making new friends!

The rain has stopped!  Praise the Lord!  We finally have some dry clothes.  What took a week to dry took only 2 hrs this morning.  We hung a clothes line on the roof top to maximize our drying potential.  I almost had to rewash everything because of the lingering dampness and the smell.

Meet our newest members of the family!  Max decided he wanted to try raising chickens.  We bought 12 chicks and 6 survived the cold nights.  He has taken on this "farming" role quite seriously and wept in bed one night over the chicks that died.  I reminded him that it was not his fault and that he is doing the best he can.  This morning the boys constructed somewhat of a coup in the yard.   I told them chickens were as far as I would go with farming:)

We were invited to a missionaries home for lunch today and were incredibly blessed by their testimony of faith and obedience.  I am so thankful for the connections we are making with new relationships here and the support we can provide for each other.  David and Julie Sutton  are also a part of Commission to Every Nation and have been serving here in Guatemala for the past 12 years.  Their wisdom and guidance has really helped us in settling into this culture.   Julie is a nurse who has set up many clinics over the past decade, and has recently been visiting the women's prison here in Jalapa.  She invited me to join her next week to see a little of what she does.  I'll keep you posted!

Okay, so I will admit it. I really suck at this blogging thing. I was never the kind of girl who had a journal. It only has become a recent thing for me to sit and journal my thoughts. I feel like I need to owe you an apology for not keeping you updated as frequent as I should. Life is a different busy here. I find that I have less time to sit and reflect in quietness. We have started our homeschooling with the children, and the better part of the morning I spend bouncing from grade 1 to 3 to 5. Our little kitchen is decorated with all sorts of bright coloured posters of multiplication charts, spelling lists and spanish words.

We are slowly adjusting to a new routine and culture. We have had a lot of rain this past week, but are fortunate to avoid any major flooding. The Guatemalan government issued a state of emergency for Guatemala due to the heavy rains causing floods and mudslides. School was cancelled across the nation for two days. I guess we would call it a snow day back home. As I sit inside my dry warm home, I can't help but think of all those families in the mountains that don't have proper shelter. Even though we lose our electricity and water at different times of the day, I am thankful every time my lights and taps work. As I was working through my bible study, God reminded me to distinguish between the things that are fleeting in this life and the things that will last into eternity. I am so thankful for each new day and the people I meet.

I really struggled the first couple weeks of being here and just felt lost. I was even somewhat frustrated with God. I know He called us here, but somehow didn't feel His presence. Again through my bible study God revealed some more. I feel like I am trapped in a “war of the wills”. I want to be used but only on my terms and conditions. I am reminded of the verse,... "in order to gain your life, you must lose it." God has really impressed this on my heart over the last few weeks, as I have been processing this leap into the unknown. I never really truly grasped this idea until now. God isn't asking me to forget everyone at home and the things I love to do, rather He is waiting patiently for me to let go and release it all to Him so that I can be used to the fullest to glorify Him. It's really about stepping out of my comfort zone so much so that I totally and completely depend on Him. God didn't ever say it would be easy. Yes, I was very comfortable back home, loving life and happy. It's in the dark when we grow. I think of a plant and the roots that go down way deep. Think of all the growth that happens in the earth. The foundation for something beautiful to grow out of.

As I ponder about beauty and growth, I can't help but think of the girls at Casa Hogar. Each one with their own story. Stories with so much brokenness and hurt, yet rising above and developing into His precious children. Today, I had the privilege of cutting hair for some of the girls. One in particular is Blanca.  She is 5 years old and was eager to have her hair cut. She sat so still and patient. No game or TV to distract her attention. Just a little girl who craved a loving touch and wanted to feel special, and look like a princess. And that made my day!   

quick update

Another day and still feeling like I am spinning my wheels.  What takes me minutes in Canada, seems to take me hours here.  I find I get frustrated with myself for not getting things accomplished.  Matt and I sat down last night and wrote a "to do" list for today and I think we scratched three things off.  We ended up having a friend and his two boys in for a two and a half hour lunch.  It turned into a great visit, and I am once again reminded of the importance of relationships.  It's not about stroking things off my list, but investing in lives.  Like I said before, life is very different and you never know what happens day to day.  We were told in our training with "Commission to Every Nation", that missionaries need to be flexible.  I guess I am being tested in that now.   We are still trying to get into a routine with the kids.  We are realizing very quickly the tricks of running a smooth household here.  There are certain times of the day, we just don't have water.  Period.  I am trying to figure out what times those are and have a resevoire as back up.  That means not being able to flush toilet, do dishes and laundry or shower.  I have been doing dishes in a bucket on the kitchen floor.  I keep telling myself, "just go with the flow."  It took us an hour to prepare salad last night.  We need to soak the raw vegetables in iodine water or chlorinated water to kill any bacteria.  Needless to say, we won't be eating much salad!

Our house is not yet finished, and there are a few men working in and out during the day.  We are cautious to leave for long periods of time as theft is huge here.  Max already had his soccer ball stolen. We have been making our visits to the orphanage later in the afternoon and into the evening hours.  The other day was particularly special as it was one of the girls birthdays.  We arrived at night just to sing to Fransisca and bring her some chocolates.  She broke down crying just because we remembered her birthday and it made her feel so special.  

Max had his stitches removed yesterday and has healed quite nicely. Thank you for all your prayer over him.   We suggested he wear a helmut playing soccer, but he didn't find that funny.

cheers,

Mandy

Settling In!

Greetings from Guatemala!  First of all, I need to apologize for not updating you sooner.  I feel like this past week has been a whirl wind and we are still trying to get settled.  I need to go back a week and a half ago and share about all the incredible people that made the move go a lot easier than I could ever expect.  I feel so incredibly blessed to have such amazing family and friends.  With the help of meals, painting, packing, encouraging cards,and prayer, we were able to get our home in St. Catharines packed up. (For those of you who didn't know, we rented our home furnished for the year. ) I couldn't believe we were able to fit everything in our garage and attic.  This saved on storage expenses!

I've had mixed emotions coming back to Guatemala.  I have feelings of great joy reuniting with the girls.  Seeing a lot of familiar faces, reminds me of the family we have here.  I am often frustrated and sometimes angry at the site of such poverty.  It just doesn't make any sense!  Why should people live with no electricity and water?  I thank the Lord everyday for these basic yet huge privileges. The first week here was very restful.  We spent a lot of time hanging out with the girls, helping with homework, driving them to and from school and developing conversation.  I am so proud of Matt.  He has picked up quite a bit of spanish and I often find myself looking to him for translation.  I am struggling to learn the language.  I often process my thoughts in Dutch first and even throw a few words in here and there:) The kids and I will continue with the Rosetta Stone program.  This has been great for basic phrases and words.  We have a local friend who we are hiring to tutor us in spanish during his off time with teaching at the orphanage.  This way we can build into this relationship with him and his family and provide a source of income that would not be there otherwise.

We moved into our rental home yesterday.  We borrowed three unused bunk beds from the orphanage and bought a double mattress.  We were thrilled when our friend told us he has an extra fridge, stove and dining table.  God is providing in such incredible ways!   We are trying to adjust into a routine with the kids.  They are thoroughly enjoying the time here thus far.  I started some homeschooling with them this morning, and realized very quickly that I am not cut out for teaching.  I think I will be learning a lot through this as well:)  I give a lot of credit to all the teachers out there for the hard work and investment they make in our children's lives everyday.  We are so blessed to have an education system that fosters great learning, challenge and growth.  I also realized very quickly that girls are easier to teach than boys. At least for me and my kids.

I want to thank all our supporters who are continually praying for us and financially aiding the work here.  All of you are just as much part of this mission.  There are three aspects of missions.  The sending (financial), going and the prayer.  All of which are equally important, so thank you for your part!

Now that we are settling in and have better internet connection, I am excited to share more of what life is like here in Guatemala!  Please continue to pray that we adjust to cultural differences and language barriers as we seek to be His hands and feet!

with love,
Mandy