Our New Home

After returning from our honeymoon, we spent a weekend with the girls before beginning a stressful moving week.  Maria´s mom and sister changed homes with us and now all 7 of us are settling into our new home.  This house in San Cristobal (a town just west of Guatemala City) has been a tremendous blessing for all of us.  The owner is a God fearing man and has been very supportive.  He gave us a good deal on the house as well as leaving furniture for us to use.  It has enough space for all of us to live comfortably and we love our location.  We are within walking distance to just about anywhere we need to go, which is good since we do not have a car.  There is an 8 lane swimming pool next door and I am excited to see what opportunity there might be for giving classes.  We also are close to Journey Church, the church we attend which is full of American missionaries.

The condominium where we live is full of playmates for the three kids.  Naty and Sofy have played outside everyday with our neighbors since moving here.  It has been nice eating dinner together as a family every night and we are starting to get into our routine.

As I survey my new surroundings, I ponder our path.  What is God teaching us, where is He leading us?  What people has He put in our path?  I pray for wisdom to help lead the family in the right direction and strength to fight my own demons that get in the way.  I pray for the environment of the home, that it is filled with love, patience, forgiveness, and a longing for God.
       

Family Trip to Cotzal

After the wedding, Maria and I traveled with my family up to Cotzal.  My mom, dad, sister, nephew, uncle, aunt, and two cousins traveled with us as well as Pastor Ralph with his son and daughter in law.  It was the first time some of them were able to see the school where I have spent so much time working.

 My family has been such a huge support for me in prayer these last couple of years and it was cool to watch them in the community for the first time.  The first day they went to the school where my nephew Micah was a huge hit with the children at HOREB.

Two teachers came with us: my sister Amanda and Ralph's daugther in law, Lorien.  They are part of WIND's teacher to teacher program which pairs teachers from the U.S. with teachers at Colegio HOREB in order to exchange ideas.  They were able to observe the teachers in the classroom and also participated with them in a teacher workshop put on by the Nicolas Fund of Education (NFE).

Through a donation from WIND, we also were able to present HOREB for the first time with textbooks for all the students.  It was an emotional time for the teachers because they had prayed for this kind of help.

 I was also able to bring some of the group into a few homes where we prayed and visited.  It was a short trip but it was a special relationship building time as my friends in Cotzal got to know more of my family.  As my family left on a plane to return home, Maria and I spent our honeymoon on Lake Atitlan, the start of a new life together.