Willy's buddy - Little Y

Meet Another Precious Lamb

(Reflections by Lisa)

This is Little Y. He is three years old. He loves to climb, to play hide and seek in the ball pit, and play with magnet blocks. We have been doing early stimulation activities with him for about 6 months. We have seen so many improvements in his attention, his verbal skills, and his social interactions. His smile lights up a room and his laugh invites everyone to join in! When we first started working with this sweetie, he would come with us shyly. Now when he sees us coming he drops what he is playing with and runs to us. As I was helping him put on his jacket, he threw his arms around my neck in a giant hug. This little boy sure has my heart! We have not been able to see him for a couple of weeks because he and some of the other children are sharing Hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Can you keep these little ones in your prayers, please?

He and Willy enjoyed an afternoon playing together.

Practicing fine motor skills with beads.

One of his favorites in the sensory room  - the ladder!

Fun in the ball pit.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14

Celebrating 1 week as Family!

It has been one week since Junior joined our family! We are loving every minute getting to know him. Some of his favorite things this week have been going to play at the park, jumping on the trampoline, playing with cars and Noah’s old beyblades, and reading books! He has eaten almost everything we have offered to him (except carrots!) and is napping during the day and sleeping well at night! We are so thankful!!

We thank those of you who have given to help with costs associated with bringing Junior home. Today we visited the school that he will be attending when school begins in January. It is a bi-lingual Montessori school here in San Lucas. Half the day Spanish is spoken, the other half the day English is spoken. The cost his schooling and therapies he needs to receive is $300/month. We are praying for one or more families to come alongside us and sponsor Junior’s schooling and therapy needs. If God places it on your heart to sponsor Junior's needs, you may give on-line at

www.cten.org/carlnorton/

Junior is Home!!

Many of you have probably seen our posts that Junior is home! We are so in love and having so much fun with our new little one! He is full of life, full of energy, and a total sweetheart!! We spent the weekend getting to know one another and having fun! He is doing a great job adjusting to life in our household, eating new foods, sharing a room with a VERY excited little brother (nap time is interesting!), and learning how to be gentle with cats! He already copies us in English at times, like telling Willy (for the hundredth time) to "lay down." Please keep him in your prayers as he tries to understand that this is forever.
Enjoy some cute photos and an adorable video of our first few days together!

 Junior, we love you so much and are so happy that God chose us to be your forever family!!

Copying big brother!

Meet Esther

Meet another one of the precious lambs we work with.

(Reflections and thoughts by Carl)

For months I wasn’t sure about what to do with Esther. She always seemed frustrated, flailing backwards and biting her hand. She gets put in her chair to keep her safe. One day we took Jordan with us and he picked her up and held her. She was much calmer. Since then we have given her more attention which started with one of our girls handing her a ball and she would throw it. This kept Esther calm for almost an hour. Then we added a vibrating toy that also calmed her. Some days we help her stand and she likes to walk around (she isn’t small, carrying over half her weight while she walks) but she can get frustrated when she wants to go somewhere not allowed (on the other side of gates, towards the stairs, etc.) We typically give Esther 1 to 1 ½ hours of 1on1 time every week.

November News

November Newsletter

PRAISES

¨ We have been matched for our adoption! We should be bringing Junior home by the end of the month!

¨ God has been enlarging our vision for our ministry.

¨ Great visit from Pastor Dave and David from The Bridge Church.

 PRAYER REQUESTS

¨ Please pray for Junior as we bring him home and he acclimates to our family!

¨ After his first exam producing no results, Willy will have a second eye exam done under anesthesia on December 9.

¨ Financial needs to welcome Junior into our family and get him registered into school.

WILLY

Snuggling with Mommy!

November is National Adoption Month! We are so excited to soon be meeting our son that we will be welcoming into our family! We are excited  that there will soon be one LESS orphan in Guatemala! Praise the Lord!

Adoption is a beautiful story that only exists because of heartbreak. It means God’s perfect plan has been disrupted and for some traumatic reason the bond between birth parents and their child is broken. But God doesn’t leave it there. It is a beauty from ashes loves story. God moves the universe to place one of His precious children into a new home, into a new family. He picks them up, brushes them off and places them in the heart of a Mom and Dad. Are there still cuts, scrapes and bruises? Of course, there are. But God is always there with his healing hand.

When I look at Willy and how far he has come, I can only fall to my knees and thank the Lord. This tiny, malnourished, sickly newborn  (who doctors said would not live) is now a thriving, healthy 3 year old. He is doing things in his own time and his own unique way but he is advancing every day. He is walking, communicating with some words and some signs, and working on potty training! He still has health issues that need to be monitored, but we are so thankful for the miracles that God has performed in his little life!

Willy is learning his colors!

He loves Sunday School!

Rock climbing at the ruins in Antigua!

Willy has graduated from two of his therapies!!

Always the Teacher

This month I’ve been privileged to keep my teacher’s hat on after home school is over! Guatemalan schools run Jan-Oct so right now is like their summer break.    So, I am tutoring two sweet girls from one of the children's homes that we serve in. We are having lots of fun reviewing skills and making sure they don’t lose ground while they are out of school for three months.

Making sets

Painting her initial.

Matching numbers.

Bear Math!!

Loving His Lambs

Carl hanging out with this handsome guy while he is waiting for his therapy.

Molly doing some therapy with one of the babies.

It's always a privilege to be included in birthday celebrations!
Happy 8th Birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

Jesus loves you, this I know!

We are On-Line!

We now have a Facebook page for our ministry. If you are on social media, we would love for you to follow us on FB at

Serving the Shepherd, Loving His Lambs.

If you would like to join us in serving the orphan community in Guatemala you may mail financial support to:

Commission to Every Nation

PO Box 291307

Kerrville, TX

78029-1307

Or on-line giving:

www.cten.org/carlnorton/

For His Glory, 

The Norton Family

Meet Baby G!

Continuing you introduce you all to the precious kids we serve!

If you are a parent, think back to when your son or daughter was an infant.  When I do this, thoughts of cuddling, rocking, singing, and snuggling fill my mind with special memories. I spent hours watching my babies sleep and gazing into their wonder filled eyes as they learned about the world. Every child deserves this love. Unfortunately, the world is not a perfect place. Some babies don’t have the privilege of being held and rocked for hours.  One of the best parts of what we do is getting to step in and share this unconditional love with precious babies. Each week we spend hours holding babies, loving them with the love of Christ, singing to them, and engaging them. We cheer them on to learn new things and most importantly, we tell them over and over again how special they are. We tell them how much God loves them and that He has a great purpose for their life. This week I would like to introduce you to Baby G. Molly and I have the absolute honor of working with him every week.  We have learned what he likes, what makes him smile and giggle, and what he doesn’t like. We delight when we see him learn something new, like raise his head to look around. We know just what songs to sing him when he is sad and just what sensory toys will bring a smile to his face. He likes feeling sand on his cute little bare feet, he likes the sound of water splashing in a water mat, and he loves to be cuddled and hugged and loved on! As I rock him in my arms, I whisper to him, “God loves you so much and so do I. You are a precious child of the Heavenly Father and He has great plans for your life!”

 Join us in sharing the love of Christ with sweet little ones like Baby G. To give on line click here:  www.cten.org/carlnorton/

Exciting News!

We are so excited to share with all of you that we have been matched for our second adoption! We will  begin visits with our son and should bring him home by the middle of November! He is 4 years old (almost 5) and shares a birthday with Carl. If you would like to help us welcome him into our family you may give through CTEN . We have a need of $2000 to cover preparations for his room, clothes, transportation costs, therapy costs, and school registration. For online giving click here:

https://cten.org/missionary/carlnorton/

Most importantly, we covet your prayers for us all as we welcome him to our family! 

Meet Luz!

We’d love for you all to come to Guatemala and meet all the precious children we work with, but we know that is not possible.  So we are going to introduce you to our sweeties! 

(Thoughts and reflections by Carl)

Luz loves to do and say the same things over and over. Her favorite things to say are “Ha Ha” “Hi” “Dat Da” and “De Nada” (You’re Welcome) when someone say “Gracias” (Thank You.) Repeating her makes her happy. Some of her favorite things to do are to bounce or roll plastic balls from one side of the patio to the other, watching and waiting for it to fall off into the grass. There are 2 different swings that she really likes as well. Getting pulled in a wagon is also fun even though she is way too big for it. She spends much of her time searching for things. When she finds paper, cardboard or any other material that she can rip up and tear into small pieces, she will do it until it is the size of confetti. When these things are not available, leaves and blades of grass work great for tearing up. Her sight is quite interesting. She obviously can’t see things clearly. Sometimes you can be standing close by and she has to search to find you. She touches your face to know who you are. This can be very uncomfortable for most, but you get use to it very quickly. Then I come along and Luz becomes very excited to rub my cheeks. She is elated when I don’t shave for 2 days. It is the perfect amount of bristles that she wants to rub kind of hard between her hand, sometimes hurts a little. Also Luz wants to rub her face and her arms against the scruffiness. This makes her really excited. There is no hiding from this sweet princess because when she hears my voice, she hunts me down until she finds me.

Sharing the Vision

This week we were privileged to have Pastor Dave and David from the Bridge Church here to visit us. Their purpose was to learn more about our family and ministry, encourage us, and to take photos and videos to share with the church back in Florida. It was such an encouraging week! While explaining our vision and passion to them, our own hearts were encouraged and our passion to love children in need was even more ignited . They visited orphanages, toured the therapy center where Willy and many other children receive therapy, and visited the pastor we work with in the village. But most of all - they reminded us that we are loved, that there are people interested in what we are doing here, and our ministry has value! That is huge because sometimes being far away from those we love, we begin to lack encouragement and forget the "why."  Having a church at home that is invested in our family and ministry and sees, and understands, the vision that God has given us is an honor! So thank you, Pastor Dave and David for interrupting your own lives to come live life with us for a few days and thank you, Bridge Church, for believing in us and serving the orphan community with us!

September Update

Serving the Shepherd, 

Loving His Lambs

PRAISES

¨ Home school year off to a great start.

¨ Lacy received her visa and is currently in England!

¨ Celebrated Molly’s 13th Birthday and Bella’s 7th birthday in September!

PRAYER REQUESTS

¨ Medical needs for Willy—He is in need of a check-up, blood work, and ultrasound with his kidney dr. to make sure his one functioning kidney is healthy. He also will be seeing an eye doctor to assess some problems with his eyes. Approximately $600 for these specialists.

¨ We are praying for more monthly supporters so we can continue to love on the orphans here in Guatemala.

One Body, Many Parts

I’ve read several devotions lately that have to do with the body of Christ. It is always reaffirming to me when I read the scripture in 1 Corinthians. Our gifting and our callings are never going to look like everyone else’s . Each of us has our own unique calling and our own unique abilities but each one has the same importance in the body of Christ.

So, we continue to obey our calling and our mandate to love on, take care, and give a home to orphans. If you would like to be a part of what God is doing here, we are in NEED of more monthly supporters. We are so thankful for our supporters that have followed their calling to share God’s love with orphans.  But in order to grow and continue to love on God’s precious children, we need more help!! If God lays our ministry on your heart, you can give through CTEN (information on side bar.) Thank you! 

 Here’s a few pictures of what “our calling” has looked like this month!

Who doesn't love relaxing in a ball pit?

Ana Celia loves to play ball.

This little sweetie decided to do Kaylee's hair.

We loved having Alia serving with us this summer!

 Sensory Play

Sensory play is a big part of what we do at every orphanage we serve in. It is crucial to the healing and developing of each precious child we work with. Playing in sand or with instruments, bouncing balls or stacking cups—so many different activities to stimulate brains. God is so good to give us opportunities to play, be joyful, and enjoy His creation—all while energizing the minds of these sweet little ones that He has beautifully created!

 Family Update

 

Fun at the zoo for Bella's birthday!

 We’ve had a busy few months. We moved houses in July, wished Alia well as she left for her senior year at Johnson and planned and began our home school year in August.  Noah is a senior this year, Molly is in 8th grade, Kaylee is in 5th grade, and Bella is in 2nd. Willy began preschool, as well. Lacy is now in England!  Everyone is growing up!

Independence Day in Guatemala!

We were privileged to join one of the children’s home where we serve in their annual “Torch Run” for Independence Day. This is a tradition that takes place around Sept. 15 every year. Many different groups take to the streets to celebrate with LOTS of noise! Whistles, car horns, yelling—anything that makes a lot of noise. The leader of each parade has a torch that usually is lit by the mayor of the town. It is also tradition for bystanders to throw water on the people marching, although our group didn’t encounter this. It was great fun to join in this cultural experience!

 For His Glory,

The Norton Family

Carl, Lisa, Lacy, Alia, Noah, Molly, Kaylee, Arabella and Willy