Day 2 - "Porque sé los planes que tengo para ti." - "For I know the plans I have for you"

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

Today was time for us to go to Flor del Campo to see the school "God's littlest Lambs"and get updates on the different programs.  We started in the nursery and daycare that has newly

reopened after Covid and has 13 total children with 4 of them being infants.  We got to listen to Toya give us an update about the program and how excited they are about the new facility.  We will be expanding across the street to a building that will be used primarily as a nursery.  

After this we headed out for a visit with 2 of the families who's children are in the nursery.  The first is a single mother of three.  As we stepped into her one room home, she shared with us how the daycare allows her to work in order to provide for her family.  She works baking bread to sell on the street and looks to find whatever other work she can.  She also makes bracelets to sell and had a nice selection of them at her home.  Needless to say she sold out of her inventory that day and the peeps in our group have a small and powerful reminder of our new friends.  The second family we visited was just as welcoming and equally as grateful.  With a child having special needs, the daycare provides a safe place for his mom and dad to also provide for the family.  Mom works various jobs and dad works as a bagger at the supermarket.   

Next stop was at one of the transition homes for the boys.  These homes are for those Lambs

who have aged out of the children's home and are pursuing their education.  The boys in this home are all in University and volunteer at the school as part of the transition home program.  Mind you this visit is on a Saturday afternoon and these guys were so welcoming and grateful for their mid-morning visitors.  They spoke with us about their studies and life outside of the children's home.  It is just so incredibly encouraging to see them continue their spiritual and now academic journeys!   

After lunch we headed back to the school to visit the "youth in action" programs.  This is incredible program was created after one of the LAMB scholarship students was killed for his cell phone.  He was in the process of getting his law degree.  Youth in action was created to

provide a place for the children of the community to come for fellowship and fun.  Activities include soccer, arts and crafts, dancing, lunch and fun.  The kids were so sweet and a few of the girls gave us their testimonies which were nothing short of amazing.  In addition to this, it was so neat to see how some of the volunteers had also "grown up" in various Lamb programs and were so excited and grateful to be able to give back.  

Our last stop for the day was at the girl's transition home which followed the theme of encouragement and gratitude.  Eleven girls (yep, 11) ages 16-22 live there and are all also continuing their eduction.  We had a wonderful visit and they shared with us some more of their testimonies (seriously, you would think I would have run out of tears at this point) and spoke about how grateful they were for the support of Lamb.  All of them recognize that there are so many that do not have this opportunity.  One of the more heart-

wrenching shares was when one of the girls spoke about how important Lamb has been because where she had been abandoned by her family, she now had a whole new family that loved and supporter her.....

I honestly didn't know what to expect on this trip as it is a bit different then any of the ones before.  It has been so rewarding to build these relationships with kids we have seen grow up over the years.  They are truly amazing people.  

Day 1.2 - "y multiplicaré en gran manera" - "and I will greatly multiply"

After an amazing day at Casa Hogar, we got back to Casa Lamb where the courtyard was set up with tables to seat 30+ people. About 30 minutes later a bus pulled up and out poured 20 of the kids that now live in the transition homes. (meaning they are no longer at the children's home but not quite out on their own completely) We gathered for dinner and caught up with them as laughter, joy, kindness and gratitude filled the area. After dinner we sat and they all

went around and introduced themselves and what they are currently doing. What is amazing is that of the almost 20 kids that were there, ages form 16-21, almost all of them have been with Lamb for over 10 years, some of them for their whole lives! A couple of them were still in highschool, a couple of them working, and the rest of them attending University. They are studying International Business, Law, Architecture, Interior Design, Marketing, Journalism and more. It was so exciting to hear! And then, in ture Honduran style, the testimonials started.....as did the tears. (and not just by me, thank you)

These young adults are so thankful for all that the Lord and Lamb has done for them. They reflected on the hard times they have had as well as the blessings they have had because of their time at Lamb. It was probably one of the most impactful things I have seen here in Honduras. These young adults are the ones that are the future of Honduras and of Lamb, and I am so encouraged to see what the future holds for them!

We closed in worship with a few songs from Turner and just when we thought we were wrapping up, they all wanted to stay for more...it was amazing to see how connected and engaged they all are! At about 9:15 we wrapped up our 6pm dinner...with our hearts overflowing.

Day 1 - Reencuentro Alegre - Joyful Reunion

Today started with a wonderful breakfast at Casa Lamb before we piled onto a small bus to head to Joy Academy and Casa Hogar (the “children’s home”) near San Buanaventura. This is about a 45 minute drive south of Tegucigalpa into the mountains. The scene is a mix of beautiful and tragic, depending on where your focus lies. With a 60% unemployment rate and hardly any sort of social safety net, the beautiful mountain landscape is lined with shacks barely held together and scenes of people selling anything they can on roadside stands that include food, crafts, and articles they found from the trash. Driving in Honduras is exactly as you would expect it, controlled chaos with a third language of “horn” fluently spoken by every driver. As it typically has in the past, the drive turned into an awesome time of fellowship as we all caught up and shared stories of past trips to Honduras and the excitement and hope we will see in the programs here at Lamb.

Our first stop is The Joy academy which is a bi-lingual school located within a short drive of Casa Hogar and currently has around 20 students, grades 1-6. We arrived at the school situated on a beautiful property in the mountains and filled with some of the cutest kids on the planet. No, really, it’s a bit ridiculous. As we toured the small school, each class greeted us with their introductions and a brief explanation of what they were studying and an occasional sharing of their favorite animal or subject, all in english. I was fortunate enough to receive a picture of a búfalo from Jackson which was 100% appropriate for me…. ¡Sé el búfalo! It was a great start to the day!

Loaded back up we headed to Casa Hogar to see the progress that so many of us had not seen for years. The beautiful 30+ acre property situated in the mountains was once again welcoming, peaceful and quiet… as most of the children were in school. We toured the offices and the early stimulation program where 4 children ages 2-4 are preparing for kindergarten.  Immediately 11 mature adults melted and did our best to entertain.

Shortly after our visit with the little ones, we headed to lunch hosted by Steve and Debbie Buckner, who are full time missionaries that live in Casa Hogar. Debbie prepared a wonderful meal for us and we got to catch up with them and hear more about their lives in Honduras. Please be sure to check out their page HERE. They are truly an amazing asset to Lamb and most importantly the children of Casa Hogar.

Steve gave us a tour of his woodshop where he works with the boys making everything from small crosses to furniture. Steve’s time with them in the shop is providing a wonderful outlet for these young men who are starting to learn the discipline of patience, and the value of their work (among many other things) as they are able to sell what they make.

After our lunch we hiked up the mountain with Jacob who is a missionary from the states that works at the children’s home. His wife Jenny is a teacher at The Joy Academy. Jacob’s main focus is the agricultural side of things, including the farm/garden and the chicken and goat pens. Jacob brought us up to see an old friend, Ariél, who is one of the amazing Hondurans that works at Casa Hogar. I had the pleasure of meeting him years ago where I learned the fine art of mixing mescla and building a wall. Ariél can do anything from build a house to build a wall to tend one of the best farms south of Tegus…..Add to that a great heart and a love for the Lord, he’s a Lamb….

Ariél and Jacob showed us the rows of crops and the system they had in place. From hundred of pounds

of sweet potatoes to some of the best looking lettuce you will find, the farm supplies enough vegetables for the children in staff year round. We then walked down to see the sheep and chickens that are a new addition to the children’s home. With almost 100 chickens, there is no longer a need to purchase eggs anymore and as the herd of sheep begins to grow, well, the children will have plenty of meat as well…..

Before loading up and heading back down the mountain we stopped by and visited with Debbie and got to see her craft room. Debbie spends her days working with the children (all ages) with arts, crafts, jewelry….you name it! She has an amazing gift and heart for them and it shows up all over the walls of the classrooms, homes and offices throughout the campus. Down the hall is the tiénda where we got a chance to purchase anything from purses, to jewelry, to woodworking projects; all made by the children.

The ride back to Casa Lamb was filled with laughter and joy as we all reflected on our day at Casa Hogar. It was a great way to start our trip here in Honduras and we were on cloud nine with how encouraged we were……..we had know idea what the night’s activities were going to bring.

Connecting with Strangers....

It has now been 2 weeks since our return from Honduras and I am still as excited and encouraged about my time there as I ever was.  Many of the people on the trip and that were following our time down there were not aware of a special friendship that had been brewing while leading up to this trip.  This is Reina and Andrea.  At 12 years old, sweet Andrea is a star student at Flor with a spirited personality.  (Though she was a little shy when we first met, it's probably the beard....)  What you wouldn't notice about Andrea is that she has Cystic Fibrosis.  Not to get into the details, but in a nutshell, CF is a retched disease that affects the respiratory and digestive systems.  With only one CF doctor in all of Honduras, you can imagine how limited the resources are...

A few month ago, I was put in touch with Reina and Andrea as Lynne and I have had a passion for the CF cause for quite a while.  Over the course of a couple short weeks we reached out to our community here in Charleston to see if anyone could help with medications and supplies for Andrea.  The response was AMAZING.  I was contact by CF families, random doctors and complete strangers that were willing to help.  An amazing contact was also made with a board member of a LARGE medical supply company that will also be helping.  I was able to meet up with these sweet people and collect enough medicine to help Andrea for almost 6 months!!

On Monday night of our trip, Reina and Andrea came to Casa Lamb to meet us and to get the medicine.  I had been super excited to meet them but also nervous because, well, I'm a crier.  And boy did I!  Reina took time to share with us their story of where they live, the hardships growing up in Flor and the struggles for them with such limited resources.  As she began to thank us for for the medicines, her eyes filled with tears and that was it...... 

What was amazing about our time together as how Reina went on to explain how beneficial this medicine was also going to be for OTHER children with CF in Honduras!!  Now, picture it, you have a child with CF.  You have VERY LIMITED access to medicines and life saving supplies.  You then received a gift of supplies to help you........I don't know about you, but I am KEEPING those supplies for my child.  Not in Honduras.... 

My friend Amanda Scott wrote and AMAZING blog about this very topic.  They truly are amazing people.  Pictured here is Raul who is 1 year old and has CF.  Andrea's generosity will help Raul live healthier and longer until we find a cure for CF.  Here is Reina's thank you to all of you that contributed.

I don't know why the lord puts certain people in our lives, but he surely does.  My experience in Honduras with the student team was already amazing, to have this new friendship with Reina and Andrea was just another way of reminding us to be the light, regardless of our situation.

Thank you SO MUCH to all of you that helped with these supplies.  They are grateful beyond belief!

Be the light.....

CLICK HERE for today's photo album

I have never crafted the last day of a mission trip, but if I were to do so, it would look exactly like this day did!  After a day of rest, we were excited to head back up to the children's home for a final day of work.  Full disclosure - I have learned this week that "excited" is a relative term that is measured differently by everyone.....

We gathered the tools and headed to the work site to join the guys.  They had made some great progress the day before and today we were starting a whole new section of the wall.  We immediately got to work not needing much guidance as, of course, we were now pros.  We divided up into small groups to tackle each of the tasks.  One of the neat things about these students is that there were no "clicks" this week.  Each time we broke into groups there was always a different mix and each group seemed to get along really well and have great conversations.

For me, this is the first time in Honduras where I worked on a build project at the children's home so I didn't really know what the difference would be.  What I discovered this week was the great relationships you build with the workers when you spend 3-4 days with them.  Today it was like showing up to hang out with 3 old friends, 2 of them not speaking English.  Though focused and efficient at work (trust me, don't be staring off into space when you need to be handing them blockas or mixing mescla), these guys are super relational.  We learned all about Edson and how he and his wife moved to the states for 3 years.  He shared his struggles at a young age and how he came to know Christ.  He would light up as he talked about his son Benjamin and how much he loved worship music.  Though fairly quiet, Ariel would pepper in questions about each of us; our work, our spouse and children, school and of course an occasional joke at our expense.  He was a really sweet man until he asked me if one of the students was my daughter.  Our relationship deteriorated quickly after that.

Angel, in my opinion, is the quiet giant of the 3.  Not really ever saying much, he would light up as he led worshiped and shared with us at lunch.  You could tell he was paying attention to every detail of us throughout the day as he would speak directly to those details during our time at lunch.  From remembering our backgrounds to what songs we said we liked while working, he is gifted in connecting with people and seems to have a passion for relationships that I pray to have a fraction of some day.  The experience with these guys is just another testament to the Honduran culture and the pride they take in being a light to the world for Jesus.

We wrapped up our day a little early as the children had a presentation for us before we left.  Believe it or not some (definitely not all) of us were disappointed to stop working.    We had hit our rhythm by this time and were sad to be leaving the guys.  We headed up to see the children and of course had a wonderful time.  They thanked us for our being there and for the work we had done.  They then challenged us to a couple of games included "hot cabbage" where we got to take on different challenges from saying Spanish words to the chicken dance.  (not a typo) After a relay race of frog hops and lunges, with them cheering us on, we closed with the children praying for us.  Though sad, this was one of the highlights of the day for most of us.

On the way home we stopped by Suzy's house to see some of the progress of her projects and to visit with her family.  She greeted us with ice cream sundays and we got to spend time with here children and play with the numerous animals.  It was great to see the work that had been done including a new guest house built out of the garage for 2 of her children.

After dinner, our final time together was a very special one as Suzy joined us at casa lamb and led us in worship and a devotional.  After a few songs with her playing the guitar, we read Revelation 3:8 and and talked about how God has prepared us to be the light of the world.  We listened closely as she talked about the struggles over the last 30 years as a missionary.   Through the MANY times of doubt, she would turn to this verse as a reminder that though we may not be moving forward in our calling, we are to stand strong in our faith and be the light of love we are called to do.  She shared with us how special St. Peters is to her and her family and how we have been a light for them.  With little Danny running around the room, she pointed out that had it not been for St. Peters, there would not be the light for him or her other children.  She also did a great job putting it into perspective that our calling may not be for some lofty mission like lamb or moving to another country to serve.  All the while keeping the clear message that we are to be the love and life of Jesus, she concluded with "There is a lot to be said for the love of one person".  That is where it all starts.

After Suzy left we concluded our time together sharing our highlights of the day.  Though the exercise was to share your HIGH (singular) of the day, everyone of us started with "well, I actually have 3...", most of us adding our time with Suzy as an awesome experience.  We then did a gratitude exercise where each member of the team had a sheet of paper with their name on it passed around and everyone wrote a word of encouragement or thanks to everyone else.  It was a great way to end the day with them taking their sheet home as a reminder of their team and how they all impacted each other over the week.

So here it is, the final morning.  I'm sitting in my special spot in casa lamb, where I have sat every morning I have been in Honduras, overlooking a small balcony over the courtyard.  It is a bitter sweet morning as I am excited to get home to see Lynne and get back to life, but sad that this week is coming to an end.  When I signed up for this trip to come along and help with a youth group, I didn't have any idea what to expect.  Honestly, I thought the trip would be different then before because I would have to be "on" and responsible to help lead the students.  Little did I know that this would be one of the greatest experiences for me in Honduras.  Ranging in ages from 15-17, these students are true lights to the world.  Admittedly, every now and then, I have fallen into the category of people who has a little bit of doubt for our future generation.  If we have a fraction of our society made up of kids like these, we will be just fine......

Day 5 - God provides....

CLICK HERE for today's photo album

Today was an earlier morning as we were headed back to "God's Littlest Lambs" daycare and school to participate in their weekly devotion.  For me and one of the other leaders that played soccer at the Alonzo movement, it was an especially early morning.  Today the school was PACKED full of kids from daycare to the 9th grade.  Their devotion is held each Wednesday in the morning and it is an unbelievable experience to see.  All of the children come up to the basketball/soccer court on top of the school.  They pile in to sing songs of worship and hear a great message for about an hour.  Once again, we laughed and clapped along with songs that we listen too without understanding the words but clearly getting the message.  These kids are so joyful and excited to be there.

Today they had a special visitor in a young man named Joel.  You couldn't help but notice him as soon as the music started as he was the tiny 10 year old behind the drums, not missing a beat.  We were told that he was going to speak and we all deducted that he would come up and read a prayer and then the adults would give a short message relevant to the the prayer.  Not at all the case......  After reading the Gospel, Joel launched into what would end up being one of the most powerful sermons I have seen.  Quick reminder, he is 10....  Side note - we have a great friend of ours that refers to her son as the "tiny tornado".  Joel is giving him a run for his money.   We sat there mesmerized as he walked up and down the room, one hand holding the microphone, the other mostly pointing to the sky as he spoke to the children about perseverance and how God provides in times when we feel stress and difficulty.  He went on to remind them that if they were going through difficult times currently, that God has already provided them with everything they needed to push through.  You seriously could not have planned this any better to fall into the theme of our week.  God did though, and what a great plan it was.

 After devotion, we got to hear from the directors of the different ministries of Lamb.  The first was from the executive director who shared with us the history of Lamb and how it from where it was to where it is today.  The principle shared with us here passion for the children and how difficult some of their lives are.  We heard about a ministry that goes out into Honduras and teaches schools, churches, hospitals and more about how to see the signs of sexual abuse which is unfortunately a huge problem here.  They have trained over 11,000 people on how to help prevent this. 

Today is slated for us to explore and experience Honduras.  Our first stop was for some brief shopping before heading to lunch.  We then headed out to "Valley of the Angels" which is about 45 minutes northeast of Tegucigalpa.  Established in the late 1800s the little city has a central square with a beautiful church surrounded by shops, street vendors, coffee shops and a handful of restaurants.  We strolled around the area and got to take in the scenes and relax and laugh as we all awkwardly tried to find out the exchange rate of each purchase.  Of course all of the Hondurans were super helpful and always a treat to be around. 

One of my favorite experiences of today was on the van ride home when I had a conversation with one of the students and she shared with me her experience of finding God.  She shared that where she was baptized a while ago, she really was going through the motions and didn't really understand or feel like she had a good relationship with God.  It wasn't until a girl in her school saw something in her and said, "I want to pray with you.  I want us to sit here and pray and listen to worship music with you, because I want you to know God."  She explained how she was experience an amazing amount of anxiety and fear at the time and during this time with her friend, God poured over her peace and love.  She teared up telling me the story and how grateful she was for the people she had around her.  Oh , yeah, did I mention she is 15??!!  Who are the "leaders" in this group again??
We got back to case lamb early this evening and of course, as most any person would, we headed straight for the coffee table.....it's Uno time again.

The devotion at night continued the theme of pressing into how the Lord is speaking to us and discerning what the call is and how we embrace it. The highlights of the day they shared mostly surrounded Joel and his passion during devotion, most of us shared that in addition to that, we really enjoyed the time we spent together in the vans and at Valley of the Angels.  This group has a really cool dynamic together.  We discussed a couple passages and spent a lot of time in Luke 9:10-17 on how God will provide.  Which he showed us all day.  (and every day for that matter)  We had time again for them to reflect and journal and then we partnered up and were given the task of sharing with each other what gifts the other person had and then to pray for each other.  The energy of the group after this was at a 10!  I can safely say that I have been humbled by this group.  Their faith really is a true measure of the power of the Holy Spirit and I am truly grateful for this time with them.   Well, except for the conversation when one of them said, "wait, you don't have kids?  Wow, I thought you had a kid in college."  Yeah, I could have done without that........

Per usual, we concluded our evening with a few rounds of Uno where these sweet teens turn to savages with no regard for their elders and no problem seeing each other's cards and shouting to the group how to exploit said information.  We will work on where this behavior is supported in the bible. 

Once again, it is early in the morning and everyone is stirring well before breakfast and having quiet time. We head back up to the children's home for our last day of work.  I can't help but be a little sad that we are coming to an end.  I'm gonna miss these guys......

Day 4 - Fear to faith...

CLICK HERE for Day 4 photo album

Hola!  By now you have probably deducted that the title of each day has come from the theme of the day.  Well, today's title will probably be on of the most fitting ones of the week!  (It may also be one of the longer ones because I am on fire with excitement right now for this group!

So today was our second work day.  Suffice to say the energy level was not quite as high as it was the day before when our ignorance shielded us from the reality of the work to come.  No, today, we new what was coming.........  However, as always, the moment we stepped out of the van, stepped onto the grounds of casa hogar and saw the smiling faces of Angel and Ariel, we were ready to go!  We continued to work on the wall and to our surprise, there was an added project of tending to the "garden".  As usual, the Hondurans do things on a big level so this was more of a farm than a garden!  Oddly enough, no one offered to take my job of moving cinder blocks and shoveling mescla in exchange for working on the garden so I will have to supply more pictures later on that one.....

Those of you who attended the dinner a couple of weeks ago may remember a brief discussion among the group regarding raincoats.  During said discussion a certain wife was very confident on how unnecessary bringing raincoats would be.  She was incorrect......  At about 11:15, the rain started.  It was a cool welcome at first but then it started to come down.  Early lunch!!  We rushed up to the church and sat under the covered patio to wait it out.  This is when one of the best parts of the day was about to begin.  During lunch, it really began to pour which gave us an amazing scene overlooking the already gorgeous valley now covered with fog and the rain on the tin roof was like the setting of a movie.  And if that wasn't enough for us to just enjoy being in the presence of the Lord, Angel picked up his guitar and today's worship began.

The Hondurans are really big on giving their testimonies.  The take seriously the charge to share the gospel and to share it often.  So after a couple of songs, Angel shared his testimony.  Coming from a very difficult situation, he shared his struggles with fear, depression, sadness, sickness, his family and his battle with his faith.  His face lit up as the story led to him finding and falling in love with Christ again. With no shortage of tears, we all listen, memorized by how joyful he was and how much he loved sharing this with us.  After that he played a couple of songs (one he wrote himself - insert more tears here...) and then asked the group to share our stories and asked us a few questions about our faith and journey.  We heard a couple of testimonies from our group and discussed where we would be today with Christ in our lives.  In perfect timing the rain let up and it was time to go to work.  God's 2 hour lunch break for us was over....

The work after lunch had a little extra "pep" in it.  The energy carried through all of us and we got into the that "rhythm" you always want to happen whenever working on a big project.  The rain started again and this time it wasn't quite the gradual build up as the morning shower.  Nope, it came DOWN.  We all retreated to the pre-school where we had a dance party to children's songs about smelling like coconuts and doctors being monkeys.....you had to be there.  (No really, I have no idea how to describe the situation.)  The children loved it though, that's all that matters.

Because history has never repeated itself, we headed back to the work site the moment the rain let up.  The timing this time was a little bit better, as soon as we finish the current row on the wall, the rain came back - this time we called it a day.  Before headed home, we got to hear another Testimony from Mirza.  Mirza came to the children's home 12 years ago and is now in medical school.  She shared her story of how at 8 years old, she choose to leave her home and come to the children's home for a better life.  Yes, at 8 years old.  In addition to being in med school she also volunteers for Lamb and other organizations.  With all of this and her studies, she wakes up at 4am in order to get to class and most of her nights wrap up after midnight.  It was such a great treat to be able to hear from her and how her faith and the company of great people at Lamb, she is truly pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor.  The vans arrived shortly after that and wet, probably smelly, and laughing, we piled in and headed back down to casa lamb for another great evening.

Before dinner we headed to the school in Flor del Campo for The Alonzo Movement.  I encourage you to click and learn more about this ministry.  In a nutshell it was created after one of the scholarship recipients from Lamb was killed for his cell phone.  The Alonzo movement was created as a way to get kids off of the streets and to give them something to do.  They meet at the school in the evenings to play soccer.  The have also have an Alonzo worship band that was practicing while we were there.  So we all got to play with the kids there while listening to the band, with an amazing view over the city.  The kids there were younger than teenagers and we all filtered into the group to play with them.  Yes, all of us.  I broke my "no soccer on concrete at this age" rule.  And where I am not in a body cast, it wasn't a shinning moment of my athletic ability.

After diner we grouped up for our devotional.  Though we were meeting much later in the evening, the energy was high.  The group shared their highlights of the day which again mostly consisted of the joy of being with the children.  We then all shared our favorite versus from the bible and why.  After that we talked about 2 Timothy 1:7-8 - in a nutshell - Moving from fear to faith.  After a brief discussion on how God has already equipped us for our calling we asked the students if God has stirred anything in their hearts on this trip so far....and then we waited.  Committing to let the silence do the heavy lifting with a group that up until this point had proven to be fairly "shy" when it came to sharing, we waited for them to step up.  And boy did they!

This quiet bunch began to share what the Lord had put on their hearts this week and it was amazing to be a spectator.  They shared about how they felt the Lord telling them to be more honest with themselves and to others and have the strength to be themselves.  They shared about how where they were struggling to with what the future holds, God gave them a peace about it.  Some shared about how they need to surrender and be more committed.  Some were convicted that they were truly following their calling with school.  Yes, these are all teenagers, and powerful ones at that.

We closed the night with quiet time for journaling and once again, the 15 minutes given was a fraction of what they took.  The night concluded with a few fierce, but friendly, rounds of Uno.

Day 4 - well done sir, well done.....