Guatemalan's Visit, Part 4

~November 10 (Sunday)~

Sunday morning we brought all the Guatemalans to church with us! We went to church in a few different waves. I left at 7:00 a.m. for band practice, my family came for first service at 9:00 a.m., and the Guatemalans arrived in time for the second service at 10:45 a.m.

Group picture!

Photo Credit: Our friend, C.

After church, most of us went home while a couple of people stayed behind for the new members class (just to learn more about our church.) Mom really hit it off with M. They had some good conversations in Spanish!

We kids had fun that afternoon. While the boys rested and took naps, we girls took a walk and shared our testimonies with each other. M and S are such wonderful girls, and I’m disappointed that we’re going to be separated! L

Later that afternoon, we piled into the vehicles and headed back to town. In our county, there is a movement to unite about 30 of the churches. Periodically, they have events where all the churches come together. They were having a worship and prayer service that night. Our family had never been to one, and we thought it would be a good experience for the Guatemalans!

We met quite a few people from our church there. It was a *wonderful* service! The time of worship and prayer for our community with fellow believers from so many different congregations was truly a small taste of heaven.

After the service, we met up with more people from church for dinner! We took everyone to one of our favorite taco places. It was such a fun time of fellowship!

This was the “cool table.” J Yes, the girls have stickers on their faces!

Photo Credit: Pastor D.

That evening, we stayed up super late knowing it was our last night together. We all just crashed in the living room and had a big pajama party! The kids played “Life” while some of the grownups chatted.

Pastor D pulled out the guitar and started singing with M. It was such a sweet few hours together!

After the kids finished their game (probably around 11 or 12) we gathered around to pray together one last time. We shared some of our thoughts from the week, and then the Guatemalans prayed over our family. It was such a blessing to host them in our home, and we were so sorry that our time together was ending! L

After that, the adults went to bed. But not us kids. J Ben and I joined all the Guatemalan kids for a few card games up in the boys room. We stayed up until about 1:30 a.m. Crazy I know, but we know it will be many months before we see each other again!

~November 11 (Monday)~

It was difficult getting up this morning. One because we were all so tired, and two, we knew the parting time had come. L Everyone got their showers and breakfast and started packing things up.

Around 11:00 a.m. the dreaded hour came: the time to say goodbye. L We had such a wonderful and rich time of fellowship with the Guatemalans over the 4 days they were with us! They truly felt like family to us by the end of their visit. Saying goodbye was hard, but we trust that God will bring us back together again soon. We look forward to seeing our Guatemala family again, Lord willing!

Guatemalan's Visit, Part 3

~November 9 (Saturday)~

Saturday was a fun-filled day for our family and our Guatemalan guests! We all slept in that morning after our late night on Friday. We had breakfast from the buffet whenever we woke up.

That afternoon, we left around 12:30 p.m. and headed to a farm that is owned by a family at our church. We were going to hunt for sharks’ teeth! We were joined by several other members of the Guatemala mission team.

Looking around in the dry riverbed.

D found a tooth that is probably the biggest intact tooth that’s ever been found at the farm!

We had packed lunches which we enjoyed outside, since the weather was so beautiful.

After we hunted teeth for awhile, we drove up the road to our church to show them around. We stopped by the youth room and chatted over coffee and soda, killing time until we headed to our next destination.

 

We were going to a Guatemala Team Reunion, hosted by one of the families that went on the trip.

Not everyone was able to make it, but we still had loads of fun! We enjoyed a delicious potluck meal together, talked, reminisced, and played LOTS of games. Here, a game of Dirty Power Uno is going on. Later, some of the team played spoons in the backyard. They lined up to play and then ran across the yard to grab the spoons. Yes, it was *crazy!*

The adults talking inside.

We had a wonderful evening together, talking, sharing testimonies, and fellowshipping as brothers and sisters in Christ. It was a long day that ended in a late night, but so worth it. I was getting so sad that our visit was flying by so fast!

To be continued . . .

Guatemalan's Visit, Part 2

~November 8 (Friday)~

This morning was quite interesting. Getting 16 people through 4 bathrooms (and only 1 hot water tank) was a unique challenge! But everyone did really well about being quick and considerate, and eventually everyone made it through.

We had a breakfast buffet and people ate as they were ready.

We played so many different card and board games during their visit! Each morning, someone would pull out a game to play.

We left our house around 11:30 a.m. and headed over to a friend’s ranch. Mrs. A and her daughter C went to Guatemala with us, and she graciously opened up her home for lunch and her white-tail deer ranch for a tour!

The A’s have a beautiful house! Here, everyone is gathered in the trophy room to hear a little bit more about the farm and what they do.

We all piled into a couple of different vehicles (several other members of the Guatemala missions team had joined us) and headed out for the tour. I rode in the jeep with Mr. A and my siblings, and we saw a HUGE buck on our way out!

Our first stop was the cabin/cottage that they keep on their property for photographers and hunters to rent.

We girls outside with the jeep.

Then we drove past the breeding pens, and saw this beaut roaming around.

After we finished the tour, we went back to the house for lunch. We had delicious chicken tortilla soup and some different types of desserts.

We returned home that afternoon and relaxed a little bit before our next event. We had invited the Guatemala mission team and several other people from church to join us for pizza, s’mores, ice cream and a bonfire.

We had a lot of food!

We had about 30 people out. The weather was great for a bonfire; crisp, but not too cold.

Photo Credit: Our friend, C.

We were shocked by the number of people who had never had s’mores before! Of course, we were quite happy to introduce them to this all-American dessert. J

Photo Credit: Our friend, C.

People stayed really late to visit! Our time of fellowship was so sweet. We were surrounded by believers, we were speaking English and Spanish, we were singing, laughing, and talking! Perfection!

Still talking!

I didn’t make it to bed until 1 a.m. that night, but it was so worth it! We had a wonderful time of fellowship!

To be continued . . .

Guatemalan's Visit, Part 1

~November 7 (Thursday)~

I apologize for the lack of blog posts this weekend. They’re now up, even though they’re quite late. We’ve been a little occupied , because we had 9 international guests staying in our home! Pastor D—one of the missionaries we worked with in Guatemala this past summer—brought his family as well as another family from their church to the States for a month. And they came to stay with us for four days!

It’s probably needless to say that I was thrilled when I heard they’d be visiting. As the Global Missions intern at our church, I was responsible for making the plans for their stay in north Texas.

They were supposed to arrive around 6 p.m. on Thursday night to our house (where they would be staying during their visit.) We got a call around 2:15 p.m. saying that they were five minutes away! :-0 We were not quite ready, so we scrambled a bit to finish the important things.

We were so excited to see them! Ben and I had fun introducing them to the rest of the family and meeting the four others Pastor D had brought. We sat in the living room and talked for quite awhile.

Then we decided to go outside, and some of us went on a walk. From left to right here is Ben, D and P (Pastor D’s sons), M, and S (they are cousins. M’s parents also came on this trip) and Ruby.

M and S were quite excited about getting to pet some of the horses down the road from us. J

That evening, we all enjoyed a delicious dinner of rice with crock pot pork and vegetables.

After dinner, we spent time just visiting. We played the piano and guitar, sang songs, told jokes, did a lot of laughing and spoke a lot of Spanglish (Mr. A and his wife, M didn’t speak English, but everyone else spoke it.) My sides and face literally ached from laughing so much that night!

We had Pastor D and his wife O in our downstairs guest room, Mom and Dad in their room, Ben and Josiah on the hide-a-bed couch in the living room, D, P, and M in the boys’ room upstairs, Mr. A and his wife M in our office on the hide-a-bed couch, and all of us girls (Roma, Ruby, M, S, and I) in the twins’ room. I was going to sleep in my room, but I got invited to join the “girl party.” J We girls stayed up pretty late talking and getting to know each other.

To be honest, I had been a little nervous at first. I wondered what it would be like to have 9 additional people in our house that most of us didn’t know. But after that first night, I knew we would have a hard time saying goodbye at the end of the visit! We clicked so fast, which was an incredible blessing!

To be continued . . .

In Him

“For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16

Recipe--Pecan Chicken

Recently, Roma and Rubia made this chicken for dinner. It’s not too hard, it’s quick to prepare, and it’s tasty and comforting! We enjoyed it with our homegrown pecans as well. J It’s a good way to use up our abundance!

Pecan Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 Tablespoons honey

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 Tablespoons ground pecans

Place chicken between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; flatten to ¼-inch thickness using a rolling pin. Set aside. Mix honey and mustard together; spread over chicken. Coat chicken with pecans; arrange in a lightly greased 13”x9” baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

DIY Garden Project, Part 2

~Posted by Ben

Towards the end of the summer. I began a project with Josiah to turn the patch of grass outside our kitchen window into a beautiful bird sanctuary. Our progress was a bit halted with our vacation to Puerto Rico and by the fact that we ran out of stones! We did get some more stones, and Josiah and I finished off the project. Here are some pictures of its completion.

I think it looks quite nice if I do say so myself! J Thank you, Josiah, for all your help. Now all we need are some birds!

Typical Texas Evening Sky . . .

I love where we live!