A new year

The past week has been a busy one, a good one, thankfully not giving me much time to reflect on the past year.  I suppose I should, and maybe I will take some time to do that.  I would name 2010 as the Year of the Cleansing.  God took me apart and is putting me back together again, cleansing me of all the crap I thought I needed and unhealthy thought patterns and parasites, both literally and figuratively.  It's been the most difficult year of my life, from heartbreak, to job loss, to depression, to moving to a different country, to culture shock and continued adjustment.  That's a lot of stuff in one year.  But through it all God is faithful. And it is through the hard times that we grow. The "cleansing" hurts like crazy and I didn't know I could cry so many tears, but I'll be a better person for it, more like Him every day, and He's doing immeasurably more than I can imagine.  I think of all the people who have supported me, been there for me. Blessings.  So many happy moments and new experiences...feeding giraffes, laughing my head off with my LifeGroup girls at Mars Hill, driving an hour for amazing ice cream, hanging out for hours at quiet coffee shops, spending the day at the best place on earth--Pentwater MI, baking Christmas cookies on New Years Eve with my Guatemalan brothers, going to the zoo with my Guatemalan family, sewing a quilt by hand (not gonna lie, some of it is by machine, but a lot of it was by hand!), having entire conversations in Spanish with amazing men, women, teenagers, children and realizing that these people are my family, just the same as you all in the United States are my family. 

And, what better way to start the new year than with a new experience?!  Tomorrow I will be moving to TJ and Dina's house to live with them and their 5 children in San Cristobal, about 20 minutes from here and is a suburb of Guatemala City.  They are the American missionary family that I met my second week here and have taken me in a number of times and been a great source of support.  They live very close to the women's shelter where I will be working for my last two months here.  The women's shelter provides housing and services for women who are victims of domestic violence.  I'm not entirely sure what my role will be yet, but it is an awesome ministry and I'm so excited to be a part of it.  The women make jewelry out of coffee beans and sell it in order to earn money to help themselves get on their feet again.  The jewelry is beautiful and they are so creative.  It will be so fun to be a part of it.  I have built great relationships here and I am going to miss everyone so much.  I hope to be able to visit a lot.  My family is so great and I have been so blessed.