Birthdays

How can it be that this little guy is 4?!?!  Where does time go?  He is so excited he can hardly stand it.  For him, being 4 opens a whole new world.  He is ready to leave the 3 year old life behind (I'm not exactly sure what he has in mind).  A couple of weeks ago when we started talking about his birthday his first question was "When I'm 4 can I do dangerous things?"  "Um....no" was my answer.  I'm certain there are a few things that won't change right away like him wanting his mommy to dress him (unless he has a good reason to get dressed fast and I try to find lots of those) and asking us "Can I pick you up?"  He is so stinkin cute and I wish I could keep him at 3 forever - well, most days.

This guy turned 9 a couple of weeks ago.  That left us sad at the thought of him being home with us for only 9 more years.  In the Guatemalan culture it's common for kids to live at home past 18 since most never finish school let alone go to college.  They even get married (or not) and bring their spouses/boyfriend/girlfriend to live at home with them.  If they do get their own place it's usually close by their parents and other family members.  I love that way of life.  I love the idea of our boys being close to us even though that probably won't happen.  Anyway, Juanito (Jon's Guatemalan name) has not changed a bit being 9 and is lives a life covered in dirt.  He misses home alot but I think the dirt makes him feel better. :)  However, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5:00 - 7:00pm Juanito wears WHITE for karate.    Well, he starts out wearing white but doesn't come home as white as when he left.  I was hoping the instructor would choose black uniforms but I don' have that kind of luck.

Una casa para Sandra

(A house for Sandra)

Yesterday we were to start a house for a family in Buena Vista but a few complications arose over the weekend and we had to move quickly Monday morning to secure a new 12x12 family because the timing for other families in que was not right.  Brock sent me a note that there was a family that was on his heart that he had visited in the past that lived in a small cornstalk hut.  Yesterday at 9am we set out to find the house and see what God had in store.  We found it pretty quickly and the cornstalk hut was still there.  Once we found Sandra, the wife and mother, and her three year old son Jose Daniel we asked if we could come in and talk to her.  It was one of the cleanest little houses with a dirt floor I've seen.  We asked how they were doing and how the house was holding up. Seems like an odd question for someone living in a cornstalk shack but she answered that all was well and they were content.  We asked what happens when it rains there (the house sits in the middle of a steep incline) she said of course the rain and water runs right through the house..  It's hard to imagine that "normal" is sleeping on a bed a few inches off of the ground and waking up to water running underneath you and over the floor of your entire house.  The rainy season here  means daily heavy downpours for several months.

Brock and I looked at each other and said "let's do this".  We told her that we wanted to build her a house and that we needed to start in a few hours.  She looked at us as if to say "Are you serious?"  After a few quiet minutes I asked her if that sounded like a good thing.  She couldn't hide her smile any longer as she told us yes - this is very good!  When we were leaving she hugged Brock tightly and cried.  He told me later she said "We thought you had forgotten us"  He reassured her that God never forgets us and that His love was great for us.  I came back a few hours later to take pictures before we started to take down their old house and her husband Juan was home for lunch and they had already begun to take the house down.  They were so excited and thankful.  They thanked us several times.  I told them that we were excited for them and more so to be used of God to show His love.

I'd like to introduce you to our newest 12x12 family:

Sandra, Jose Daniel and Juan

el cocina

la estufa

They had just moved the bed out before I arrived to take the picture but this is the one room cornstalk house with blue tarps to hold back the cold.  Last night the low was 51 here.

Sandra and Jose Daniel at their front door

beautiful flowers in front of the house

Jose daniel next to the house

Missing Home

This has been a tough week.  I am really missing all our friends and family.  I miss home.  I miss all the people in our life that were always so close but now are so far away.  It's lonely here and I would love to go home.  Jon is feeling it too.  I'm sure one day we will love it here and never want to leave just not right now.

Other than being homesick and trying to learn Spanish, I do ALOT of laundry and am thankful for a washing machine!

Jack, Jon and a friend named Elvis

Jed enjoying the dirt

Jon and some dirt

There are cats here!

A family's pet named Luis

What kids do for fun - slide down the hill on 3 liter bottles 

Jed and some local men 

Jon aka "Chicken Chaser"  trying not to squeeze the chick

Journey Team

  We had a great week with the team from our home church.  We got to visit several 12X12 families and potential families.  The team painted a house, visited an orphanage, had a cookout for a couple of families, loved on a bunch of kids, attended a soccer banquet for a local school, and lots more.  Our family got to hang out with them and join in on alot of their activities.

House Painting

Visiting the orphanage

Cookout for a few families

Pinata fun at the cookout

12X12 Key Ceremony 

Had a birthday party for a boy who has never had one

Journey team on their way back to the US

Visited with Caesar and his family

Spanish, Spanish and more Spanish

Several times through out this journey, Chris and I have looked at each other and asked "Are we too old for this?"  Sitting around a table with our Spanish teacher trying to learn this language makes me think "YES, I'm too old for this!!"  My poor brain is trying to grasp it but it's slow going.  Have you ever heard a Latin person talk?  Muy rapido means very fast and they talk faster than that!  Do their brains actually go that fast?  Mine doesn't.  Most people here are nice and will talk "slow" for the gringo but that is still too fast for me.  It's as confusing to learn as English and they have just as many exceptions to their language rules.  I know we are only 2 weeks into a 8-9 month process but we really want to be fluent by now.  :)

Some things we did last week:

We went to a plant place nearby and bought some plants.  I LOVE plants - I don't think I can live without them.  Living in Guatemala is perfect because they grow alot of flowers/plants here and the people seem to like plants too.  No matter how poor someone is they have flowers and plants growing somewhere - in a container or in the ground.  And you can buy cut flowers all around our town.  My heart is a teeny weeny bit more at peace with some plants around the house. 

We took the boys to a barber down the street.  His name is Rocky (we also know a little boy named Elvis). He did a good job cutting thin gringo hair.  It was funny because after their cuts there was alot of black hair on the floor and then all this blonde hair - something you probably never see at his shop.

We are excited about a store in Guatemala City called  PriceMart.  It's exactly like Costco but 1/3 of the size and they even have the chicken bake in the food court.  We found a great deal on filet mignon.  Granted, missionaries probably shouldn't tell people they are eating filet mignon but you haven't heard the rest of the story.  It was extremely cheap (cheaper than what we consider regular cuts) because I don't think it's considered a prime cut of meat here.  Anyway we made it for dinner and let me tell you, it was not at all the same as in the states.  Jack and Jon said it tasted like a hot dog.  Nobody was real excited about it and the following morning all 3 boys had belly aches.  Meat is definitely different - I don't think cows are corn fed or something.  Anyway, now we know why meat tenderizer is sold more than milk here. 

In 2 days a team from Journey Church will be here.  It's like our family is coming and we couldn't be more excited!!  I might even give Vic a hug - I don't think I have ever hugged him.  :)  We are busy cleaning and trying to hide 20+ bins of our stuff so they have a place to hang out. Oh and did I mention that we are trying to learn Spanish?  ;)

We miss home and everyone more than we can express.  We've been here a month already and in some ways it seems like forever.  Being foreigners is something we are trying to adjust to and it's hard.  Next time you see someone from another county welcome them to America and ask them if there is anything you can do to help them.  They might not understand you but they will feel the love and it will make all the difference to them. 

On a mission to learn Spanish

We started Spanish lessons on Monday.  Our teacher's name is Julio - Jed calls him Mr. Hood-ee-o. Jack is learning very fast and Chris and I are not as fast as Jack.  Jon...well he's been sick so he hasn't learned anything yet.  Of course this cannot go off without  a hitch - our hitch has been Jon and Jed getting a stomach bug and throwing up.  The best part was last night when we realized we were out of running water AFTER Jed threw up on got it all over himself and me as well.  Thankfully we brought a case of baby wipes with us.  The way water works here is that the municipality turns on the water supply every morning between 6-8am.  Our home has a tank on the roof and a cistern underground.  Our water is pumped into these and that is the water we have for the day.  Not everyone has a tank though.  Some people use plastic barrels, buckets, or whatever they have.  Although we have only been here a little over 2 weeks, I have never noticed the water coming on at night, only in the morning.  Well guess what?  The water came on last night at 10pm!!!  (Thank you God).  I think someone, somewhere was praying for us.  So whoever you are - thank you for your prayers and thank you God for bringing us water!! 

Rafaela and wood fire

Her old bed

Her new bed

Kids

Some great guys

Men's team, Rafaela, her family & new home

Her old house and old sink

Last week a men's team was here so the boys and I packed up and went to live with the Schmidt's for the week.  It was a great week for us and for the men that came.  They did some great things but the one I want to tell you about has to do with an elderly lady named Rafaela.  She lived alone in a dingy shack in the remote village of Tablon.  I met her one year ago when I was visiting  here and her situation really broke my heart.  I remember her telling us how scared she was to live alone.   Her "house" was made out of old sheets of tin and the ceiling was covered in soot from her wood burning fire - very dark and dirty.  I didn't know this but she lived near a soccer field and the balls would constantly hit her "house" making a loud noise and Rafaela would just sit and cry.  Not anymore!  The team built her a new tin home (with a skylight) on some property near her family members.  She got a new bed and a kitchen too.  How cool is that!  I can't imagine how she must feel sleeping in her new bed inside a bright and quiet new home.  I am thanking God that He put her on the hearts of the men here and blessed her with a new home.  I can't wait to go visit her.

One Week

Inside home of family of 7

Stove

Small stove inside

Dirty pila (sink)

Bed with dirty toys and covered in flies

Holly and Jed

Lunch

We've been here a whole week!! The first couple of days were good, the next couple of days reality set in a little and the last few days we have been settling in.  It will take some getting used to being strangers in a foreign land and the shock of poverty.  The poverty we saw today was unbelievable.  It begs the question "How can people live like this??"  Our team (Johnson/Schmidt/Steed) set out to visit two 12X12 families in Magdelana (the village we live in).  We looked like a parade of gringos as we walked through the village.  It's kinda funny because I am not someone who likes attention drawn to myself and that's all I get when walking down the street here.  Anyway, we got to the first family's home which is almost done. (Photos of outside stove and room for family of 7).  They're a sweet family and their current house sits on a small piece of land with huge avocado trees.  They sell the avocados and the father sells firewood for income.  He travels up the mountain with his oldest son and a horse to collect wood to sell in the village.  They live in a shack and are so greatful to God for blessing them with a concrete home.  They never dreamed they would ever have a home like they are getting.  Their poverty was pretty "normal" for what I have seen so far but the second family we visited really disturbed me.  They are a young couple with an 18 month old and a baby on the way. They live in a "room" that is the size of a full size bed and a small space for a "stove" and a few belongings (photos of bed, dirty pila and inside stove).   It is a room added onto a small shack that a couple of other family members live in. It was absolutely filthy and was infested with flies, outside around the pila and inside covering the bed - a dirty stuffed bear hangs from the roof for the baby to play with.   I can't imagine trying to sleep with flies all around.  The mom said something about the baby being sick alot and I didn't know what to think.  Part of me wanted to clean things up and maybe teach the mom how to be sanitary and get rid of those flies but you just can't walk into someone's  home and take over.  I wonder what makes people "ok" with living like that.  Another shock for me was the remains on the roof of a mountain cat they caught and ate.  That did not sit well with the cat lovers in our family.  We have alot to learn about poverty.  If everything works out, they will get a new home and maybe there will be an opportunity to share some housekeeping skills this young mom.

On a lighter note, we will begin Spanish lessons in a week.  That is something we are all excited about so we can communicate with the people around us.  It's tough not speaking the language.  Chris got the boys a TV to help them with their Spanish.  I almost cried when we found the Food Network in English.  Not that I can get very many of the ingredients to cook that good stuff but it was nice to hear our native tongue.

We are excited to be here and feel blessed to be a part of what God is doing for "the least of these."  We are looking forward to getting to know more of the 12X12 families and being able to pray for them as many of them desperately need it.  They aren't any different that we are, they just live in a different situation.  Thanks to each of you back in the States who pray for us, support us and are with us in spirit.  It means more than you will ever know.