It's been a crazy busy month - but so wonderfully entertaining. Life here at The Oasis is funny. The thought process of a child is so... simply beautiful. Sometimes their comments make me stop dead in my tracks with my mouth hanging open, or they can make me laugh until I cry. Sometimes I just have to smile, nod, and kiss the top of their head. But, every day I learn more and more about why God tells us to be childlike.
Sometimes I think the girls just try to say things to Becky and I to make us feel like idiots for not speaking Spanish fluently. A few weeks ago we were filling in as tia's in the green house when Angelica (age 11)(the girl on the left), came up to us in the kitchen and asked what chocolate smells like. "I don't know... good?" -Becky
"No! WHAT. DOES. IT. SMELL. LIKE?!" -Angelica (They always start talking slowly and loudly - as if that's going to make much of a difference)
"I don't know! It smells like chocolate!" -Becky
"Oh, nevermind!" -Angelica
I was coloring pictures with Wendy (age 4) the other day and her little sister, Tanya (age 2) came waddling into the room to play with her. I said to Wendy, "You're a good big sister. You really love Tanya, don't you?" Her reply: "Yeah, because when I throw the ball she goes to get it for me. ...................but then she usually gets mad."
Yesterday Vicky (age 15) asked Becky if she's ever climbed Mount Everest. .........That's just funny.
Tanya is one of the cutest little chubby two year olds I've ever seen. (I am permitted to call her chubby or gordita because I was about 18 times her size when I was her age.) We always love to watch Tanya waddle around, looking for something to eat - even if that means resorting to dirt. We laugh a lot about how the only time you ever see her move fast is when a meal is announced as ready. So, it was pretty funny when I walked into the house and found Tanya like this:
Sitting in a big bin filled with plastic food. She happily sat in there for an hour, shoving all of the food into her mouth and exclaiming, "MMM! RICO!!" (delicious!), while Wendy dragged the bucket around like a street vendor trying to sell all of us food "and my little sister." ("Only for 6 pesos!" Which, by the way, is MEXICAN currency. I don't know where she got that from, but it just made it all the more funny.)Okay, one more that I can't resist sharing and then on to the REAL update. This blog is already
turning out to be longer than I thought... I was sitting in class with my second graders last week (Mirsa, age 8; Aldi, age 7; and Sarai, age 8) when they asked me how old I am."21." -Me
"And Becky?"
"18."
"...........she's 18? Well... why can she jump so high on the trampoline?!" (Oddly enough, they all seemed to have this same random thought together)
"Well, .....she's almost 19."
"Oh! haha, okay."
That seemed to satisfy them (although, I'm still confused as to what age has to do with a trampoline. 1 track thought process, I guess). So now every time the girls ask me to jump (397556872x a day) I always remind them at "just how high Becky can jump!"
Okay, and now the REAL update. I'll try to make this brief.
- Christma
s came, and went. Like a big blur. I spent two weeks in San Cristobal with my family, helping out with some of their ministries and getting to participate in their big Christmas Eve dinner for the families that live in or near the dump. It was a huge blessing to be able to experience different ministries in Guatemala, to serve those that deserve it the most, and to be able to spend the holidays with my family! - For New Years, I got to spend three days in San Pedro Necta, Huehuetenango (about a six hour drive) with Oscar's family. San Pedro is a teeny tiny village way up in the mountains of Huehue (the road to get there isn't even paved). It was quite the experience and I have to admit, I felt extremely adventurous. San Pedro is where Oscar
and his sisters were raised so it was a real blessing to meet their (entire) extended family and childhood friends. We also spent a day in Nenton (an even smaller village), where Oscar's dad (aka Pastor Oscar) grew up and I got to meet even MORE family. After lunch in Nenton, Pastor gave a short message and many people shared about how God has blessed them in this last year. Then they spent some time (in a big group hug, it was awesome) praying and crying with each other. Sigh. Only the Avila family. (The picture on the right is of myself and Oscar standing in the average doorway in San Pedro Necta. We could quite possibly be the tallest people in the whole village.) - The girls (at The Oasis) started school again this week. After a long summer break, it was a rough first couple of days getting them adjusted again, but Becky and I survived our first week and we're ready for the next few months! I am the second grade teacher for three beautiful little girls (pictured above) and it's been a real blessing to spend five hours every morning with them. We study Social Studies, Math, Bible, Natural Science, and Spanish. Yes, someone has entrusted me to teach Spanish -- which is more than laughable. And Becky is teaching math and science classes with some of the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders! We love our job :)
- Oscar and I are the proud new parents of a sweet little 3-month-old Chow Chow. He's too cute for words so we'll just let his picture do the talking. Please meet: Coco Gordito Avila Glick
- Oscar's Dad started a Bible study two weeks ago for their family, myself, and Lucy's fiance, Benjamin. We're going to be studying family, marriage, and discipleship. Even though we're only two weeks in, I have been greatly encouraged by our Friday night meetings. It gets really lonely at The Oasis with no fellowship or people my age (or people that speak English) to talk with. The laughter and fellowship from Bible study has left me feeling, not only encouraged, but closer to God. I see a lot of Jesus in the way the Avila family members live their lives and I am truly blessed to be a part of this during my time in Guatemala. Just last night we were talking about how Jesus calls disciples. We made a list of some of the characteristics we thought disciples needed to have. And now we have this list as a goal to work toward - to never quit and to keep striving to be the person that God can use to further His kingdom.
- After my Dad was robbed at gunpoint a few weeks ago, I think we were all a little shaken up. We were forced to step out of the little comfort bubbles we've encased ourselves in and we were rudely reminded of how dangerous Guatemala really is. I found myself praising God because He had protected my Dad in that situation. "God was so in control!" But then, one night while I was discussing it with Cory, I had to ask myself, "Do I ALWAYS
believe that God is in control? Or just in the situations that turn out to benefit me?" What if that man had shot my Dad? Would God still have been in control in that moment? I think, yes. He would have. Why He does things sometimes, I'll never know. But by choosing to follow Him, I have chosen to TRUST in Him -- whether it's something I understand or not. So, I've been forced to come to the reality of what if He decided to take me home early? Or my Dad? Or my Mom? Or Oscar? Will I be able to trust that He was still in control? Ever since I did a study on the book of Philippians a year ago, I've struggled with desiring Heaven, rather than the things of this Earth. As Paul writes, "...to die is to gain," Paul's mind and heart were completely focused on Heaven. He had grasped that our time here on Earth is so temporary, and Heaven is our home. I want to be ready to go home whenever God chooses to bring me. I want to be like Paul and long to be with my Lord in Heaven. I guess, Guatemala is another step to help get me to this point :) And I don't mean to sound so depressing and morbib. I am well aware at how much God has blessed us with protection during our time here and I trust that He'll continue until our mission has been carried out. "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discenment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ." Philippians 1:9-1 - To wrap up the longest blog I've ever written: Please be in prayer with me as I look for options about coming back t
o Guatemala in the fall. With each passing day, my passions, visions, and love for this country grow more and more. My friend, Heidi, and I have been spending one hour every day praying about Guatemala and our ministries here (current and future). God has given me so many visions that I can't wait to carry out. Every new day here and every challenge is bringing me another step closer to this future that I'm (im)patiently awaiting. I have a lot of hope for this country and God has a lot of plans - so I'm excited to work alongside the creator of the universe with the goal of changing a nation. - Please, also, be praying for the 41 girls living at The Oasis. Everyday we are met with a new battle and everyday we find renewed hope in Him -- the God who loves these girls more than we could ever imagine.
