The Letter I Will Never Write:

Sorry for the delay, yikes, it has been 2+ months since I wrote last.
Here we are, nearing our 12 month mark in Guatemala. Has it really been that long? That's it? No longer?   Or: Has it really been that long? You mean I have survived a year of this?

Yup, that’s right! We have gone nearly 12 months without working out in a real gym, having a night out alone as parents, or getting the kids to their Pediatrician for a check-up. Your right, my track record was less than glorious for all of those before we moved here.

Looking to the south

It is August now, and we find ourselves nearing completion on the Hospital, no silly not all of it. We have almost all of the drain lines in the ground. One room left, and all the patient rooms will be completed. All except for beds, lights, a roof, bathrooms, and ceiling we are practically home free!!! Okay, okay, enough sarcasm! 

 
 
 

Looking to the North

The floors are all poured, except for two, in all the rooms. We have raised all the block walls but a few, and the roof is starting to take shape. The steel trusses are being placed, and welded, and welded, and welded, and (the lights dim) cut to size. The roofing is all on site, and once we find insulation to lay onto the roofing panels, we will be able to begin covering the portions that have the trusses in place.

Roof Trusses inside the Chapel

The well is at a depth of 600 feet. We are expecting the tubes to arrive, well last week, in order to case the well with perforated tubes. After this, we will be able to lower the pump, attached to the water line, and hook up the power. Oh, but then then fun begins... but in the end we will have clean, pressurized water.



My sunflower patch (Don't worry, not my house on the right)



We had about 50 people come through our little community, either visiting for a few days, or pitching in to help for a week. The dynamic is ever changing for us here, but to think that we have survived it, gives me hope that maybe, just maybe we will be able to manage all that is in store with the completion of the hospital/clinic.



My House (Go ahead and worry)



I find myself daydreaming more lately, thinking of strolling through Walmart, walking into my Grandma’s house, wondering what my garden looks like this year, without me? The places my mind will go untempered. I often think about writing home, like in the olden days, you know, in the 90’s, years ago! Writing a letter once a month, once a year to family or friends, just an update or a little sliver of love, wrapped in paper, penned with care. I don’t write letters often, practically never, at least ones that don’t come over the internet. .

What would I write if I did, who knows, but I can tell you what I will never write….

I will never write that I have it all completely figured out.

I will never write that I am thoroughly enjoying my international tour through Europe. I will never write that I am lounging on my yacht, drinking champagne. I will never write that I am a cat person. I will never write how thankful I am that Dr.Pepper is not distributed in Central American markets. I will never write that I am torn between spending the summer at my vacation home in The Hamptons or my cabana in Cancun. I will never write to my Mom, or tell her I don’t miss her. I will never write my family back home, and tell them I am glad I can’t see them and that I am relieved to be missing all our family gatherings. I will never write that I think my ‘teaching’ skills are heightened BECAUSE I AM THE MOM, and that I was born to homeschool. I will never write that I have never been burnt out as a missionary, as a mother, or as a spouse. I will never write a letter to God and tell him I completely understand what he has planned, for me, my family, the nation.

How could I? How could I describe the way He continually baffles me. The way that I can feel His encouragement in the breeze as it rolls through the window, stirring the curtains, and flaunting the mountains.

How could I deny the passion He has for His People here? Oh, the ends that He has gone too, to provide for and fund the construction thus far. To supply for me to feed my children and work for nothing! Only to receive everything I could never earn, in due time? A gentle strength that causes the Earth to quake, and can humble us all in the blink of an eye.

All this and more is at the Heart of questions I will never ask, only to be answered with a word that will never be written loud enough, or bold enough or big enough...

Love

Just four little letters that carry the hope of the world! If they are enough to cover me and my sins, than they are enough to cover yours, and anyone you know, will meet or overlook. 

Now, if we can just get ourselves out of the way, enough to make room for them…

that is the challenge we all face, together.