Its been almost 6 months since I've made a post. I really have to be inspired to put words on a page or even read words on a page; (I'm almost done with The Barbarian Way which I started reading at the Pepperdine lectureships in May!) Ok...I'm remedial and just plain slow. All that aside, inspiration and perspiration hit me by the wheelbarrow loads last week. Terri and I had planned on doing some mission work somewhere in the world this year and God led us to Honduras last week with a team of 14 wonderful people. Among our group was a medical doctor, who made a few medical consults but mainly hauled blocks and mortar for a house we were building for a lady, a couple of business owners, an aeronautical engineer, a banker, a marketing director, a medical transcriptionist, a heat and air man, a commercial services entrepreneur, some retirees, and a self described slug!

We ventured to Central America to work with a wonderful children's home called Por Los Ninos. There are approximately 30 children who each have a special story on how they arrived at this wonderful safe haven; many of which are gut wrenching horrific journeys. By God's grace, these kiddos are doing incredible under the direction of a tough loving, crusty, hard nosed director and his angel of a wife who refers to all the children as simply "her kids."

Sticking with the theme of my blog, my beloved HOGS, I must tell you this story. About the third night of our trip, we were sitting in the restaurant where we gathered each evening for our meal, when the owner walked into the dining room wearing a Razorback cap! I almost choked on my chicken and beans! I motioned to him as if we'd been lifelong friends and waved him over to our table to inquire about his Hog Fanhood. As luck would have it, he was in the states a few years back, visited Arkansas and picked up the cap and was wearing it proudly. We both agreed that this is probably Houston Nutt's last year, and the basketball team should make the Sweet Sixteen!!! Actually, we communicated in grunts and smiles, posed for a quick pic, and said adios. It was crazy seeing another Hog fan in a third world country...I mean what are the odds? About the same as us going to a bowl outside of Shreveport this year I suppose!

Anyway, after arriving in Tegus and riding sardine style 3 hours to Catacamas, we unloaded and got to meet the precious souls for which we came. The Honduran kids are simply beautiful. Dark skin, big brown eyes, thick black hair and huge smiles radiated from most of them...except one. She was the one that caught my eye. She had me at the first glimpse of her. Her perfectly round face attempted a smile but it was sad at best and my heart sunk in my chest. Her expression painted a picture of her short life that I was scared to inquire about; but I had to. Her journey to this point was unimaginable; something the innocence of a child shouldn't experience. I witnessed that stoic stare transform into a beautiful smile as the week progressed. I spent a little time each day visiting with her; mostly just sitting and hugging. Her name is Cinthia and she is one of God's special children. At age 7 she has blessed my life in a way that she may never know. I love you Cinthia. Keep smiling.