One Month

As I was lying in bed this morning listening to the rain, I realized that, as of today, we have been here one month. We have settled in and have a routine going that includes school and clinics and the Home. The Lord is teaching us about being flexible with unexpected things happening that change our routine periodically, but I think the kids have adjusted well. We all are calling the clinic building home.

I also realized that we haven't posted for a few days. The kids haven't been taking as many pictures lately and as we have settled in, there doesn't seem to be as much "news". I decided to just give you a summary of the last couple days.

On Monday, we did school in the morning and then I went on a little outing with Duane and Leslie and Katie. We drove up a mountain and down the other side to a town called Zacualpa. The Fickers like to go to a plant/tree nursery there. It was fun to see the different types of plants and flowers. We stayed about an hour or so while they shopped and then went back up and down the mountain back to Canilla. Needless to say, I was a little carsick when we got home. But it was a fun trip.

On Tuesday, Don had clinic in Chiminicijuan as usual. Clinic went well and they actually got done a little early. However, they got stuck in the mud on the way down. This is actually "expected" a little bit here. They have shovels and hoes in the truck to move the mud around. The people who came to clinic saw that they were stuck so they started bringing rocks to put on the road and under the wheels. Especially during the rainy season, this is just part of life here. They finally arrived back home about an hour and an half later than expected. Don got out of the back of the truck, covered in mud, and said "It was actually kind of fun!" Too bad he didn't have the camera!

Wednesdays are usually our Sabbath days here or we try to make them that. We think it is important to have a day without anything scheduled to spend time as a family etc., plus it is Biblical! :) Anyway, Leslie came over in the morning to tell us that we were going to be having 6 visitors that evening for supper. They were driving from Cobán which is about 5 or 6 hours if the road is good. I went over to the Fickers' house later in the morning and helped make lasagna and a banana cake for supper. Don was working on a project at the clinic and the kids were playing. After lunch we gathered as two families and prayed for the people coming and for the Lord's protection over their travels and their stay here.

At about 4:30 or so, there were people at the gate but it didn't look like four North Americans and a Guatemalan missionary couple. I went over to the house to see if I could help. Leslie told me that these were, in fact, not our scheduled visitors but two different groups of unexpected visitors. The first was the mayor of Canilla bringing over the new Peace Corp worker to be introduced to Duane and Leslie. The second group was a group of four men. Two of them were pastors and the other two had a common connection with another guy that the Fickers know. They came to talk and ended up staying for over 3 hours. The banana bread made for breakfast for the "scheduled" visitors was served with coffee to these visitors instead. This is very Guatemalan. Relationships are very important to them and they will just come over and spend time unexpectedly.

Our "scheduled" visitors are supposed to arrive today. The lasagna that we made for supper will instead be served for lunch! We are planning on being at the Home today so we won't see them until we return. We are not sure how long they are staying. On Friday, it is Hannah's seventh birthday. We are "scheduled" to go the Home but we have decided to have a field trip instead. There are some Mayan ruins close to here and we thought it would be fun to take a picnic lunch. We will hopefully take some pictures to post!

As you can see, the Lord is really teaching us about flexibility. We are learning to take the unexpected, adjust, smile and go forward! Thanks for reading!