Speak!

I stood at the door while two polite young men waited for my answer. A...um...hands wave....face looks frustrated....er...OH!!! um...how do I say that I want water and do they want the empty bottles and do I pay now?! Our water purifier gave out so we have been taking water bottles down the street to a water place and they fill them and deliver the water to our door. It costs Q20.00 for 15 gallons of water. This morning they came to see if we needed water during the weekend. I was trying to talk to them and finally one of the men asked me "if I can talk English better:?!!!!! Here he is fluent in English and I am reminded that it is good to "never assume".  I smiled real big and said, "I talk and understand English". So we talked and they got me 15 more gallons of water and never charged anything! They said we have been getting a lot of water the past two weeks, very true, and so today was free.  I had a good laugh over that experience, but how sad that I am living in a country where I understand a tiny bit of the language, but can't talk about the real things. How do I tell a woman that I see she has been serving a hurting person and allowing her husband to help this person, sacrificing their together time, and family time? How do I tell a woman that there are so many choices we make in life, that though they seem so small, yet they have an effect on the rest of our life? And so on....
I have had a real busy morning and fled the kitchen after lunch while the girls bake brownies for youth tonight. We have Danny and Lindas boys here today. Jared is so happy for this blessing and there are boys running, hiding and shouting as they play games. I'm enjoying watching the action from the kitchen window. Danny flew two couples to Honduras for a wedding today and they plan to fly back tomorrow. We are also getting a bunch of people coming in from Honduras and Antigua. They will be here for the weekend......The first group just arrived and I had enough chicken pot pie left for them, then the next van load pulled in and so we fried eggs, warmed up beans and I sent Tristan to get tortillas. They ate and then a group of three came and they ate left over eggs.:)  By then I was working on supper and just made a big pot of taco soup. We ate at 4:30 so the youth could head out to their host place for the evening. After that was over, Vernon and I and our "three little boys" piled into the van to run get a few groceries at Walmart, but the van wouldn't start, so Vernon just got a back pack and ran to the store and I helped the boys light a fire so they could roast some marshmallows. I am calling it a day.  Maybe I will dream in Spanish! They say when you start to dream in Spanish, it means you have a good grasp on the language. Ha ha ha!

Thanksgiving

What do I have to be thankful for? So many blessings! I'm thankful for the beauty and warmth of a relationship with God.  I'm thankful for my husband, children, grandchildren, family, friends, laughter, health, freedom, food, shelter, the beautiful blue sky..................... We are so blessed!
Today in Guatemala there will be an American Thanksgiving celebration and it already started at 4:30 am. Danny and Vernon began to burn a huge amount of charcoal and then tried to wake us all up with some loud fire crackers. I helped Vernon wrap our 20 lb. turkey in many layers of foil. We are having a 'turkey in the hole'. By 6:30, they had the turkey in the hole and were piling the charcoal around it. Such excitement! It makes my cooking seem quite simple. We are having mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, dinner rolls and pumpkin, pecan and apple pie. I guess we will just remember the sweet potatoes and cranberries this year and be thankful for what we have. I have such mixed feelings sometimes when I see the hungry and homeless and then place so much food on our own table! We do feed the hungry that come, but it is so hard to know how to help them. How many are 'angels unaware'?
Today I am also thankful that my dad is enjoying heaven and waiting for us there. It is 16 years today that he died from melanoma. I miss him very much, and thank God for the legacy he left. The legacy of living for God in good times and bad, a humble man who loved and valued his family and quietly helped more people than I will ever know.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Lonely!

I talked to Harold today and asked how is he doing.....with the loneliness? My heart goes out to him when I think of him trying to navigate through life without his wife, the one who looked out for him, cooked for him, who made life sweet, who prayed for him, loved him and shared over 60 years with him. How do you live after such a loss? The only way is to walk into the sorrow, to know that God walks with us.  He doesn't take away the sorrow but He helps us carry it! And while Harold is grieving................................... we are living life with a rich enjoyment in family. What a treasure! God is so good in that He creates us with the ability to enjoy the blessings He gives us even though our hearts ache with sorrow over the pain in other lives. My conclusion is that we are to enjoy each day God gives us. Some days are full of happiness, some are full of joy, some are full of suffering. So enjoy the good times, and know that the hard times are not times of being alone, but they are times that God is in the pain with us.
Our family had a great time going to Belize for a short visit. We spent some days with my sister and then spent family time out at the ocean at a beautiful place that had a comfortable, lovely house to stay in, total privacy and ocean at our door! It was delightful and felt so good just to be together as a little family. One highlight for Vernon, the girls and Jared, and my sisters children, was when they went through a cave back in the bush. It was not a tourist cave, and two friends of my sisters family took them through. It took 6 hours and was dark and they had to swim some of the time. Vernon was fascinated by the history of the place, silent reminders of people who lived and died there many years ago. If those objects could tell stories about their owners! What a reminder that the things we prize and love, are just that, things, that we will leave behind when we die. And on that note, I will sign off and go spend some time with my son. He has a soul that will not stay behind.

Do the next thing!

We have been very busy this past week. There were five days of meetings out at the 'farm'. We call it Institute. These meetings were for all the MAM churches in Guatemala. There were interesting sounding topics and a lot of activities for the children. Priscila, Marta and Ruth were asked to help with the cooking so we took over their cooking, cleaning and laundry responsibilities here at Headquarters. It kept us busy through the day and then we went out to the farm for the evening message. Of course, everything was Spanish, but James offered to translate and we were very grateful. This morning was a bit wild. I made breakfast for 30 hungry people and we were just cleaning up when Tristan pulled in with a van load of people on their way to the bus station. They were hungry, so I quick made some eggs and re fried beans and tortillas. I was so glad I had listened to my impulse to cook up lots of beans on Saturday! That is one of the challenges of cooking here, I don't want lots of left overs but I never know when some hungry folks may come by. So, listen to your 'hunches'! While we were rushing about, a guests child needed some clean clothes so we ran about finding those, all in the middle of trying to decide exactly what the best way to bus to Belize is! We decided to take the land route and bus out tonight. We have three days to spend in Belize so will have one day with my sister and two days together as a family. We are looking forward to it and I am hoping we can sleep on the bus tonight!
Vernon and I had a fun time walking to Walmart to get some queso fresco for lunch. It was a lovely sunny day and I enjoyed walking and talking with him and laughing! Laughter is such a gift!
Until the next time....... lets use the gift of today and all our todays to reflect what a great God we serve.

One Week

What a week! It was a good week and such a full one that I never got to see the blooper on my last post till today! It is almost 4 pm and I am determined to get this done before I am disturbed, so am hiding in Jody's class room. Where to start? This past week was a very special time and we all enjoyed our visitors very much and Jeana did a great job of showing them a slice of "Guatemala life" in the six days they were here. Saturday, they got to experience Childrens Bible Club and shopping at the market for me. There was a street volleyball game in the evening. I made some authentic Guatemalan food as well. Actually, we had empanadas for lunch, and Marta helped by taking over and telling me what to do. Eddie and Wilmer came by and helped us as well. We were making them for about 18 people so made a bunch. They are a lot of work and I appreciated the help because I had no idea what I was saying when I planned to make empanadas! Then for supper, I made tostadas and that was a big hit too, at least they said it was. Sunday the youth got to go to Pital for church. It is an outpost that once was a thriving church but when the pastor was martyred, it slowly faded and now it is a little old lady who brings some children. Pital is a 3 hour drive from here. Vernon and Jared and I, and Marta were the only ones here for Sunday lunch and I had not planned anything because we were thinking of going along with the youth. There wasn't enough room, so Sunday morning  I decided we would have some hash browns and make a salad. Then I found out there was a family that needed to stay at headquarters till afternoon church, so we shared our strange lunch with them and I wanted to make excuses, but decided not to. Monday was a work day. The men were all at the church pouring concrete, some of it from wheel barrows, and Jeana and Danielle cleaned, washed down a room and did a bunch of odd jobs for me. At 3 pm we all went to zone one to take the guests shopping. They picked out some fabric for their moms and I enjoyed watching the boys look and try to figure out if their moms would like their choice. I think they did a great job! After that was done, we went to the tourist market and wandered around for a while. On the way home from zone one, we got stuck in traffic and so it took a very long time to get back. Tuesday, the youth and men went to other zones in the city and passed out tracts, and in the afternoon they played soccer with a group of friends. Oct. 31, - Nov. 2 are holidays. From Halloween, which isn't such a big deal here, to the days of the dead. Nov. 1 is the day to remember the children who died and there are hundreds of kites flying and graves visited and flowers left. Nov. 2 is the day to remember the adults who have died. It is another day of flying kites, (sending messages to the dead), and visiting graves to leave favorite food and flowers. A side benefit for the beggars is that they eat very well over these holidays if they eat in the cemeteries! Wed. we went to Lake Attitlan. It truly deserves the distinction of being in the top seven most beautiful lakes in the world!! Danny and Linda and their family came along. The youth planned to bus to the lake just for one more experience for the guests. When we drove past the bus stop an hour later, they were still there and so we picked them up and figured they would bus back to the city in the afternoon. The lake was beautiful! We were blessed with a sunny day and vibrant colors. Most of the group had a zip line ride and then we were talked into a boat ride across the lake to Santiago. It was interesting and I found my heart can be quite hard when it comes to buying products that are being forced on me. One woman worked on us all the way down to the dock and when we headed to the boat she tried one more trick, she gave a fake sob and started to rub her eye! Our ride back to the lake was rough and our boat driver took his time and kept watching the waves and heading into some of them because they were pretty big. All in all, it was a real good day. Having some 'home folk' here was a special blessing, and even though we get homesick for Idaho,  it showed me that our hearts have changed and the people in this country have a special place in our heart as well. Thursday and Friday were busy, we did mountains of laundry and cleaned and cooked and enjoyed some beautiful sunny days along with a bit of welcome rain. Today, I have been thinking about relationships. This place gives lots of opportunity to practice:) We are a group of people who are all from different places and families and customs. We have decided likes and dislikes, yet we can work together. Gods grace makes it possible to work together, no matter what our likes and dislikes are! I am blessed to see someone who is not 'feeling' great, yet they choose to laugh at the poor jokes or spilled food, or whatever. I think it all comes back to that same old problem, self focus! Am I focusing on myself or am I focused on living today for God, doing whatever needs to be done. I think of a book I read of a man who was ashamed of the work his father did. It was a small job that didn't give him any fame. This man realized later that his father had contentment. His father was a street sweeper, but he chose to be the best street sweeper he could be! This story was in the book Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. I often think about it when I am doing boring, unnoticed, little things. Am I the best dish washer I can be? Am I the best toilet cleaner I can be? Am I the best wife and mother that I can be? Only by Gods grace!!