I still cannot believe that the first month on the World Race is just about over! I have learned so much from being in Lacama and wanted to share a little bit with you all!
The Funny:
1. ** When you get pasta that has white stuff on it that looks like cheese, it is mayo and noodles- not mac and cheese!
2. **When people said to bring ear plugs they were not kidding! All the dogs and roosters/chickens decide to bark and make tons of noise as soon as you zip up your tent to go to sleep! Also, vans like to honk their horns at 4:30 in the morning (and at any other time as well) J
3. **Do not think that you will be hot and sweating all the time just because you are in Guatemala! We have been freezing cold here at night and sometimes during the day, when other groups have been melting where they are! I have layered my clothes in so many different ways and even though I look really funny at least I am somewhat warm J
4. **Time here does not really exist, unless it is a church service! When someone says we are leaving at this time, it could be that time or it could be two hours later- you never know!
5. **You could go to a church service just about every day of the week! You can actually hear them too- from anywhere you are! They voice them over a loud speaker and I have heard them working from the church and in my tent at Pastor Manuel’s house!
6. **When we, as Americans, go anywhere it is like a parade! When we went to the son’s high school graduation you would have thought that we were the ones graduating with how many people kept on looking at us! They even mentioned us during the graduation and thanked us for coming!
7. **Having a parasite or being sick helps you get over using the bamboo shack bathroom with a cement ring for a seat.
8. **Do not leave your bread or any food out at night or the many dogs will eat it- and I mean eat it all!
9. **Even if you do not pet the stray dogs it does not guarantee that you will not get fleas!
10. **In order to make a birthday cake without an oven, put them in cups and cook it in the microwave for 3 minutes! And then you have cake in a cup J
11. **When you do laundry (and when it is by hand) make sure you do not wash all your clothes at one time (especially all of your warm clothes)! The weather changes constantly and it always seem to be sunny when I do laundry but then pours later that day. For instance- I did some laundry yesterday and it started pouring from the evening on J
The More Meaningful Lessons:
1. ** What giving truly means! These people have blessed and given us so much! Each day at work we have snack time in the morning and afternoon and it is all provided by church members. They have given us blankets to use twice, a hot water maker, countless snacks outside of work (like corn, bread, tamales, rice drink), and most of all a house to put up our tents in (the Pastor and his family moved out of their house so we could use it while we are here). They have taught me what it means to give and they do it to bless us and they are joyful about it!
2. **Even though there is a language barrier, I have seen what having true faith in God looks like. The Pastor and church members have so much faith that their church will be completed- no matter how long it takes because God will provide! The Pastor uses all of his money, which is not going to his family, to help build the church. When they pray you can hear the desperation in their voice calling out to God. Even though their music has all of the same notes in it, it is all about their hearts and you can tell they believe every word that they sing about.
3. **What it means to be part of a Christian family! This family has basically adopted us as their own. They invited us to share in a special moment that they had this past week. Their son graduated from high school on Friday and they wanted us to come and share in that moment with them. They even wanted us to take a picture with their son with his diploma. The mother calls us brothers and sisters and it is such a blessing to live with this family.
4. **What a true servant means! Pastor Manuel’s wife, Lucia, has such a servant’s heart. She has prepared all of our meals and refuses to let us help clean up. They are always giving us bread to go with our coffee and are constantly making sure we have everything we need. She even has tried to make us food that we are used to (like noodles with ketchup or mayo) and she wanted us to teach her how to make pancakes and French fries while we are here. She even made fried chicken and French fries a couple times and it has been the best fried chicken I have had in a while.
5. **What living in a true community starts to look like. When you are around your teammates just about all day, every day, you start to see what community looks like. You learn how to confront people if you have a problem or if you just need some to talk to about things you are processing about. My teammates are not really a team anymore, but more like a family. Each day I spend with them I see more about what God is doing in their lives and more reasons to love them. God has gifted my teammates in so many ways and they are all different from each other. I cannot wait to watch my teammates grow over the next 10 months and cannot wait for us to grow as a family even more. I love them and am so blessed to have them on my team!
6. **Contentment! That is a big lesson I have been learning! I have been discovering through circumstances (like being sick) and situations (like a bamboo shack bathroom and mayo and mac) that my contentment needs to come from God alone. It should not matter where I am, what I have or am wearing, or even my surroundings. If God is the joy and love of my life, He is all that I need and nothing else should matter. This is a daily lesson and one I am sure that I will learn through out this race, but God needs to be your contentment and then nothing else will matter!!!
