FAQs

Since we've been back in the States there is a list of questions that we have gotten from pretty much anyone we talk to, so we thought we would summarize them here:

• When did you get back? Mid-March
• When is the baby due? Mid-May
• Are you having a boy or girl? Girl (according to both the ultrasound we had in Honduras and the one Stateside... so we'll see if they are right!)
• Do you have a name for her? Yes, but we are not telling until she is born.  We love the name and have for a long time. We also have a name for a boy in case we get a surprise.  The only hint we are giving is that it needs to work well in English and Spanish.  So it will not be name like "Stacey" that has no easy Spanish pronunciation (Exstexksy) or Spanish equivalent.  But it will not be a completely crazy Spanish name either (as some assume we will do). She is a white American girl, maybe even with red hair.  :)
• What was pre-natal care like in Honduras?  It was great.  We found a very knowledgeable, experienced Ob Gyn in San Pedro Sula who was very helpful.  The only down side was the 1.5 hr. - 2 hr. drive to arrive for the appointments.  Everything she did lined up with our Ob Gyn back in the States who we are now seeing for the last 2 months.
• How does it feel to be back? Hard to explain, but it's ok.  Lots of mental, physical, and emotional transitions, but we are grateful to God for giving us a gift of adaptation.  We know it is only from Him.  There are things we are thoroughly enjoying here and things that we miss a lot from our life in Las Lomitas.
• How long will you be back?  Probably 5-6 months depending on the health of the baby and Stacey.  We hope and plan to return to Honduras, but will make that decision after she is born and after a lot of prayer.
• Are you really going to take your baby back there?  Like we said above, we're praying about it.  We can't pretend to know how we will feel as parents or if she has special or medical needs will be.  We are praying about it.  We would like to, yes.  We feel that God is using us in our role there and even feel like He was giving us some reassurance in our last two months before leaving.  We will see.  The best way to help us with this is to pray for wisdom and guidance from God and not be swayed by the worries and fears of this world.
• Where are you living? In Bellbrook, Ohio, a small town between Centerville (where we used to live) and Xenia (where the HTH offices are).  Our commute to work is only about 15min.  We live with a couple from our church Apex, Gary and Marylin Palmer.  He is an elder at Apex and a dermatologist, she is a nurse and works with him.  They are a very busy couple and we are thankful that they offered their home to us. Their basement is an apartment made especially for people like us.
• Where is all your "stuff"? Everything we own is either in one closet at Kaleb's parents or in our home in Las Lomitas, which is not much... it all fits in a few tubs/suitcases we left behind.  We try to keep things simple and LOVE our life that way.  So try to keep the baby CRAZE to a minimum please :) We don't have anywhere to go with lots of "stuff."
• Are you working or....? We are Community Development staff with Heart to Honduras (HTH) and are doing a Stateside version of our job.  We work in the Xenia, office normal office hours on week days.  We do miss the model village part of our job in Las Lomitas.  It's nice to have privacy, but we miss living in community.
• What is happening to your house/garden/animals/ministry/etc. back in Honduras?
• House - Our amazing neighbor "Mrs. A" (Argelia) is watching the house.  Her son will keep up the outside and she will clean once a month or so.
• Garden - It has a few beds that Mrs. A will harvest and eat or sell.  A newly formed community women's group is talking about possibly using the space to garden.  We'll see.
• Animals - Our dog, Canela, unfortunately died in Feb., our cat, Nala, is living with Ana (a Heart to Honduras staff member in Honduras), and Mrs. A is feeding the rabbit greens from the yard.  The chickens we were going to sell or give away so nothing was left to care for. But Mrs. A and Pastor Erick came up with the scheme to take care of them themselves and have a little business to sell chicks and eggs.  So the two of them are using the space to have a micro-business.
• Ministry - this could be another complete blog post, but in short you know our philosophy and plan from the beginning.  To not have anything depend on us.  Allow things to grow organically, ideas from the community and leadership from the community.  Our role is a support role.  So everything we have helped to raise up over the past 2.5 yrs. has a leader and is continuing while we are gone.  Teenage guys, teenage girls, Sunday school, men's group, women's group, church, community council, water council, etc.  We keep in contact with people, calling frequently.