Alaba a Dios

I've gotten to do a lot of cool things over the past few weeks, like tour a coffee farm, walk to the top of the hill where the cross is that overlooks the city of Antigua, spend time with friends, get a good haircut, and work with some amazing women.  I'm really blessed, yet staying in thankfulness and praise to God is still so hard.  I wonder why.  It seems like I have to make it a discipline for me, when in reality there are so many small and large things to be thankful for that it should be flowing out of me.  And, not only should we be praising for the good things, but also for the challenges and the days when we need extra grace to get through.  There's this song in Spanish that lists all kinds of different things, like when something good happens, Alaba a Dios (praise God), and when something bad happens, alaba a Dios, and when you're going throught the fire, alaba a Dios, and then it repeats it over and over, alaba a Dios, alaba a Dios, alaba a Dios.  It's a beautiful song, and a beautiful reminder of God's grace, our need to trust him, and praise him for what He's doing.  I highly recommend the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp if you want to read more about this. 

Last weekend I hung out at the Paradise Bound mission base in Chimaltenango, about an hour from where I'm living right now.  Paradise Bound is the mission with whom I originally came to Guatemala, and they welcome groups from the United States to go to rural villages to build houses and do medical clinics.  They had a group at the base last week from Michigan and Iowa and I joined them for a couple days.  It was really cool to see the country, the people, the hunger for the gospel, and the poverty through the eyes of a "visitor" or a "newbie".  I notice the poverty, of course, but to see it again from a fresh perspective was really inspiring, as well as was sharing the gospel in the medical clinic that I joined the group for.  The people were hungry for the gospel, and building relationships with the people and showing them love and compassion was awesome.  It's easy to get complacent when you're serving in the same place for awhile, thinking "oh, they've heard my story, they've heard me talk about Jesus, they won't change," but what we have to share is important and can't wait!   And, I was surprised and pleased to discover that my Spanish has improved so much!  Language school is helping! 

My work at the shelter is going well.  We're having group a few times a week.  This week we've talked about communication.  I think this is one we'll have to have a few more sessions on!  One woman in particular has suffered extreme abuse at the hands of her husband, and also has epilepsy.  Last week she had several seizures in one day and we had to call the paramedics.   This is scary for all the women and children.  This woman's education level is a little lower than the others, and she struggles with good personal hygiene as well.  She has several barriers to being able to survive independently, and also has shown that her history of being abused is going to affect her ability to be a good mother.  Please keep her in your prayers. 

Finally, some things I'm thankful for:  the women's shelter and its availability for the women of Guatemala, that I get to live in this beautiful country and see volcanoes and mountains covered by clouds and beautiful trees and flowers and sunshine and getting a suntan!, the smile lines around the eyes of someone who smiles a lot, a good haircut done by a new friend, sharing dinner with new friends, listening to someone trying to learn how to play (and pronounce the name of) the hammered dulcimer because it was left in their house, the positive reframe of my thoughts from thinking something was my fault, to praising God for the work He will do in that person's life and for using me however He may have.