Home safely

Thanks to God for safe travels today. We had a flat tire, but an otherwise uneventful day - which is saying a lot give the current conditions. There was a "marcha" in La Ceiba today, but it was very peaceful and certainly not any danger to anyone. It was the people of Honduras marching to let the world know that they do not want Zelaya back and that they want democracy upheld in their country. Very different from what you are seeing on the news in the states, isn't it? Twenty-five thousand marched in Tegucigalpa today to send the same message, "we want peace, we don't want Mel back". I wonder if the world will hear the message?

This was the second flat tire in two weeks so it was finally time to buy new tires. I had a Honduran tell me that my tires were bald today - a remarkable thing considering the condition of the tires that most Hondurans drive on - kind of made me proud. But, the desire to get as much life out of those tires as possible was starting to turn into an unsafe thing - and quite inconvenient to have a flat every time we go to town.

The big news of the day was that we went to immigration and got our 30 day extension without having to leave the country! Yeah! Our abagado (lawyer) has been such a blessing to us! We are just so thankful to be this far along in the residency application process this early in our time here. Many have waited much longer.

Lastly, as we celebrate independence day tomorrow, please remember that the USA did not come upon independence easily. It has been a hard fought and bitter battle many times to secure, and protect our freedom. I fear that our freedom is more in jeopardy today than it has ever been. The founders left us so many warnings in their writings about what could happen and what would most likely happen if we weren't vigilant about keeping our freedoms. Among these , Thomas Jefferson writes: "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground". He was right of course, and the condition that he spoke of has happened and is happening in the United States of America in great quantities. I've been so encouraged to see the Honduran people rise up in protection of their young democracy. It is incredibly brave for them to march in support of keeping Zelaya out of the country when the whole world tells this little, poor, nation that it should take him back. They know better, and they aren't willing to concede even though they know that the whole world is against them. Talk about overwhelming odds. Reminds me of a little colony taking on a world power around 433 years ago. It has been good for me to see how wrong my country can be and how people can and should rise up and do something about it.

Good night and God Bless!

DF