Day 3 – Construction, Playtime & Fellowship.

There are so many things to say that it is hard to know where to start.  I want to share so many stories and somehow put into words the blessings that God has shown us so far this week.    He is using us to help this family and minister to those around them, but He is also working in each of us as well.  I led devotional on Monday morning and asked the team to keep their eyes and hearts open for what God was showing them.  It seems as though every time I come He has a theme for me.  For some reason I keep hearing Him whisper the word Faith this trip.  Although there is nothing that has stuck out as ‘the lesson’ yet, I am still waiting, listening, and trusting that He will show me why that word when he is ready. 

Today was full of many fun things.  Although we were still working on the house (and yes mixing mortar) we were also able to spend more time playing with the kids in the village.  Anna had a lot of fun stacking blocks with them that Barrett brought from home, Barrett was a carnival ride that the kids all love (he lifts them up with one arm and sometimes will swing them around) and Jason or ‘Yason’ as they say it, was the one that they would love to watch and help work with. 

As for the house, we finished the walls, got the boards up for the roof and started to level the floors somewhat.  I do have to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Greg Reed for teaching me how to hammer a nail on my last trip to Guatemala.  It came in handy today when I got to hammer some nails for the roof.  Although Barrett would tell you I still hammer like a girl, I was pretty proud of myself and Cruz seemed to think I did okay as well.  J  Much better than before (and much faster too).

Unfortunately we had our first injury on the job today.  And before anyone can ask, it was not me.  I wasn’t even involved.  Anna and I were sifting gravel and handing our boxes to Jason to dump and then he would pass them back.  In a split second of looking elsewhere, Jason hit Anna in the head above her eye and it started bleeding.  Barrett saw blood and ran for the first aid kit while we reassured Jason so he wouldn’t pass out (apparently he doesn’t like blood).  Gloria took the place of a doctor and helped get Anna taken care of.  She probably needed some stitches but butterfly bandages will have to do.  I told her she will have a lifetime souvenir of her trip to Guatemala.  Her eye started to turn purple this evening and we are all curious to see what the morning will bring.  But the funniest part was when we had dinner with Pastor Diego.  When he saw Anna and her bandages he looked at Jason and made a punching motion asking if he had hit Anna.  He did not know what had happened earlier in the day.  Everyone started to laugh and then Gloria explained to him that well yes, in a way he had.  Pastor Diego got a good laugh out of it too but then showed genuine concern and asked if she needed stitches and told her at the very least to put ointment on it and clean bandages.  J  Even better is that Anna is a vet and we are relying on her to be our team doctor.  So what do you do when your ‘doctor’ is the one who needs help?

As I mentioned we were able to have dinner with Pastor Diego, his wife Mary, and their young daughter.  We spent some time talking about how we could continue to assist the church here in Guatemala.  There are still so many things we can be doing to help.  Pastor Diego had a lot of ideas and I believe that we can work together to accomplish them.  Please join me in prayer and ask God how he would like to lead us in this.

We are looking forward to putting the roof on tomorrow and finishing up the house.  Please pray for our continued health and safety.  Pray for rest and rejuvenation.  We are tired.  But it is a good tired.  And we will be ready to get up and give it our all, heart and soul, again tomorrow, all for His Glory!