Gardening

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ::. 1 Corinthians 3:7

It’s been an inexcusably long time since I’ve posted… but so much has happened that I haven’t quite known where to start. So I guess I will try to sum it up as best I can without an information overload.

I returned to Casa Havilah after a perfectly perfect Christmas break, to an entirely different house. Different in that a few kids had left to their own homes or new ones, but mostly different in that I felt, for the first time, welcome.  I was greeted at the airport by ALL of the girls with huge smiles and big hugs. The teenagers have been especially respectful and pleasant for the most part which is a HUGE change. I believe that by actually coming back like I promised allowed them to trust and begin to accept me a little more. Either way, it is has made a GINORMOUS difference in the all-around atmosphere of the house.

There have been some not-so-great changes as well. Just a couple of weeks ago our oldest teenager, Daniela, was caught doing some pretty naughty, and potentially dangerous things involving boys, secret cell-phones and a stolen front-door key (I’ll let you put the peices together). And because she was already on her 2nd strike- she’s out. This of course caused an emotional uproar with the other (involved) teenaged girls, and consequently Filomena (16 yrs old) decided to leave as well. Both girls now live with Daniela’s family…and with their boyfriends. We can only hope and pray that God will use this experience away from Casa Havilah to someday rescue these girls from the bleak and, for lack of better words, pitiful life that surrounds the area they now live in. If only they could recognize the opportunities they are missing out on by living here… it breaks my heart. Please pray that God someday grants Daniela and Filomena the desire to pursue their potential- they both have SO much! From that episode, however, the house has grown together in an amazing way. In the midst of the problems we all prayed over each room of the house, each girl silently and fervently prayed, even the little ones. By the end, every single girl in the house was in tears and the teenagers were weeping for forgiveness. We’ve seen incredible changes in the teenagers as they’ve been giving their lives to God and dedicating themselves to their school work and living at Casa Havilah. Thank you God!

School has been back in session since February 15th. Even though each day begins with a 5:20 wake-up, I much prefer the structure that school days provide. We have begun, for the first time ever, a merit-demerit point system for all of the younger girls which has been going really really well. For each chore they are required to do, the girls are able to earn points throughout the day and by the end of the day if they’ve earned the highest amount of points they can choose a “recompensa” (reward) such as play nintendo (so far, their favorite recompensa!) watch TV, paint nails, make bracelets etc. If they get an average amount of points they don’t get anything special, just a normal day. If they behave REALLY bad and receive the least amount of points they are required to eat dinner and go to bed early. The best part of the system is that with the highest amount of points earned, the girls also receive a star which they use as currency to “purchase” things at our “Gringa Store.” Lauren (the other gringa) and I have put together a suitcase full of fun girly things that they can buy and they LOVE it! This system I believe encourages the girls in a positive way to behave throughout the day and so far it has been a success! Please pray that it continues to be a fun and exciting way to help the girls live positive and healthy lifestyles.

We now have three new girls at the house! Two of them are sisters, Ashlyn (7 yrs) and Pamela (9 yrs) and other is a return from last year- Katheryn (14 yrs). Katheryn left last year for no real good reason other than teenaged angst and realized that living at Casa Havilah was far better than her home life. She proved to us that she was ready to return by getting good grades and by seeing our psychologist every week.  All the girls have been really great to have and I’m so happy that they’re here.

One last update! If you remember from previous posts, Andrea was our problem child. I am happy to report that she is living in a new home with a single woman and her mom and she is doing extremely well. She leads a dance group of little girls, helps out at a feeding program and is reportedly very cheerful and happy. We’ve heard that people she spends time with now find it hard to believe she was ever a problem because she’s such a pleasure to be around. Holy 180! Such an amazing answer to prayers.

Please continue to pray for Casa Havilah, although the atmosphere is for the most part cheerful these girls still continue to struggle with their internal battles and each day is a challenge; they need all the prayer that’s out there. All I can do here is continue to plant the seeds and do the dirty garden work, but God’s the one who’s gonna make ’em grow and blossom into the beautiful women He he planned them to be.