Who needs a sloppy pet kiss?



Why do I always wait so long to make a blog update? I end up looking back at the pictures I have taken on my camera, and as I try to put them together into a sensible order that I can narrate, I realize my life, as I know it, well, as I've always known it, is nothing short of a crayon box filled with chalk, scissors and glue.

What a strange combination. I suppose this is typical of Do-what-needs-to-be-done-hood. I may never know what a 'normal' life is like.

But, I can rest assured that I have been hand crafted for this craziness. Equipped with the skills to get by, and lean on the One who actually has the skills( no not Ryan, though he is handy)

Progress, as you can see, has been steady and evolving. We have progressed onto the north line of the building with footings and stem walls, and we have nearly half of the stem walls poured.



The next step, is to start the plumbing that will go under the ground, and the main electrical lines also. These are two major areas of the hospital construction, and they will require a substantial amount of supplies and  materials.

It has been amazing to see all the supplies roll into a shipping container, that as of the 10th of march will begin its voyage down the Atlantic coast, into the Gulf of Mexico, and arrive in Guatemala on the 25th of March.  We are excited to see the next shipment of supplies, but at the same time, this is just a big reminder of what needs to be done.

The Well Rig also arrived recently. They have already reached 120 ft deep, and have about 500ft to go. We hope the crew can keep up the pace, and avoid any rock that might be lurking below.  We can expect another month of drilling, but if we hit rock, we can expect much longer.

It has been great to see progress here, and as we approach March, we also approach the 6 month mark for our relocating to Guatemala.
Because of this we are forced to leave the country. Tickets home are expensive, and with the project moving along, we will lake just a few days to renew our tourist visas in Mexico. I know, MEXICO! I have never been there, and as a Midwesterner, I have only read scary things about Mexico. We have decided that this is the best option for us now, and have done some research and asking around, and feel like we can brave the trip next week. I don't think it is actually much different than Guatemala, but we are looking forward to the change of pace and getting away from the construction for a few seconds.

In other news, we welcomed our new 'puppy' to the family. He is a three year old, 100 pound baby! The neighbors are slightly afraid of him, and when they ask if he is mean, I like to say 'sometimes'. He has been a fun addition to our family. We learned last week on our trip to swim in the river that he enjoys the water. He was fun to play with, but I definitely will say, that big guy lunging toward you in the water is a little unsettling. He is a sloppy, wet kisser. And the kids (just the kids) all love it.


We also ventured out and purchased a cow. We hope to giver her a little time to graze, add some weight, and butcher her in a week or two.
The cow we butchered last November is completely gone, and we have seen a high demand for more, mostly from Ryan.

We are excited to see what the future holds for our family. Our new home, is finally beginning to feel like it, and it is nice to begin to work towards long term goals, and feel as though our future will be slightly less up-in-the-air.  Next week, we will see the first work team to come help on the hospital, and we are looking forward to the boost, extra sets of hands, and time to share the message of why a hospital and why here.

Thanks for reading, and would someone please write to  me in two weeks and remind me that it is TIME to write an update on here!!!!! I fear time may get the best of me yet again.

In the muck and a sky of fire

 Life continues to press on here, as I am sure it does everywhere else. The crew has completed digging and prepping almost half the hospital footings, and we have begin pouring the concrete one level at a time. We have completed the entire west perimeter wall footings and hope to pour the stem walls over a portion of these this coming week.

 The process is intense and requires many hands on deck. They are able to pour about 16 cubic yard of concrete per day into the prepared footings if all the raw materials are ready and waiting. Ever step takes time, and there are always details that require tweaking from the time before and rethinking from what we have expected.


All in all, the progress has been good, and has shown us all just exactly what we have gotten 
 ourselves into.

The progress we have made so far has given us a better idea of what to expect, and we are able to estimate the timeline for the next year. We have had interest from churches and individuals to come down and pitch in, and we are excited by this, because it is confirmation for us that we have not been asked to bear this burden alone.

We were able to move over to the 'new' house last Sunday, and have completely vacated our previous residence. We started the move in the morning, and Ryan sealed our fate, with deciding to move all the beds first. I cant say I look forward to relocating again any time soon, but this move was much shorter and with no sad goodbyes. We are all enjoying the new house, in its almost kind-of done stage.

I am enjoying a fence around the house, for the first time in motherhood.  The gates remain latched, but without locks at this time. We only have a few escapees a day, and we are working on that.


The dust has been brutal on our house cleaning schedule. I have never been one to keep an immaculate home, but sweeping twice a day, and needing a scoop shovel (ok, not really) to take out the dirt, seems a little crazy!  

 We spent a little time yesterday on our day off, and cleaned out the horse through for a makeshift swimming hole for the kids.
There were a myriad of little swimming critters and not so nice smelling goop at the bottom. Of course, we found the drain after the fact.

Tomorrow, we will be hosting, as a ministry, an Open House/Groundbreaking/Dedication ceremony for the Hospital. We hope to have a large turnout of municipal officials as well as local and Nation supports of the project. We will cater and feed all who attend with the hope of spreading the word as to the intentions of the hospital as well as the purpose for the project as a whole. 

I hope to have some good pictures from the ceremony tomorrow. And what it looks like from here as we continue to traverse the gap between our native culture, and the native culture with Jesus and Love at the center.

Almost, again.

We started last week with digging footings and setting re-bar cages into the trenches. The guys are enjoying the work for now, and everyone is pitching in. We can hardly drag them out of the dirt, and our only savings grace is not having lights... yet!

 

 

 

Last week we welcomed the first family of this year’s annual rotation of Physicians thanks to DOCs for Hope. We are enjoying the developing community, as well as the encouragement and motivation we have seen and felt form this growing group of short and long term missionaries. We have felt a sense of renewed focus, and responsibility as we embark on the next phase for our ministry. We continue to see the great need for quality, reliable, and accessible medical care and cannot deny the opportunity to shower the love of Jesus on all the patients as they are able to receive healing medical care and the message of the gospel.

Our house is coming along nicely, and we hope to be living there in a week ( I have been saying that for about three weeks now). The ceiling will remain half completed for a month or so, but we have water and electric all done, with the septic system up and running. We worked on the bathroom, and we are hopeful to (somewhat) complete the kitchen this week. I am ready for the move, but not before we have a fence up.

With the construction moving forward, full steam, we are surrounded by heavy equipment, loads of sand and rock, and soon, a well drilling rig. The progress is great to see, but I am reminded that we will live on a construction site, immersed in all the elements that go with it. I am considering placing padlocks at each of the gates of the fence surrounding the house, to ensure no one will sneak out of the yard.

Through this, I am once again reminded that the safely of our children is no more in our hands now than it has ever been. We strive each day to rely on Gods protection over our family. All of this while we try to find the balance between using the knowledge and wisdom that we are equipped with, to be good parents, and being completely reliant on Him.

 Thank you, again, for faithfully supporting us in this ministry, and enabling us to serve here in Guatemala. We are reminded daily that we can not be here without your love and support.







The boys 'fishing'



'This is the Hospit'

Where the sky is not clouded all day, very often.

 Happy New Year to all! It is hard to believe it is a New Year!
IT is even harder to believe that we are HERE!

We saw a few days of overcast skies and some rain. It was a nice difference. The last few months have been very dry, so we welcomed some sprinkles and clouds.

Ryan and I were able to complete the butchering process last month, with lots of help from the family. We now have a freezer of beef and a willing audience to try our new menu on.

 




Jacob having fun at the dirt pile!

 The mixing process to pour the pad for the patio at our new-to-us house.

The pouring went rather smooth, and gave us some good practice with all the equipment. We tried tinting the pad to see if this may be an alternative to 20,000 sq. ft. of tile for the Hospital. I will have to show you the finished product, in a few weeks.

 

As the new year has descended, it has brought new visitors, and the hospital plans are starting to unravel into a days work and conversations.

 

The first of the years family DOCs rotation has begun, and we are so grateful to have help at clinic again for Leslie (mom). More help will come in a few weeks, and then we will have months go by, before we are without help and someone to share the burden.

Thank you for your help with sharing our burden, and stating connected with the craziness we call life.

 

 

Behind the scenes

 As you know, we have been plugging away on our new, well new to us, house. With the help of the local crew under Ryan and Duane's management. Last Wednesday we embarked on a quick 6 hour trip to the Capital city of Guatemala (Guatemala City) for supplies and renewal of our tourist visits.

We were able to spend a few nights at a safe hotel in the city where the kids were able to swim, and we were once again able to grab a few doughnuts!

The trip home we were once again loaded with supplies. Our last trip to the city was two months ago. We were able to make our groceries stretch with a few supplemental items from flights to the city. We are hopeful that we will be able to make our next trip a little less stressful, and drive home during the day. We arrived home at 10 pm Friday night. Needless to say we were all tired. We unloaded the sleepy heads and cold groceries, and crashed.






The trip home was slow, and we didn't start until about 3. The sun was nice, and the scenery was beautiful. As soon as we climbed into the mountains, the weather was cool. At the coolest point, the temp was at 50 (f). Not cool to everyone at home, but for a region that lives in dirt or uninsulated block homes with no central or temperature controlled anything, this is cold.


With the building supplies we brought home, we should be able to move into the 'new' house. We have about two months before the new arrivals come, and we will need to be vacated, but we are hoping to get into the house as soon as possible, and be settled for a little while.


The construction on the Hospital is moving along, slowly, as we continue to prep equipment and hone the raw materials process. We are looking into sand washing and trying to find the most effective, yet realistic approach to modern concrete construction practices, while keeping the 'Guatemalan limitations' in mind.


We are about a week till Christmas, and still no tree. I think I may abandon the idea, and keep my disappointment to a minimum. Maybe hang a few more lights, and pretend. I feel like we need to make new Christmas traditions, as the ones we are so familiar with, are just unattainable here. Maybe that is for the better. Almost all gifts are home made or practical necessities and are up in the air until the day before. We will likely work up to and after the holiday, and try to embrace the Guatemalan tradition of the midnight fireworks. We are still foreigners here. I guess we are blended as much as any family.



I am sure Christmas is in full swing at home, and all the craziness of the 25th deadline is suffocating sometime. I hope you have time to appreciate the Christmas season for what it is, and embrace the prospect of keeping the message of Jesus birth and the events that followed as a reminder of the transcending power of Jesus birth, life, and sacrifice.

Blessing!

-Me

At the current rate...

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 I thought I would share a little about the seasons here in Guatemala.

Since about mid October, the daily rains have stopped. The air is very dry now, and the nights are cool. The valley of Canilla has an old water supply or canal, that carries water down from the mountaintop. Then, through to several areas of the valley where it is branched off, redirected, and manipulated, almost entirely through gravity.
The Canal has been a large part of the agriculture here for many decades.

Each year as the rain ends, and the dry season begins, the canal allows farmers to irrigate their crops, allowing for a continuous growing season.
The canal is shared by all the farmers in the valley that pay the yearly fees, and engineer a route for the water to reach their property. On the assigned day, boards or a type of block are used to redirect a portion of the water flow. It is not uncommon for the water to pass under roads or through neighboring property.

The water is not  clean enough for drinking, but there are numerous families that  utilize the water supply for laundry, baths and cleaning. My children enjoy dipping their toes into the cold water, as the dry season can bring the hottest weather we see. Some of our neighbors will dip out of the canal, and wet the road to eliminate some of the dust for motorcycle and automobile traffic.The dust during the dry season seems to settle onto everything.

The rains will begin again in June. Between now and then, the entire countryside will turn brown. The grass will go doormat, and the fields that are not irrigated will sit idle until the rains begin again.





The canal happens to run directly past the front of the AIM compound as well as the Hospital construction site.  We will be using the canal water supply for most of the early hospital construction. We hope to dig a well with sufficient water supply on the Hospital property. This is no small task. We have investigated and inquired about a well, and when it is all said and done, we are told the cost will be upwards of $75,000 US.  Needless to say, we have not started drilling, but through God's faithfulness, we will start the well soon, and be one step closer to opening the doors of the Hospital.

Ruby Slippers

Our future house adjacent to the Hospital is coming along. We just started laying tile in the house and the electricity is almost ready to be turned on. The house has changed slightly, but the result of these small changes makes me think it can become a nice home for our family for the immediate future.  It will be nice to practically have Ryan working in the back yard on the hospital construction, as we host teams and juggle all the demands of family life and ministry. 

I wanted to share some pictures of the progress so far, and show how much of the work has to come slowly, as basic supplies are locally available, but anything quality or reliable needs to be brought in from the city, a five hour drive away.

 

The tile will hopefully be grouted by the end of next week, and then we can look to closing in the ceiling and hanging doors. The kitchen will be a long time coming, as all the carpenters are heavy equipment operators currently, and I think that will continue for some time.

Kitchen after demolition of the separating wall

Kitchen, ready for tile.

Living room, after some demo.

Living room, ready for tile.

Kids bedroom, before

Kids bedroom, after windows, ready for tile.

The beginning of the bathroom.

The bathroom ready for rapeo.

The tile will hopefully be grouted by the end of next week, and then we can look to closing in the ceiling and hanging doors. The kitchen will be a long time coming, as all the carpenters are heavy equipment operators currently, and I think that will continue for some time. Once we get the bathroom working, and some doors hung to keep the cow patties in the living room down to a minimum, I hope we can move in. We have a few months before we are down to the wire, but I am looking forward to being able to clicking my heels, and going home, having a yard where the kids can play safely, a family dog can run,  and be able to create a sense of home again.

 

Even if there is a rock crusher and a concrete mixing plant right off the front patio.