Happy Belated Christmas Season....I will catch up!

I am a little behind with the blogging, no doubt! Here is a pic of some of my children in our chapel during Christmas time. We put the tree up in here so that all the children could enjoy it. I am sitting in my 'grandma' rocking chair. Just preparing for the future. We enjoyed celebrating Advent and making lapbooks which are a fun way to organize information.


Christmas day was spent throwing candy and little gifts out the window as we pass by groups of children along the highway, wishing them una Feliz Navidad! We cooked a Christmas feast and had a grandmother, her two grandchildren, her sister and her two kids over for dinner. The grandmother, Julia is living with her two grandchildren in a adobe and cornstalk hut. It was abandoned by the owner and so they moved in. Dirt floor, open fire in the main room, no running water, no toilet. We are trying to invite them to live with us, but so far, no response. The mother of these two children leaves them in pursuit of a man that they tell me is her husband. But less than two months ago he left her and now she has run off with him again, leaving the grandmother and her two children in this hut. It is frustrating to desire to bring them in to take care of them, but it appears that they do not want to do this. If anything happens to the grandmother, the childen would have to fend for themselves or wait for their mother, hopefully, to return. She already has two more children from this other man. It is a very, very sad situation.

div>


This is a picture of the grandmother and her grandchildren. The grandmother is on the far right and her grandson, Giovanni is standing on the bench in the back, and Maribella is on the left next to Ryan (he's the one with the goofy look :) We are hoping to get Maribella in school permanently but her mother doesn't have her birth certificate so the school can't register her. We won't lose hope, hopefully........




We had Matt and Molly return for a visit. They had lived with us for 3 months this past year and we and the kids have really missed them! The kids would ask about them every once in awhile. The children seem to easily attach to our visitors, especially those who are involved in teaching them. Here we are celebrating Epiphany with a King's cake. The tradition is to hide a little toy baby inside, which represents the baby Jesus. Whoever finds the baby gets to be "King" for the day! Luckily no one chewed into the plastic or there would be another trip to the dentist.

Soulful self
Anything you do from the soulful self will help lighten the burdens of the world. Anything. You have no idea what the smallest word, the tiniest generosity, can cause to be set in motion . . . Mend the part of the world that is within your reach.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes

A Moment to Meditate

God IS love
This is the lesson I have learned.
You never know what form love will take
You can't predict how it will come to you
And the way in which it will come
Because love is truly a bigger power than our hearts can actually hold
And so often we block it for the fear of its power
Yet if we truly lived in a world of love we would see no fear
It is fear that blocks us from the full experience of God as love
Fear that keeps us trapped in our bodies
Unable to express all that we were created to be
Because we are love
Truly, we are created in the image of God
And God is love
Did you get that?
God does not represent love
God does not exist as a mere face of love
God IS love
When we love in the world, we are sharing God
When we allow love into our lives we are experiencing God
So often we are afraid of love because it's power is so encompassing
I'm not talking just sexual love .... I am talking about love that seeks justice
Love that seeks to clothe itself into compassion
This is the type of love that God is
Too often we espouse love as a feeling
But just as God is multi-dimensional, so is love
So don't pretend that love comes only in one form
At one point in time
In one body
God is not limited to the constructs that we define Him as
The boxes that we put Him in
God is love
God IS Love!

Charlene Nafziger

Los Patojos

Here are a few pictures with the children....did I tell you that I have grown to love them? Every individual personality. They are doing well. School's out for the year and so they are quite happy!We just finished a nine week class on the Fruit of the Spirit. We had a puppet called "Gusanito" - the little worm. The other pictures are of us singing a 'joyful noise' unto the Lord...and I do mean 'NOISE'! We are out of tune and the kids are using our rudimentary instruments, marachas, penny whistles, drums made out of bamboo, tambourine, and eggs that I filled with beans. But I love to hear us bellow out a tune in Spanish! I remember when I had to write out everything and would hardly try and say anything to the children for fear they might respond and I would have to answer with the few sentences I had memorized. Oh the ego of it all. But it has taught me that simplifying our speech can be a good thing. We have a tendency to fill the world with words and less meaning.



























This is Anayeli, to the left and Paola to the right of her. Anayeli is Paola's aunt! Anayeli's mother has 14 children! They follow me around like my shadow when they are here. I'm thinking of teaching them how to bake and maybe we might even try a little sewing. I had a great time with them and my friend Alicia. We had the girls over for an afternoon sewing doll clothes by hand. I was amazed how Alicia could whip out a cute little dress with t-shirt material. I'm grateful that I have a girlfriend here. We actually can have a pretty good conversatin though she speaks at the speed of light. I have stopped asking her to slow down, I'm just trying to catch up. I think it's working......









div>

Goodbye Rain

Another wet season come and gone and here are the results in no order of importance! Ahhh, to have dry clothes is really a gift. I am not used to living in so much humidity. The cement walls hold the dampness and we end up having to hang not only our laundry but clothes that have been hanging inside the house during this time. My leather jacket was producing some mildew which could have been the next pharmaceutical wonder drug. Another interesting tidbit, wood furniture also likes to produce it's own green carpet if left to itself. I try not to leave the house without checking out the 'scent' of my clothes first.

This last tropical storm did a number on our roads. Potholes here and there and everywhere. But the real problem are the homes lost to the torrential downpour. And, ofcourse,crops lost, especially the corn that is so important to the people here.

Here is Margarita at her finest, just about ready to 'dar la luz' which in Spanish is 'to give light'...I love that expression for giving birth.

She really was a belly dragger for quite some time, swinging that belly back and forth....kinda reminds me of middle age hehehe.....

She gave birth to 5 little kittens, 3 black and white, and one that looks just like her. Twenty four hours later she gave birth to the runt who is black. We adore them all. Now, you'll love this, I thought she had tumors, I was too naive to think that a young cat, whom we just got could go off in the blink of an eye and do the hanky panky. But she did, and THEN the day she gave birth I heard the crying of her first one and thought 'that darn cat has drug another live mouse and is eating it alive!'. Time to read up on cats on wikipedia.

And here she is with the first one.....(the little rat)















8 weeks later..










Negrita" small black one






Now, this bottom picture is not for the faint-hearted. This is something that Izzy, the chicken killing Rottweiller got a hold of one night. She actually punctured the armor of the armadillo. I was horrified, but what can you do when you live on a farm? I think the animals here are re-populating. I heard that a local man used to hunt on this property and sell the meat. Who knows what we will find in the future. If only our dogs would leave them alone. Even seeing squirrels are not usual, at least while I'm walking around. People like to capture them and put them inside a very tiny cage where they just run in circles all day long. I wonder if this is where the idea of a hamster wheel came from ......

Just an Ordinary Day...

"The Sacredness of Ordinary" by Pema Chodron
Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite.It actually takes guts. Each time we drop our complaints and allow everyday good fortune to inspire us, we enter the warrior's world. We can do this even at the most difficult moments. Everything we see, hear, taste, and smell has the power to strengthen and uplift us.

Once upon a time, if I needed a break I would jump into my car and head out for a cup of coffee, or to a park, or go see a movie, or shop. But living up on the mountain away from suburbia and living in the rhythm of a much simplier lifestyle, I find that I am learning to find the 'sacredness of the ordinary' in my daily life. Sometimes it's just going to feed the animals or watching the baby kittens wrestle with each other. I'm learning to be aware of what I'm doing, even if it's just washing a counter top or hanging up our clothes on the clothesline (haha to all those homeowner's associations that won't allow THAT!). Today, I found this in my daily devotional also:

"The common drudgery of daily life can be a Divine Calling. We often speak of a young man as "being called to the Ministry"; but it is as fitting to speak of a carpenter being called to the bench, the blacksmith to the forge, and the shoemaker to his last. "Brethren," said the Apostle, "let every man wherein he is called, therin abide with God." Remember that your life has been appointed by God's wise providence. God as much sent Joseph to the drudgery and discipline of the prison as to the glory and responsibility of the palace. Nothing happens to us which is not included in His plan for us; and the incidents which seem most tiresome are often contrived to give us opportunities to become nobler, stronger characters. We are called to be faithful in performing our assigned duties. Not brillance, not success, not notoriety which attracts the world's notice, but the regular, quiet, and careful performance of trivial and common duties; faithfulness in that which is least is as great an attainment in God's sight as in the greatest.....Take up your work, then, you who seem to be the nobodies, the drudges, the maid-of-all-work, the clerk, or shop assistant. Do it with a brave heart,looking up to Him who for many years toiled at the carpenter's bench. Amid the many scenes and actions of life, set the Lord always before your face. Do all as in His presence, and to win His smile; and be sure to cultivate a spirit of love to God and man. Look out for opportunities of cheering your fellow-workers. Do not murmur or grumble, but let your heart rise from your toil to God your Maker, Savior, and Friend. So the lowliest service will glisten, as grass-blades do when sun and dewdrops garnish them. - Fred Meyer


Have a Blessed, Sacred, Ordinary Day!!!!

Seven Celebration of 9/24/04

Tonight we had a beautiful celebration of our calling to Opal House seven years ago today. Will made some homemade pesto (our basil is doing well)and I set up a cozy table for dinner in the center of our chapel. We lit candles on the table, on the children's altar up in front and on the back wall. It was so peaceful. Will,Ryan and I ate dinner and we shared our story with Ryan on how we came to live here up in the mountains of Guatemala. Then we spontaneously had a worship service afterwards. We held candles while we sang songs, each of us read a Scripture and just enjoyed the beauty of our chapel with the view of luminous, billowly clouds hanging over the lake at sunset. Ryan felt that we should close this special night with s'mores made over our propane stove. He really had to force us to do it....
Today was so sunny, it was easy to forget that we are still in the rainy season. Really, they should just call it the 'flea season'. This has been a never ending battle with those tiny creeps. I drowned them with the garden hose the other day. I felt somewhat joyous doing it. It doesn't help that we had one momma cat and her 5 babies and JoJo living in the sunroom. I can't spray more Avon Skin So Soft or Off Insect Repellent than I do now without creating a health hazard for myself. It's just an irritation but it can make you crazy! Speaking of insects, Ryan is now learning all about those creepy creatures, fleas included. I'm homeschooling him here this year and I'm enjoying re-learning alot of what I have forgotten over the years. He has alot of visuals around here.He happened to be reading up on quails and it just so happened that we have added a couple of quail to our menagerie of animals. He could immediately make up close observations. And we planted a wild flower garden and have many different types of insects visiting it daily. I see his excitement over learning from life that is happening around us every day. He found a dead possum...no, it wasn't playing dead..it was dead. The first one seen here. I think the Mayans have somewhat cleaned out the mountains of most small mammals. Ryan is now the head caretaker of the animals. I hope he'll take it to the next level and clean out those pens. We still want to add chickens and maybe a pig (hopefully one that does not look like Wilbur, I will not have the heart to make it into pork chops)
On another note, Guatemala had their elections on the 11th of this month. The guy who won has a campaign symbol of an iron fist...'mano dura'. He's an ex-general of the 35 year civil war here. It's an indication that the people want someone who can do something about the violence in this country. Unfortunately, it's like they don't remember that it was the generals and the army that killed over 200,000 rural mayans. There were protests in the streets in some of the pueblos around here afterwards. But we heard that it was over the election of the local mayors. The people feel that many votes are bought.
It is amazing to see how the past seven years have flown by and where we are today. We are grateful and are content with where we are. We have learned to just live in the rhythm of the day like our neighbors and stop to enjoy the beauty that is surrounding us. Yes, we have had to make adjustments, especially living in the rural mountains....like flea season, keeping the mice from turning our roof into a condominium, bats in the belfry, picking out insect parts out of my teaching supplies, run-away goats, disobedient dogs, fighting rabbits, falling into mole holes, african killer bees that are just passing by...well, you get the picture.