Crisis in Venezuela

 

As most of you know I was born in Venezuela and lived there until I was 11 yrs old. In 1993 my family moved to Jupiter, FL with the desire to provide better opportunities for us here. At the time the economic state of Venezuela was relatively good and not the main reason for my family moving over here. 

But since then the political and economic state of Venezuela has significantly deteriorated. As you may have seen in the news recently the country is in the brink of a civil war and the death toll rising by the day. A few weeks ago I posted in Instagram how Venezuela is one of the leading countries in crime in the world, here are some facts on crime:

  

-     The official national rate of 39 deaths per 100,000 people in 2013 and a tally of double that from monitoring group the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (which estimate 79 deaths per 100,000 people) make Venezuela an international leader in homicides *1

-        By comparison, the United States' current rate is about 4.7 deaths per 100,000 *2

-        Along with kidnappings, thefts, and extortions, that’s earned Venezuela the No. 3 spot as the economy most damaged by violence, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 *3

It is difficult to write in one blog post the historical events that have led Venezuela to the broken state  it’s in today. After doing some online research I was able to find a few reliable sources summarizing recent events:

Venezuela Crisis explained in 90 seconds (Video)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-26244365

Venezuela: What's the crisis about? When, Who, and What (Written article)

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/20/world/americas/venezuela-qa/ 

Last May I attempted to summarize in a blog post the political events in Venezuela over the last 20 years. I wrote this a two weeks after Nicolas Maduro was elected as president, and our family and friends were discouraged and mourning the hope they had that this election would take the country in a new direction. 

http://lifereflections-carolina.blogspot.com/2013/05/venezuela.html

Below is a short summary of the economic impact this presidential election had:

The death from cancer on 5 March of President Hugo Chávez triggered a snap presidential election just 40 days later that his anointed successor, Nicolás Maduro, won by a margin of less than 1.5 per cent over Henrique Capriles of the Democratic Unity (MUD) alliance. But the tight result and legal challenges to the validity of the vote cast a shadow over the sustainability of the new administration…The validity of the election result remains to be clarified and the full independence of the electoral authorities, judiciary, and other key institutions restored.
With institutions weakened by the Chávez government’s long-term policy of presidential co-optation, the MUD may ultimately have little practical recourse at the domestic legal level, leaving – it believes – few options but a policy of peaceful street demonstrations and other forms of political pressure, including appeal to international public opinion. When political discourse takes the form of large-scale street protest, there is always a risk of violence. There have already been several deaths and numerous injuries, often in confused circumstances, that the government seems keen to exploit so as to discredit the opposition.
The power vacuum produced by Chávez’s death is a fundamental source of potential instability. His personal authority over his movement, the armed forces and the state bureaucracy is irreplaceable for the regime, certainly in the short term. This vacuum is particularly grave because the country is on the brink of a recession, has a large public-sector deficit and suffers from a growing scarcity of basic goods and one of the world’s highest inflation rates. * 4

Switching gears from historical facts to personal thoughts:

I see the frustration, insecurity, and at times hopelessness my family and friends in Venezuela have and it's hard to watch- nd not be able to do anything else other than pray. There are some days where I can't process that my beautiful country of Venezuela is in such a broken, dark, and insecure state. I have not visited there since 2002 when Steve and I traveled over there to see my dad before we got engaged. For the last 12 years we've met him in the Caribbean since Venezuela hasn't been a safe place to travel to. I would love nothing more than to visit Venezuela and show my children where I grew up, and that is something I will more than likely never get to do.

Growing up I remember how much I disliked the United States stepping in to other countries when opression and goverment crimes took place. From the US sending troops to Colombia to battle the drug supply, to them going into Iraq ten years ago, and the countless other times they have stepped in. 

But now being on the other side, I would love nothing more than for the US to step in try to help the situation in Venezuela. Who would've thought? And I know most of our family and friends in Venezuela do too. My dad asked me to share the link below for people to petition the United States government to step in (Requires an online signature). And as much as I would love for the US or UN stepping in... I just don't foresee them going in anytime soon.

http://www.change.org/petitions/united-nations-sos-venezuela

If you would like to sign this petition I know it would mean a lot to my dad. 

But from me- I ask for prayer over the people of Venezuela, their government, and the events that are happening over there today.

Sources:

1.       http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/20/us-venezuela-crime-idUSBREA1J0KM20140220

2.       http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/20/us-venezuela-crime-idUSBREA1J0KM20140220

3.       http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-30/venezuelas-high-crime-rate-hobbles-economy

4.       http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/latin-america-caribbean/andes/venezuela/b028-venezuela-a-house-divided.aspx

Family Update

This social media break has made me realize just how bad I am at writing updates and sending pictures out of the boys. I take them all day long and send them to Steve, but rarely do I post updates for family and friends.

These last few months have been busy and really fun. We have enjoyed the boys so much as they are getting to an age where they are playing better with each other and just have fun together (wrestling, chasing each other, and getting into all kinds of trouble).

In January we took them to the Gasparilla children's parade and they loved it. It was a beautiful day and we had a really fun day with friends.

At the end of January we spent a weekend in Disney with our friends the Clarks and Hardings. The Clark Family has been one of our closest friends for years and we were sad when they moved to North Carolina a little over four years ago. We enjoyed the weekend with all of them for what was Palmer's first time to Disney!

In February my Godmother and her daughter visited from Venezuela. They stayed with us for a few days and they really enjoyed spending time with the boys. My Godmother (Madrina) is like family to me and it was such a treat to have her here.

Right now she is back in Venezuela during a very difficult time the country is going through. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to ask about our family over there. My dad, madrina, family and friends over there are relatively safe from the time being and we are thankful to be able to talk to them regularly. I will be sharing a post on what is happening in Venezuela early next week and some thoughts from my family living there. 

These past few months we have been spending most of our afternoon with our neighbors. A few young families have moved into our street recently and we are so thankful for them! Two families in our street have two boys each- all boys under five yrs and both close to Jack and Palmer's age.

Palmer and Hayes (center) are a few months apart

Fun at the Aquarium

Finding a turtle was really fascinating for all these boys!

Pretending to walk like turtles

Playing an electricity game in our front porch

Afternoon picnic

And I am so thankful for their mamas who are sweet, kind, and quick to help me out when needed. We are able to watch each others boys for appointments and when emergencies come up, something I don't take for granted one bit! Specially on the days when I am worn down at the end of the day and just need a few moment of quietness in the house to regain my sanity before Steve gets home from work.


I think that covers the major events for now- plan on posting picture updates more often going forward!

Social Media Break

It’s been two weeks and four days into my social media break… and I’m quite often asked how it’s going. In all honesty it has been really great for the most part, but it has also had its down side. I am not by any means against social media and am really looking forward to going back- but I must say it’s been really great to be disconnected for this time. I find that when I finally have those moments of quiet moments throughout the day and after putting the kids to bed- I have been reading books, reading scripture, and have been more consistent in prayer. In a way it has taken the overload of information that social media brings with it (good and bad) and removed the noise that sometimes keeps me busy and focused on things that are not that important (like the funny video you can’t help but watch, somebody’s blog post everyone is sharing, or just celebrity news in general). And to be honest I don’t think I checked social media that often (there have been plenty of days where surviving my children is enough to keep me busy away from the phone for days at a time) but it would still take up those short and rare moments of quietness that would eventually come up. 

Now for the bad- I miss seeing my friend’s posts! I want to know when their kids are sick, when they need prayer, when they have a small victory to celebrate. It can be isolating not being on social media and not being connected this way. When I started this fast I accepted that I would miss out on some stuff, might be behind on some updates, would not get to see pictures of babies being born or pregnancies announced. And that’s ok for the time being because right now I am in a season where I truly, desperately, more than anything else, desire to grow in my relationship with the Lord- and seek direction for our family over the next few years. 

I am thankful for blogging and the opportunity I have to share real life here, and I hope to be more consistent with it going forward :)

Update on Foster Parenting

It has been a few months since we have had a placement and since we are often asked how we are doing with this, I wanted to share a brief (Okay long) update.

We had three placements last fall, but have not had any foster placements since mid-November last year. Unfortunately, we have not had many phone calls for placements as I thought we would (especially during Christmas where I imagined we would have many calls). We only had one call at the end of December and it did not end up working out. There have been about three phone calls since November but none of them have worked out for various reasons. So we continue to be in prayer about this. We seem to be in a season of ‘in between’ and right now we just continue to wait for the next phone call for a placement.

Even though we haven’t had many placements, there are many ways becoming foster parents has changed our family. And I hope and pray that it will continue to do so much more! When we started last fall I personally struggled with being labeled as the ‘foster family’ and being judged for the decision we had made to go down this road. It all of a sudden became our world- what people first asked about, and in some way a spotlight was put on us about how this would all work out. This led me to retrieve and become more private in general, as I knew we did not start foster parenting for attention or praise but to serve where we felt God leading us. On the other hand there were some HARD days where we sure needed encouragement and prayer- and so it was difficult and a personal struggle on how to have wisdom and discernment on what to share.

There was also fear- fear that we would not succeed at foster parenting. That it would be too hard, that we would give up eventually, and that we had started on this journey that would lead nowhere.

There was fear that having these children for a few days would make no difference in their lives. That we were doing this and putting ourselves out there for something that would have no fruit.

It has taken me a few months to process these things and this is what I have finally come to terms with: Being or not being a foster family does not define who we are. It might be a label that we may have for a  while, and it might stick for a while or it might not. Ultimately I hope to be identified as a family who loves Jesus and desires to serve Him above everything else. We may not get everything right, we may have some setbacks, but I want to continue to pursue God’s calling for us, particularly reaching out to the poor and fatherless. Because 2013 was an eye opening year and I hope to never turn away from what we have learned and seen through our short experience so far as foster parents. I desire to continue stepping out of our comfort zone even though that may mean different things for different seasons: we could continue with respite fostering, take in a more permanent placement, mentor someone in foster care, or do something else altogether. We are still trying to figure what that looks like, but I believe God has a part for us to carry out and we are just not clear on what that looks like 100% yet. 

I wanted to end this post by sharing a few ways that foster parenting has been a blessing to our family.

It has taught me to not be as hard on myself as a mom.

After seeing how much some of these children long for a stable figure in their lives- and the significant impact this would have on them, I have learned to extend grace to myself on those days when I feel like I am failing as a mom. On the days when my children don’t eat a single vegetable or fruit, watch way too much TV, and I don’t have interesting activities planned out for them- yes even on those days I have been able to not beat myself up and rejoice on the fact that my children know me and see me love on them every day.

It is teaching our children how to give

Because foster parenting is something Jack and Palmer are a part of, they have to share us and everything they have with other children during the time they are here. I think it has opened Jack’s eyes a little bit (to what’s age appropriate of course) to know that not everyone has a home, or food, or parents to take care of them. I hope it is shaping them into the Godly men I pray they will grow up to be one day.

If I’m truly obedient to God, I may not always see the full picture

Because by nature I want to be ‘in the know’ and understand what the full picture looks like before I invest myself in something. I know that sometimes when God calls us to do something it may not make complete sense at the moment, but if He is leading then He must know what the full plan looks like! My job is just to trust Him.

I am learning to hold on to my plans loosely.

Because we don’t know when we will get a phone call for another placement, it teaches me to not hold on tightly to my plans. I am learning to be flexible because when we have a placement most of my previously made plans go out the window. I know this may sound like some people’s worst nightmare, but I love that I am getting better at surrendering my plans and not getting worked up about it when they fall through.

It made my one year old step up his game

Palmer has had a mild speech delay, but after seeing other children call me mama he immediately started speaking (to call me mama of course) just as we were getting ready to start him on some speech therapy. A little competition may have done him some good? :)

Laying myself down

This is truly what I have loved the most- and I often miss when we don’t have a placement. It’s hard to put into words but having a child from the foster system in our home truly puts everything into perspective. Because when a child who doesn’t have a home, or parents, and has been neglected comes through the door- all of a sudden having a whiny one year old and having some electrical issues with my car is not the big deal I originally thought it was (and it doesn’t ruin my day as it would’ve before). The small things in life have no effect on me anymore- whether someone was nice to me or not, commented on my pictures or not, left me out from something or not, etc, etc. All that becomes immaterial as I began to think outside of myself and focus on the needs of a hurting little soul.

Wasn't sure how to wrap up this post and then I remembered this song 'Somewhere in the Middle' by Casting Crowns I heard this afternoon :) Could not find better words to share my thoughts as we try to figure out what we are called to do.

 

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, 

Reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end

And we are caught in the middle.
With eyes wide open to the differences- 

the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His? 

Or are we caught in the middle?

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