Chicken Graveyard in the Rose Garden

  I have begun to have a taste of what it will be like to be bi-lingual.  We`re not there yet, but we`re to the point where I can switch between languages without really realizing that I`m doing it... most of the time anyway.  It`s been two and a half months of language school to get here, but I can see our progress and it feels great to be getting somewhere! 

    Now I can understand when people talk about Z`s blond hair as we weave our way through the market, or surprise people by responding to questions they didn`t think I`d understand.  Makes every minute of study worthwhile when, for example, I was walking through the market with the chicks that I`d bought, and two ladies started talking about the chickens and wondering where I`d got them.  I just smiled and said, “oh, I got them from the lady in the next alley over from here.”  They laughed, realizing the gringa could understand them!   

    

Some of the current DTS students at our house to meet the first batch of chicks

 

      The real advantage though is to finally be to the point where we can minister more effectively.  Dave continues to love being part of Bible distribution every week, and has had the chance to go into many homes and pray for people in difficult circumstances.  We took a daytrip into the city to celebrate our Spanish teacher`s birthday at the Zoo, and got the chance to connect with her daughters, which was very special for me... like have little sisters around again.  J 

       

None of the pictures of us all looking turned out... so this is the group of us wandering through the zoo. 

     The green house is beginning to feel like home, even in its continued state boxes and suitcases since we don`t have any more furniture than we did in my last update... just goes to show how little is really necessary to live.  We have five little chickens, four of them are new, because three of the original four died within the first week.  So now we have a chicken graveyard in our garden, along with a few new plants that Dave put in alongside the roses that were already here when we moved in. 

  

    Z loves the remaining yellow chick (from the first batch), and has named her:  Huddle Beedo Stian.  I`m assuming that the last part is named after a friend from our DTS Outreach team, but the first two names I don`t know about... and why a chicken needs three names I don`t know.  But anyway, Huddle Beedo Stian and Z have a wonderful time together, and H.B.S. is the only chicken that will let Z pick her up... so that must mean she loves him too. 

 

Z with Huddle Beedo Stian

 

      Well... as you can see, nothing too exciting is happening these days... thank you for praying for us as we continue to build a life here in Guatemala.  We walk in the hope that the Lord will use us in mighty ways to bring the people to a full and saving life in Jesus Christ... but some days it just feels hard to be so far from home... every day is an act of faith that God has called us here, and we wait for His promises to be fulfilled.  Thanks for reading!  

And the 1st Family member to visit us in Guatemala award goes to... Cousin Sarah King!!!  She came on a missions trip and we got to meet up with her in Antigua for a fun afternoon of shopping and ice cream!