The Beginning of Work

Well, our first team of the season came on Monday night, and left for their sister church on Tuesday afternoon. We just fed them 3 meals. I have never worked so much or so hard in my life!

On Sunday, we worked ALL DAY hanging stuff up, making minor repairs, making curtains, setting up cots/tables/chairs, washing all of the 30 plates, bowls, mugs, cups, and silverware, as well as all of the pots and pans and plastic ware. Then we went grocery shopping for the all of the fresh food and food that couldn't be bought in bulk in the city. Then we unpacked the food. We went to bed about midnight that night.

On Monday, we worked ALL DAY cleaning vegetables (along with our 2 national staff) by scrubbing, rinsing, soaking in bleach, rinsing in filtered water, drying and putting them in plastic bags, re-cleaning the entire 3 story house, baking 2 loafs of bread, cooking vegetable soup for 16 people and assembling a garden salad, feeding the group, cleaning up after them, then putting up all of the bulk food items that were bought in Guatemala City. We went to bed about 11 that night. I woke up every time I moved because my body was aching all night.

On Tuesday, we worked only part of the day preparing breakfast, serving breakfast, cleaning up after, preparing lunch, preparing a snack for the group to take on the road, serving lunch, cleaning up after lunch, and spot cleaning the house after the group left. I went to bed at 8:30 last night.

All this with Deacon sick with an ear infection and spoiled from being held from the ear infection. Whew. My body is not prepared for this type of work/schedule! I keep thinking about the dozens of people that I know that work this hard day in and day out. They clean houses for a living, they mow lawns, they lay parking lots, they build houses, they run daycares! They work because they have to and they enjoy it. They get bored sitting at a computer to send/receive e-mails. And here I am, with 2 1/2 days of real physical, hard labor (hard for a pregnant lady) and I am achy and tired.

But the amazing thing is the kind of satisfaction after this kind of work. First of all b/c we got an amazing amount of things done in a relatively short time. Secondly, because everyone raved about the food and the team really enjoyed it! Finally, because we were getting to serve these missionaries who are coming to minister to a body of Guatemalan believers. They will be working in a village for almost 4 days and serving and loving and ministering.

Many times during the work, I would be complaining in my head. I would get frustrated at all of the work. Then the Holy Spirit would tell me that I was walking "in the flesh". I was assuming, even for those few moments, that this was all about me, my comfort, my desire to relax. The truth is, that it was a struggle to keep a servant's heart. An attitude of they are more important than me. And after all is said and done, I am getting to receive the peace and rest and getting to realize the value in having the attitude of Christ Jesus. God's way really is better. The team is coming back on Saturday for another 2 days, and I am getting excited to serve again. You can pray for me!

We're all ok!

(photo is not from here!) Well, we felt our first earthquake here in Guatemala. It isn't our first one, but it is the first one we've felt. We have had a couple of inquiries as to how we are doing so I wanted to fill you in on what happened.

It was a 6.8 earthquake off the pacific coast of Guatemala. At about 1:30 our time, we were getting lunch together when the gate at the foot of our stairs started rattling. Then all of a sudden a photo from the top of our TV fell down. It still didn't register what had happened. Then, when our hanging light fixtures started swaying Brandon said "This is an earthquake!" It was very cool b/c we could feel the house sort of swaying a little. Now don't get me wrong, it was extremely mild, and if we had been outside, we wouldn't have even noticed it. Deacon and I hung out under a support beam for next 15 seconds and then it was over! We have felt no aftershocks here or anything, and the picture that fell didn't even break.

So, all is well, and the Texas couple enjoyed the adventure.

An Exorcism By The Unemployed?

I hate it that it takes me so long to get to blog. When I have free time, it always seems to get taken up by something else!

I wanted to give an update. Thank you to all of you who prayed for my "morning" sickness. I am so much better now. I am still nauseated some days, and usually every morning and evening, but I am not laid out on the couch. I can take care of Deacon again, and take care of laundry. It is such a blessing to feel better. When you are so sick like that, you appreciate feeling well so much more! I know that there are so many people (like my dad)who feel bad all the time. I can't imagine.

I want to tell a quick story about a family that we went to visit. They live about 30 minutes away from our house and we were taking some food b/c they are very poor and the children are suffering. We just took some rice and beans, but they were very thankful. When we were there, we found out one of the reasons that this family was so poor. The father didn't work. He wouldn't. "if the Lord feeds the birds of the air, and clothes the lilies of field, how much more he loves us!" This is his response to why he doesn't work. He is a religious fanatic, that won't let his sick, hungry children have medicine.

Ok, while we are there, we are looking around their house and they of course have no appliance, or even a floor for that matter. They are cooking over fire inside of a building. We are standing in clouds of smoke as we talk to the father. There are two totally emaciated dogs with patches of fur missing roaming around our feet, and the barefoot children play with a broken plastic tea set in the dirt with a chicken or two. We listen to him recount a very interesting story:

He tells about a girl who came to visit him who was possessed with an evil spirit. He tells of the miracle of two of them praying over her and exercising the demon. He then takes us to the other room of their two room house and plays the audio tape of the exorcism. This room had two beds, one little side table, and an enormous loom. The beds had springs, but no mattresses, and just had blankets covering the springs. After a little while we turned the tape off and he told me how bad it was that I was wearing pants. He also was worried that we weren't saved and so he repeatedly gave us the gospel, telling us that bringing them food would not save us. When our Guatemalan friend told him that we were missionaries, he said that the Devil could get a hold of even missionaries.

Anyway, we finally left, and boy we felt bizarre! What a strange experience. The poor children are suffering because of their extreme father. The mother said that she doesn't want to have any more children b/c she doesn't want them to suffer like this. Anyway, you can pray for that family.

Oh, life in Guatemala

The other thing, is that we only understood about 1/2 of what the guy was saying, and so we totally missed the pants comment until our Guatemalan friend filled us in on the way home. She also said that the man called her daughter, who was wearing pants, a whore. Brandon thought the man had called ME a whore and turned around to go back but we found out he only thought I wasn't saved because I wore pants.

At least it's not boring.

And another makes 4!

Meet the newest member of our little family! Well, this is just a picture of a baby at 9 weeks, but...many of you know this already, but WE'RE PREGNANT!
My gosh we are so excited! The due date is either Dec 31st, or Jan 3rd, which really means absolutely nothing because it should really be a due fortnight or due month. If this baby comes in December, then...oh my gosh!
Dec. 18th - Deacon's birthday
Dec. 19th - my birthday
Dec. 25th - Christmas
Dec. 30th - anniversary

The other thing is that I am very sick. Way more sick than with Deacon. (maybe it means we're having a girl) Maybe that is silly. I would like some input on this. I am actually having to take meds for the nausea. I feel like I am on the verge of vomiting ALL THE TIME but can't. I can't get off the couch with out feeling the urge to rush to the bathroom. That is where the meds come in. Also, having lost 6+ lbs. in the last 2 weeks, it is time that I eat...even just a little. I am taking stuff that makes me so sleepy but that is better than so sick. So, that is the reason I haven't been blogging.

Now we just have to figure out the pre-natal thing. I wanted to have this baby at my mom's house with a midwife, and so we are trying to ask all the right questions. The Dr. that delivered Deacon says I have to be back no later than 5 months for him to take me. I may appeal that. I don't know. Luckily I have a couple of months to make any kind of decision.

This is a little random, because I am a little doped up, but well enough to type on the computer. So it's worth it. This part of pregnancy isn't as much fun because I don't look pregnant yet, only feeling it. Can't wait for that tiny little tummy pooch. (that is a pooch from the baby, not from...anyway)

Ok--talk to ya later.

ALERT THE ENVIRONMENTALIST!

Ok - Not really about the environmentalist, but I am curious as to their solution to this little situation.

There is a lady who works for us every afternoon doing "domestic" things. For a while now she had been asking for our plastic trash. I thought she was using the old containers to store things in, b/c she is poor, and tupperware is a bit pricey.

I was wrong.

She uses the plastics to suppliment the wood in her cooking, because wood is expensive and burns up too fast. SHE IS USING BURNING PLASTIC TO COOK OVER! Cancer anyone? She has a little girl that she is cooking for too.

Now here are the questions: Do I tell her how bad that is for her and her family? I really don't think she can afford to not use it, and is it better to be able to cook food now and possible get cancer later, or to avoid the plastic now? Will educating her on the subject just make her worry about something she can't change anyway?

To the Praise of His Glory

Ok...our stuff that we shipped from the US got here yesterday morning! I am just more than excited. The strange thing is, I was pretty settled with the simpleness of our lives. (very few decorations, crappy pots and pans, only a pack'n'play for Deacon, only a laptop) Now, we have so much stuff...documents, and CDs and boxes and boxes of books, and, and, and. I guess I just have this sense of uneasiness. Probably in part b/c we have so much to unpack and really not a lot of places to put stuff. It sort of sounds like I'm complaining. The other missionary couple here (the Coreanos) had their shipment lost - can you imagine, personal things that can't be replaced- and so I am soooo grateful to have all of these things to make this place more like "home". I just can't shake this feeling. Just sort of this tension...I guess it's just more "American" here now than it was before.

I read this thing on Joye Messerli's blog the other day about the difference between a humble and a proud person. I have to confess that I was shocked! I was amazed at how I had slowly slipped into a pattern of prideful behaviors! Prideful thinking! Of course no one says..."today I will begin a struggle with pride" but the enemy is so deft at gradual erosion. I guess it is one of those laws of physics...that everything, if left alone, eventually goes to disorder and death. Really that sums up my problem. I had left that area of my life alone. I wasn't vigilant to serve and pray for others and be humble. I mean, I have been reading my Bible, but even that was sort of about "me". Thanks Joye for that...the Lord used you to convict my spirit and in His mercy to repent. That being said...

In Ephesians it says that when we believed in Christ, we "were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance" (1:13-14)

The question on my heart is: How is my LIFE marked? What evidence is there of this in my life? Maybe you think about that question a lot, but it's been a while for me. Physical tangible evidence that I have the seal of the Holy Spirit. Is it in how I love my family, serve my husband when I want him to serve me, invest in my baby when I want to put him in front of a cartoon so I can get something done? Is it in looking for ways (creative or otherwise) to lift up and encourage my fellow missionaries? Is it in serving the women that I hire to help in my house? Maybe it is in trusting God to allow my son to be a part of the culture when my "instincts" say it's not safe. I will be thinking about this question for a bit.

This question for me can be pretty self-deprecating until I finish reading that passage in Ephesians where it says that we are God's possession "to the praise of His glory" Again, even this is not about me. Praise God!

the Bus and the Puppy. (not realated)

Oh my gosh I don't even know where to start! It has been so long since I have actually sat down to type. I want to give everyone an update on what is going on here. I am still in language school each day for 4 hours (plus 1 hour in the bus - read on for a quick story about that!) We also have official jobs now. Mine is bookkeeper and I am "in charge" of the guest house. The reality is that my real responsibility is learning Spanish, but I know the direction that I will be going as my Spanish improves.

Oh, about the bus...I ride these minivans (micro-bus here) to school everyday. they hold 12 comfortably with everyone in a seat and the assistant standing, yelling out the window the destination to drum up business. Now this morning I got on the bus, and it had 17 people on it and I had to stand up. There are approximately 10 stops after mine before we get to my school, and I think we added people at every one of them! At one point, there was 25 people on that bus. That means I was standing as far back as possible with my rear end pressing against some ladies thigh (while some gentleman held my hot steaming coffee to keep it from scalding everyone at every lurch of the bus) and 5 more people standing, pressing against me. I really think one lady or maybe two were trying to sit in my lap, as I was bearing all of their weight with my little fingers frantically trying to grip the inside frame of the van, while white knuckled and perspiring. If you didn't know, I get very car sick.

Quite an adventure! Wanna come visit? :)

Ok...Now I will post photos of the precious puppy. Her name is Bella, and I think she is almost housebroken! Yeah! She has a tattoo of a number on the inside of her ear...something to do with registering her...does anyone know anything about that? Ok...be back soon.

Where's Jenny?

Hey everyone! I don't know if anyone reads this blog anymore...I haven't been on in a long time. I am getting ready to catch up on everyone's blogs. Not having internet has been really difficult! It is kind of odd how much we depend on internet in a third-world/developing country.
Well, I am fighting a monster sore throat, and missing my friends. All of the college girls, Jenny, Ruth, Constance....the entire playgroup. Ladies at CBC. Holly...man.
I am about to go to sleep b/c I get up every morning at 5:45 am to start the day. I just wanted to say "hi!" and I will be posting photos and videos of Deacon and our new puppy, Bella, soon. Let me know if you stop by.

Still here in Guatemala

I'm sorry that I have not been able to blog.

We were supposed to have internet at our house 6 weeks ago - welcome to Guatemala. I'll start blogging again when we get it - hopefully this week.

I have sop much I want to share with you all! I love you and miss keeping in touch with you all. Oh! My foot is better! almost....

We Miss Her

We found out Friday that Joan Floyd passed away.

I know if you knew her, you are missing her. If you knew her, you know how kind she was. How much of a servant she was to the women all around her. You know how she would laugh at all(or most) of her husband's silly jokes. You know that she loved her daughter and was so proud of the woman that she turned out to be. You know how strong and humble and selfless she was even when she was very, very sick. You know how the Lord used her and impacted a world of women that will have an eternal impact. You must also know already how the world is missing a piece of it's goodness now, a piece of it's faith, a piece of it's strength.

If you didn't know her, I am sorry for you. You missed out on an amazing work of God, and you should look forward to meeting her in Heaven.

To Paul and Stephanie - I wish that I knew how to heal your pain. You are grieving and we grieve with you. Your wife/mom made this world better. We love you in Guatemala.

INSIGNIFICANT FUTURE DETAILS

We are here in Guatemala City and have just purchased our new living room furniture at a Sears. A little surreal. Oh my goodness...Starting a house from scratch is such a fun challenge. I have my mom and my friends with some decorating know how (I am inept at it) looking out for some wooden furniture that we could have made here in Xela. So....if you see anything....let me know!

I want to let you in on my heart for a minute. Have you had a time in your life that was necessary and transitional? That is where we are. We are going to move in 2 months (we don't have much to pack) and we have to clean the new house and buy supplies, have furniture made, etc. At the same time, we are both in school for 5 hours a day meaning that one of us is gone for over 10 hours every day. We at this point don't really have much time to study the Spanish that we are learning in school, so language school is going slower than it otherwise would. I guess I am just feeling the culture stress thing. I don't want to be doing what I'm doing right now in terms of school. I just keep reminding myself that this is just a season. I just want it to go faster than it is going.

Right when we get started again on Spanish, we have to make a trip into the city for 4 days to get the topper put on the truck. We can't drive back to Xela on our own yet, so instead of leaving on Friday afternoon or even Saturday morning, we have to wait to follow another missionary back. This is for safety reasons. And when we are here, we have to stay at the Marriott (I am only half complaining about this one) because there is secure parking for the vehicles. It is like 3 times more expensive than staying at a hostel/bed and breakfast type room. I am enjoying the filtered water at the hotel though...I can brush my teeth with the water from the tap, and Deacon can't get a parasite from his bath! I am having a little pitty party here, and that is not my intention.

I know that the Lord is in front of us. I know that he is not surprised by our surprise trip to the city. I know that there are things that I must learn in His timing that I don't even know I need to know. In reality, it is hard to trust God when I am focused on me.

Please pray that for me: that I can turn my mind to things of God, and not get overwhelmed with the insignificant future details that God has already seen and dealt with. He is trustworthy. He is faithful.

Back Home?

Well, We are back in Guatemala. But we are in a town called Comitancillo (Comi) while we live in Xela! We were in our apartment for 5 nights before heading out to Comi to work for a week. We are having a good time though, and we are speaking Spanish a lot which is very good.

It has been so long since I last blogged because I hardly have any extra time with all of the travel. It's good to be back.

We have fantastic news! We have a house to rent! It is strange because we could never have a house like this in the states. We are sending a fantastic thank you to all of you who have prayed for us and supported us. God's provision is so complete! I want to tell you all about our house, and as you read it, please do a couple of things.


1: Please Thank God for it. Praise Him for it.

2: Please pray that God would help us to store up treasures only in Heaven, and that we would not become attached to the "things" that we have.







Ok. Our house is right next door to the Coreanos (the other missionary couple here with us with a 14 month old girl). This in itself is such an answer to prayer. It has a 2 car garage, which will fit our truck even with the topper on it. It is 3 stories with no yard. On the top floor is a divided balcony.










The first floor has the garage, a 1/2 bath, two living areas (later a homeschool room) and a large kitchen. The second floor has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with built in closets in 2 of the rooms and the hallway. The third floor is the roof top patio with another bedroom and bathroom (designed for live in help). We will be putting movies of the house on youtube very soon and will post the links on my next blog.
















Anyway, this is more house than we know what to do with for $50 less per month than we are paying now for a 3 room guest house apartment with rat droppings! We are only going to pay the equivalent of $333.00 and there really is not another house that is this new and clean (even much, much smaller ones) for less. Praise God!

All that to say, we have plenty of room for you to come and visit! We start traditional language school next week, so we will each be in school for 5 hours a day as well as trying to look for and purchase some appliances and furniture for the new house. We are going to try and move into the house by the beginning of April. :)

Getting Better!

Well, I am home from the hospital after my surgery. I feel pretty much ok, so thank you all so much for your prayers! The really crummy thing is not being able to nurse Deacon for the day because of the anesthesia. At first, they were telling me that I couldn't nurse at all for 24 hours after the surgery...weaning Deacon in one 30 hour period is not ideal! I did some research and talked to the anesthesiologist once I was educated on the topic and I got the OK to pump and discard twice and then I could nurse. It was quite a battle with the doctors though! They just didn't want to take the time to do the research! It was just easier for them to say "no nursing!"

There is another thing that you could pray for. I am starting my 3rd day of only clear liquids and it is getting a little old. I won't complain because saints throughout history have fasted and prayed for various things. Now, I am in a forced fast, so I might as well make it spiritual! I want to use this time to pray and get refocused on the love and Christ and my purpose of serving Him.

A real rant

I will say upfront that I am sorry if this offends anyone.

I have a couple of pet peeves that I wanted to rant about.

The first is home births vs. hospital births. With Deacon, I had natural (meaning no medical intervention including drugs) childbirth in a hospital. It was wonderful. I had a blessed experience and would not have changed anything.
That was perfect for me. My issue is when other people have an issue with how people birth their babies. When I was pregnant, I experienced basically two kinds of women. Those who would say "you aren't going to get an epidural are you? You know that can hurt your baby!" and those who said "Natural child birth? What? Well I said that too with my first baby...ha...just wait! Would you go to the dentist and say 'don't want the anesthetic doc...i want this tooth pulled naturally'..." Now, those are the extremes and there were plenty of women who just kept their opinions to themselves, but when the opinion was given, it was like that person knew exactly what was best for me and Deacon.

What happened to grace? What happened to letting people be? Is not the important thing that babies are healthy and secondly that the parents have a good birth experience? I had several women tell me how awful hospitals were and how they would force things on me and how dangerous hospitals really are...Bologna! At least not at every hospital with every doctor. I was not forced into anything, and every one was wonderful and respected my wishes! I also had women tell me horror stories of friends who lost or almost lost their babies because they weren't in a hospital. Fine!

What ever happened to allowing a mom and dad to pray and ask the Lord for guidance and make choices that are right for their family with the applause from others for what ever decision they make. HOME OR HOSPITAL BIRTH IS NOT A MORAL OR BIBLICAL ISSUE...LET PEOPLE BE! augh. This has been building up for a while...and for the record, we will probably have our next baby at home.

The other issue is the home school/private /public school issue. Basically, it is the same as above. For some families and children, home school is the best option! It does not make them socially inept or "weirdos" unless they were already! It helps some children excel in ways that they would or could not otherwise! Think of the child prodigy at the violin, who gets to practice as much as they desire because math class only takes 1/2 hour because the teacher isn't having to pause to make sure every student understands. Or the person with learning disabilities who feels more stupid every day they are at school because they can't learn the way the other students do.

For other families, public or private school is better! There are single moms and other financial circumstances where it is just not possible for a mom to stay at home and school their children when public school is readily available. There are also children who thrive in a more public environment. I would have gone stir crazy in my house with my mom all day, and I can't imagine my life with out the high school choir that taught me so much about team work and discipline and friendship. If every Christian kid was home schooled, who would be the light in the classrooms!

All that to say...what do you care how Mr. and Mrs. Soandso decide to educate their children? Is not the important thing that they get an education to begin with? Let people trust God to lead them to what is best for their family, and let's all let the Holy Spirit be the Holt Spirit and stop trying to take over His job! By the way... we will most likely be homeschooling Deacon for a while at least.

Ok, bravo if you made it all the way through this. :) I needed to get that off my chest.

God Bless!
P.S. For all of you who have given me your opinions over the years concerning various things...please continue to give them. I will! And I know that beliefs of what is "best" stem from love and respect. My issue is more with criticism than with advice. Thin line I guess.

Plans Change

(Deacon and Pa-Pa in Lubbock)

Plans change. Well, we are staying in the states longer than we anticipated. I am having a minor outpatient surgery on Friday and so will stay in Lubbock for an extra week. Don't worry, everything is just fine, it is just a little thing that needs to get done...so we're doing it.

Any way, I still have mixed feelings. The longer that we are here, the more that I get "used" to American things that make life a little more comfortable. I don't want to get used to it. But, I am not going to complain about an extra week with my parents and other family. This will also give us some time to visit a few people while we are here.

Please pray for me. Please pray that I can be diligent to use this extra week to study spanish. Please pray that my little "procedure" goes well. Please pray that God will keep Guatemala "home" in our minds so that we can continue our transition there so that we don't start all over when we do return. 7 weeks in Guatemala...almost 4 in the states. WE NEED TO GET BACK. It will be a while before we come back again.

Stateside

I am not sure how it feels to be here in the good old US of A. I mean I am glad to be here for the holidays, and I am SO enjoying my family and the very cold weather. I like the food and the ease of living (like microwave noodle dishes) as well as flushing my toilet paper.

I miss Spanish. I miss my friends there. I miss the mountains and the walks to the bread store and well...I miss Guatemala.

Really, I don't want to take any steps back in terms of our adjustment to the language and the culture. Everyone said that we would, and I really don't want to.

So, for the moment, I will enjoy where I am. I will enjoy my family and the fellowship and the Holiday season.
And then, I will enjoy going home after the holidays.

Please tell me where you are, and tell me why you enjoy it! I look forward to hearing about it!

Merry Chrismass!

holding down the fort!

This post was written yesterday: Saturday

Ok, so we don't actually have a fort. It's more like a hideout, but I'm holding it down as best as I can.

Brandon and the Coreanos left yesterday morning to go to Comi to do some work with some sister churches and to have some meetings. Honestly, at first I didn't want to go because if I did, then either Marissa or Deacon would have to go with out a car seat (not room). I struggled and struggled with whether or not I should go. I asked the Lord for clear direction, I sought wise council...but still I struggled with the decision.

Well, the day before they had to leave, I woke up with this incredible sense of clarity! There was no way I could go, because we are leaving for the US on Monday, and that would only leave me Thursday (Brandon and I are both in school that day) and Sunday to get ready to leave the country. There just wasn't time for me to go. (Brandon ended up skipping school that afternoon and we went on a date - need to write about that soon - it was fantastic!)

Anyway, I am still no clearer about the car seat thing. A wise old man (wink) told me that car seats are a false sense of security. Do I trust in the car seat, or in my God to take care of His children? I struggle with this point...why isn't the car seat God's provision for safety, and it is foolish to not use one unless absolutely necessary? This wasn't a necessary trip. Anyway....I would love your thoughts on that. I am not sure if I am just lacking faith in this area or not.

That was really a side bar. I am here alone in the guest house (last night there was not another person here) and the power goes out. I had just put Deacon to bed and I was standing in the bathroom (PITCH BLACK) when I remembered my brilliant husband had put a candle and matches in there just in case. Yeah! I was saved. The power came on and off many times, and finally stayed off for a couple of hours until I went to bed.

Then, Deacon woke me up at 7 with throw up all over his sheets, his blankets, his stuffed toy, his hair and his pajamas. Le-sigh.

The only other person here was still asleep, and Deacon needed his sheet washed (I only have one) and a bath. Then...the power goes out again.

We're all O.K. now, and God provided the help I needed with Eloisa (the woman who owns the guest house)

Deacon is feeling better since the Advil took the fever away, the sheets are washed, Deacon got a bath, and Brandon is coming home tonight! Yeah! I even got a tad bit of laundry done! (and obviously time to blog)

These days keep me dependent. I would take them any time. For the moment, I am holding down the fort, thanking God that I have a husband who is alive and well and a part of our lives and who will be home soon.

P.S. For all of the single mom's out there, my heart goes out to you, I pray for you, and I am proud of you.

"Evangelicals scare the _____ out of me"

Ok, talk about grace...

Why is it that I, being a redeemed child of the light, with the Living God dwelling in me, sin so often. And yet, I can be so critical of the unregenerate person living in darkness who sins?

All it takes is some time around judged people who are scared of you when you say you are a Christian to get you out of your "splinter in other person's eye" state of mind.

I was chatting with a girl at the language school who in all honesty didn't really look much like a girl (I had already made some judgments about her based on that). I was trying to get to know her because I am the "good missionary." She seemed closed off and timid around me. She had already heard that I was a missionary.

Then she asks why I am here, to which I tell her that I work with evangelical churches in the US and here in Guatemala, to which she says "so, tell me about your religion".

WHAT? HAS ANY PAGAN EVER ASKED YOU THAT QUESTION?? What a great question. That gave me an opportunity to tell her the entire gospel...not the legalistic get your life "good" to be acceptable to God crap of her past, but the true gospel of freedom and life and blessing in the fold of God.

She told me that evangelicals scared the F*** out of her (sorry for the language, that is what she said) because they are the ones who abuse her and protest her very existence. That is when her lesbian friend joined her and chimed in with a hearty agreement. My heart broke.

Their problem is NOT their attraction to other females. It isn't any promiscuity that they exhibit or the blatent sexual undertones to their daily lives.

Their problem is that they don't know Jesus the Savior and Redeemer. They don't know the freedom that they can have from themselves in a life of submission to Christ. Geez!

Well, I told them truth. The Spirit of God spoke to their hearts (and I don't say that lightly) and they opened up to me. They lost the fear of me when they knew that I wasn't there to bring condemnation, but good news.

They did not repent of their unbelief or their homosexuality, but they now know at least one evangelical Christian that is not protesting them, but loving them.

Grace at it's core is letting people be. Not being the world's personal Holy Spirit and letting God do the convicting and us the loving.

reading

I am inept at HTML so I can't figure out how to put the Thanksgiving picture in the correct place.

Ok, there are two new blogs to read, so make sure to look at both. This first video is of my precious baby reading. Books are his toy of choice right now, and sometimes if he is playing by himself we will "catch" him with a book open, pointing to the pictures and blah-dah-ing. It is sooo cute!

I also wanted to tell you guys about our Thanksgiving here. It was really fun and really strange. It did make me feel a real sense of longing for my family and friends in the states. Like, we had to explain what cranberry sauce is for because they don't eat it!

It was fun though because we got to explain to a bunch of Guatemalans the reasons we celebrate Thanksgiving, and got to basically share the gospel with people over turkey and black beans.
It just really makes one appreciate things.

Ok, I shared the gospel of Jesus with two lesbians the other day and with one 45 year old bachelor non practicing catholic (in English). All in one day! I will write all about that (hopefully) tomorrow or the next day. That was very cool.

The Market

The second video is of the second largest market in Central America in a town called San Fransisco. That may have been the strangest thing I have ever seen. So many things made me so sad, like the this particular part of the market. They were selling live animals, and this may sound strange, but the animals just looked sad. Even my teacher who was with me said so.

Anyway, it was cool, and I rode a "chicken bus" which is basically a school bus with a BUNCH of people, some chickens (listen carefully in the video and you can hear them), and a pig on the roof.

The best part was that I didn't get car sick because God is good and spared me. It is the only explanation.