El Día de Independencia

Yesterday was Independence Day here in Guatemala.  Just like in the US, it's celebrated with fireworks and flags and parades.  The kids are still in school, but it's a holiday, so they have the day off, and they had special activities in the schools today too.  2 of my sisters here are in school and on Tuesday night they had to go run through Villa Nueva with a torch for Independence Day! Tuesday night is when they had the fireworks, and we stood on the roof and watched them come from all directions.  It was very cool. 

There is a group here this week from a church in Iowa and they spent two days working on the Casa de Refugio (House of Refuge) the domestic violence shelter next door to my house.  On Tuesday morning the women of the group did a sewing class for women of the shelter and other women of the community with a history of domestic violence.  It was really fun to be a part of that, and I learned a little bit too!  Many of the women already knew how to sew, but some of them didn't, and they got some new tools to help them.  A woman from my church here teaches a sewing and quilting class too and I want to participate!  She showed some of the stuff she makes and it's beautiful.  What a good skill for these women to have, because a lot of these things can sell in the market for a significant amount of money. 

Tomorrow I've been asked to teach a 20 minute session to the women that came to the sewing class.  The session is to be about parenting, especially for young new mothers.  Piece of cake.  Because you take one look at me and think, I could learn a lot from her about how to be a good parent.  That was very sarcastic, but seriously, I don't know a thing about parenting (except for the excellent examples I've had :)  )  and I feel a little out of place talking to them about this.  So please pray for me tomorrow morning!  I do think that I've come up with a pretty decent plan for it, so we will see if it's appropriate given education levels and cultural differences.  It will definitely be a learning experience. 

I love spending time with Pastor Jorge and this family.  Pastor Jorge always says that God will provide, and He always does.  It's pretty awesome to see it so clearly because at home everything was provided so readily that so often we don't see God at work.  Another learning process.  I think my brain is going to be maxed out with all this learning, especially after spending months unemployed!  :)