Flor

It's hard to know how to write this, except to say that it comes from a place of great pain. The last few days our world has been set into a tail spin for all of us at GCH.

Most of you probably know that Flor, one of our eldest girls, ran away recently. This action was completely unexpected and we are trying to digest it all.

Yesterday, most of our children were in tears or angry that she would leave us like that. George, I, Pastor Martin and other helpers here are checking everything possible. As I write, a few "tios" are watching a potential home where she might be.

We spent 8 hours today looking for her, and wound up finding her mother, 2 aunts, her grandmother, and some siblings and cousins (not all in the same place).

We've all been praying regularly and continue to ask for prayer!! Flor needs to be here... God didn't bring her here by mistake!

Personally, Flor is very near and dear to our hearts. She oftens spends hours with us, talking with us, helping out, hanging out, etc as well as with the rest of our family. We know she has made a bad decision, but we also know that our God is the God of second chances.

I ask for your prayers for her, for GCH & for us personally. I don't know how many hours we'll spend tommorrow looking for her, but I know that the sheperd kept looking for the 1 sheep that wandered away.

Uncle Jorge

George was named after his uncle Jorge (George in Spanish). Recently he celebrated his ?? birthday. We decided at the last minute to visit uncle Jorge, who has had such a great impact on George's life. God puts special people in our lives as examples and to show us love... that is Uncle Jorge. Thank God for them, and don't forget to show up for their b-day party when you can. By the way, Georgie (our eldest) inherited the same name, because of Uncle Jorge.

Georgie - our oldest

Sometimes you can't foresee all that God has in store for us.... that's the way it is for Georgie, our 13 year old. Besides how God brought him to us.... God opened up the doors for Georgie to participate in a Christian leadership training program for adolescents at risk, just 10 minutes from us. We have seen the Lord do some amazing things in Georgie's life and we are so grateful for PPJ (Proyeccion Preventiva Juvenil) for all they are doing to help adolescents.
On a more personal note, we were invited to a mother's day event where we were honored and the youth shared some special words for us. I won't forget that day anytime in the near future. In the photo above, Georgie dedicates some special words to me... yeah, I cried.

Ballet Classes

A wonderful opportunity has come to us! We have a sister from church who has offered to volunteer her time to teach our girls ballet. We have a decent space for it, but now need some equipment to make it work. We need mirrors, a ballet bar or two, ballet slippers and appropriate attire.

If you know someone who could donate toward this effort, our girls would be grateful! (Will make for some cute photos as well).

Relaxing in the park over Easter vacation

No Fue GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!

Our soccer team has resumed!!!! It had been a while that we haven't had a trainer, but after months of begging Tio Carlitos, aka "Vocinas" (speakers), his schedule finally opened up. "Vocinas" has taken the task of training our kids and scheduling our matches to heart. Mostly, he makes sure to install a godly approach in how they win or lose.
In this photo, we played against older kids and since their goalie was older, Vocinas got in the game. We all cheered from the sidelines. Had it not been for 2 self-goals, we would have tied. Mostly, when we see our kids enjoying life, being "normal kids", we thank God.
And we thank God for those who have helped our kids get to this end, including Vocinas, NorthPark (who bought most of our soccer shoes), and the groups from Canada who donated the jerseys.

Spelling Bees

Do you remember when we were kids and we had the spelling bees? I never made it... in fact, I remember getting an "F" on a spelling test in 5th or 6th grade. Gratefully, my mom said, "don't worry, I got an 'F' as well".
Thankfully, I haven't passed down my spelling genes, but George has. Marcus not only beat out 30 classmates, but he almost won the whole thing. He worked so hard for it and God has blessed him with an intelligent mind. Who knows all the Lord has in store for him?

Our recent prayer letter

April 2011

Dear Friends and Family,

The other day we were talking about the children here and how much they mean to us, and how God has knitted us into one “big, crazy family”. Our 3 boys feel like they’ve inherited a bunch of siblings or cousins. It is truly a privilege to serve and live with all of the children.

One young lady that is particularly close to us is Flor (means “flower” in Spanish). Every day when Flor comes home from school, she seeks us out and gives us an affectionate hug while telling us about her day. It’s one of the highlights of the day. Here she shares with you a little of her story (translated)…

Hello, my name is Flor Margarita, I am 15 years old and I was born in Puebla, Mexico. I am grateful to God that I have been at Grace Children’s Home for 5 years. I arrived here when I was 10, and I feel blessed. God is so good to you and me!

I am grateful and proud to write you so that you may know a little about me. Remember that things may not always be easy, but nothing is impossible with God -- He makes things possible.

Right now I am a servant-leader in our church, Calvary Chapel Rosarito, and it has been a great blessing in my life. I help teach 55 children and I am very happy. I believe that God has given me the ability to share the love that he has given me. God bless you.

With love, Flor

We ask that you continue to pray for Flor and all the children at Grace Children’s Home. Thank you to her sponsors and those who sponsor and pray for all of us here. Clearly, the Lord is doing amazing things in their hearts and lives, and He is using them to expand His kingdom.

And thank you to those of you who pray for and partner with us! We feel your support all the way down here. We pray God blesses you and your family!

With much love,

The Palaus – George, Stacey, Georgie, Eric & Marcus

P.S. Above is a picture of Flor with George on the day we celebrated her “Quinceañera” (15-year-old coming of age party).

Grace Children's Home Turns 6 !

It was in March of 2005 that we welcomed those first little ones who came through our gate. They looked so scared, helpless and sweet. We will never forget that moment.

Now 6 years later, we look back and see how much the Lord has done in a relatively short amount of time! We have 2 VERY busy homes full of children and youth... yes, several of our kids are adolescents and pre-adolescents (that's a whole other blog post!). They are working hard in school and are growing spiritually, emotionally and physically.

We have a wonderful education/ dorms building used to bless, host, teach, train, pray, etc, etc. Our baby home is speeding along in it's construction. We have a wonderful team of people that serve here from Mexico, the US and Canada. We also remember all the generous donors the Lord has brought to us over the past 6 years so that we can continue to provide for the needs of the children.

But there are 2 things that particularly stand out in my mind of what God has done over the last 6 years...
1. He continues to heal our children from the wounds of their pasts to the point that they are just awesome kids!, and 2. He has made us a family! Our relationship with the children and them with us is deep, and we have a strong commitment to one another as an extended family. Everyday we look forward to when they come home from school so that we can feel their hugs... it's a priceless gift!

Six years is really just the beginning... I wonder what God will do in the next six years!

Starting up again...

For some time we haven't updated this blog, as you can tell. With all the information being posted on the Grace Children's Home facebook, it felt redundant to write here.

But after thinking about, we want to get back to the spirit of this blog... it is really about our perspective of our lives here at Grace Children's Home... the things we see, the children, what God is showing us... our Grace Children's Home family.

Hopefully in the past, this blog has at times encouraged you, inspired you to pray for us, and thank God with us for all He is doing here.

Also, this will be the only public platform in which we personally will publish posts, unless indicated otherwise on the other Grace Children's Homes sites (facebook, the baby home blog, etc).

So we will return to this simple, on-line journal of life at GCH as seen through our eyes.

Thanks for reading!