Time To Eat Some Bread!

The kids enjoying a taste of home with some fresh chocolate chip cookies!

Reid found this scrap wood he thought made great weapons!

Things in Guatemala are going well! So far our young family is adjusting nicely to life in Guatemala. There have been different obstacles, opportunities, and adventures for our family here. As always, the kids have enjoyed learning, exploring, and adapting to their new environment.  We’ve all enjoyed seeing the beautiful and picturesque landscape on walks, taking care of the medical needs of the local people, and awkwardly trying to learn a language which is still quite foreign to us. It has been a great time for our family to silence much of noise that is often present and distracting back home.



A vampire bat I caught at one of the remote clinic sights, the kids thought this was fun!

For Shea and I the medicine is always fun and challenging in different ways, as we leave the friendly confines of more predictable North American medicine. We’ve enjoyed taking care of the impoverished Quiche Indians in several of their remote villages.  We thoroughly enjoy medicine in its purest since. There is no billing, coding, dictation, or EMR; there are no large stacks of paperwork at the end of the day, and no Medicare rules that continue changing. Obviously, there are unique challenges that arise, but it is a great change of pace to only focus on taking care of the patient’s needs.

Kiera eating her first meal!(Hopefully she'll sleep now)

One of the blessings of being in Guatemala is some of the community we have developed with the long-term missionaries here. Every Tuesday night we come together for a time of worship and bible study. It has really been a great time to connect with these families and it drives our focus back to what is most important. We all have a tendency to get swept away with “the job” and the busyness of life, but it’s refreshing to come together with other believers and seek power from the ultimate source. Just the other day we were talking about the importance of time with the Lord. We all went around the room and shared different ways we like to spend our “quiet times”. It was really encouraging to hear of all the ways people connected with the Lord. Just in our group for the last week we had around 10 different approaches to spending daily time with the Lord. Anywhere from early mornings, to late nights, to writing your thoughts, different approaches to reading scripture, different ways of praying, singing, personal communion, and utilization of accountability. It was great to hear all of the varieties of ways people spend time with the Lord.

The key to all of this rambling is not to say there is a right way or best way to spend time with the Lord. The key point is that we have to be spending regular daily time with our Lord, if we really want Him to influence our lives and transform our hearts. We just have to do it! It is easier to sleep in a little later, work a little extra, watch a game, or whatever the excuse of the day is for you (I know I’ve got plenty). Without regular time in the Word and with our Lord we will never truly have the spiritual growth we need. Matthew 4:4 says: “Jesus answered, it is written: Man does not live on bread along but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” Without this spiritual bread we will not grow, and without growth we will never transform the world around us, and make the disciples that Christ so clearly commands. (Matthew 28:18-20).

So with that thought it’s time to get in the Word, and go make disciples!