It seems like I say...

It seems like I say that we're "coming up for air" a lot on here... maybe I just think that a lot. But tonight, it truly feels that way. The summer months have been both a blessing and a fury of things to do and places to go....at least for David and our older children anyway. David has traveled   almost 4 weeks out of the 10 we've had since June. (whew!) Jacob and Grayson have also. They have been to the states on a mission trip and then traveling some here in country with FH. I can remember our pastor having dinner with us and saying "it's wonderful to have company but are you guys sure you're up for all of this ? " At the time I had NO idea what it would feel like to say so MANY hello's and goodbyes. The actual act of everyone being busy was fine but my goodness .... our heart strings resemble something a cat has gotten hold of ...especially after saying goodbye to parents (David's ) and his family's home church the week before last and then our home church last week. When we attended our missions training in Colorado before heading here our leader said this, "you know you've loved well if saying goodbye hurts." .... I pray that everyone who has come our way this summer has felt the love that we indeed have for each of you , your husbands, your wives, your children ...anyone who has come our way OR been sent our way. Our hearts have had so many bandages applied in these last weeks that we could hold up a building (at least in Guatemala - jk) with them all.... Praise the Lord we have our memories to tied us over until we all meet again...either somewhere in God's world or in heaven one.... Eli was praying tonight and made a truely simple but profound statement... Lord, I love you...I've always loved you....and so... I love you Lord..
I loved this because it's just that simple most days... Lord, you have our love because it's just there..it's who we are ..who we were created to be....

From Guatemala...goodnight with love,
Mel
Ps...our signal is still so slow that I cannot post photos.. I'll keep trying (promise)...

Trouble Posting Photos

Uggg... I would feel REALLY horrible that I haven't posted in a month but I'm thinking that summer is like this for everyone.. especially us mom's. Here in Guatemala we are CRAZY busy... David especially. Since the beginning of June , David has had many teams and been gone for several weeks. We are having two teams come these next two weeks and he will be gone again. This is all very new for us and I am struggling at times to keep us with it all... counting it all joy but still adjusting to ALOT of change !

I can't seem to load some of our  photos tonight . I had thought that it would be fun to share some of our photos from July of last year when we'd first gotten here but I'm not having success tonight . I will continue to try to post our current photos .... we took David to the beach for Fathers Day (we are just 2 hours away ) and we had a blast... nothing like a trip to the beach in the states but then again, why should it be? We're in Guate. Black beaches, crabs in the pool filter and hammocks in the shade... great time !
Hoping to share photos soon,
m

Checking In...

Just staying true to my commitment...not much new is going on here... well, that's NEVER the case but I have nothing new w/ photos....BUT I'd thought you'd get a kick out of funny things Tyler and Eli said the other day :

Tyler : (back ground: Papayas are in season and so I am buying them by the pounds and pounds. They are cheap and you need to  acquire a test for them for sure but because they are super easy to grab and cheap we're eating them A LOT! ) Tyler comes into the kitchen the other day and puts his bowl down on the counter ,walks over to me and sighs (BIG sigh..) mom, did you know that small, white, American boys do not like "applepaya" ? .... cracked me up.... don't know where the apple comes from but he puts it in there !

Eli: comes into the kitchen ( can you see a pattern with me being in the kitchen for BOTH stories? -smile) ... he says...mom... i love (pause) i love money. I say : oh, you do? ... Eli: yes, but I can't serve two masters ... (pause...my jaw is flopped open ) .... so , ..... (pause) I will choose Jesus. WOW ! I say: Eli... I think you are going to be VERY rich !

Too funny !

* We have just celebrated 1 one of service here in Guatemala. Sooo thankful !

* We are in for a CRAZY whirlwind of a summer and would be grateful for your prayers and thoughts . David is traveling A LOT and LOTS of folks are coming here... can't wait.

Havin' a great day and hope you are too.

m

What a WEEKEND!

 We have had quite the weekend ! On Thursday night, the volcano closest to our home erupted . It had been raining for a few hours (not unusual.. it's rain season here ) but then neighbors were outside and everyone is looking into the sky.... pebble like stuff was coming down with the rain. Turns out it was volcanic "ash" ( more like finely made black gravel to me)... very bizarre. It had the feeling of a snow storm in the states but it wasn't cold at all and instead of wet clothes there IS black stuff all in our home and in our hair... little tiny pebbles of sand like material... really WEIRD ! Then we received a tropical storm on top of that with no time to recover from the damage caused from the volcano. Many people have died and many have lost their homes. Large pieces of land have disappeared into the earth below surface level... very bizarre.... Most all of this kind of damage has been far from us. We are grateful however, because this storm was being told to us by the Embassy on Friday as a potential cyclone... we really could have received far worse than what we did... I can't imagine needing to evacuate our country but found myself wandering just how that would even happen... our airport was shut down due to the volcano the day before. We have only had to deal with the "ash" from the volcano but then there was massive amounts of water too. Fortunately for us we are on an incline and our home nor the others in our area were damaged. We are grateful to everyone who even had one second of a thought towards our family this past weekend... we actually were able to have a very peaceful weekend among a country that suffered much while we were dry, together and unharmed. Hard to understand how we deserved to be spared from so much so close to our door but except the truth that we just weren't meant to understand it all.....

Much love from the beautiful country of Guatemala... Serving Jesus with you ~ m

How Embarrassing !

How embarrassing that I haven't posted ANYTHING in almost 3 months ! Yikes ! Has that much time possibly gone by ?

Just for the sport of publicly saying how sorry I am , I'll throw out some completely EMBARRASSING stories on myself ... just to bring total humility to the table and then I'll get back to posting often and with photos again. A long one (but hang in there ...it's embarrassing) and then a short one and one super quick one !

EMBARRASSING story #1: David and I went to a local hotel in the city for a Sat. morning date. We were going to have breakfast together and then hang out and swim for a couple of hours...no big deal right? The ONLY thing that I had to do is to switch from breakfast clothes to swimsuit..WELL,.... I headed up to the locker room for my quick switch and noticed at the front of the entrance that there were boxes and "tools".. I thought,... strange... but kept on going... a little sheet rock dust was wafting in the air..is that a saw that I hear? bizarre. But starry date eyed me went through the doors and out popped (seriously) a MAN from the showers ! Relax, I saw nothing... he had heard me coming and popped out his head from behind the divider wall to say in Spanish that he was so sorry. The locker room was under remodeling and he would walk me out...NO NO NO ...no necicito senor ! gracias ! OH MY !!! should have read the sign that was probably posted at the bottom of the stairs...yikes ! My first thought, as I was dying laughing inside, was ...wow! I'm finally feeling culturally adapted because it was funny instead of violating that a man was naked and in the girls locker room... I'm sure that he had no water or shower in his home and hey... i'd jump in there too if I were him ..covered in sheet rock dust... yep! I'd have done the same thing... THIS GETS BETTER..keep reading ! So, I go to the registry office to let them know that men are in the locker room and I need to change for the pool. Where should I go? He hands me a room key looking thing and points with AMAZINGLY rapid Spanish. I nod in total assurance that I COMPLETELY understood what the card was for and walk in the direction of his finger realizing that the direction was the ONLY thing I was sure of ...what in the world is this card for ... I check out the first restroom..no place for a card ...I found an employee who was cleaning the bathroom and asked what this is for... noticing my pearly WHITE skin , she didn't even try Spanish but took me by the hand and pulls me down the hall ( very politely) to the elevator and POINTS inside... OH, I go in there ? .. so, dumb me did... at this point, I'm beginning to wonder if more coffee and conversation would be just as good as sun and water with mi esposo? hmmm.. once on the elevator I take advantage of another WHITE skinned person assuming that she spoke English (notice the HUGE amount of assuming that is going on in this story..hmm) She did speak English.. we compared cards and yes ! this was surely a room key... my word ! They are sending me to a ROOM !!!! I really don't know about things now. At this point David is FAR from me and I don't know what else to do but push through my situation. The elevator stops and opens and I think I had my eyes squeezed shut in fear to what I might see ...yep, just as bad... it was a floor being renovated...naked men? ...possibly...serial killers? ...possibly... Dumb me... I braced myself and kept going....it was almost as scary to turn around. There surely must be someone following me...at least a goofy tv show saying I was on camera..this doesn't really happen to people. I went to my numbered room on the card, popped it in..light turned green, opened the door and ALL of the furniture was covered in white sheets ! I threw the locks on the door and pushed every piece of furniture against the doors, jumped in the shower. I was so scared that I decided to scrap the rule to shower before entering the pool and throw my suit on... I jumped out of the shower and NAILED my rear end on the shower edge, jumped up and threw my clothes on , asked the Lord to forgive me if I killed someone if they walked in or popped out of somewhere and SCRAMMED..... once I met up with David again, I was laughing sooooo hard that I think I added 10 years BACK to my life.. it is so good for me to laugh at myself and in this culture I pretty much am doing it daily ! ...... lesson : read ALL sign when in a foreign country and assumptions can lead to sore rear ends !

EMBARRASSING story #2... David and I needed to quickly shoot into a copy store.. photo copy some things before David needed to catch a plane for the states ... we were in a hurry to say the least. We pull into a shopping center, I glance around, thinking that I've found a copy stored based on two familiar words in the sign..laser and copier.. I dodge in , CERTAIN that they can photocopy Dave's work... When I approach the desk she tosses me a laminated sheet of paper. I am giving her my professional , self assured look of yes, I speak Spanish and it is a pleasure to be in your business space today..glance down and notice that she has given me a sheet of MANY naked people !!!!!! WOAH

Embarrassing #3 .. We were having Internet installed FINALLY after not having it recently for 2 months (hence, the partial reason for not blogging) . The company has a HORRIBLE reputation for taking forever and so when they phoned to say that they were on their way... I was beyond EXCITED!!! I answered the phone and the man said, "is this the home of David Evans ? (meaning to say yes, this is his wife ) I practically screamed... YES! this is YOUR WIFE!!!! Grayson about croaked ! MOM!! You just told that man that you were HIS wife ! .....lesson : breathing and thinking will ALWAYS be one of the most important things we do .... especially in that order and when done BEFORE speaking !

Wishing you all a day filled with much joy and the pleasure of learning to laugh at ourselves.. ,
m in guate !

Work and Play

These are the beautiful women of Nabaj proudly displaying their new business. This is a new experience for them as they develop into small business owners and their families become sustained on their God given talents.   David and I have the privilege of walking them through the development of their business and teaching them to recognize this , the fruit of their labor and most importantly their talent,  as the work of the Lord . 

Candles being made by the women. It is a group effort and everyone contributes.

David spending a day with these ladies teaching them biblical and practical principles of small bussiness.

This is a display that the women made to store the candles before shipping them to markets here in Guatemala and your homes.

Our friends, Matt, Beth and little Eli were able to travel and see the ladies recieve their first income from their hard work. It was wonderful to see their reaction when they realized that not only had they made a profit but they had also paid for their equipment and now own it....free and clear. They sounded like birds chirping..everyone talking at once

Then we were off to the zoo for spotting ( no pun intended) really cool animals. We love the zoo here. It is so clean and the animals are really healthy.

Next, we traveled to a birthday party where we cooked meat over coals and had rice with cheese. 

And lastly, we traveled to Panajachel. We jumped in a boat and headed across the lake for a 30 min ride.  This is one of my favorite things to do.

The lake is very dangerous to swim in but completely beautiful to look at and to ride across. You head

straight for a volcano and then.....

 

a wonderful little village where all kinds of goodies are sold ...you have to be in the spirit of being shark bait though... EVERYONE has a great item and a special price that day...

Thanks for a great day Matt and Beth. Also, we couldn't have found our way without the kids friend Dan. This was a really special day. 

Enjoying the breeze from inside the boat. 

David , lovin' the sun...hanging out with our little guys...precious. Days like this gear us up to get back in the grind of things and we are grateful for the chance to see other parts of the beautiful country that we serve the Lord in.... taking others with us is always a huge perk too.

Scrambled Thoughts Leading to Perspective

It is humbling to be serving in a world relief ministry while standing side by side with countries such as Haiti and now Chile enduring such difficulties by way of natural disaster. I don't even know myself how to fully process the numbers that I hear and the photos that I see...the children .... The hungry and discouraged.... Due to the processing still going on in my brain , my thoughts are simple... today is today and God is God... simplicity is a sweet gift. When you peel all of the tragedy away, the Christ follower is left with the tangible.. God's truths in his word and the love of brothers and sisters, the hope that we have in the second coming of our Lord and that all of this is temporary.

Watching the theologically sound ( NOT) movie Kung Fu Panda with my children the other night, I was struck by a profound statement that they make...it's a quote I assume... the past is HISTORY, Tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift...that's why it's called the PRESENT. There are so many walking out their "present" with a foggy perspective of enduring tomorrow... in light of what they are seeing today...who could blame them? What would I do ? What would it look like in my life? ... On Monday morning of this past week, David and I woke up to our bed swaying like a hammock for what seemed like 10 seconds or more.... Then we had a second tremor at aprx. 9 am. This one was more aggressive as the children and I watched the books moving about on the book case ,the couch thumping around and feeling literally our house swaying back and forth. I think the scale ended up being a 5.4 .  I called my mom and checked in... did all of the wrong earthquake evacuation things with my children... thought swiftly of my children that are away in a school building realizing quickly that if my house goes down what will that look like? How do I get to our children , assist my expecting neighbor, what do I want to grab if we are evacuated? ........ still processing ...and grateful for my salvation and the honesty that our organization here proclaims :

Food for the Hungry embraces an intensely personal and biblical response to God's call to end physical and spiritual hungers worldwide. This intentional walk with the poor mirrors God's walk with each of us, recognizing our own brokenness and His transforming grace that brings out our God given potential...

Praying today that the foggy and brokenhearted will be fed with physical and biblical food that will expose their God given potential and therefore children and families will begin to flourish like never before in these hurting places of the world today..... Haiti and Chili ,  you are in our prayers today. To our financial supporters and prayer partners... you are AMAZING and what God is doing through you is ...difficult for me to express....You are VERY loved !

Peace,
m