Livin' life

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."
~Joseph Campbell

As I sit here and write my husband and teenagers are working at a project site with a mission team from the states, my 6 and 7 year old sons are lost in a pretend world of adventure in the courtyard, and my 3 year old daughter is napping after a morning of being in Magdelena.

We were picked up this morning by friends and taken to a community served by mission teams from the states. I have served with the Greene family before and was excited for the rest of my family to see Magdelena, the school where a feeding program takes place, and the church where we tiled the floor last summer.

Our teens have joined me on mission trips before. This morning was the first chance for my husband and young children to get a glimpse of what Mommy does when she goes to Guatemala.

The littles ones loved peering out the car windows and taking in the sights. The sights and smells were intriguing. Ana Lucia quickly became Guatemalan (as in no car seat) as she sat on my lap while driving and then stood in the backseat of a Suburban and enjoyed the bumpy ride. The kids especially loved when the car had to stop and wait for a herd of cows to get out of the street in front of us. The cows walked right by the side of our car much to the delight of Marco, Gustavo & Ana Lucia.

We spent part of the time at a Vacation Bible School and the little ones joined the other children in the craft. Zack joined some local boys in some futbol (soccer) before heading off to work. Katie enjoyed being with the children from the community and took many photos before heading off to work. I imagine Mark will head to the site where they are building a house. I can't wait for them to be back and hear about the rest of their day.

Zack and Katie are headed to the Pacific coast (black sand beaches) on Thursday with our missionary friends. Very cool.

It is happening. We are experiencing Guatemala. We still have so much to learn and experience. But for now, for this one week out of our lives, it is absolutely amazing.

Had you told us twenty years ago that we would have 5 children, 3 adopted internationally, fall in love with another culture and country, develop a passion for serving those in need in Guatemala, and develop friendships with the many amazing people we have I am sure we would have laughed. We had plans...a couple of kids, careers, the American dream. Somewhere along the way God got ahold of our hearts and revealed his plan for us. I am so thankful that we were willing to get rid of the life we had planned in order to have the life that was waiting for us.

Dinner delivered via a motorcycle driver


The kids love riding the tuk-tuks!



We have put the kids to work...