up down and horizontal

I have some pictures, and stories to share, and the title jumped out at me, and that also seemed fitting for my spiritual/emotional mood of late.  Such highs, and such lows, and sometimes fighting to try for just horizontal.  Whew.  

It has been encouraging to see first the pictures from Cantarranas, but also Danli, to see how fast the churches have been moving as a body to do the work related to putting in the tile in the buildings.  Looks like Danli is already half done.  Interesting tile as well, we usually are price conscious, this has a pattern which isn't always the case when focused on price.  

Cantarranas...how about that fill result in what used to be a big hole/drop?  Looks good right?  And apparently good thing we put the wall extension up of that metal addition to the brick wall to accommodate the new floor level...what with our Guanacaste tree falling over otherwise completely into the neighbor's property.  Yikes.  No damage or injuries on the other side there, and the fence is wounded, but fixable.  And, someone has been contacted to try to see how much lumber we can get out of the tree for cabinets or something, that should be interesting.  Still, a bummer to lose a tree in an area that could use all the shade it can get.  Note...see if you can spy Hector from the farm up there trying to help cut off the portion entering the neighbor's airspace.  

Friday brought another conference, for pastors, as well as wives, and The Milk Project staff.  We are committed as a mission to doing more of these going into 2026...spiritual growth needs spiritually mature leaders, and we are prayerfully looking at how to do more of these (minimum 6 per year) whether in Tegucigalpa, as well as other opportunities elsewhere.  Good to see them well attended, and more people getting involved every time.  

I buy every year paint for groups to do murals.  Sometimes we have some, sometimes no.  This year, we had almost all of the paint left. 

The Milk Project staff, and volunteers, this isn't exactly part of their job description, but in Tegucigalpa (as well as Cantarranas this year) they have been using that paint to freshen up existing murals, and paint new ones where the old ones were too faded.  I even bought them more paint to keep going as they have time they were doing so well.  

We were blessed by a family with donations to fix this most problematic part of the road in Las Botijas.  A consult with an engineer/road builder was done, budgets proccurred...and we still wait for the dry season to get...drier for them to coordinate the timing to get up there to get it done.  Thankfully this is really the only farm road area that is really problematic in Las Botijas, and getting up there for us and our neighbors will "soon" be fixed.  I wish I could say the same in Sampedrana...but, baby steps.  Big expensive baby steps, but steps nonetheless.  Sometimes I have to slap myself (mentally of course) to remember that at least there is a road up there, before we were blessed to get involved at the top of the mountain there...there was no road.  

Further testing will be needed, but some enthusiasm, albeit restrained enthusiasm, is in order, as the well is done in Tegucigalpa, and we have started as of yesterday to use it to fill the campus cisterns.  

Still some questions to answer, and a building to house the works and such...but plans are in place already to get that done, while continuing testing and filling, and avoiding buying water trucks, so that is already better.  

We are trying to finish 2025, with many things that had you told me would happen back in January, I am sure I would not have anticipated coming about.  How interesting, that almost all of the items of this post would fit into that category in one way or another?  Ah, yet another opportunity to look up and smile at God.  

I smile to God for you as well, for reading, for praying, for being an invaluable part of this Kingdom work.  Thank you...really, truly, sincerely...thank you!