When peace and quiet elude me

.......
Did you hear that?...I will do it again...
.......
Did you catch it that time????
I will spell it out for you.
nnnnhhh(Deep breath in)......aaaahhhh(and out)....
How about that time?
Ok, so if you have figured out that I am breathing by now, you get one point. If you have figured out why that is journal entry worthy, you get 50 points!
We are here in Guatemala city. We came in to the City on Wednesday morning. We arrived late afternoon, after an uneventful drive. We all enjoyed fast food for lunch (by the way, anyone who has ever lived overseas or outside the US for any length of time, knows this is something you come to enjoy and even look forward to) and pizza for dinner. I swam with Jacob and Audrey as Ryan played ping-pong with Joshua. We all slept well, and headed to the Zoo this morning. Joshua has been asking for a few months to go to the Zoo. After we were released from the Emergency room a few weeks ago when Joshua broke his arm, this was his first request.  The highlight was definitely the hippos for the kids, but for me it was the spider monkey momma with a baby latched on to her as she climbed in-front of us. Sighhhh!!!!

Another lunch at fast food, and then onto some actual errands, followed by more swimming/ping-pong.  We have just finished showers for the kids, and they are all tucked into bed laughing at the Spanish commercials in-between cartoons that they can watch and imagine what they might be saying. Before returning to the hotel, we were able to treat Ryan to some Father's Day Dairy Queen, your right that was just an excuse to indulge.
Now here I am, typing away, on the floor, in the corner of our hotel room, near an outlet. Why? Because I wanted to share this amazing moment, and because my tablet is dead.
I am breathing. Just normally. Not my normal deep breathing followed by a sigh in order to return to that happy place where I feel more calm. Just breathing, and when I am not breathing with a smile on my face, I have a smile in my heart.
We will begin acquiring groceries and other supplies tomorrow for our return to Canilla. Come Saturday morning, it will be back to our slice of reality. Canilla, our little remote town with a few paved roads, and a couple ways in and out. Canilla is a relatively quite town, with it's share of cantinas and churches. I think it is a peaceful place to live for most people.
For me, it has become where I fight to raise my family and balance work and ministry. The construction process has gotten the best of me on many occasions. I don't know if it is my personality, living on-top of all of it, or both. Either way, it is nice to gain a little perspective and french fries.
Leave it to me, to find my calm in the middle of a crazy Central American city!
Thanks for reading, sharing and pressing on. After all.... we're in this together. (gulp) Right?