Good Friday in Antigua

Got up early (whew...6 a.m. we were out the door) and headed to our first Easter celebration in Antigua! Here's a pic of our missionary friends, Matt and Molly and our Guatemalan kids and our first family (Veronica, Michelle and Rudi). We were amazed at the artwork of the alfombras (carpets of colored sawdust) and the amount of time and effort to construct each one. It truly is a labor of love. The main procession was HUGE! The platform was like one enormous flat casket. The men's faces wore the pain they must have experienced carrying it around the streets of Antigua. The first parade was about 3 hours long. We spent our time watching the floats, the children collected the little adornments that were within the alfombras (so did Will!) He actually collected some of the flowers left behind. For the family and kids this was their first time in their own old capital. They hardly ever get out of the rural area they live in. They couldn't sleep the night before because they thought they would sleep in and we would leave them :(.....We had a wonderful time, despite the heat and crowds....

HE IS RISEN!!

What an incredible gift!....Pictures for the first time since I've begun this blog! And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Thanks Molly :) This is a picture of our table center piece. The flowers are from the local market, the risen Christ made from a carpenter that really got into it and made him a little larger than I needed, but hey, it works! And the tomb is my attempt at paper-mache. Worked out really well, it's amazing what you can do with modge podge and a little chicken-wire and leftover stationary. Last night we watched "The Passion" again. And it still is a picture that leaves you overwhelmed and silent at the end. All for the love of each one of us, that's our Jesus. He is why we are here, He is the reason I continue on this journey of transformation...I expect it, I long for it.

Our other picture is an attempt to capture our new method (new for us)of teaching the history of our faith to the children. It's the montessori method. It's called "Godly play". Instead of traditional teaching of just transferring information from my head to their heads with lots of motion to 'keep them interested', you leave space for God to speak. By simply using our little props we share the story but leave space for the children to wonder, to listen, to be present. You don't have to fill every moment with speech. And it teaches the children to just sit and listen, meditate. Alot of times it's more about entertaining the kids, and eventually you have to be more entertaining then the last time. And even the 'craft time' is really time for them to express what they feel the Holy Spirit is saying to them through the story. I don't need to create the 'craft', they simply are offered the medium in which to express themselves. Hard at times because this requires them to be self-directed. But getting 'out of control' is a good thing. God can speak to them directly. I receive alot of joy just using my own imagination (and some input from others ideas) to create the individual props for each story. Our Resurrection story had all the disciples, Jesus, Mary and her friends, the Roman soldier, Judas and his money bag, the bread and wine, the crosses, the thieves...all made from old-fashioned clothespins. And let me tell you trying to dress all of them was a challenge! But I love it, absolutely love it. To see the children sit practically in silence as we place all the figures during the story is priceless to me. They just watch with intensity and then at the end we ask what is called "wondering question", open ended not asking them the questions expecting them to answer like a parrot whose been trained to know what to say. I'm already onto my next set of props.
This is our first Easter here and we look forward to celebrating with our friends and neighbors. Tomorrow we are off to Antigua to witness one or more of their processions through the streets. We hope to find parking! Then on Saturday we are taking our children to the neighborhood waterfront for a picnic and fun. For some it will be there first time there and it's just 7 miles away. I'm grateful for this time of remembrance for all the joy and grace that has been given, not only to us, but to the world!

I Will Make You Fisher's of Men

Beautiful Sunny Saturday. But I do enjoy an afternoon rain shower every now and then to give the flowers and trees a little drink and dampen the dusty roads. "I will make you fisher's of men"...Words of Jesus that changed for me this morning as I became a fisher of 'avocados". Matt, one of our long-term missionaries, made an "avocado catcher" with 3 long paint brush extender rods all attached with duct tape (love the stuff...) and the bottom part of a liter bottle of soda....plus more duct tape, and walla! An avocado catcher. There's a method to yanking avocados off the tree without causing it to 'jump' out of the catcher and rolling down the hill. Unfortunately, the majority of our land is hillside and so I had to go a hunting quite a few times. I was reminded of one of those sports fishermen shows where the guy is on a boat with a huge fishing rod trying to pull in a big marlin. That's about what I looked like trying to snag a big avocado high above my head. Tough....just plain tough. But I proceeded to reel in a quite a few and then called it a day. Unlike fishing which you have the reward of a meal afterwards, we must wait a week or so for the avocados to soften. But my hope is to try some of the recipes in an avocado recipe book given to me from some good friends. All things avocado. Soups, salads, deserts, jewelry, cosmetics.....it's amazing what you can do with this fruit. I'm not that crazy about avocados (the texture bothers me, like eating butter), but Allie, our German Shepherd, loves them. She runs with them in the grass, tossing them for awhile before she proceeds to devour them with great gusto. Then she has the pit in which to entertain herself with. This morning she ran with me around the milpa (cornfields). This dog actually does not run, she gallops like a horse. We had a few close encounters as she grazes by me, on her way to the next thing. I found myself just laughing and enjoying the scene. She is a picture of unfettered joy.
And so life on the farm can be full of simple joys. Like 'catching avocados', galloping with Allie around the cornfields, eating a sweet lemon off one of our fruit trees, hanging laundry out to dry in the fresh morning air, hearing our 3 yr. old, Mishel, chatter about what? We can't figure it out!
These are the things that I remind myself daily to be present to. As a good friend once said "Today is a gift, that is why it is called "The present"........Stay in the present.

What it might be like to have an orphanage....

We had our first 2 night sleepover for our kids! Crazy, absolutely like zoo-keeping! Kids running around playing, doing their homework, taking showers, laughing, shouting....I think you get the picture. The showering was the funniest thing. The kids loved it. I'm assuming having warm water for bathing is like a ride at Disneyland. They laughed and shouted, it was very funny and I'll never forget how they enjoyed their new p.j.'s. A huge 'thank you!' to those who donated those p.j.'s. They were so cute on the children. They each got a new headband for their hair. We had story time just like we are used to doing with our grandson, Ryan. We received some beautiful large (and I do mean large) children's books that were very much appreciated. Thank you to Jack and June Bower for that gift! I tried to type out some rules and regs...who am I kidding???!!!! Try, try again. Will and I were exhausted after the second day and I thought to myself 'how on earth did you think you could maintain an orphanage?'. But ofcourse, we would need help, lots of it!
Last night we were invited to one of our worker's daughter's first birthday. First birthdays are a time of thanksgiving and celebration. We missed our guardian's son's first birthday because we were in the U.S. But we got to see what a celebration looks like. We walked into a courtyard with pine tree boughs spread on the ground everywhere. They had set up tenting to keep out the rain. There were benches and lo and behold a band! An eight member band with speakers 7 ft. high! And lots of them. I was worried because we were sitting closeby. I haven't figured out why so many speakers are needed in such a small space but it was the same way in Venezuela. The Pentecostal churches would be very small, but the speakers would be enormous! The music was great, I danced inside a house with the kids but did not have the courage to do it solo outside where the music was being played. There was a reading of the daily Liturgy and lots of prayers and blessings for the family. They had 6 large cakes and they blessed us with dinner of chicken and rice, which is an honor when people do not have much money for their own families. The people were very gracious to us Norteamericanos. For some reason I was a child-magnet. I couldn't help talking to them (I'm much more comfortable with them than with the adults. They are much more understanding with errors in speech). And at the end I had to invite more of them to my little school that I hold on Friday and Saturday afternoons. We're growing out of our sunroom which is where I not only hold the classes but store all my supplies. I so need to get organized and purchase or have cabinets made. I look forward to having my little escuelita (God willing). I see flower and vegetable gardens, parrots, chicks, rabbits, a soccer field etc., in our future. Glen is finishing the children's play area and it's a smashing success with the kids. He even constructed a see-saw from wood. Yesterday the kids were standing and sitting on it for a total of 10 kids! We were concerned that it would not hold up! He also made a climbing rope which they also enjoyed. We are still trying to purchase palm roofing for the treehouse. Glen even made outside balconies for the little house! Amazing. I can only imagine what the adults feel when they see such fine construction for a child's treehouse.
Our lives are becoming busier, much like in the U.S. and that concerns me. I love it and yet I don't want to become unable to enjoy a sunset or sit with others and just chat. I try to stay prepared for the classes even as I am trying out a new method of teaching that is in keeping with the Montessori method. Breathing deeply helps. I thank the Lord for our rich life that even with all it's little frustrations (yes, and big ones too) we are very grateful for having the sense that we are becoming true neighbors here and for the fellowship that God sends our way.......

Reconnecting.....

Back from a two week stay in the States. At about day 2 I felt I was ready to go back 'home'....home?! Yup, up here in the rural mountains of Guatemala, I feel like I am home. How on earth did that happen? Life in the states looks so sterile and feels sterile. The only home we seem to find is with our faith community. And I suppose that is by God's design. We do miss fellowship on a larger scale. We are integrating little by little but at times I find it hard to listen ever so carefully, until my headaches at sermons or dialogue that run too fast. In time, I tell myself, in time.....And the spanish class goes on.
A scripture that has really stuck with Will and I is Isaiah 49:8-12 (from the "Message"):
"God also says: When the time's ripe, I answer you.
When victory's due, I help you.
I form you and use you
to reconnect the people with me,
To put the land in order,
to resettle families on the ruined properties.
I tell prisoners, 'Come on out. You're free!'
and those huddled in fear, "It's all right. It's safe now.'
There'll be foodstands along all the roads,
picnics on all the hills-
Nobody hungry, nobody thirsty,
shade from the sun, shelter from the wind,
For the Compassionate One guides them,
takes them to the best springs.
I'll make all my mountains into roads,
turn them into a superhighway."

What a description of what we feel is going on here....Reconnecting. I pray that we are reconnecting the children with God. Each weekend, we put a story together from the Scriptures or other material focusing on His great love for them. Always a struggle with the language but I trust that some seeds are going out and landing in soil made ready. Putting the land in order is very prophetic. We've stopped the planting of the corn to give the land a rest. Pedro, our guardian planted about 4 acres with his usual amount of fertilizer and he yielded such a small amount of corn. I think the land is just flat our tired. We hope to compost and restore it. We have the word of the San Lucas Mission that they will help us to plant about 10,000 tree seedlings this coming rainy season beginning in May. Just this morning I walked only a portion of the property and tried to imagine what it might look like sometime in the future. Patience. We hope to plant some grass in order to have a play field for the kids. Just let them run in something other than dirt. As for the hungry and thirsty around us and having picnics and foodstands.....well we're opening up our home for our kids to come on Monday and Tuesdays for dinner and a shower and a clean bed in which to lay their heads. One of the children told me she sleeps on a carton and that her back hurts. The 'foodstand along all the roads' is actually quite amazing, in that we have been planning to open a little foodstand near the lookout point at the edge of our property. What we'll sell remains to be seen, but the ideas are building. This may be a future venture for the women who live here. It's not easy creating options for them. They may weave but hardly have an outlet for them as the place is saturated with textiles. We think that we may have a good location to have the women sell their foodstuffs since it is now unoccupied and there seems to be lots of traffic at times. We also have springs that are actually running off into the next property. We hope to capture that soon.
Most of all, I'm grateful that the Compassionate One is guiding us. How on earth could we make sense of all this without Him? My heart is that the children will know that we love and care for them. Their families will continue to be poor, continue to search for work that lifts them above the poverty level. We wish we could 'employ' them all, give to everyone who asks of us (and we hope to if it's in our power to do so....). But we take it one day at a time, one request at a time, one life at a time. And all the while, I find that the transformation that needs to take place is in me. But ofcourse, that's how it works.......

First Puppet Show !

Today we had the children's club and I can't tell you how much I love it, and I know that I'm in my element. Glen made us a puppet stage and the kids have made puppets with these huge wooden spoons that I found in the local market. Today they made clothes for them and some of the girl's puppets look like little Mayan women with wild hair and eyes (probably a little ladina thrown in ! I told them the parable of the sower. I wish you could see the 'puppets' and props I used. It took some imagination to figure some of this stuff out, but I had so much fun. Then the kids went outside with chalk and made pictures re-telling the Parable of the sower and his seed. I plan on staying on this parable for a few more weeks. I'm not going to rush through these stories. Afterwards, we made homemade s'mores!!!!! I made some round little cookies, and had some chocolates that were also round. We gathered around our copper fire pit and roasted those marshmellows ....The looks on all of their faces as we put these sandwiches together! All of this is new to them and they are having a blast! They just hug us and I can see that God is weaving our hearts together. So I thank you for your prayers. Somewhere in my heart I have a little seed of a dream to have a little 'esquelita'. (A little school). I already have the place picked out. But I will try not to run ahead of God........

"I Have Consecrated this house, says the Lord"

Today we broke ground on our new chapel! Amazing, definitely NOT coincidence, but all of today's scripture readings were about temples. Ezekiel 47; 1 Corinthians 3; John 2:13-22! We all felt a sense of wonder now that the chapel has begun. This morning we gathered with our crew and spanish teacher (who are becoming more like family) and prayed for the dedication of this chapel. I suspect this is the first time for some of them to begin their workday praying with their work team.
This has been on Will's heart for some time. I have definitely felt the need for a quiet place of reflection and being alone with God. The vista is incredible, it will be as if we are suspended over the lake! We hope to have a more monastic - type chapel, much like we experience at the beautiful 500 yr. old monastery-turned hotel in the old Guatemalan capital, Antigua. My hope is to bring my children from my kid's club into this sacred space to learn to be present to one another and God in a more worshipful atmosphere. Praying and singing in spanish is next on my list.....if I can just speak, period.