A Drop in the Ocean

Another reason for this blog is to share one of our family’s passions. We were first introduced to Guatemala through the adoption of Marco. We were so naïve. Initially we believed we were simply welcoming a child to our family. Little did we know how we would grow to love the country of Guatemala and the people. Guatemala is a land of intense beauty right along with intense poverty and inequality.

Over the past 6 ½ years we have traveled to Guatemala for a variety of reasons including adoption and mission work. I have traveled nearly 20 times and continue to learn more on each trip. Our teenagers have served on several mission trips as well. It is an awesome opportunity to be right alongside your teens and experience ministering to the needs of others in a developing country.

From time to time I will share some of our experiences as well as opportunities that lie before us to make a difference. My kids and I have been blessed to be able to participate in activities including painting and laying sod at an orphanage, delivering supplies and playing with children at orphanages, cooking at a feeding center, fitting an entire village’s children with new shoes, reading with kids at a community library, spending time in a rural village to begin the learning process of some of the realities of poverty, delivered school supplies to a junior high school, and many more.

The photos will provide a glimpse of who we hang out with when we’re in Guatemala. So many of these precious people feel forgotten and insignificant – which simply breaks my heart.

The following quote is one of my favorite from a blog that I read written by a missionary family serving in Haiti.

“To enter in to lives that are this different from my own is so humbling. Whether or not we can solve their every problem, it is always an opportunity to show love, be loving, and offer warmth and caring to them. At times there is the overwhelming sense of "I cannot even begin to address or understand this woman's problems" - and then the tendency to pull away emotionally because of feeling inadequate or unable to help. When you believe that because you cannot understand someone’s hardship you should not enter in - you're buying a lie that sells you short and keeps you from the blessing that love brings.”

~Tara Livesay

Why has our family committed to serving the people of Guatemala? Quite simply, it is our calling. Is it a drop in the ocean? Certainly. If even one person’s life is touched by a pair of shoes we deliver or a blanket we share or a meal we help fix so the mother can sit down and enjoy a meal with her family then that drop in the ocean is so worth it.

“What can I do?” is a question many ask. Trust me; there is so much we can do. Just ask me…

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” Proverbs 31:8