Homeschool High-Five!

We are officially a homeschool family!  This morning we set up his desk, practiced our verse, read a chapter of Pilgrim's Progress, did devotions and then I watched in amazement at how well my little boy could finish his schoolwork.  When did he grow up?!  I am sad, and proud, and excited all at the same time.  

Get out the Jean jumpers because I am a homeschool mom now.

Hope of Love

This week I was cold for the first time since moving to Guatemala. 

We spent four days in a mountain village, drinking hot chocolate, playing Settlers of Catan (well, the boys, not me), eating delicious food, jumping on the trampoline and enjoying the encouragement and fun of time spent with beloved friends.  It was the best week of my whole year. 

We prayed with our friends, for their ministry of training village pastors and for our house of prayer.  We prayed for each other’s marriages and children, and then of course, as we always ask people to pray—they prayed for our future adopted children. 

My sweet friend Bethany asked the Lord to put the “hope of love” in our children’s hearts.  Knowing that our children may already be alive and in an orphanage somewhere, I often pray that they will be cared for and have food and a bed to sleep in.  I pray for their salvations and that God will bring them into our home soon… but Bethany put into words what I am truly praying for in all the variations.  

Somewhere in Guatemala there is, or will be, a little child that the Lord has reserved for our family.  I long for the day we are united, but until then, I pray that they will be filled with hope of love.  That they would know, somehow, deep in their hearts that God loves them, is with them, and has prepared a family to receive them.  I pray they would feel hope, no matter how hopeless the situation which orphaned them. 

God loved me and my family.  He loves my children who have yet to come to me.  He has helped Dave and I build a stable, joy-filled home.  This week as I reveled in the happiness of spending time with our friends and their kids, I saw the Lord’s heart for family.  I felt His pleasure that we are raising our sons (Bethany and her hubby have two boys) to follow Him. 

He is preparing us to receive His blessing… but for now we pray for hope.

The hope of love. 

Our attempt at a family photo, with the highest point in Central America behind us.  

Tailgate party after hiking up the big hill (in the background of the picture) 

Dinner time!  

Watching Elf and eating homemade apple pie as part of our Christmas party

The boy's side of the table, where they played 9 rounds of Settlers.  Bethany and I took over the other side of the table and made jewlery and paper boxes.  

Guest Post by Darrin

In the middle of October we had my brother visiting from Canada.  Because we have been here for two years already, sometimes I don't notice what is "different" about living in Guatemala.  I asked my little bro to write up something to share with people what his experience was like... so here you have it, a guest post about a visitor to our home:

Hello my name is darrin, 

A month ago I embarked on an incredible adventure. I went off into a foreign land with no idea what to expect. A place very different from what I know. Guatemala.

As someone who does an abundance of backpacking and camping I am accustomed to being slightly uncomfortable as I sleep, but nothing was to prepare me for a night in Guatemala. I recall learning very quickly that regardless of the low income status areas, Guatemalans always seem to have just enough money to buy a variety of fireworks on a daily basis. So basically come bedtime all hell breaks loose with the most obnoxious percussion of "bedtime noises" and street dogs fighting often come rippling through the air. In addition to my discomfort a mysterious banging against my barred-over window naturally filled my imaginonation with pictures of black masked barglars yeilding machetes attempting to break in and attack me in my sleep. Long story short, not some crazed lunatic trying to break into my room, it was an avocado falling off of a nearby tree which was very common as I found out avocados seem to fall on the roof almost every night. 

Now you have to understand, that literally everywhere in Guatemala there are wild avocado trees and coffee bushes growing. This makes for an amazing jungle like atmosphere. The houses on the other hand are not as majestic. Each building gives you the impression as though it was slapped together in an extremely rushed fashion, with cinderblocks and scrapwood thrown down with some elementary kid's school glue to hold it all together. The worst part of the buildings being that each room is seperated by outside facing doors. Which renders a terribly unfortunate scenario if you find yourself having to go to the bathroom at night. Where the Guatemala night breezes are crisp to the bare-bum. But hey, alleast thats a 5 minute time out from the constant 24-hour sweat bath you're in during your first week. 

Now let me describe for you Guatemala traffic. The variety of vehicle selection is scarely small. You got the basic 1997 Toyota Tacoma with 40 people riding in the box,  the Tuk-Tuk (  A trike with a roof which 8 people ride in somehow), the classic dirtbike, and my personal favourite The Chicken Bus! The Chicken Bus is an old school bus that has been jacked up, semi truck motor dropped in, then loaded with 70 person passenger plus the chickens and a few goats for long and very fast drives from town to town. Add in the fact that there are no rules of the road and you end up with not only The Chicken Bus but "The Chicken Road" too. 

Yet, when I look back at the falling avocados and the people driving wildly down the road I recall in between these events some of the greatest memories that I will carry with me for a long time. Fantastic food ( a.k.a tacos and casedieas ) and the pleasant King family home setting and the dazzling Guatemalan firework lighting up sky.

 To say the very least I came back changed, and what I mean by that is I now know what mass poverty is, I know what it's like to feel as a minority and completely out of place ( all 6 ft 200 lbs blonde hair blue eyes of me ). I know how extremely blessed I am to have grown up and reside in a country that is free of questions like how do I get my next meal and how do I not get shot by gangs? Yes this trip was an adventure  that changed me and I would recommend that if you would like and adventure full of bizarre and crazy stories that you might go to Guatemala; and maybe even stay with Dave and Shawn.

Thank you Shawn, Dave and Z

taking a boat across the lake 

lunch at a somewhat sketchy eatery 

for all the adventures and talks.

Abundant Peace

      We moved to Lake Atitlán almost four months ago, certain that God had called us here... But not certain of anything other than that.  

      Dave and I began meeting in our living room every evening to pray.  Sometimes we listened to music and sang, sometimes we drew pictures or waited for God's voice in silence, but more than anything, we just talked to God.  We prayed for the problems around the world, our friends and family, and asked God what He wanted us to do.  Then, one night, He spoke.  

      His voice was not audible in that moment, but it was intensely clear.  "You are already engaged in the ministry I have called you to do.  I want you to start a House of Prayer".  

       In the weeks since we received this word from the Lord, we have begun to clarify how to start this work.  We believe that the House will be built in one of the towns where we have been working (we live in one of a string of four towns, each with a unique flavour and set of needs, but they are close enough that we can work in all four from whichever one we build the House in), and we believe that God will call a team of dedicated prayer warriors to come and join us in the ministry.  The foundation is prayer, and evangelism, which may demonstrate itself in many ways, including visiting homes to pray for the sick, and hosting prayer services for the community.  Our hope is that one day we will have a team large enough that we can have 24/7 prayer in the House.

    We desire to be filled with the Spirit of God that we might pray with power and authority.  We desire to see nations transformed, the gospel carried to those who have not heard, the sick to be healed, and for those with no hope to find it through relationship with Jesus Christ.  We believe that God will accomplish all these things through our dedicated pursuit of His face.  

     The next thing we asked the Lord for was a name for the House... He told us: 

    Paz Abundante 

    which means... abundant peace

     

Quinceñera

Finally a post from Dave!!!  Today's post will be about the quinceñera.

What is a quinceñera?  It is the birthday celebration for many girls that have a Latin American background.  It is to celebrate their fifteenth (quince) birthday, as the U.S. has their “sweet sixteen” birthdays.  Here in Guatemala it may look a bit different as we have crossed paths with many different fifteen year girls; they have been on a variety of life paths by the time we’ve met them.  There are some that have already experienced child prostitution; some are already a mom; some have made the choice of marriage; some are seeking fervently after the Lord; some have either only the mom or only the dad; some are orphaned; some are working; some are washing clothes, cleaning houses, making tortillas, or working in the fields for some extra money; some are in school; some are playing in the streets.  Wherever life has taken them, their fifteenth birthday comes around and culture tells them that it is time to celebrate the girl becoming a woman.

Here in Guatemala, people give any reason to celebrate, the quinceñera not weighing in cheaply.  I’ve seen pictures of some quinceñeras where it looks fancier than a wedding.  And living here at Lake Atitlán, some people have money, some don’t.  In turn, this celebration can cause people to take out loans, which they pay back slowly with an outrageous interest rate.  It is a day that girls dream about and talk about growing up, with their friends.  They may forget the rest of their birthday celebrations, if they’ve even had any, but they’ll remember their quinceñera.  They have now become grown-up.

Why all this quinceñera talk?  We partook in learning more than ever about the quinceñera these days.  There is a girl, from Puerta Abajo (Chimaltenango), who we have known for almost two years now, who turned fifteen.  Her dad left when she was an infant; her mom got together with another man, whom she is currently with, and has had three more children.  The dad always seems to be working; in fact we’ve never actually met him, until the day of the quinceñera.  Yet the money never seems to make it home; it is little what he earns and he ends up spending it in different manners.  This fifteen year old wasn’t able to attend school in 2014 because she had to help her mom around the house and because the dad didn’t think too highly

of her education.  Thankfully, as we could convince them that education was a good idea and they didn’t have to be the ones paying for it, this past school-year January-October she was able to go; she came out as one of the top students in her class, with the majority of her grades falling between 90%-100%.  We pray that she’ll be allowed to continue pursuing a better life.  As she is not this man’s biological daughter, he doesn’t always treat her kindly and it has a negative effect on family life.  Every time we visit Puerta Abajo, we go with a Guatemalan missionary couple from the capital, and we find that there is always need with this family; the struggle with the dad/husband, finances, and food.

Right, her quinceñera.  I had the privilege of taking her out of the village and go shopping.  When dreaming of the quinceñera, the girls dream about their dress.  This girl, being of a poor family, she chose a simpler dress that she could use again, though it was still very elegant.  Next I got some of the necessities for a quinceñera: heeled-shoes to show that she is now a woman; a tiara to show that she is the Lord’s adopted princess and daughter; a ring to show that she is set apart for God and marriage; and makeup and hair products for the big day.  As we put on this special day with help from this missionary couple from Guatemala

City, they did a lot of the other logistics.  Of course, being a chef, I took care of the main dish: pepian.  I prepared, for fifty people, this Guatemalan dish which consists of a roasted tomato based sauce (that has pumpkin seeds, which gives it is name), and a meat (for the occasion and the sake of cost, I did chicken).  When the day came, word spread, and over a hundred people came; thankfully the Lord multiplied and everybody was able to eat.  There was rice, pepian, tortillas, cake, and a drink.  There was eating, fellowship, tears, laughter, and even singing of “happy birthday” in English.

During the special day she was filled with emotion and excitement.  We were able to tell that she was deeply touched and appreciated all that was done for her.  We were able to share some passages from the Bible and a word about identity and how God sees her.  Following that we were each able to pray for her life and future.  We hope that by showing her God’s love on her special day; that her life will be impacted and restored; may God move in a supernatural way on her behalf.

For the Joy of It

The knock came at the door around 5:30pm.  It had been a long day, and I was feeling worn out and discouraged about trying to adjust to life in our new town.    I was in the middle of making dinner, but I hurried to see who had come to visit us.  It was a new friend of mine, a lady who lives only a few blocks away. 

I invited her in, noticing that she had brought her little daughter with her.  She was very direct and said that she’d come to see how much I would charge her to give English classes to her daughter, Patty.  I said that I didn’t offer classes, nor was I looking for money, but that if she just wanted to bring Patty over to play a couple mornings a week that she would probably pick it up naturally.  My friend thought that sounded great.

Patty came to play the next morning, and it was instantly obvious that she was a bright and funny little girl, and that she would have no trouble at all picking up English.  She and Z spent the first morning colouring, and playing with toys, and painting pictures.

 It was truly wonderful. 

As you all know I have been praying for a sibling for Z.  There have been many days when I felt angry with God for not providing a real friend for my child, someone who he could spend a lot of his time with, not just see once in a while.  So many of the kids here treat him differently because of his skin color, and I wanted to find him a friend who would treat him like a peer, not a pet. 

So God sent Patty.

I don’t know what happened really, but God has used that little girl to show me how to find joy in my life again.  How to be a happy mom again.  Z had been so lonely, and now he is content becuase he knows that every morning his buddy is coming over.  I can enjoy him as my only son without feeling guilty and sad that he doesn’t have siblings. 

Before, I kept thinking that God expected me to start up some kind of huge “ministry”, and to spend my time visiting hospitals and preaching in the streets or something.  There is value in all those kinds of work, but for me I had become burdened with “missionary guilt”, thinking that I needed to be busy all the time.  I felt guilty when I enjoyed a quiet day at home with Z… but God has used a three year old to remind me that being a mom is my most important work.

These days, my mornings are full of playdough-shaping, finger-painting, mud-cake-making, and story-reading… and the walls echo with the giggles of to little kids that I adore.  I make them snacks and tie their shoes, and watch them run outside... 

just for the joy of it.    

  

Friendship

What is friendship?  Is it merely time spent with someone else, or is it more?  Is it conversations deepened past the state of the weather and familiarity with another person’s history, or is there a greater purpose for friendship?  In the past six weeks I have learned a lot about what it is to be a friend, and not just friendly. 

Our friend Juan helped us move.  He rode along in the truck with our boxes and beds, and helped unload everything when we arrived.  Then he went home to Antigua. 

And suddenly we were alone. 

We knew that moving to a new town, without a team or pre-existing ministry, would be challenging.  We expected to feel lonely at times.  For a couple days it was pretty isolated, but three days after moving we invited Chris over for dinner.  She was a friend-of-a-friend, and even though we didn’t know her, she was more than happy to come over and enjoy a meal with us.  We connected instantly.  Her sarcastic humor kept us laughing, and her compassionate heart comforted me as we sipped tea and chatted in the living room.  She even took the time to sit with Z and do a puzzle.  

The next day, Chris brought over a big bag of spinach for smoothies, since I had mentioned that was something I liked to make. 

During this time, our neighbors, Maria and her son Kevin, were over almost every day, helping us figure out the logistics of life in a very different setting than what we were used to.  They invited us to church, and to parades, and we shared time around the table over multiple meals and pots of tea. She was ill for a couple days, so we brought dinners and prayed with her.   

Our only contacts in our town prior to moving, Pastor Antonio and his wife Kata, also extended friendship to us in the form of spending one morning a week teaching Kata to cook North American style food at their house and then sharing lunch together.  It has become a weekly tradition that everyone looks forward to, although Z’s favorite part is getting to watch Dora the Explorer on their cable TV. 

Over the first three weeks we discovered the other three white missionaries that are working in different towns around the lake.  Each one of them had been feeling isolated from any form of Christian fellowship in English, and so the Saturday night potluck was born.  If you know me, you know who’s idea that was! 

Yesterday night we had dinner with Kevin and his mother.  It was a time of laughter and good conversation, ending with a pot of popcorn and a 500-piece puzzle after Z had gone to sleep.  We introduced Kevin to the melodious sounds of Taylor Swift, and talked about his dreams to be a television anchorman. 

It got me thinking though, what is friendship and why is it so important?  I’m not a philosopher, so maybe my answer isn’t very profound, but to me, friendship is filling the gap.  I showed up in a new town six weeks ago without a single person I would have called a true friend.  I was feeling a little scared and very much alone in the world… and then people stepped up to fill the gap.

Living at the lake still feels foreign to me, but I can feel my heart beginning to take root.  Instead of loneliness and displacement, I have a network of friendships to depend on.  I want to be part of their lives, and they want to be part of mine. 

A cup of tea.  A loaf of bread.  A puzzle.  A smile.  A healing embrace.  A shared prayer. 

Friendship isn’t complex.  Find a gap.  Fill it.