Melting

Their eyes make me melt! I know my posts have been few and far between but there hasn't been great internet… these pics are from a few years ago but how precious are they? How blessed I am to be able to love on these beautiful children! We are still looking for sponsors for the kids!!! Please consider supporting a child for $25 a month. Email me at cdesponsorbolivia@gmail.com

Jesus THANK YOU for each child. Thank you for each moment. Thank you for each heart you are transforming!

18 years ago

3 years. This past Sunday was 3 years in Bolivia. 

18 years. Yesterday, was 18 years since Jesus opened my eyes and saved me. 18 years since He made me alive in Him. 

3 years made possible because 18 years ago Jesus made me His. 

This past week was a week of changes for all the kids at Casa de Esperanza. Every year, there are changes in each house as kids get older or graduate and sometimes the changes are great and sometimes they are hard. My three first graders moved out of my house and two little ones moved in. Little Abigail, who is ten months and oooooh so tiny moved in and so did Lolina. It was a crazy adjustment, adding another baby to the schedule and a precious little one with special needs. The assistant Tia in my house also ended up switching with another so we are in the process of getting into our new routine and getting used to living life together. God is gracious and very patient and I am learning patience. 

Every change is hard at times. But I love seeing little glimpses of each child feeling safe and secure as they adjust to their new homes. Seeing little Abigail grin with her raspy giggle last night as I tickled her, Lolina has had a GREAT first three days and her eyes light up every morning when I walk into her room. I am learning more and more of my dependence on Christ as I learn to care and love these precious children. 

I am so thankful for the past 3 years here. For the past 3 years of loving these kids. For the past 3 years of learning and growing and seeing God’s faithfulness here in Bolivia. There are changes and I have changed as God has shown me more of Himself and slowly taught me to keep my eyes on HIM and HIM alone.

I am more thankful for the past 18 years of LIFE! Of new life in Christ Jesus. Where would I be apart from Him? I had such joy yesterday in the midst of the chaos as I reflected on how gracious and loving God has been to me. All I can say is ALL GLORY TO HIM. I want Him to become greater and I want to become less as each day passes. May my life be a song, praising His holy name. 

We've been busy…

Wow… over three weeks have flown by and I have not posted anything… Sorry!

It has been amazing to be back! And also a little exhausting! haha! Getting back into the swing of things and back into the routine of 9 little kids can be pretty crazy. But I missed these beautiful green mountains and these beautiful, dark eyed kids. 

We've been busy reading all the books people donated. The kids LOVE them and their favorite time of day is after dinner when they all crowd onto my bed and we read Curios George or 5 Little Monkeys or Goodnight Moon. What a huge blessing! I love watching them learn and listen and laugh at the stories and pictures. 

We've been busy cleaning the house and keeping it organized. Let's just say there was a colony of cockroaches living in the kitchen window… there was some screaming and some stomping on the heads of those little ugly guys and lots of kids helping Tia Lily smoosh them up. Yucky! But at least we had fun doing it! ;)

We've been busy with the first week of school! Javier, Juanes and Ismael are first graders!!! WHAT!?!?!? Craziness. When I got here, the twins were two years old. Slow down! They loved going to school with their new uniforms and new backpacks they got for Christmas.

We've been busy with birthdays. Sabina turned 1 and is crawling and laughing and growing and wanting to talk. Emanuel turned 2!!! I feel like he just arrived as a two week old baby. I remember holding him the night he arrived and just praying that God would bless the teeny baby who didn't have a name. Now he is 2 and running, laughing, super ticklish and a talker. I love making him copy me in English. My favorites are, "I'm pretty gangster myself" and "Wassup dude?" and "I love you so so much!" 

We've been busy with inventing stories late at night on the porch about dolphins and ducks and sharks and whales. Ismael laughs at EVERY part and makes all the other kiddos laugh too. Every story is good as long as the dolphin teaches the shark a lesson in the end. 

We've been busy playing Sorry and Candyland and learning that sometimes you lose and sometimes you win but you can't cry. Haha! What a lesson to learn. :) Especially when you get the card for Princess Frostine and are winning and then have to go back to the beginning. But sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. :)

I've been busy seeing God's faithfulness and love each and every day. Falling on my knees and crying out to Him as I need my need and my weakness but seeing His great love and his strength. What a beautiful Savior we have. 

Thank you all for your prayers and love! So excited to see God continue to lead. 

We are still looking for sponsors for the kids! For $25 a month you can make an impact in the lives of one of these precious little ones. Please email me at cdesponsorbolivia@gmail.com for more information! Do it!!!! These kids are too precious to be ignored.

Much love from sunny Bolivia!

Lily Fluharty 

Beauty in a Violent World

Everywhere I look there is beauty. Green. Life.  Beautiful green mountains and above me the sun setting below the mountains. This beauty takes my breath away every day. 

Everywhere I look there is beauty. Running. Laughing. Children living and growing and learning on this beautiful green mountain. And the beauty of it takes my breath away.

Have you ever just stopped and watched everything move and live around you? Right now I see two birds flying below me (I’m on a mountain remember) and hear kids voices and a dozen different birds chirping and bugs being bugs. There are two dogs laying next to me. One just finished slobbering all over my arm actually. I can see the river far below moving along and the air is cool and the ground moist from the rain earlier today. It’s beautiful. I feel very, very small. Because I am.

I also see pain a lot. It takes my breath away but in a very different way. More of a sharp pain in my side that makes it hard to breathe. Sometimes this beautiful place is very violent. There is abuse that happens that hurts people deep inside. I wanted to fix it and heal her wound as she whispered to me what happened all those years ago. That now all she wants to do is keep her own little ones safe. But sometimes even that isn’t possible. A vicious cycle that repeats itself. Little ones shouldn’t know that kind of fear and pain. What can I say to her? How can I comfort her?

Many times I don’t have answers. All I can do is lift up my voice and cry to a perfect King who loves us with a perfect love in the midst of brokenness and darkness. We are blinded. There is a Shepherd offering us perfect life and peace and so many times we prefer the darkness. We think we know better. 

The gospel is beautiful. But it is also violent. Jesus was slaughtered. Abused. He died. He knows. He understands. We are not alone in our pain. We have HOPE! A new life, a new love. We may not always perfectly understand but we can trust that what God has started, He will accomplish. 

The cross. Beautiful. Full of pain and violence. Death. But it doesn’t end there. Jesus didn’t just die for us... He rose again!!! He triumphed over death and sin so that we can live with Him! This is our comfort! The pain and violence in this world is fleeting because one day we will have eternal peace with our Savior! Praise God!!!