Oh, the driving!!

Since I last posted, we have driven all over this country.  It's been wonderful to see the beautiful countryside.  On our way to Nina's family's house on Saturday we were surrounded by a range of volcanoes and fields of sugar cane.  Our time at Nina's house was really sweet.  They had a wonderful lunch and we celebrated Kris & DeeDee's birthdays.  We enjoyed meeting all but two of her 7 brothers and sisters.  Her nephews had a great time playing with Little Man--- the language barrier just isn't an issue for kids.  It's great to see. 

The struggle with driving around here for me is absolutely the carsickness that I struggle with.  The crazy thing is, on our way home from Nina's house as we were dodging potholes and I was trying not to throw up, all four of my kids were sound asleep and we were having to hold their floppy heads.  I was amazed that the same thing happened with Shirley Temple yesterday also...and that road was far, far worse.  I couldn't believe she could sleep.

Sunday was a great travel day.  We  made it from Antigua to Coban in no time.  There was very little traffic or construction, so the drive was really smooth (plus the road is a good road).  Yesterday is a different story.  Oh wow!!!   The road from Coban to the Ulpan Valley is a dirt road for about an hour.  And it's not just a smooth dirt road to a quaint farm like in East Tennessee.... it's full of very large ruts, lakes, and rocks.  Thankfully I didn't throw up, but I was really close. 

When we arrived the goal was getting all the beds made.  We did that.  Today the goal has been to make our room to where we could walk through it.  We've done that.  I'm completely exhausted.... physically, mentally and emotionally.  But we are here.

The neat thing has been to watch how the Lord has a very obvious purpose for kids as a part of our team.  Our team is now composed of a majority of Guatemalans, which is awesome--- that's the goal.  So last night four of the men on our team came over to meet the kids & I (Julio, Roberto, Ricardo & Cesar).  Mark & I spent a bit of time talking to them & then returned to our room to get our bed made before dark.  The next thing we know, Dancing Beauty has taken Roberto's hand and invited him to skip down the porch with her.  Before we know it, all four of the men are skipping down the porch holding the hands of our children.  We were all dying laughing and standing amazed at how the Lord is using our children to break down the cultural barriers and form a team among us.

Here are a few prayer requests: 
sleep--- none of us slept well last night
routine--- now that we're getting settled, the kids (& their mommy) need a routine
team-- that all of us would understand our role on this team and that we would really be a team (Guatemalans & Americans) working together for a common goal