Why do we all feel so much pressure all the time? Perhaps its social media and how ‘connected’ we all are? We get glimpses into each others lives and it surely does make everyone elses lives seem so much more exciting than our own at times. Being a missionary or a humanitarian, whichever you prefer, we feel this pressure all the time. Pressure to deliver earth shattering updates all the time.  Quite honestly there hasn’t been much excitement in our ministry in a while. We are simply waiting… and growing…. literally. We have plants and crops on the way…. but they are just that… on the way. Our lives seem to be at a bit of a standstill right now. Planning for the coming volunteer year…. working in the almost completed nursery…. working on crops and waiting for those crops to mature…. waiting for this horrible drought to end…. working on grant and funding applications…. waiting on funding…. waiting on donors…. waiting… waiting….

This path we have chosen sure has taught us patience…. I feel such pressure to report BIG news all the time… To report exciting work that is going on…. to tell you all how much progress we are making in our fight against malnourishment in our region…. And don’t get me wrong…. we are making great big, GIANT leaps in this but right now we are just simply doing some, well, not very exciting work at this stage and waiting.

Personally for our family, we have tons new! Our eldest son Zack has announced his engagement to a wonderful young woman named Amelia. We all couldn’t be happier for them. We have known Amelia for quite some time since she first volunteered at our dental clinic. Zack has known since the first time he met her that she was the one for him. And so on December 6th we will be celebrating a wedding here! Such exciting times for us. There is a myriad of paperwork involved in getting married in a foreign country so we have been pretty busy getting all that done on time. Its definitely not easy doing it all from here and we are thankful for all the friends back home in Canada helping us out with that!

We have also moved. Our old house was plagued with many problems. Mainly the new very toxic high tension power lines that they put in 10 feet from our door and it was over-run by dengue type mosquitos. It was not a place we could stay anymore especially since me getting dengue a second time would pose major health risks for me. So we filled much time searching for a new home. What we found far surpassed our hopes and dreams. You see, hosting so many people we needed 2 homes and thats double the rent, but we managed to find one home large enough to accommodate everyone! So we are now settled in the centre of town in a large home that is more than ample for our family and for any volunteer teams that visit! God is good! We do struggle a bit with the enormous size and beauty of this home but seeing it is perfect for what we need we are adjusting.

One thing that set this house apart is that it has a tienda (store) in the front. We plan to and are actually already using this room to sell some of our overstock of plants and seeds, solar lights, water filters etc to those who can afford them. This will help fund these items for those that cannot afford to pay full price. Also we will be using the tienda to hold seminars on nutrition, cooking, planting etc. This will help us fund our ministry as well as provide education opportunities for those that need it and want it. This is a VERY exciting opportunity for us and we already have a name…. “La Vida Saludable” (The Healthy Life). The tienda will also be used eventually as a cafe! We are partnering with another non profit here in Guatemala, Global Community Works to sell their fairer than fair trade coffee! We are really excited by all these new opportunities and are excited to see what the future holds.

School is in full swing here as Luke and Gabe study with Me (mom) and prepare themselves for high school next year. Every morning is spent in our ‘classroom’ working hard and learning lots. While I am not a teacher I do find myself enjoying this time and its a bonus that I’m being reminded of things long forgotten too! You are never too old to learn!

Geoff and Zack have been hard at work getting our Nursery project off the ground. We have had to switch locations and so that created a ton of work for everyone but in the end it will be well worth it. Thousands upon thousands of nutritious seeds are being planted so we will have a surplus of moringa, chaya, neem, etc. and various fruit trees for the people here. This is a crucial part of our Community Empowerment Program that I blogged about in my previous post and we know it will have positive lasting impact on those involved.

And so…. if you can bear with us as we come to the end of our period of quietly waiting I promise to not feel so much pressure to provide exciting updates…. Volunteer season is upon us very soon and our plants are almost ready! Know that big things don’t always make loud noises but we are here and we are ready to begin making some very loud noises so stay tuned!