Restless or rest-full?

*Content disclaimer: I intend on being real and this might get vulnerable, so feel free to skip the following text and scroll down to the pictures of cute kiddos!

It has been months and months since I have written a blog entry. This is mostly due to the fact that there has been so much going on both within our family and within Adonai that honestly it can be overwhelming to try and keep on top of the day to day stuff, never mind find the time to write about it. (If anyone is up for teasing out our thoughts and reflections on life out here and putting them into bloggable words, give me a shout!) 😂 😉 

Let me take you back a couple of days. We'd been waiting for Noah and Ikeys' new passports to arrive at the Spanish embassy in Guatemala, before planning our first trip "home" to England and Spain in almost 2 years. So finally, after various 14 hour round road trips to do paper work in Guatemala City with 3 little ones under the age of 4, and two months of waiting for the Madrid office to send our passports to the embassy here, we received the joyous news that the passports are sitting in the Embassy. Yippety-yip, hip-hip, hooray!! This meant we could really start looking at flights and getting excited about that month of seeing our beloved family and friends again. 

One quick search on Skyscanner reassured me that we could even make it home as soon as the end of October! We convinced ourselves that this Autumn trip home we'd been hoping for (or maybe mostly I - had been pining after) could finally happen. Yes it would be crazy and fast, but what cross-Atlantic trip to two countries with multiple little boys wasn't going to be crazy??! (Did I mention we have 3 mini men now?? I still haven't got my head around that! Haha). 

This was starting to get exciting. We could book those tickets!  It was finally happening! 

Cue the niggling feeling that triggered the search for our oldest boy's passport, just to double check that it wasn't going to expire. Surely not? Their second passport lasts 5 years, right?? 

Wrong. 
Expiry date November 2016. 

And then I crumbled. How dumb could we be? How unorganised, I mean - how had we not seen this earlier? How embarrassing. 

My husband gently reminded me that we had checked this earlier, but it was ok because we were originally intending to travel in June, so it wasn't an issue. Then June turned into September. And September turned into "maybe October"…. And somehow on all the busyness we just plain forgot. 

I cried ... and promptly felt the need to munch through a whole bar of Cadbury's chocolate. My most homely flavour… my ultimate comfort food that ran out months ago (which, incidently, no one can send me anymore, because our nearest post office - a 2 hour drive away - has also gone bust and closed down. Woe is me, indeed! ;) ) 

Now here's the crux of the matter.  Life has been a non-stop, super whirlwind of visitors, teams, hospital advances, decisions, a stressful birth plan in a new country (which went perfectly in the end!!), trying (and mostly failing) to balance all of this with finding time to spend with our neighbours/work colleagues/friends/general life-buddies here in Canillá. 

It has been a ridiculously exhausting year for all of us on the team. But it's ok, we would just keep plodding on and that month back in Europe would be enough to give us renewed strength, passion, energy, perspective…surely?! 

It's worth noting here that in all of this process, we were praying for God's timing on this trip home. So as I sat with that almost expired passport in my hand, I confessed the following to Luis: 
        I had been hanging everything on this trip in order to rest, disconnect, etc. But God was now making it loud and clear that my rest needs to be found in Him first. 

We love our life out here. It is a crazy contrast with our life in Santander, Spain, (which we miss , a lot!) but we are generally really happy and know that this is where we need to be. Where God wants us right now. Life here on the surface is so much slower paced and healthier than how we used to live, yet deep down it is so very intense on a spiritual, cultural and emotional level… That is what is so hard to explain to people who don't live here. 

So this trip will happen. At a more sensible time, less hurried and not because we need to "escape". And while I'm talking about this from a spiritual perspective, we will still try to be intentional about having a break/mini holiday sometime in the near future.

The point is, we need to keep coming back to God for that renewed strength, passion and energy. It has to be daily. Or even hourly. It's not in the trips out of town or cappuccinos in Antigua or walking around a shiny shopping mall in Guatemala City. Those things definitely help at times!! But their effects last only a few weeks, or days before we exhaust ourselves again.

We get drained by those moments when: 

We hear about another kid who has committed suicide locally. 
Another pregnant 12 year old comes to see us at clinic. 
The little 1 year old you see at clinic with a nasty pneumonia and deadly low Oxygen sat's won't be taken to hospital by his parents.
We get offended by something someone says or doesn't say to us. 
Our baby doesn't let us sleep. 
The cross language and cultural communication gets exhausting. 
(Fill in the blank space from your own situation...................................................)

Life is tiring, whatever season you're in, whatever role you play out! The only source of renewable strength and peace that I have experienced is in Jesus. And trust me, it has taken me some hard life lessons to learn this. Over and over. And I'll probably keep on forgetting and relearning! 

Ultimately, I am relieved we don't need to plan a trip so quickly. We are so looking forward to hugging you all in person and hearing what has been happening in your lives (and eating vast quantities of Cadbury´s, cream teas, sausages, and pinchos de tortilla!!) and that will happen in the new year.

Meanwhile, let's just keep on, periodically giving it all back to Him, our life-giving, peace-restoring, perfect father and reset our focus on the stuff that really matters, eternally.

Now for some photos! :) 

  Tío Francis, Luis & Abuelito Maquey and the cousins on an adventure!

 On yet another walk, that time in beautiful Antigua, to try and encourage the arrival of baby Noah!

 ...and then he arrived! Without the umbilical chord wrapped twice around his neck, as shown on our 35 week scan! Miracles do happen!!

 A very happy daddy!

 Ikey´s 2nd birthday :)

 How they love that little baby brother!

Overlooking Canillá and the valley. 

 Joshy turned 4! 

 Taking a break in one of those shiny, exhausting shopping malls, during a trip to Guatemala City to do paperwork.

 This little bubba is all smiles! (Noah at 4 months old).

Celebrating Guatemala´s Independence Day.

One year!

5th January 2015: The day we set out on the biggest adventure/risk of our lives - so far!

5th January 2016, 3:30am: Wide awake, suddenly it dawns on me that we left Spain a whole year ago, I'm thinking about the many changes - beautiful, difficult and scary - of this past year. Body, couldn't you choose a more sensible hour to do this? No? Okay... bowl of corn flakes, pen and paper at hand, time to blog!


One year ago today: A surprise farewell at Santander Airport.  We had no idea what lay ahead!

The past few years one thing has been at the forefront of my mind. God is constant, never-changing, always faithful. This is an aspect of Him that I love and am often comforted by!

I thought I´d give you a little insight into some of the contrasts and changes in our lives since moving to Canillá:

Home.
Has gone from a 2 bedroom flat in the city, surrounded by A LOT of concrete and bricks. Our closest friends a 5 minute drive away, work a 10 minute drive away. TV, (decent) wifi, unlimited water, all very much normal, not even considered on a daily basis.
...To living on the A.I.M. compound, in a lovely little apartment, surrounded by huge, open, green spaces and plenty of faces! Closest friends/neighbours a 30 second walk away! Work: on our doorstep. TV: Something we watch dvd's on, wifi: what's that again? Water usage: Something we are very conscious of and grateful for!

Friendships.
Before: Had to be scheduled into very busy, clashing timetables. A whatsapp and arrangements to meet for a coffee/play-date/walk on the beach.  Fun, deep, meaningful, limited by time, precious.
Now: One aspect of community living we have discovered is that you suddenly have a whole bunch of new friends. Some come and go too quickly for our liking, others we know are growing to be loyal, stable, parts of our lives. Before we had to make an effort to arrange to see friends. Now we see them all the time, but the effort has to be even greater if we want to go beyond the "How are you? How was your day? How did that meeting go?" stage and into something more vulnerable, deep and beautiful. There's no more hiding from the world if you're having a bad day! ;)

Church.
Sundays, Wednesdays, most days on Facebook and Whatsapp! A physical building, a beautiful sense of community - though somewhat more spread out than now! Spanish. Work schedules determined who could get there that day.
Here: Re-defined. A part of every day life. No physical church building, but a community of some 30 (at a guess?) English speaking missionaries who live in Canillá and San Andrés. We meet at least every Tuesday night in the house next door to us for worship, prayer, sometimes a teaching and always popcorn! And also at various other moments during the week for prayer room sets. A central part of our lives, work schedules do not (currently!) determine how often we can attend.
Spanish worship: Though we are living in a Spanish speaking country, our doorstep community means it is way more often in English. Many of us recognised the need for a fresh, local, spanish worship night and that has been our baby/project this year.  A challenge we have loved!

Family life.
In Spain - always determined by by shift work. Pregnancies overseen by a midwife. Births in local, decent, public hospital. One baby at home, one toddler at pre-school.
In Canillá - what determines our work schedule. Much more quality time together. Surrounded by like-minded thinkers of God first, family second, work/ministry next.  Pregnancies overseen by...us! Births - do we risk a 'home' (or clinic?) birth (lucky for us Daddy is a doctor and there are professionals on hand!) or do we pay out for a private hospital birth in the capital? Public hospitals are not an option due to poor conditions, lack of medicine and overload of patients.

Work.
Shaped every corner of our lives, a salary, a constant income. Often stressful.
Now: still a very central part of our lives, and the reason we came here - our passion to serve those who have least and share God's love... yet it somehow doesn't dominate our life or influence as hugely our time together as a family. Our money now comes through what we believe is God's faithful provision, through generous people - a lesson in humility and trust in itself!

Food.
In España: Varied, delicious, quality meat, seafood, tapas, pinchos and whatever Carrefour, Lidl, or Mercadona had to offer, all just a 5 minute drive away.
Now: Endless choices and colours of fruit and veg, but very limited meat and fish options. Everything has to be made from scratch. Local market every Friday/Saturday (which very quickly lost it's novelty effect on us). Oh, or a 6 hour drive to Walmart! :)

And so to end: We've gone past that first year novelty, honeymoon period and are well into the everyday, much slower-paced routine. Blessed to be in an environment where it is so natural to put God first. Surrounded by prayerful people with beautiful hearts and visions very similar to our own. Changing faces and friendships and work. Same constant, faithful God!

Time keeps on ticking and we keep on learning...

It's been 6 months since we arrived in Canillá, Guatemala. A lot has happened; each day the hospital construction advances, we have met many new people, our sons are growing - Isaac had his 1st birthday, which he celebrated with his cousins and grandparents (complete with a special visit from 'Babu' from England).

In reality we realise more and more, that God brought us to this place to teach us to live and trust in Him. God is teaching us to have more love, to be more humble, to have more joy ... and  patience, in every experience.

When you leave your comfort zone, you are more vulnerable and able to ask yourself who you really are, who is your neighbour, who really is God? Because we stop tryng to programme God into our lives and allow Him to be the one that programmes our lives, in order that His will be done and His kingdom would advance.

We are thankful because God helps us to overcome our pride each day. Everyday we are more convinced that this work is not about us. Not even our best intentions, nor the best hospital in the area, or the best professionals. This work is all about Jesus, our God, because He is the only who can change people's lives. He changes us from the inside. Only He can change our hearts, Jesus is the only one who can change chaos, the darkness and the lack of hope, light and salvation.

As well as the work in the clinics, we now lead a time of worship for the local youth. Our desire is for God to move in their lives and change this generation. Also two Fridays a month we have a lunch for the workers from the hospital construction, to talk about who Jesus is and how to be a true follower of God.

Besides traditional (physical) medicine, there's a great need for 'soul' medicine in this place, and this is our challenge. Please keep praying for our family and for the whole team here in Canillá, that God's kingdom would be extended here.

Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" 

Matt. 6:33 "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (NIV).

Hugs, Luis, Naomi, Isaac and Joshua.

 A fun moment during Babu's visit!

 Birthday boy attacking the piñata with his abuelo :)

 Joshy still loves the tractors!

 The day we weren't prepared for a rainy walk home from clinic! So we DIY'd some waterproofs!

 Luis talking to the primary school kids at an event last month (and loving it!).

 Even supermarkets become 'fun places' when you don´t have one nearby

 Look how big he is! And curls, too :)

 The front wall of the hospital is complete!

A beautiful sunset seen from the back of our house.

Last week we had a team down from Lifegate Church, Omaha, Nebraska, who helped run a 72 hour prayer event.  This is a photo of the Adonai-Lifegate team with the final worship set.  It was a really special time, focussing in on prayer for the people of this valley and especially the youth. 

This is about Him...

We’ve now been in Canillá for a month, and little by little, the way we live is changing.  We’ve left behind the things that were so normal for us - such as going for a coffee, walking around a shopping centre, or maybe even going to the cinema and eating popcorn.  Our children have settled into our new house, are getting to know their new friends and also love seeing the ‘chompipes’ (turkeys), the cows, pigs, as well as playing in the dirt and bouncing on the trampoline every day.

We´ve started to see a lot of patients at the clinics.  Each day we are surprised by what we see: whether they’re physical needs, problems associated with poverty, such as children with malnutrition; disintegrated families caused by the men leaving to seek work in other places; alcoholism, etc. …

We are meeting wonderful people, with huge hearts, who come to serve local Guatemalans with so much love… we are learning so much from the other people/missionaries on our team. I could mention so many more things, but this is about Him.  Its about Him love for us, His love for the weakest, His interest in those who have nothing, for those who have no hope, for those whom the rest of the world have never heard of - yet He knows each and every one by their name, because He has the power to do all this and so much more.  We serve Him and we love Him.  This is about HIM and His name is Jesus.

A week ago, a 2 year old boy came to our clinic in Chiminisijuan in a critical state, he was with his brother and sister who were also ill, but we centered our attention immediately on him.  After examining him, we realised that he had pneumonia and was in a bad way.  We spoke to his mother and explained that her son needed to go to hospital and it was then that we began to get anxious, as the mother was unable to take him to hospital - firstly because the the father wasn’t with them, and secondly because she couldn’t afford the transport (as their village is a very long way from the hospital). 

It was a heartbreaking moment, because in somewhere like Spain or England it is so easy for an ill child to be admitted into hospital and receive the best treatment, but in that very moment, we couldn’t do any more for the patient, as he needed IV antibiotics and oxygen (he was finding it very hard to breathe).  We did what we could in the clinic and as this is all about Him, we decided to ask God to do a miracle in this little boy´s life.  We prayed and pleaded for a miracle to take place, and the mother went home with her little boy, still very poorly.  

Today we went back to the clinic in Chiminisijuan and the whole family returned and we saw the boy (Juan Alejandro), but this time he was unrecognisable - he came running in, he´d made a complete recovery.  Its such a privilege to see how God carries out miracles and how He takes care of the smallest and most in-need.

In these past days, our perspective of medicine is being transformed.  As we see so many people, that intelectual medicine, is changing to a heart-felt medicine, because that way, we are able to show love to the people we are serving here.  

We want to tell you that God is a good God, who gave His son Jesus to love us and fill us with His love and also that God is powerful and still performs miracles today.  That is why in Matthew 11:28 He says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”… Because all this is about Him.  Its about Jesus.

 Luis with Juan Alejandro and his family.

 View of the mountains in Quiché, taken from the plane.

 Patients at Chiminisijuan clinic, listening to Pastor Armando.

A kid in our house(!)

Lately we´ve been...

Settling into our new home, which is lovely, by the way!

 Making a campfire to cook homemade chips on - these two 12 year old girls made the fire, peeled and fried the potatoes in next to no time! Joshy was in awe!

Going for a lot of walks down this long, hot and dusty road, and taking in the beautiful views of the valley...

   

Inaugurating the Adonai Hospital construction and dedicating it to God - such a special and memorable day. 

Getting to see up close how the hospital building is coming along.  Right now the concrete is being poured for the second phase of stem walls  (and I am learning new building vocab - in English, never mind Spanish - every day!!).

Enjoying Joshy's first ride in a tuc-tuc. He loved every second!

 Getting involved in clinics and learning lots.  Here patients wait for consultation at the clinic in Chiminisijuan, a village in the mountains, about a 45 minute drive from Canillá. 

 Enjoying the many smiles of this little one :)

A couple of things I´ve been ticking over lately...

Its actually quite a task to just list a couple of things... my mind and body is on 'go-fast' setting as we get ready for moving to Guatemala in just a month.  As I write this, it is currently 2:12a.m.  I should definitely be tucked up in bed, making the most of these precious hours of sleep and the fact that our boys are fast asleep.  However, this is the time of day that I start to think - or perhaps the only time I can hear myself think!  So anyway hear goes, a 'couple' of things...

1. That 'calling' thing ;)

I've been thinking about that famous word so often heard in the Christian world... Calling.  What is that??  I guess I realise that for me it has definitely been a process.  I never had a lightning-flash moment where I just knew that I had to go to Guatemala.  Rather, it has been a series of events and circumstances that have woken up a longing in me.  Let me try to summarize them:

• Growing up hearing stories about my Grandparents as missionaries in Peru and stories of relatives in Brazil - and being totally fascinated.
• Hearing about a cousin´s gap year in Uganda - and being totally inspired.
• A sudden urge to want to study Spanish, so that I could one day travel to Latin America - and just knowing that I needed to learn the language.
• Having my first taste of short term missions on visits to Moldova - and my eyes being opened WIDE to a whole other world and level of poverty.
• Getting that one line from a song we sang in Moldova stuck in my head - 'til this very day... "Let me comfort those who suffer with the comfort you have given" - and somehow knowing that was one of my goals in life.
• Dipping my toes in the water when I visited Peru and Ecuador for 4.5 months - then coming home and dreaming night after night about returning during the following year.
• Going to Latin Link events, hearing about people's experiences in Latin America - and just feeling like a little (but hugely important) bit of me came to life!
• Studying nursing, qualifying as a nurse - but having very little desire to nurse in the UK.
• Finishing at nursing school and the very next day jumping on a plane to my first nursing job, in a Patzún, Guatemala, as a volunteer/short term missionary - and absolutely loving it.
• That moment on the camioneta ('chicken bus') when I somehow felt more at home in Guatemala than I ever had anywhere else.
• That smile from ear-to-ear that Guatemala brings out in me :)
• Ok, sure - meeting my man, who is Guatemalan! - and sharing his same heart to help the people in his country through health care.
• Spending 6 years living in Spain - and the whole time feeling that it was a lead-up and preparation time for our return to Guatemala.

And there are probably way more things that I could add to the list... but you get the idea, right?

2.  This one's shorter:

"Not a sacrifice, yet a privilege".

See, I've naturally had quite a few moments where I start to think about all the family, friends, places and things - food even! - that I'll be leaving behind, both in England and Spain.  But I read on a friend's blog some months ago, that it really isn't a sacrifice stepping into God's calling, even if it will undoubtedly involve uncomfortable, or culturally difficult moments at some points.  Its a privilege.  

privilege

 

advantage, benefit, birthright, claim, concession, due, entitlement, franchise, freedom, immunity, liberty, prerogative, right, sanction      

- www.collinsdictionary.com (thesaurus definition)

Its a massive privilege for this little family to be used as a teeny part of the huge plans that God has for that little town of Canillá, Guatemala.

Right, time to sleep!

Hugs,

Naomi.

So, this just got real! Very real!

Have a little look at what we just did!:

Yep, we have just bought our flights to Guatemala! We will be leaving Spain on Monday 5th January 2015!

Hasn't quite sunk in yet... but we are happy to have taken this huge step at last. :)

Also, you might like a sneak preview at the apartment the guys at Adonai are preparing for us.:

 Love all that natural light :) 

Exciting times!