Día de Acción de Gracias...a little late

First let me say sorry for being that girl that asks you to read her blog and then doesn't update it when she actually begins to have stuff going on. I never liked that girl and I'm sure you don't either. I will try not to be her anymore....

That to say, I spent my first Thanksgiving Day in a Latin country a couple of weeks ago. I really was thankful that the other CAM missionaries in the area had planned a potluck lunch, so that maybe I wouldn't miss my mom's dressing and my sister's sweet potatoes too much.

I made my traditional green chile corn casserole, only I could only find canned roasted red chiles here. My Spanish teacher asked why I didn't just roast and dice the green ones myself. I laughed as I lined up the cans of chiles and corn on the counter. The only other ingredients are a LOT of cream cheese and butter....mmmm. Of course I ran out of gas for the stove the night before Thanksgiving, so I made a 7 am phone call to the truck that brings it. It turned out well, but I had made a large portion and it took quite awhile to cook in the gas oven.

We went to the Henriques' home - they have been missionaries in Guate for over 40 years and live near the Glicks. They have a beautiful home, perfect for a large gathering.

I was excited because a few CAM families who live outside of the city came in for the meal, and I got to meet some more people serving down here. And, as a bonus, they all have really cute kids!

There was plenty of turkey and sides to go around and even more dessert. We had a time of prayer and they even sang some hymns of thanks. What a great day to remember how blessed we are and the One who has given us more than we could ever deserve. That was even more obvious to me this year than usual - here I am reminded daily, almost hourly, that I have been given so much, and therefore have more than enough to share...

I finished the day by Skyping with my family who was gathered at my parents' house for dinner. I am very thankful for all of them and for their love and support while I'm away.

The idea of Thanksgiving Day actually seems to be catching on down here - I heard from a lot of people that schools and families here are starting to choose to celebrate the day as one of service and gratefulness. Not a bad idea.

Psalm 118:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 

Settling in

Hola! I'm playing catch up after an eventful week...

Last weekend I got my car that I am renting from a friend of the Glicks! It is a little Mazda Protege, and luckily it is automatic, as many cars here are manual and I don't think I need to learn to drive a stick in Guatemala City! So far I have only driven to the Glick's house and the supermarket, but I will try to branch out soon.

We have a little argument going over whether it is blue or purple - you can let me know what you think!

Last Saturday I was still staying at the Glicks and they were babysitting two of the cutest little kids - Solomon and Gracie. You can follow their parents' blog here: http://entrusttruth.com/ . They are also with CAM International - it was fun to meet some more people here. The kids were so adorable and so fun to look after! I hope to see them again soon.

On Sunday I went to church with Oscar - he leads a worship band at a church nearby. They are really good and sang the Chris Tomlin song that I love that inspired the title of this blog! Only it was in Spanish - it was really cool to worship with that version and the congregation:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5q_NTvHVhM&feature=share&noredirect=1

That afternoon I had my first meeting with our small CAM team and got to meet 3 more people serving nearby. It was encouraging to hear stories about what other ministries are going on in the area and I was thankful to listen to advice about how to get adjusted here.

I finished the night playing card games with Maria and Sandi. If you ask Maria, I'm sure she will tell you that she won them all, but Sandi and I recall the evening differently ;)

On Monday, Mike, Sandi, and I ventured to Walmart (yep, it's here too) to by things in bulk for my new place. I had a list, but we basically just walked around the whole store since I needed things from each area. It was nice to be able to get it all in once place. They have about half of the things from the states and about half from around here, but the imported things are more expensive, of course. I don't need a lot of stuff here so I tried to keep it to the basics.

We dropped the items off at my place and went back to the Glicks because we were expecting good friends that I met last summer who were in town for a few days - Allison and Nino. Allison was an intern with me in Guatemala in 2010 and is a close friend of mine - I was so excited to see her! And to visit with Nino too....Allison lives in Little Rock and I hadn't seen her since she came to Dallas for a conference last November. It was so nice to hang out and eat dinner all together!

On Tuesday I got to participate in the weekly Bible study that is held at Sandi's house for housekeepers from the area. We sang praise songs and had a snack and then a teacher continued their study on Esther. It was a blessing to fellowship with this group and witness their encouragement and prayers for each other. I got to chat with a couple of the ladies after the group - any chance to practice my spanish! They were very sweet and I hope to see them again!