We departed Guatemala Wednesday morning and can’t help wondering, “where did the months go??!!” We are super excited for our next six months in California, but the days leading up to our departure were very daunting–both on the packing-up front and on the heart front. We know that this difficulty serves as proof to us of how abundantly we’ve blessed by the people and beauty surrounding us.
Usually during our last weeks bwfore a move, we start squeezing in all the “last things” we want to do, but in looking at this past month I see more a lot more “first things.”
Jason took a few driving lessons from friends last month and quickly became a confident driver on Guatemalan roads. His new skill allows him to help out on airport runs for visiting ministry teams.
Jason coordinated (& drove) some donated bunkbeds for Casa Ixoqi, the women’s rehab center. Afterwards, the kids got to help assemble new bunkbeds at a ministry here in Pana.
The kids got to go to their first-ever water park last month. They had a BLAST at Xocomil (show-ko-meal) and I have to say it was by far the prettiest water park I’ve ever been to. Built in a location with a lot of rainfall, it has lush gardens in and around it. We were so blessed by our neighbors who invited us to join with their family to travel there and stay with them.
Luke turned 10 this month and we had a wonderful weekend celebrating him. He is blessed with a great group of friends here and we are so glad to have this awesome kid in our family.
Jason got to join our friend, Daniel, in another bike race. This time in Chiquimula, near the Honduran border. A much, much hotter and dryer climate than here. He had a great time and (thankfully) only took one serious spill!
We celebrated Easter in many meaningful ways — Easter Sunday began with a sunrise service and breakfast at our neighbors’ house and ended with a meal and time of worship with the Deeds. A perfect way to celebrate the resurrection. During the days previous, some of our neighbors graciously let the kids help create some of the beautiful, sawdust alfombras (carpets) in the streets and later the kids got to introduce some Guatemalan friends to their very first Easter egg hunt.
After more than 10 attempts, we even got a decent Easter Sunday selfie —
The kids both started playing soccer last month and are loving the opportunity to learn how to play. We even got invited to boat across the lake to a join in an opening-day training at a newly built field. I love getting to watch them learn!
Jason & Will got to cash in on gifts they had both received to go paragliding — and they had a blast!
We got to join the Deeds in a dinner at their new halfway house for men living in recovery from alcoholism and addiction – Casa de Ánimo. It was such a privilege to be there celebrating these men and their hard work of sober living.
And, one last new thing — we have photos of the home we get to live in for our six months in the US. It’s thrilling to have a place lined up before we arrive back in the US! We are super thankful for our church community in Miramonte who helped so much in lining this up for us.
Such an amazing and grateful life you and your family are living Carrie! I look forward to reading these updates and seeing the joy emanating through your eyes and smiles. Enjoy your time back in CA. I can’t wait to see where you are off to next with your family.
Thanks so much Nick! We are incredibly grateful to get the chance to live this way and I love that you can see joy in our faces. Sometimes we aren’t all feeling so happy before or after the camera clicks ha ha, but maybe that brief click is capturing what is truly in us. Thanks for reading and keeping up with us!