Below are their initial reactions.
Jacob:
Before the words were even out of our mouths, Jake, our oldest son said. "Please tell me that we are going to move to Honduras!"
Our jaws dropped because out of all three of our children, we assumed Jake would be the one to give us the most grief.
That was not the reaction we were expecting. He totally shocked us by being a hundred percent on board with us. He wanted a change in scenery, to experience a new culture, a new beginning and a chance to start over.
A few people know how over the years we have struggled with him from day one. One issue after another. We would overcome one obstacle only to be thrown something else, something worse than before. At times things looked hopeless and the feelings of despair were overwhelming at times. We were at our wits end spent allot of time crying out to God to get through to him. Nothing seemed to help. Not art therapy when he was young, not counselling, not a trip to the police station, not the intervention weekend with his older biological sisters...
But then this summer something happened.
We allowed him to help at a christian camp. At first we were not going to allow him to go, but we really felt like God was saying "let him go"
I spoke about this in another entry so I guess I am repeating myself here...but he came back from that camp a changed young man.
I can say with confidence that he is not the same guy he was before the summer. His demeanor, his attitudes, the way he spends his spare time, what he watches on TV, the music he listens too....
He gave his life to God, totally, one hundred percent....and He changed him from the inside out.
Where counselling and therapy failed...God prevailed, and it's beautiful!
I am so proud of him.
Jake is a very gifted guitar player and artist.
Favorite colour.... lime green.
Favorite music ...Hillsongs United
Favorite movie...Avatar
Benjamin
Our middle child Ben is a blond haired, blue eyed sports enthusiast. He has always been very good any sport he sets his hand to try, very good natured, with a sunny personality. He is a thoughtful kid, always asking if there is anything he can do to help. Ben is full of energy and fun. He was NOT so keen on going to Honduras in the beginning.
He loves his sports especially snowboarding and how would he do that in Honduras? And friends...he has a couple really close friends. It would be HARD to say goodbye to them. In his words, we were forcing him to go, not giving him a choice or a say in the decision. He was very adamant about how he felt.
However in August he met other MK's ( missionary kids) who were in the same boat as him. Some of them had spent most of their life outside of Canada. One had never lived here but had spent his whole life in Senegal and much preferred it there to here. Between the friendships he made with the other MK's, and the influence and leadership of Matt Janes, the MK's youth pastor, and God speaking to his young heart...Ben's heart was changed.
I will never forget when Ben stood in front of everyone at Segue; adults, youth and children. Dale and I looked at each other, not knowing he was going to do this and not knowing what was going to come out of his mouth when he said.."When my parents first told me we were going to Honduras, I did not want to go, but now I am looking forward to it."
It was all I could do to keep the tears from flowing.
Out of all the kids, Ben is giving up the most because of his love of winter and all things to do with winter. He for one is praying for a ton of snow before we go!
Favorite Colour ... Blue
Favorite Movie....Hunger games
Favorite Sports...Snowboarding, Basketball, Skateboarding.
Elisa is our youngest child. She is a happy 11 year old who loves to sing, dance and shop.
She is our drama queen. She is very outgoing and loves to talk...though she does have her shy moments.
Her first reaction was to be excited...over the top as Elisa can often be.
Then reality sunk into her heart. While she was excited and happy to go, she thought of all the goodbyes, all the things familiar she would be leaving behind and it made her sad.
Going to the mall and hanging out with her friends, walking around the avon river, playing at upper queens park, her grandparents, her pets....
If you asked her today how she was feeling she would tell you.
Happy. Sad.
Favorite Colour....Purple
Favorite Music....Yancy, Deana Hoyles
Favorite Movie....Soul Surfer
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