More Pictures...

All of the roads and sidewalks in Antigua are made of stone. It is pretty but can make for some treacherous walking conditions! I am amazed that a lot of Guatemalan women wear high heels. I am sticking to my flipflops and tennis shoes for now.

There are many hardworking people in Guatemala. I couldn't believe this man who carried a heavy dresser on his back, a rope across his forehead bearing the brunt of the weight. I have no idea where he came from or how many miles he carried that piece of furniture.

This is the small patio area that is right outside our room in our host family's home. The umbrella on the table is about 6 feet high and takes up most of the patio area. Our host mother told Daniel that it is a good exercise for his back having to duck so much.

This is the street that we live on.

Standing on top of the roof at our school, a volcano in the background

Dad, these two shots are for you. This is what I was trying to describe to you. When you enter the front door of our host family's home from the street, you enter onto a tile driveway. There are about three cars and four motorcycles that park here at night. To the right of the picture is the medical clinic. In the back is the home. The door that is slightly open above the red car leads to our host family's part of the home. The three doors on the second floor are their bedrooms.

Meals

Several people have asked us about the food here. We have been very pleased! Our host mother is a very good cook. We have liked almost everything that she has made. Above is a picture of soup that we had for lunch one day. The vegetables were not put in the soup so that we could add whichever ones we wanted.

In Guatemala, lunch is the main meal of the day. It is the largest and usually the only one where meat is served. Typically, black beans and plantains are served every night for dinner. It has been a little bit of an adjustment to get used to all of the beans, plantains, and drinking so much hot tea.

Most families here drink hot tea or coffee for breakfast and dinner. Water is served at lunch. They eat smaller portions than we are used to. Most people do not go back for seconds. There are not many overweight people in Guatemala! Daniel and I have both had to tighten our belts an extra notch since arriving here. Well... that could be from the sickness too!

Below is a list of what we ate last week, to give you an idea of what the meals are like here.

Breakfast:
Monday: scrambled eggs, toast with strawberry jelly, 1 slice of pineapple, hot tea
Tuesday: cereal, toast, hot tea
Wednesday: French toast (I don’t know what else was served because I was sick the night before and did not go to breakfast this day)
Thursday: scrambled eggs with diced tomatoes, bananas, papaya, bread, hot tea
Friday: pancakes with honey, bananas, hot tea

Lunch:
Monday: chopped meat salad, small potatoes, broccoli, tortillas, water
Tuesday: spaghetti, salad, tortillas, water
Wednesday: chicken noodle soup, toast, small tacos, 1 slice pineapple, water
Thursday: eggs in a tortilla, broccoli, water
Friday: noodle casserole with red peppers and mushrooms, spinach salad with grated carrots and lime, strawberries, tortillas, water

Dinner:
Monday: chulitos (small tamales), black beans, plantains, bread, hot tea
Tuesday: black beans, macaroni & cheese, plantains, bread, hot tea
Wednesday: black beans, fried rice patties, sliced carrots, broccoli, bread, hot tea
Thursday: black beans, small potatoes, bread, hot tea
Friday: black beans, plantains, bread, hot tea

My New Amigo With Nylon Strings

If Kara has been able to make friends with new dogs, I needed to make friends with a new guitar. I haven't been able to play much since leaving Douglasville, and I really hated not having a guitar here in the country with me.

So Saturday Kara & I walked past a music store and decided to look in- we found this blue beauty and a case for about $73.

Ahhh... I'm much better now.

Herbert

We have a cockroach that lives in a small hole in our shower. I discovered him as we stared at each other face to face, his antennae twitching and protruding from the hole, as I was washing my hair. Needless to say, I was not very happy to see him, especially since there was only about four inches between us. After repeated encounters with him, I decided to name him Herbert, in the hope that by personalizing him I will not be as afraid of him. This morning, I discovered a roach lying belly-up on the floor of our shower. For a brief moment, I was sad thinking that it was Herbert. However, I then noticed the familiar twitching antennae sticking out of the hole. What would showers be like without Herbert?

It's a pretty city

We haven't ventured out much at night yet, but it's really pretty. They light up all of ruins; this is the cathedral right off of the city's central park.

Settling In

One of the good aspects about being so awful at speaking Spanish and having to be in language school for so long is that it gives us a chance to settle in somewhere for a while. It seems like forever ago that we were living in our house in Douglasville. Since then, it’s been more than three months of packing-unpacking-packing again, going place to place, living out of a suitcase. So it’s good to know that we’ll be here in Antigua with a place to call home for the rest of the year.

One of the aspects of leading such an unsettled lifestyle for several months is that it’s been difficult to have any kind of regular time/place to pray and make a habit of meeting with the Lord. I’m really thankful, though, that being here for a couple of weeks now has allowed us to find a good spot to do that. There aren’t many students in our school in the afternoons, and the roof has a great view of the city and the volcanoes that surround Antigua. It’s nice to be able to settle in and have a place to pray with my eyes open and pay attention to God’s presence in this city. (The pictures are of the view from the school’s roof.)


Here's a picture of me with my spanish teacher, Harvey.

A Familiar Face in Guatemala

Our host family provides three meals a day, six days a week. We eat on our own on Sundays. Never in my life have I been so excited to find and eat at a McDonald's! It was finally a familiar place and familiar food. I was glad to find that it even tasted the same! It may become a Sunday ritual while we are in Antigua.

Making the Most of Storage Space

Storage space is limited in our room, so we are using some other places to put our things. We really overpacked! We realize now that we can get by with so much less. Why did I pack so many shoes?!

Pictures!!

The front of our house. The medical clinic is on the right, the front door is on the left.

Our desks for studying lots of Spanish!

The view of our bedroom from the door. We have two twin beds pushed together. Daniel is very glad that there is no footboard!

Our bathroom


Hopefully, we will be able to post more pictures tomorrow!

Our Host Family & Home

I am very frustrated that we cannot post pictures on the blog for some reason! If anyone is familiar with blogs and knows what we can do to fix this problem, please let us know!

Telling you about where we are staying would be so much better with pictures, but words will have to suffice for now. We are staying with a couple -- Roberto and Sandra who have been married for 23 years and have four sons: David (21), Roberto (18), Samuel (15), and Miguel (11). Roberto works in Guatemala City in some form of business administration. Sandra hosts students for extra income and is studying on weekends to become a lawyer. They are a very sweet Christian family and have been very welcoming to us. However, it will be so much better when we can actually communicate with them! Right now, it is rather lonely in the home and awkward at meal times.

It is common in Guatemala for extended family to live together. Our home is divided into small apartments. Sandra's mother, brother & his family, sister & her family, and nephew and his family live on the lower level. There is also a small medical clinic that the family operates on the lower level. Sandra's father was a OB/GYN, her brother is a pediatrician and her niece is a dentist. On the upper level, other family members have apartments and then Sandra and her family have an apartment. When you climb the stairs, you enter into the living room/kitchen. There are three bedrooms off of this main room -- one for two boys, one for the other two boys, and one for Sandra and Roberto. Past the kitchen is a small open-air patio. Our bedroom is off of this room and we have our own small private bathroom.

We have a large window, which looks out onto the patio area, and runs the length of our bedroom. It does not close so it seems like we can hear everything in the house! The patio area is a popular place for doing laundry and playing soccer, so we certainly do not have a lot of quiet time in the room. I also find myself whispering all the time because I think they can hear us. Of course, they probably wouldn't understand what I was saying anyway!

We really like our family and the location of their home is very convenient. It is only 4 blocks from our school and 1 block from the central park. Last night, we went for a walk in the park after dinner and people-watched from a bench for a long time. After complaining to Daniel about how frustrating it is not to understand what is going on around me, a group of English-speaking college students sat down next to us and taught me a valuable lesson. As they discussed in extremely inappropriate language their drugs, drinking, and upcoming parties, I was reminded that not being able to understand the conversations around me is not always a bad thing! Possibly it is a blessing!

You'll have to wait for the pictures...

Hmmm... We're here with pictures ready to post, but it's not working for some reason. We'll keep trying to get them up the next time that we get back to Pollo Campero.

It's a little frustrating to try this and it not work, but it's okay because while we've been here, we've discovered the deal of the century. Campero has ice cream cones (big ones) for just 3 quetzales each- or about 40 cents! Antigua just keeps getting better!

Sorry for the Delay!

I know that we promised a post about our host family and pictures of where we are staying. I am sorry that it has taken a few days to put that on here. When you don't have the language skills to communicate and ask questions, everything takes so much longer! It has taken us a few days to find a place where we can connect to the Internet. Thursday night at dinner, through much fumbling, we were able to ask the family about it. One of the boys told us that a fast-food restaurant, Pollo Campero, which is only 3 blocks from our house, offers free wireless Internet. What a blessing!

Ahh... Antigua!

We finally made it to Antigua. We've begun language school and have met our host family. Kara's going to say more about them later, but she has already made a good friend in their dog, Dolly.

Our first day at language school was challenging. Kara and I both realize how far we have to go before we can communicate easily with people here. But it got off to a good start as we got to know Arturo, the language school's director. He was running the school when Kendon & Wendy went through 18 years ago and has become a trusted friend of theirs. As we talked with him, he told us a little bit of his story. When he opened the school in 1983, he occasionally attended church. One of his first groups of students was a group of missionaries from YWAM. As they finished their studies and were leaving the school, they asked Arturo if they could pray for him, which they did. They surrounded him and laid hands on him as they prayed. To that point, he had been addicted to cigarettes. A few days later, he gave them up and has never smoked since. But that wasn't the only difference- his voice started to get emotional and powerful when he then started talking about the change in how much he loves Jesus. He said he and his family now attend mass every day, work with the youth, and help with the music. It was a joy for us to sit with him as he talked about what a gift it is to be able to share the love of Christ with his family.

In school, Kara and I each have our own tutors. We sit down with them 1-on-1 for 4 hours each day. It's pretty intense, but we both enjoyed getting to know them. My tutor and I meet on the roof of our building, and I took the picture of the volcanos that surround Antigua from the roof during our break.

Many thanks to all of you who prayed for us to recover from our sickness. We've both successfully eaten big Guatemalan meals now and walked all over town, so I think our recovery is complete.

We're so excited to finally be here, getting to know some wonderful people and see the Lord in new ways...

A Day Out of Bed...Finally!

Today was a GREAT day! We are starting to feel so much better, even giving our stomachs a big test with pizza tonight... no problems yet! Although we are still a little weak, we ventured out into the city with Wendy for about an hour and it was nice to have a change of scenery from our bedroom. Tonight Kendon & Wendy invited us into their home to have pizza and watch a movie. How wonderful it was to have fellowship with a family and hear English for awhile! God is truly blessing us through this couple, and in so many other ways as well. We plan to head to Antigua for language school tomorrow!

Our evening dose of medication... and boy are we thankful for it!

Our first big adventure out since Thursday -- a trip to the grocery store with Wendy to buy a week's worth of food for the children's home. It was a lot of food -- two heaping cart loads! I took this picture of the raw meats section because the smell and look of it was quite a test for our recovering stomachs. Shortly after, Wendy informed me that the store owners do not like people taking pictures because they think they might be shown to their competition (... and their competition can't visit the store themselves??)

It was great to feel well enough to do a load of laundry today! It took a long time to get everything hung on the clothesline... and then take it all down again 20 minutes later due to an approaching thunderstorm. I guess I should learn from the example of the children -- they wash and hang their clothes to dry at 6 AM! We are in the rainy season right now so, most mornings are clear and the afternoons have scattered showers. We sure wish that we could send some of this rain to the ranch, Dad Harris!

God's Provision

It's been a long few days with our new amoeba friends, but I'm thankful to say that we're both doing much better. Wendy got us lots of medication- we each took 5 pills at dinnertime- but it's doing its job. We're not back to 100% yet, but we're on the way.

Even though getting sick so quickly here hasn't been any fun, we're seeing God's provision in countless ways. First of all, getting sick down here at some point was probably somewhat inevitable, so it's actually a good thing it happened when it did. If it hadn't been this week, we wouldn't have had a clinic on site and a nurse here who speaks English and who has been taking excellent care of us. It would have been much more miserable if we'd already been in Antigua and had been staying in a family's house with whom we couldn't communicate very well. Then also having the clinic right here, we were able to get a diagnosis and medication very quickly, where as that process would have been much more difficult if this had happened next week, once we've started language school.

The Lord's provision is coming in a lot of other ways, too. The internet makes communication so much easier- so being able to talk to family several times since we've been here has certainly made the transition easier. But especially with the sickness, this week hasn't been a honeymoon- then again, we didn't sign up for one. We came here wanting the Lord to teach us things that we really need to know.

One of the ways that is already happening is by seeing people's dependence upon prayer in a whole new way. I never used to think much of praying for safety in travel, but after driving around in Villa Nueva and Guatemala City, I'm all for having an entire worship service in the car before setting out to go anywhere- traffic here is nuts! My concerns about driving here, however, are trivial compared to the things for which other people are utterly dependent upon prayer- like food, health, or the safety of their children amidst gang violence. We heard the other day of a teenager who used to go to school here who was killed. I was pretty saddened by the news, then little Kevin came up and gave me a hug and I became even more thankful that he's living here instead of out there.

One more way we've experienced God meeting our needs- this evening Kara and I were talking about how it's different being here without a church team, and how for now (since we can't communicate with most people and we can't really get started on our work yet) we just don't seem to have a place. Right after we said that, we heard a knock on our door, and it was two of our favorite little guys, Sammy and Giovanni, demanding that we play cards with them. We agreed and went outside to play. It took us a minute to figure out what the game was- but it became obvious that it was a 4-man game of war. Both of the boys were cheating like crazy- Sammy played a king of spades about four times in a row, but playing with them was just what we needed when we needed it.

There certainly is no limit to the ways that we can see God's faithfulness, but I think we do have to be paying some attention. Normally we wouldn't have noticed the Lord in a couple of boys cheating at a card game, but it was pretty obvious tonight.

Starting Off With a Bang

Today Daniel and I were both diagnosed with amoebas and an intestinal infection. We certainly didn't waste any time! We are trying to keep a positive attitude about this or I may just start crying and want to catch the first plane home. The last 24 hours have not been enjoyable but things are starting to get much better. Thankfully, Wendy (one of the missionaries) is a nurse and she is taking excellent care of us. We were both started on two medications this afternoon that should be pretty fast-acting. I sure hope so!

Yesterday, Daniel and I took a trip into Guatemala City with Wendy to purchase some things for the new girls' dorm. On the return ride, I started feeling sick. Last night I began throwing up (and the other stuff -- can I say diarrhea on here?! Oh well, why not. I might as well be as honest as possible on our blog) so many times that I lost count. At one point I was lying on the floor with my head in Daniel's lap and he covered me with the prayer blanket that we received from our home church. In that moment, I could feel the prayers of our family and friends and I can't tell you how much of a comfort that was! Daniel took wonderful care of me -- getting me water, cold rags, and rubbing my back. There is nothing like vomiting and diarrhea to make a marriage stronger!

At 3:30 AM, Daniel started having fever and nausea. Thankfully, he has not yet experienced the other stuff -- just feeling low energy and nausea. We are so thankful that there is a clinic and doctor on site so that we could be tested promptly and begin the medication. Wendy assures us that the first time that you get this is the worst and subsequent times are much better. Although, I certainly hope that we don't have any subsequent times!

We sure would appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery and tolerance of the medication. We had to take five pills at once today; my sensitive stomach does not appreciate that very much.

Thanks be to God for caring people to take care of us, provision of medication, His comforting presence with us, and the prayers of our loved ones!

Daily Dose of Pepto

This is a picture of Daniel enjoying his daily dose of Pepto Bismol. Yumm! We were going to be brave (or foolish??) and not take it this trip but the missionaries urged us to take two doses a day during our first two weeks, while our bodies adjust. After feeling sick my first night here (most likely due to some odd tasting cream cheese in the Houston airport and not Guatemalan food), I decided they were probably right.

Happy Birthday Karla

Birthdays are fun here at the children's home. Today was Karla's birthday; she turned 11. All of the kids share a good birthday cake and sing a lively spanish birthday song and count out the number of years, the birthday girl (or boy) gets firecrackers popped in their honor, and they get to go out to a special meal with Kendon & Wendy. And we've got another birthday tomorrow...

We made it!

Everything went well today, and we're here at the children's home. It's nice to be in the land that needs no air conditioning! It's great to see all of the kids again- and have them laugh at us because we don't speak Spanish, but we'll be working on that starting on Monday.

It has been a pretty long day- we didn't finish packing until late last night (nearly midnight). We had a little excitement, though, to give us a diversion from packing. Missy, the red-tongued dog, found a 5' rattlesnake in the yard around 10 pm. She started barking, so we went outside and I had to hop a couple of fences to get to it, but I killed it- with a little help from my dad. I couldn't be there for nearly a month and not kill one...

Anyway, we finished packing and then got up to go to the airport at 3:30 am. My parents got up early with us and took us to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye to them- we got pretty used to seeing them the last few weeks. But we were also excited to get to Guatemala. All of our bags met the weight restrictions- one was exactly 50.0 lbs! We flew from Midland to Houston on an iddy biddy plane which was definitely not built for people my size. But it was a nice flight.

When we were in the airport in Houston, we got a nice surprise during our layover. Kara looked at the gate right across from us and saw David Depew, the president of our mission organization. He was catching a flight to Nicaragua just a few minutes before our flight to Guatemala, so that was a fun surprise to get to see him.

When we got to the airport in Guatemala, Wendy (one of the other missionaries here) was there to meet us. It was kind of a crazy scene, with a crowd of people around us with whom we can't communicate. Thank the Lord for Wendy! She brought us back to NLCH (after a stop at Pollo Campero for lunch- yum), where we got to see these wonderful kids again and even got to have a tour of what will be our apartment when construction is finished. It's really nice...

It's great to be back here. We've been talking about it for so long, and now it's finally happened. Now we just pray that this whole experience can be all that the Lord desires it to be for us.

Happy Birthday, Krista!

My sister, Krista, is celebrating her 32nd birthday today (I hope that you don't mind me putting your age on here -- what else are little sisters for?!). I am so blessed that we have always had a very close relationship. She is a Godly woman who has provided me with a wonderful example of a great wife and mother (she has three children under the age of five!). Krista, I love you very much and I hope that you have a wonderful birthday today!

Today is the Day!!!

It is now after 1 am and we leave for the airport in less than 3 hours ... I can't sleep. I am sitting here reflecting on what this day means. I thought that I might feel sad or scared when this day arrived. Surprisingly though, I am very happy and excited.

Since this adventure already seems like it has been a long time in the making, I thought I could use a reminder of why we are going to Guatemala. I started reading some of the entries in my prayer journal (which I must admit, I am not too consistent in keeping). I want to share an excerpt of one of my first entries about Guatemala. It was on December 1, 2005: "I feel that I am at a crossroad and this is an extremely important time in the course of my life. Do I really believe in you, Lord? Do I trust you? Do I believe that there is more to you than I know right now? Will I follow you even if what you are asking me to do doesn't make a lot of sense? I could be happy and content working, raising children, believing in you, reading my Bible and attending church. I could be content with a mediocre relationship with you -- but could it be that there is something so much greater that you desire and offer? What would it be like to step out and fully trust you, Lord -- to see who you really are, to fully devote two years to you not really knowing why or what you plan to do, to fully trust you when others think that we are crazy, when we think that we are crazy, when the many doubts set in? How can we be sure that it is you leading? -- and yet, we continually end up back at this point where somehow we know that for some reason this is right for us. May you give us the courage to face what lies ahead. We desire you, Lord. Your way is not always easy but we want to follow it. We want to take the chance to experience and search for what could be -- to dare to think that you really do offer more than I so easily settle for."

Thank you for accompanying us on this journey! May you experience more of God today than you thought possible.

I hope to post again later today ... from Guatemala!

Packing... and Re-Packing

It is extremely hard to pack everything that you want for two years in two suitcases that cannot weigh over 50 pounds. I was very proud of myself when I was able to condense things enough to fit in my two duffle bags (of course they were bursting at the seams!). Then, Daniel weighed them and much to my dismay, I learned that my first bag was 15 pounds overweight and my second was 19 pounds over. I was close to tears – Daniel, seeing this, offered to put some of my things into his bags. He should win some kind of great husband award for that! I also eliminated several things that I decided I could surely live without and now we have four bags that meet the airline weight limitations. Hopefully, the airport baggage scale is the same as our bathroom scale!

Support Update

We just got a new report, and we're now at 79.09% of our fundraising goal...

More Campmeeting Pictures

Our nephew, Jack. This was the coldest & wettest campmeeting I can remember. It rained every day and the temperature was in the 60's a lot. It made for some happy ranchers.


Our neices, Brooklin (5), and Hannah (8).


Kara's dad looks pretty natural in his hat & boots.


Me, Adam, and my dad.

Campmeeting 06

We returned last night from our annual trip to Bloys Campmeeting in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. There aren't many places in the world I enjoy being more than I enjoy being there. My family has been going since my great-grandparents went in a covered wagon in the early 1900's. You can read more about the history of the campmeeting here.

The days at campmeeting are filled with worship, beef, and lots of sitting on porches. (Sounds like glory to me.) It's special because it's a place where my family and others have gone for 5 generations now to reconnect with the Lord and with friends. This year was really meaningful to us since we know we're heading to Guatemala this week and that we may not get to be there again for a while.

So it meant a lot that we could be there, sing some of the same great old hymns that my great-grandparents sang there nearly a century ago, hear some good preaching, and visit with family and friends. I loved getting to see my brother, Adam, and his family. It was especially fun getting to know his baby boy, Jack, who just celebrated his first birthday last Friday.

This year also meant a lot because Kara's parents came for the first time. They flew into Midland on Friday evening, so we were able to spend four days together at the ranch before going to campmeeting. On their first morning at the ranch, they were welcomed to West Texas by a 6 ft. rattlesnake that my dad killed right outside the house. I think that they enjoyed their time here, especially at campmeeting. I know that we enjoyed having them there with us.

The night before Kara's parents left we had a special time of prayer with them and my mom in the prayer chapel at campmeeting. I can't imagine doing what we're about to do without the support of Christian parents. They certainly don't want to see us go, but they absolutely want God's will for us. Hearing our parents pray for God's blessing on us during our time in Guatemala will be a memory that we carry with us while we're there.