Lily's kids

Lily's kids

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Mother's Day

Today we celebrated Mother's Day at church with a special lunch of Sajta de Pollo which is my favorite dish here in Bolivia. It's chicken with chuños and potatoes and a spicy sauce! So delicious! After lunch, as we drove back up to Casa de Esperanza, the truck stopped and wouldn't start up again… which means over a half hour of waiting all squished into a truck. I had two babies in my arms and they were wiggly! haha! But finally, another truck from Casa came back to get us and we rode up with all the younger kids singing praise music at the top of our lungs! Such a fun afternoon!

Blessed by so many little ones who smother me with their hugs and kisses. For little boys who give me Mother's Day cards and hug me and bigger boys who give me Mother's day cards and still hug me! Blessed by little babies who wrap their arms around my neck or giggle and scrunch up their noses. Thankful for older girls who make me laugh and smile. Thankful for a little ones who copy me in raising their hands during worship.

BLESSED!!!

Learning to find joy in every day! Learning to thank God and find His unending beauty. He is faithful! He is beautiful and so worthy!

In Christ Jesus who's love is beautiful,
Lily Fluharty

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Because He is stronger

This past week we had three days with no running water. With 9 babies and toddlers, 3 days with no water is NOT easy. Running outside in the rain at night to fill up buckets and bathing so many little munchkins with 1 bucket of water isn't easy. The rain means water but also means mud and on Tuesday, I ran back and forth barefoot to the Sala where we eat lunch from my house carrying the kids two by two under a green plastic rain poncho so they wouldn't get wet. Little adventures haha!

On Wednesday, we celebrated Mother's Day here in Bolivia and it was such a special day. The Tios (Uncles) thanked all the Tias for serving and loving the children here and we received little gifts of chocolate and oreos! A few of the little boys gave me Mother's Day cards and one of the boys told me, "You are like a mama to me. I hug you every day because I love you." It completely blessed me.

There are days filled with laughter and where I want to explode with joy. The kids are HILARIOUS and make me laugh. There are also hard moments where I need grace to love a stubborn toddler who is screaming and screaming and screaming just to show me how mad he is and that he will NOT sleep.

I am learning. I am learning to rest in God's arms. His strength is sufficient. I feel so weak at times and there are times I have no clue what I am doing. But I know God is at work. I know He is leading me. I know that He is with me. I am not alone.

All the glory goes to Him! In the moments where I am covered in hugs and kisses from my little ones and the hard moments when a little one is disobedient or had an accident AGAIN… There are times I react impatiently and can only cry out to God for help.

I am weak. He is strong!!! I still cannot believe how faithful God is. In the good days and the harder days, Jesus is with us! We are called to obey and love Him because He first loved us!

I keep wanting to update more regularly but haven't had time… thank you for those who still check in to this blog… :) Excited to see God continue to lead and guide me.

Much love and thank you for your prayers and support!!!

In Christ,
Lily Fluharty

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Feliz Cumpleaños

“Feliz Cumpleaños Tia Lily!!!”
I had a very special birthday filled with smiles, hugs, lots of extra kisses from my little ones, a surprise cake at 4:50 am and a hug that included an egg getting smashed on my head, coming out of the shower at 5:30am and having all my little ones awake and waiting for me outside the door to give me kisses and hugs. A slow, relaxing morning and a beautiful, sunny afternoon of snuggling with my 7 munchkins and laughing with them. Then in the afternoon celebrating with the staff and being afraid of getting more eggs smashed one me... well they added things to the mixture and I found a clementine, flour and egg all smashed on my head again and my face in a cake (several times) plus some icing on my face... oh laughter and friendship. Had a wonderful time eating the cake (with a little less frosting thanks to the fingers and tongue of Emanuel) and singing “Feliz Cumpleaños” with my little guys at night. Then we cleaned the house and I snuggled into bed with my little girls and we read “5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”. I was blessed by some very thoughtful gifts from a few of the Tias and a very special stuffed animal from Ely! The best surprise was a belated birthday gift of BACON! Let’s just say I freaked out and ended up eating it at 11:30 pm with one of the older girls, Noemi. So delicious!!! 
So blessed by the past 21 years of my life and excited to see what the year 22 will bring! God has been so faithful and His faithfulness and love is unending. Praying that each year, my life would bring glory to God and that as I get a year closer to eternity, that God would continue to conform me to His image and I would continue to die to myself so that Christ may life more richly inside of me. Oh for the day when I am with my Savior for ever! 
Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes! I felt so loved! Many blessings and a GIANT hug from Bolivia!
In Christ,

Lily Fluharty