I drove into a hole today. I’m not sure of the how’s or why’s of what happens to me on daily basis, but I really don’t plan these things. I was taking one of the guys, Andres, to his physical therapy (bad ankle) and I pulled in parallel to the wall around the property. Then I decided I should park better and so I backed up and pulled in at an angle…and my front left tire promptly dropped three feet into the ground and my bumper banged into the dirt. At first I thought it was some kind of ditch along the wall that I didn’t see. So I hopped out to take a look…

Nope…no ditch. Just a hole. And the only hole in sight for a good three or four hundred yards too. And I didn’t sort of catch it and slide into it…I drove straight in like I planned it. Which I didn’t.

Once again the four-wheel drive capabilities of my truck came in handy…

Anyhow…a couple of updates and prayer requests. Jose Miguel called me this morning. If you remember, he’s my friend who left last week. I was happy to hear from him…I think we’re going to try and get together tomorrow. It’s hard to know what to say (although don’t worry…I have a few things I plan to tell him)…and in the end, there’s not much I can do to help him right now. But please pray for that conversation. I need a lot of wisdom to know how to proceed. I want him to know that I care and that I’m not going to walk away just because he did something dumb. But at the same time…there are consequences to his actions and I can’t just start giving him money or paying for things.

Another of the guys who’ll be going into the new home, Ovando, called me this morning too. He’s living with family for the time being, and I think he’s kind of struggling a bit. He’s had a bag drug problem in the past, but he’s been clean now for quite awhile. But this is the first time he’s been on his own (away from the home) for this amount of time. He’s doing okay, but I think he was feeling a bit down today. I’m going to get together with him too tomorrow. But please pray for peace and for strength for him.

This morning three different guys showed up at the house (along with the two guys who are staying with me), so we all ended up having lunch together. It was a lot of fun. It made me excited for opening the new place. I know it’s not all going to be sunshine and flowers, but I really enjoy being able to hang out with the guys in a more “normal” environment. The guys seemed to enjoy themselves too (the fact that I bought chicken probably helped too mind you…). Anyhow, please keep praying for these guys. I think some of them feel a little bit in limbo as they wait for the future.

And finally, I really need wisdom about how to proceed with the situation of the guy who’s been staying with me. I asked him to move out yesterday…and it’s been tough. We talked more today, and I think he understands…but I’m finding it really hard. I know that he needs to make his own decisions, but I’m just not sure what’s going to happen. So if you could pray for him and for me…I’d appreciate it.

There you go. As a side note…the weather is weird today. This morning it was cold, windy and kind of rainy. Then by 10 AM it was HOT and sunny. Then it rained…and then it was sunny. Right now the rain is coming down so hard you can hardly see across the road.

One funny thing…as Andres and I were coming into the city, I could have sworn there was snow and ice on the road. For the life of me it looked like ice on the pavement and snow drifted up against the curb. It was actually some kind of foam. Even though you couldn’t see it when the road was dry, I think there was a residue of foam on the pavement left over from the thousands of cans of spray foam that were emptied over the weekend with Carnival. When it rained (and it rained hard) it caused the foam to…well, foam up (I’m at a bit of a loss for words to describe this). And it ended up covering the whole road and made drifts along the curbs. But it really looked like winter here briefly. And with my air conditioning on…it almost felt like it too…

Well…kind of…

Thanks for praying. I’ll be back tomorrow….