What We Do

Because I tend to be the blogger in the family, and because my main ministry IS to my family, that's what I seem to write about...the day-to-day joys and struggles of life in Guatemala.

But I thought it would be good to blog about some of the other things we've done this year.

When we knew God was calling us here, we also knew that this was something that would need to involve our whole family. We were passionate about the fact that it wouldn't be just a "job" that Steve would go do, but an adventure that would involve each of us. And it has been just that.

The main thing we do here is help bring mission teams to Guatemala, and to host them while they're here. Steve is with the teams from the time they land in Guatemala City until he takes them back to the airport a week later. Well...he does get to come home for some sleep. He's very good at what he does, because he is excited about it, and other people catch his passion. His heart is to take people out of their comfort zones, to show them the need that exists around the world, and to pray that they leave here changed and ready to serve the body of Christ in a new way.

Because I homeschool, our kids are able to join the teams on different days. They've been able to go to the malnutrition center to love on the kids there. They've taken part in VBS outreaches, they've helped build houses, and they've climbed volcanoes. I don't know yet what fruit this will bring in their lives, but I am so thankful that they've gotten a glimpse of a world so different than what they've always known in America.

I've also gotten to join in with some of the activities, and I've gotten to be an assistant in the kitchen, where we cook meals for all of the teams. The best part of this is just chatting with the team members and hearing their stories.

I'd have to say that my favorite parts of ministry this past year were participating in the worship team at church and teaching English classes. I taught a group of 20 students who were very eager to learn English. If they can do this, they can get a much better job, so they were very motivated. And they were just plain fun! We shared a lot of laughs together as they learned new English words and I made many mistakes in Spanish, which they found very amusing!

When I reflect back on 2009, I am reminded how God is so huge, so in control, so purposeful and personal in our lives. He is writing a story that we never could have imagined. He is so loving that He allows us freedom within that story, and yet He will check us and guide us when we would choose a way that would not be for our best. I don't always get it, but I can look back and see His hand all over it. And when I see that, I know that the ending will be better than my wildest dreams.

Our Trip to the Park by Shelby

Nate has a new bike. He got it for Christmas. It is green.

When we went to the park, he went on the bike hills. Jackson and I love running on the bike hills.

I even made some smoke grenades out of dirt.

We walked Pastor Mike's dogs, saw some horses, went in the woods, and my mom and Miss Nancy went running.

We ate some bread, and I fed a little bit to the dogs.

It was super fun!

Top Ten

We're back in Guate after an amazing 2 week trip to the States. I could get all mushy and wax poetical about our time there, but I'm pretty sure I'd end up in a fetal position, crying and singing "Auld Lang Syne" if I let myself get the least bit sentimental about it right now. It's just a little too close to Christmas....a Christmas which will be our first one without any family. Aaargh!!! Ok, time to stay in denial and attempt to be humorous. I mean, that's a perfectly healthy way to deal with emotions, right?!

So, may I present my Top Ten List of Things I Loved About Our Trip. In random order, of course:

1. The FOOD!!! Good grief! I'd forgotten how many restaurants I'd forgotten about! Every time we turned a corner, we saw a place at which we used to love to eat. P.F. Changs! Chick-Fil-A! Five Guys! Krispy Kreme! I could've gone into a food coma. However, I restrained myself to just a few trips (Per week. Maybe per day. Whatever.) to Starbucks, and the kids got to eat at their faves. Apparently, they associate all things American with Cracker Barrel, and their dream came true on the last day of our trip.

And lest I forget.....there was some fabulous cooking by our moms as well. Grits. Pecan Pie. Yum.

2. Did I mention Starbucks? Oh, I jest. Combine Starbucks with the joy of walking into a REAL. LIVE. BOOKSTORE and my life is simply complete. This happened, and apparently I was so overwhelmed by the collision of two of my favorite things that I actually walked out without purchasing a book. Never happened before.

3. Running. Now, this was a treat. I guess I should give honorable mention to some of the other runners who joined me, namely my brother Travis, Steve....and Caron and Dad O. who played bodyguards on the bike. I got to run in the damp fall leaves of Virginia (TRUE off-roading!), the oh-so-chilly hills of N.C., and finally, the frigid city of Memphis. This was the site of my third marathon, the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. Amazing what a difference water stations, port-a-potties and NO traffic will make in a race experience! Of course, the finish line being in a stadium of cheering fans, the hot showers available after, and the buffet of pizza and other goodies didn't hurt either. Randy Long, a friend from Mississippi, ran it with me. Here's to next year!

4. Friends. Speaking of Mississippi, another gift on this trip was getting to visit friends along the way. We were so excited to spend a weekend with Randy, Penny, and Ben Long. Ben was an incredible intern with us in Guatemala this summer, and has become a good friend. Randy and I ran the race (and lived to brag about it!), and the Longs invited us into their home and to their church for a Sunday. We also got the chance to hang out with Rachel and Aaron Kelly(missionary friends from Guate who were in the States, too) and her family in Nashville. Rachel and I mostly used the time as an excuse to go to Target and Starbucks TOGETHER! It was a special moment for us, but I'm fairly sure the lady we asked to take our picture at Target just didn't get it.

5. Which leads me to what is undoubtably #1 on Jackson's list....Target. I'm not sure how many times we went here....to stock up on "essentials" of course, but I do know that every time we went, I was concerned at the rate at which my heart was beating. That can't be healthy.

6. Driving. Now, this might sound odd, but we love to travel the road. In Guate, my driving mainly consists of the mile-and-a-halfish trip to Antigua and then the fun of circling round and round the cobblestones looking for a parking spot. Or the take-your-life-in-your hands fun of driving to and from Guatemala City. So, the chance to drive a couple of thousand miles across a few states, take in some gorgeous scenery (loved those leaves!) and jam out to some good music was a journey in itself.

7. People. Maybe it was because we were in the South, but I was amazed at how friendly everybody was. In the Houston airport, the lady in one store was so helpful that I almost hugged her. But then I would've spilled my Starbucks.

8. New Places. This was a weird trip in the sense that both sets of our parents were living in new places. I've always thought of going "home" as flying to Florida, but now very little of our family lives there! My folks are enjoying their lifelong dream of running a B&B outside of Williamsburg, VA, and Steve's parents are semi-retired in NC. It actually was better than I imagined it could be. Both sets of grandparents have acres of land on which the kids could run! and explore! and get completely muddy! and although it was a different "home," it reminded me that it's the people that make it home.

9. Sightseeing. A plus of our parents NOT living in Florida was the chance to see new places. We spent one beautiful, drizzly day meandering through Colonial Williamsburg. We've done the actual Williamsburg experience before, but this time, we just toured William & Mary, poked through a few shops, checked out the fall leaves, and just enjoyed being together. What made it special for me was that both of my brothers were there, and that doesn't happen often. I'm pretty sure my mom was on happiness overload.

There was also a fun day in D.C. at the Smithsonian and a day in Memphis (Beall Street, Elvis, and Barbeque...which I smelled along the race course).

10. O.K. I am still NOT going to get sentimental. At all.

The best part of the trip was family. There's nothing like that love that has been there your whole life.

There's nothing like people who will get up at 2 in the morning, make you coffee, and drive you 3 hours to the airport only to turn around and drive 3 hours back home (thank you Mom and Justin).

There's nothing like people putting up with your ridiculous excitement about the little things you miss about America.

There's nothing like someone making a trip to the laundromat to do your dirty laundry when the washing machine breaks.

There's nothing like sitting around at midnight laughing until you hurt.

There's nothing like being together.

Can't wait until next time.

Ministry

I recently used the phrase "in full-time ministry" to describe our family.

It felt really weird, because I don't think of us that way at all.

Maybe it's because being a missionary doesn't look at like I imagined it would. All those years of sitting in a pew, watching slideshows of missionaries and their families posing next to people of varying colors of skin, in varying typical garb must have given me a lot of weird expectations.

I guess it's like being a parent. When I first became one, I kept thinking, "But, I don't FEEL like a mom."

I loved that baby more than anything, I worried about him constantly, and I lived for his toothless grins and laughs. But I kept thinking, "I'm not a grown-up. Surely someone is going to show up, smile kindly, tell me there's been some mistake, and take him away."

And then one day, I remember putting on my coat and heading out the door to run an errand. I put my hand in my pocket, and found that it was completely full of cookie crumbs. I pulled out my hand and stared at it, and that was when it hit me. I was a mom.

Being a missionary has been a lot like that. It's not until I'm telling someone new what exactly we do here that I think, oh....we are missionaries. But, when I tell them that, a lot of people seem to immediately put us on a pedestal. The most common thing they say to us, over and over, is, "I could never do that." I tell them that we are not special. We're a normal family (well, sort of!), and God can equip anyone's heart to do what He desires for them to do.

Ministry is not just a church service.

Ministry is not just living in another country.

Ministry is not just a degree from college.

Ministry is not just for the brilliant, the wise, the extremely gifted.

THIS is ministry:

In the Park

The scene:
Parque Central, in the middle (hence the word, "central") of Antigua, a place to sit on benches, drink coffee, and enjoy the day

The characters:
Steve and Shelby, age 8
Uhhh...that would be Shelby's age. Steve's is undisclosed.

The action:
Steve and Shelby are enjoying some time together before walking our mission team to church. A little boy approaches them and asks if they'd like their shoes shined. This is a very common occurrence in Central Park.





The dialogue:
Steve: "No, gracias."
Young boy: "Por favor."
Steve: "No, gracias."
Young boy: "Por que no??"
Shelby: "Daddy, if this little boy shines our shoes, and we pay him, will he be able to eat today??"

Silence.
Massive amounts of guilt being heaped upon Steve's head.

End of scene: Both Shelby and Steve leave the park with freshly shined shoes.

And a very happy little boy has 10Q in his pocket.

Beginning, Middle, End

Anyone can begin. That's the easy part.
We begin the school year with fresh, unsmudged notebooks, razor-sharp pencils, a lunchbox that doesn't smell like week-old crusts, a folder with everything neatly tabbed and filed.
But come Christmas break, the lunchbox isn't even used anymore, the pencils are missing all their erasers, and the folder? What folder? A backpack makes an excellent filing system, thank you very much.
We begin an exercise program with a plan, the best shoes to enhance our performance, catchy tunes on our iPod, and intensity in our hearts. A few weeks later, the snooze button is the only thing getting a workout.
We begin marriage fully convinced that OUR marriage will be the best, the most intimate, the one that defies every odd and every statistic. A few years later, we're pretty sure we married the wrong person. It must be their fault we're not happy, not feeling that first-kiss rush.
We begin parenting with great hopes, sure plans that we will never, ever raise our voice at our children, we will spend beautiful afternoons making amazing crafts, we will provide financial security for their every need, we will play boardgames every night after our delicious dinner consisting of every food group, and we will simply be the best parents ever.

Beginnings are easy. It's that tricky middle part that makes us want to quit. The middle of the school year, the long, mind-numbing miles 12-19 of a marathon, the times with our spouse when talking through things feels like too much work and too discouraging, the days of mommyhood when the clock seems surely to have broken.

I don't want to be a person who just survives the middle.
I want to begin and end well.
I don't want to always be pushing ahead to the next milestone and miss what God is doing in my heart, in my family's hearts right now. And even though some days are endless, and some days are glorious, I know that the long days, the hard days are the ones that build my character, that prove what I am made of.

Character is a rather unglamorous word. It certainly doesn't stir great emotion, but when you know someone who has it, and who demonstrates it when you need it most, you realize just how unimaginably beautiful it is.

It's often said that a marathon is a great metaphor for life, and as a wannabe marathoner, I kept thinking about that during my first 26.2-miler. There were so many times I wished that I could JUST STOP MOVING. I wanted to have my finish-line moment already. But isn't that the point? I can't stop moving. And if "just finishing" a marathon is an accomplishment in itself, what does finishing well look like?
I want to know.
And not just in a race.

Phil. 3:13-15, The Message
I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.
So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it

Same and Different

Life is life, no matter where you live it. There is a common human experience that makes it possible for us to relate to people who may not even speak the same language we do. In the interest of such experience, I'd like to answer the question most commonly asked of me:
"How do you live in a Third World Country??"
Here's how:
In the States, I went to the grocery store. In Guatemala, I go to the grocery store. The only difference is, I can only buy what I can carry in bags (or boxes) to my car, which is usually parked a couple of blocks away.
Well, there might be another difference. I am getting some lightning-fast math skills since I convert every price I see into dollars by dividing it by 8 in my head. I say "price I see," because often there is no price that I can see, and apparently whatever price the cashier assigns it that day is the final answer.

In the States, we sometimes visited our local farmers' market to buy produce. In Guatemala, I sometimes buy produce at the mercado. The only difference is, I speak Spanish, I try to haggle for a different price, and I have learned to ignore the iguanas, rats, roaches, and other wildlife I may come across.
On the plus side, the produce is so ripe and ready that it tastes exactly like it's supposed to.

In the States, I turned on my stove. In Guatemala, I turn on my gas stove, and if, perchance, it is out of gas, I call my friendly gas people and they bring me a new tank. If you run out of gas in the middle of cooking dinner, there's always cereal.

In the States, I went running. In Guatemala, I run with our IDC running club. The only difference is, in our many (hilly!) miles, we have come across all manner of animals, including snakes, pigs (large, and dead), aggressive bees and dogs. We also get the view of an active volcano puffing nearly every time we run.

In the States, I ran errands. In Guatemala, I run errands. The only difference is, I've learned to use my hand as my turn signal, cobblestoned streets don't even feel bumpy to me anymore, and I'm pretty sure I no longer remember what a stoplight means.

In the States, I swore we'd never own a motorcycle. In Guatemala, we do. Enough said.

In the States, we drove everywhere. In Guatemala, we still rely on our car a lot, but we've also taken advantage of our local transportation system, such as chicken buses, tuk-tuks, and just plain old walking.

In the States, I took my kids to the doctor. In Guatemala, I sometimes don't have to. Amoxicillin is available at our local farmacia, right over the counter. Nifty!

In the States, I used my dishwasher every day, sometimes twice a day. In Guatemala, I wash dishes by hand, in a single sink, and at the risk of sounding arrogant, I am pretty darn fast at it.

In the States, I bought fruit and ate it. I turned on the tap and used the water for cooking and drinking. In Guatemala, the only difference is I clean fruit with a disinfectant, and I use a special filter for all of the water. Because parasites are not our friends.

In the States, we went to church. In Guatemala, we go to church. The difference is.....pretty much nothing. We worship the same God, read the same Bible, have the same love for each other, feel our hearts stirred in the same way.

In the States, we were blessed. And in Guatemala, we still are.