November 1st was All Saints Day which comes with a kite festival here. We had the day off so our ministry hosts at CANI (the school for which we’ve been helping build a soccer field) took us out for a day of kite watching, street food and a walk through one of the local cemeteries. Some of the most fun I had was driving through terribly slow traffic with Gabee, her sister Sophia and two of my teammates, TL and Ally, while we talked about food and language and folklore of Guatemala.
People lined the streets everywhere we went. They were eating and flying kites and generally having a good time. Outside the cemetery were tables of people selling food while visitors streamed in with flowers. Some people were applying new paint to their family tombs while others spread pine needles on the ground and arranged flowers. Kids were standing on top of the larger tombs flying their kites and one family was sitting with and singing with guitar accompaniment. It was the most fun I’ve ever seen had in a graveyard.
After we got home, three of us went across the street to the carnival that popped up outside the cemetery there. Melissa, Lauren and I spent a relaxing hour wandering through the crowds, eating churros and talking over loud music about how we felt about our first month here.
It was a good day and we all had a lot of fun, but it was more than that. It was the first day after I decided not to give up on the race and my team and my relationship with God. I knew being here was going to be hard. I knew it would stretch me, but I figured I was just along for the ride. I didn’t know how passive my attitude toward change was. I found myself ready and willing to slip into apathy, to let the team pass me by, to accept that I’m flawed and that there’s not really any point to trying. I sat in it for a few days. It was annoying.
Then, thanks to God, my teammates and conversations with some of the Adventures staff who are stationed here, I realized that as hard as it may be to fight, it’s what I want to do. I want more. I want to be changed. I want to believe I am who God says I am.
So here we go. It’s on. I’ve enjoyed my time in Guatemala. I’ve found people to love and I’m as ready as I’ll ever be for what comes next.
If you’re out there and you’re praying for me, please pray for my team as we learn to communicate and fight for each other and that I would have the strength in Christ to continue to choose an active approach to all my interactions.
Sophia and Gabee and I after we played the first game of soccer on the field we’ve been building all month.
Kids flying kites in the cemetery on All Saints Day
