Update... Late edition.

I’d like to start this post with my favorite opening sentence. “It’s been a while since we’ve posted…” While true, I know that none of you have been sitting on pins-and-needles, nervously awaiting the next post.

Since the last update, we’ve visited Guatemala for a visa run, Ma and Pa Eldridge have visited the house for 10 days, and the rotavirus has visited everyone’s guts for longer than desired; 2 out of 3 isn’t too bad. 

Happy family (Kaleb has his game face on.)

We had a great visit with mom and dad. The majority of the time, we just took it easy in Las Lomitas and passed day to day life with them. They were able to meet neighbors, cook (and eat) local foods, wash laundry by hand, go trudging through the woods, make roadside repairs to the car, walk through coffee plantations with “Juan Valdez,” and even swing a machete a little. We also took some time to check out Caliche, Canchias, Lake Yojoa, and the ocean at Tela with them too. This was our first visit from family down here, and it was much, much appreciated. We know it took a lot of time out of their life, but it was great. We hope it was as encouraging for them as it was for us.

 

However, just as they were leaving, Honduras gave them a precious parting gift, the rotavirus. Dad received it on Father’s Day, but, being the wonderful father he is, decided to share it with mom on plane ride home so that they could both enjoy it together. Stacey and I shortly found ourselves painting the porcelain throne, but are on the mends now. 

We also had to scoot out of the country again to renew our visas and found ourselves in the very, very pleasant colonial Guatemalan town of Antigua. The 11 hours on a bus is a bit long, but very much worth it. Antigua sits about a mile high in the Guatemalan mountains within the shadow of three very impressive volcanoes. The cobblestone streets of the city have about a dozen beautiful cathedrals, a huge selection of really nice, authentic accommodation, and awesome places to check out the local food. Sorry Belize, but Guatemala wins round one. 

From here, we’ll continue moving forward with the vegetable garden and living fence at the house, as well as integrating into the community. Stacey has also begun facilitating a "chat" time with the young women of the community focusing on a Biblical view of abstinence and other typical problems facing these ladies. Please be praying for that on Wednesdays at 3PM.

We already feel very accepted and a lot of momentum within the community to move forward, but, we’re still taking our time and being sure that whatever we do, we don’t rush. The last thing we want to do is be in the community for a few months and let that be sufficient. We want to know these people as much as possible, to be sure that we’re moving forward as they want to, not as we do. The longer we're here, the more potential we feel. Amazing things are already happening, and we can't wait to see what's to come.

Damos Gracias a Dios por: sanarnos de los infeciones feos del cuerpo. (We give thanks to God for healing us from the yucky infections in our bodies.)

Check.

As impossible as it seems, the house is officially done. Between all of the other craziness inside and outside of Las Lomitas, the 500 sq ft. concrete palace is finished (for now :).

As you can see, the car has also changed. We'll talk about that later.

The end product is a 25' x 20' house designed for good ventilation, decent light (without electricity), self-sustaining water (rainwater catchment), and 40 years of wastewater management. It has two bedrooms, a sala (kitchen/dining room/living room), a porch, a shed, and a bathroom. Running water is provided by a rainwater catchment cistern pumped (by hand) up to a plastic tank which is fed to the house by gravity. The floors and walls are concrete, with an aluminum roof.

Bathroom.

Mud room.

Guest Room.

Our room.

Sala.

On paper, 500 sq ft. sounds really small, and we were designing the house to be fairly small. However, in practice here, 500 sq ft are actually fairly big. It's not the biggest house in the community by any means, but it's very comfortable, and designed for hosting visitors and future family growth (nothing in the oven right now, settle down mom).

All-in-all, it's been an awesome learning process and has already seen so many things pass, late-night talks, learning masonry, toucans dying in the shed, bucket showers, amazing cooking, 8 kinds of bananas, butchered armadillo, butchered Spanish, and bloodied fingers (stupid machetes, nothing serious, again, settle down mom).

Damos gracias a Dios por: el bendicion de nuestra primera casa en nuestra propia tierra. (We give thanks to God for the blessing of our first house on our own land.)