It feels like these past two months have been so long and drawn out, while also going by quickly. You can chart the changes by Richard's beard and eyebrows growing back! We have continued to be blessed by sweet friendships and seeing His hand in so many ways.
During chemotherapy, one of the ministries that Richard continued doing was mentoring Austin with Youth Villages (He was the boy who is awaiting adoption and had his video through TN Kid’s Belong). He wasn’t able to visit him in person, but they were able to connect through video calls on the off-weeks of chemo. Just after the first round, the feelings and thoughts running through Austin’s head were just too much and he ran away from the group home. He was gone for 3 days before being found. When we talked after that, he shared that it was difficult to think that he is 14 and will probably never be loved and adopted by a family. It is a hard reality that is very possible to happen, since he is a teenager who has had a difficult life. Since chemo ended, we have been able to have a few times together face-to-face to catch up.
At the end of April, we had a beautiful week of such good news. First, our Uncle Mark and Uncle Randy came to Memphis for Clau’s* first communion and confirmation. She had been going to classes at St. Francis for over a year, dedicating four hours every Sunday to learn more about her faith, and Uncle Mark was her sponsor for confirmation. On the night of her confirmation, she decided to begin a relationship with Jesus and she was able to pray with Ximena. It was such a beautiful time! The next day, we went to the oncologist and received the incredible news that Richard is cancer-free! It was such an emotional morning and so sweet to share it with his family. Richard’s body is still very weak and fatigue after chemo is real, but his oncologist shared that his immune system was back up and functioning, and he could be around people again.
It just happened to correspond with the start of Isaiah 117 in Memphis, which Richard is on the launch team. So he was able to be involved in the planning for the launch event. It was a long day and he was on his feet more than he had been in months, but it was so excited that there are going to be two houses here in Memphis. For those of you who don’t know, this is one of the ministries that Richard partners with. It’s mission is to reduce the trauma that foster children experience on the day they are removed from their home, providing them with a home-environment to receive love, a warm meal, and anything that they need, while their case worker is searching for a foster home. The houses will be opening at the beginning of 2024, but Richard is helping to lead the DCS Appreciation team, giving gifts to the DCS case workers on the 17th of each month. It has been such a blessing to be involved with this ministry!
With the additional freedom from the oncologist to be around others, we have now been able to start going out as a family and doing things again! One of our Sundays, we decided to do a “no electronics/electricity” Sabbath to reset, which we hadn’t done in a while. We aren’t extremely legalistic, meaning we still use the fridge and A/C (it’s too hot and humid in Memphis!), but we do use candles, turn in phones, and disconnect. We grilled out, played some soccer, and then played a few awesome rounds of hide-and-go-seek and Mafia to end out the night. The girls even decided to do a slumber party in the living room! As a part of that Sabbath, we decided to have one of our first family outings after church to go axe throwing! It was the first time for most of us to “live on the edge” (pun intended) and it was so much fun. We debriefed that night about the 24 hours and how much more we were able to connect with each other when we have that extra time. If you haven’t ever done that before, we highly recommend it!
The month of May was also a month of court! With Julian, his mom is petitioning to receive custody of him. We are completely onboard with reunification of any of our children, whenever they are going back into a healthy environment. Julian’s mom has made a lot of big steps to regain custody, so the judge was willing to grant unsupervised visitation if we were in agreement with it. We agreed and Julian has now had two overnight visits with his mom. We have trial on July 3rd and we will know if custody will be granted or what steps the judge would like to take in this case. For Nathy*, we were able to go to immigration court for one of her deportation hearings. Our lawyer was petitioning for an extension while her human trafficking visa is in process, but we were pleasantly surprised that the judge decided to cancel the deportation order. She now doesn’t have to live with the fear of being deported hanging over her head and now we are just waiting for the visa approval that usually takes about 18 months or so. Lots of good news!
It has been beautiful to see our 16-year-old girls growing and coming into their own. There have been so many ways that they are serving and loving on others, but there were two specific ways that we wanted to share. First, they were invited to serve with 901 POP to make repurposed wedding flowers into floral arrangements for foster moms. It was beautiful to see them being willing to dedicate their time, and they said they had a lot of fun doing it. Second, Clau* received a call from a friend that she had made at her previous school. Her friend is 15, she is from Guatemala, and she only speaks Acateco, so that is how their friendship had initial formed by being able to speak the same language. Her friend shared that she was pregnant by an older man and had been kicked out of her house by her dad. She was staying with a friend, but had to be out by that night. Clau* jumped into helping mode and we immediately began working on how we could help. It was amazing to see her using Acateco and translating her friend's needs, sharing what it would look like if she came into DCS custody and the fact that there are major legal implications for her "boyfriend" who was much older. In the end, her friend decided not to receive help, which was hard, but also a learning experience for Clau. We were able to have some really interesting conversations about this and how you can only help those that want to receive it.
Whenever our Fairy Godmother Amy is putting on a 5K race to benefit foster care, you know we had to be a part of it! It just so happened that it was going to be the same day that we were going to have a celebration of Richard being cancer-free, so it was kind of serendipitous. All of the kids joined Richard in running the 5K. Inti was by far our fastest, running a 7-minute mile that the rest of us couldn’t even dream of running! Nathy and Richard helped each other at the back of the pack by keeping the same pace and ran/walked a 14-minute mile. Even Richard’s mom joined in on the run and Julian did a Toddler “Tri-Athlon”! It was so beautiful to celebrate life and the ability to run, especially in benefit of TN Kid’s Belong and loving on foster families.
And that leaves us 4 weeks from our upcoming Mini Texas Tour! We have reached out to all of our Texas supporters (if you didn’t get an email, then please contact us!) in Dallas, Austin, and Corpus Christi to visit. It is going to be a much shorter visit than usual, but we are so excited to see each one of you!
We would greatly appreciate your prayers for us over these next few months!
1. Health: This is something that is very present on our minds. Richard’s next visit with the oncologist is the end of June. Please be praying for low cancer marker numbers or for the strength to continue the journey if the cancer has returned.
2. Court: Julian’s next court date is July 3rd and it is the trial to evaluate the petition for his mom to be granted custody again. Julian has now been with us full-time for over 2 years. Please pray for wisdom for the judge to know what is best for Julian and that it would be in the best timing as well.
3. Mini Texas Tour: We are so excited to be able to visit, but it does take a lot of logistics and planning to be away for a few weeks and try to fit in visiting as many people as possible. Please be praying for a smooth journey, that it would be a really sweet time for everyone in our family, and extra financial donations, as the trip always incurs many additional expenses.
Blessings,
~Richard and Ximena
P.S. We are so grateful to each person who reads our update and loves on us in so many ways. We are always needing new supporters, so if God places it on your heart, here are the links:
Family Support: CLICK HERE!
Ministry Expenses Support: CLICK HERE!
Comments