We need to hear from you!

Those of you who are on our snail mail list received this card in the mail a few weeks ago.  

We are officially switching to ¨e-newsletters¨ and need to hear back from those of you who would like to receive them. 

Read below and....please respond.

The Little Winged One flies south.

The Chelita arrived in Honduras on Sunday, October 19. I could write to you about our return, but this would be pretty tame news compared to the arrival of a third Gringo Eldridge in Las Lomitas. Alida did remarkably well on the flight. Between being wrapped up with Momma and jumping up and down in Dad’s lap, she didn’t hardly notice that we flew thousands of miles and over several sovereign states. Delta was very accommodating and even asked some folks to move from their assigned seat so that we could have an extra seat to lay her out in. Thanks Delta.

Ya Pronto.

Ya pronto - "Very soon now."

Ya pronto we will be in line at the Dayton airport traveling with some additional equipment: a car seat, load of cloth diapers, pack and play, and grinning, toothless, white baby. We anticipate Sunday's trip to be interesting, but not miserable. Alida has taken very well now to travel and by-in-large is incredibly well-behaved. Stacey has worked tirelessly (and somewhat tired-ly) to help her become adaptable so that now, travel is largely effortless. I have no doubts that she has easily traveled 3,000 miles in a car in her short, pink, little life, which has certainly taken significantly longer than her upcoming flight of approximate distance. We now see her wonder of the surrounding world sparkling in her eyes. I expect that they will be sparkling quite a bit over the next couple of weeks. Things are about to change. Ears are going to adjust to new sounds and languages, skin to new humidity, immune system to new training buddies, nose to quite a variety of new odors, and heart to new family and friends. I am excited and nervous for her, but rest knowing that she is in the care of her great Father.

We know that she is dearly loved here by friends, and suspect that some of the people that say that they love us are also telling the truth. In this way, it is hard to say goodbye (again) for a time. However, we know that there are many people in Honduras that also love this little girl, even though they have never met her. We also know that if we don't try to return home and see if God has more for us there, then we will doubt for the rest of our lives if we gave up. We have seen Him do amazing things in and through us throughout these past three years and trust that He will continue the work that He has begun.

Our return does not automatically mean that we will remain in Honduras permanently. We go with open minds and hearts for what may greet us at our Honduran home. Our prayer is that Alida adjusts well, Stacey's tailbone heals, and that we (the three of us) are conduits of love and hope in Honduras. We also thank God for giving us the chance to know Grace and Love ourselves. We would be honored to know that you are joining us in those prayers.

See you on the other side.