On the 3rd of July our family has had the
tradition of celebrating the 4th.
We have attended the Village Northwest Celebration for as long as my
kids can remember. This year was a bit
different though because of our location in Guatemala. BUT, God has a sense of humor as we again
celebrated the 4th on the 3rd. Do to schedules we celebrated a day early.
The staff at PBM was invited for a good old fashion picnic
and fireworks. We enjoyed grilled
burgers, potato salad, fruit, and cake and ice cream. The finale was an amazing fireworks display
lite by Mr. Dan Smith. We had a good
night. I was reminded of our nations independence. But more importantly I was reminded of my
right to nothing. I have no right to
independence, no right to a beautiful home, and no right to worship my Savior
without threat. Yet, my Heavenly Father
placed me in Iowa to experience all of these as a norm. Thank you Jesus for your grace on my family and
I.
The 4th of July~ Our family decided to go on an
adventure and to visit Lake Atitlan, the 4th most beautiful place in the world
according to National Geographic. After
riding on some difficult roads about two hours into our trip we came to a river
and the bridge was gone. HMMMMM what to
do? We’ve foraged rivers before but never
with just one vehicle and our kids in tow.
What to do? Just then a truck
came and crossed the river with no difficulty.
So we crossed . . . without incident . . . On with our adventure!
About 2 ½ hours into our trip Justin and I began to question
if we were actually on the right road.
As we continued on we came around a corner and the lake was there in all
of its glory! We passed through a small
town and then found an amazing overlook where we could have or picnic! God is Good!
We then got back in our big van and continued on to Panajachel. We found a beautiful national reserve that we
were able to hike to a butterfly house, see monkeys swing in the trees, and
even spend a few minutes observing God’s amazing beauty displayed in the lake.
Of course there was adventure in this part of our trip
too. Naomi is 3 years old and as
independent as can be! She would not
hold Justin’s hand as we crossed the swinging bridges, now before you think she
fell, keep reading!. About 15 feet into
the first bridge Naomi’s foot got caught and her beautiful pink and grey tennis
shoe fell to the bottom of the ravine.
Well, its not the shoe that you should worry about, its Justin and I
cause now we have an independent 3 year old, with no shoe and the need to be
carried on this adventure.
About 30 minutes later Naomi was riding on my back and she
said into my right ear, “I’m naughty Mommy.”
I responded with , “Why?”
“Cause I lost my shoe.”
I calmly said, “Oh, it was an accident, we can’t change it.
You are not naughty!”
As I continued up the path I could hear two things, my heart
beating in my ears (cause of the high elevation . . . um Riiiiight) and my God
speaking to me. HE said, “Vicki
sometimes there are things in life that you can’t change and yet you shame
yourself for them. Please let it go and
just let me carry you up the mountain.”
How many times do I need to learn this lesson?
As we finished our day we spoke with a family (in English!)
about the best way to go home, he told us a ‘better’ route and we thought, what
have we got to lose? Yeah, the way home
was much smoother and less adventurous.
As a family we grabbed some fast food for supper in Chimaltenango and continued
on our way home.
You know the time when you round the corner and your drive
way is in sight and you reflect on your day and think. . . that was a good
day. We almost made it to that point.
But hold on, our adventure isn’t over J Right before the fork in the road there is a
pickup loaded with firewood. I mean
loaded. The rear axle is broken and
there is no moving this truck and there is no going around it either. Now what?
We are sooooo close to home.
God’s provision is so great we can’t even comprehend it most of the
time. Estuardo, a fellow missionary with
us, so happened to be right behind us on
our way home (so happened J
). After a few minutes of deliberating
of what to do cause we have 6 kids, 3 gas tanks, 2 propane tanks, 1 man in a
wheelchair, it was decided we call Estuardo’s son to drive up the road and pick
us up. But, that would mean moving all
of the previous items past the broken down truck into another van and then, we would park the vehicles up the road a bit
and walk back . . . IN THE DARK. Just
when we think, oh that was a good day, God says “Oh, you are on MY
adventure!”
We pray your day brings you adventure and you can find joy
in HIS plan for your life!
~Vicki
 |
| Lake Atitlan!!!!! |
 |
| picnic lakeside! A beautiful view... |
 |
| wow! |
 |
| just finished the butterfly house and.... |
 |
| .....found one more butterfly |
 |
| through the jungle with the Tribe |
 |
| enjoying the lake after a long hike with 8 people and 15 shoes |
 |
| a spider monkey...one of many |
 |
| the zipline swing...the kiddos loved this! |
 |
| a Guatemalan school bus? :) |
 |
trust me...the road TO the lake, looked NOTHING like this one on the way back home....
|
