to many more children.

We love and appreciate all of you and we know we could not do this work without you!

God Bless,

Enrique and Charlyn Mejia