"HOW CAN I HELP?"

So many people have asked us how they can help. It is a difficult thing to receive help when you would rather be the one giving help. I have been in the position of needing help many times, but this situation feels very different. We have some immediate needs, but my biggest concern is down the road when life gets really complicated. The problem is that I don't know what that will look like and what I will need. At any rate, I have been told over and over again to accept help if it is offered and to take it one day at a time. Although I feel a little sheepish about writing any of this, here are a few of my thoughts about this.

CLOTHES - We have not purchased many things for the kids because I don't want to guess on their sizes. A few friends that have boys have offered to give us hand-me-downs. We have received some gift cards for Kohls and Target which we will no doubt use... Roselyn has the benefit of three older sisters. All of them pass around their clothes so we do have a pile of "sister" clothes for her to try. None of them have winter clothing.

TOYS and BOOKS- We have lots of books from when our girls were little. Some of them have a female flavor to them and it might be nice to have books that are more geared for boys. A list of good "boy" books would be great! Same goes for movies. We have lots of movies like...Cinderella and Little Mermaid. Great movies, but kind of girly! My friend brought a big box of Legos a few weeks ago. I'm sure that the boys will love them! We have one dirty, faded basketball and maybe one bat and one softball. Pathetic, isn't it?? Rollerblades are a big deal especially for Rodrigo (Lord, help us!!)... So...we will probably be investing in some sports equipment.

FOOD-What can I say?? I will almost never turn food down. This is one area that I am not really looking forward to. I have moved out of the phase of cooking lots of meals...and I kind of like it. That is bad, because mealtime is and will be a priority for me. I would like to learn how to cook some Filipino dishes. If that is something you can teach me, come on over!!

SUPPORT-How is it best to be supportive...to anyone??? Well, I think that simply asking how things are going is always a good start. To tell you the truth, I don't really know what I/we are going to need after we get home, but if you ask, I will try to be honest and let you know. I spent some time just talking to two good friends this evening. It was so helpful to just have a listening ear. Knowing that people are praying has been very encouraging to me and my family. Thank you so much!

Please know that Allen and I have NO expectations from anyone to give our children any STUFF. Actually, we want to be very careful about not showering them with lots of GIFTS. Learning about our culture and how our family operates will be enough for us to focus on for a while. I hope that this was helpful and in good taste- that was my intention.