Not Drawing Attention to Ourselves

For safety reasons, it's best to try not to draw attention to ourselves.  This can be a little stressful with 3 boys who seem to do nothing but.  I don't know what I was thinking about the haircut.  Jack went through the mohawk phase so I just figured it was Jon's turn.  I rethought that when we left the barbershop and the heads started to turn more than ususal, by then it was too late.  Sometimes a boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do.

If This Is A Test, I'm Gonna Fail

A funny little glimpse into daily life here in Guate.  Nothing works - the dryer, the fridge, or the hot water.  Living where we do, it is incredibly trivial to complain about such things when 99.9% of the people around us don't have any of the three.  But I find myself searching my soul to figure out why these things are so important to me and do I really need them to be happy? The answer to the hot water is a definite YES!  I need hot water, I love hot water, I can't live without hot water.  Many people have vices and a hot shower is mine.  There is nothing from the day that a hot shower can't wash away.  We don't have a water heater, we have something attached to the shower head called a "widow maker".  It's called that because if you touch it, you will die.  They work fine but when the water going into them is too cold, the water that comes out is lukewarm at best.  With the rainy season and cloudy, rainy days, the sun doesn't keep the water in the tank at a decent temp before going into the widow maker.  Not only that, but the air temperature is in the 60's and 70's so sometimes it just too cold to shower. 

Widow Maker

The fridge is just an inconvenience.  I could probably live without one but we like milk, cheese and yogurt which makes that difficult.  We bought a brand new one but it stopped getting cold about 2 weeks ago.  It's under warranty and all but we live in Guatemala and nothing is easy here when it comes to getting repairs done so we just have to wait.

Cloudy Day

As far as the dryer goes, I don't mind hanging my clothes on the line but we are in the rainy season.  It rains almost every day and we can go several days without ever seeing the sun.  We also live in the clouds and moisture and that makes it hard to dry clothes outside.  Since we have 3 boys who can't walk out the door without dirt attacking them, I have to wash almost every day.  In an effort to be frugal, we bought a used dryer from a missionary who flat out lied to us about it's condition. He said it needed a simple part and would work great.  We paid a repair guy to fix it and he did, but now it doesn't work and he has been back twice and can't seem to figure out what is wrong.  We aren't sure what to do now: pay more money and try to get it fixed or just buy a new one.  A new one will cost what we have already spent on the used one.  In the meantime, Gina has been gracious enough to let me use her dryer when my clothesline isn't working.  :)

With all that is going on here and in the world, these things seem trivial.  Even with that, some days, all I want to do is take my wet clothes and cheese and get on a plane, go somewhere, and take a hot shower.

Chickens and Rabbits

Two families we know had fallen on hard times.  Nice families with hard working fathers who want to provide for their wives and children but fell into situations that prevented them from doing that.  First is Francisco, he sells firewood for a living.  He takes his horse up to the mountain, chops wood and brings it down to sell - key word is horse.  He needs his horse to bring the wood down the mountain.  If you have ever been here you have seen people carry heavy loads of things on their heads and backs.  Women have babies strapped to their backs and carry 100lb logs on their heads!  It's a crazy sight to see.  A few weeks ago Francisco's horse accidently strangled itself and died.  Without a horse, he can't get nearly enough firewood on his back to bring down the mountain to sell and provide for his family. Upon hearing this we immediately want to do something to help this guy and his family.  Chris and I had kicked around the idea of buying a new horse but just hadn't done anything yet (a horse runs about $300 and since we are missionaries now, we are on a tight budget).  Our friend Joseph from the US was here so we took him around to visit some families and he felt the need to do something to help Francsico so he bought them 2 female rabbits to accompany their male rabbit in hopes of starting a little rabbit business to provide food for their family and sell for income (sorry but they eat rabbits here).  That is a big help but "nature" takes time so it won't be something that will immediately help their situation.  The story has a happy ending though.  A really cool youth group (CO2) from Lake City was here and God put it on their hearts to buy Francisco a horse!!  When it was delivered we were there to see the tears of joy and thankfulness.   He told us that earlier that day he decided that he really didn't feel like going up the mountain so he stayed home.  His wife wasn't too pleased and asked "How are we going to get food today?!?"  A little later, in walks a bunch of teenagers and a horse.  :)

Juan and his family (and Joseph)

Second is Juan.  They have been to our house a few times and are just a nice family.  They have never asked us for anything and when we ask if they need anything, they always say no.  (That's not the norm here - most people need something and the gringos are their ticket.)  We were talking one night about how we would like to find some land to grow vegetables and they offered for us to plant some things in their garden.  We made a date to go over and start seeds.  Joseph was here and went with us.  During our visit we learned that Juan doesn't have work right now and they have a nice spot of land to grow stuff but they haven't had the money this year for seeds so they don't have anything planted.  Again, the question comes up "What can we do to help?"  Seeds are easy because we literally had them in our hands.  Joseph wanted to do something so he and Chris decided it would be good to give them some chickens - to eat, sell and have eggs.  Off they went to get supplies for the coop.  Juan had that built in no time so a day later Joseph bought them baby chicks, grown chickens, and all the supplies needed for success.  They were very thankful to say the least.

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