Post-vacation

Our car broke down yesterday. Again. We thought it was all fixed up, but I guess not. We had been shopping with the money the kids had saved up before coming to Guatemala, and the money that Bridge Kids from our church had donated, to buy things for the two schools they’ve helped at.

So there we were, stuck on the busy highway between Guatemala City and San Lucas on our way back to Antigua, as the rain and darkness set in. Thank God the engine died just in time so that we were somehow (!) able to pull a few feet over on a driveway instead of being stuck on the “shoulder”. (There’s only two feet of pavement between the edge of the lane and the sharp drop into the trench at the side of the road.)

We made a few phone calls for help. Yeah Yuri!! After towing the car to the safety of their home, he drove us and our baggage to our home. Of course he wouldn’t take anything for it: “That’s what brothers do”, he said.

I love that. For the same reason, Joyce, Julia, and Zach said “sure, we’ll varnish the new shelf at the clinic instead of hanging out in Antigua.” And Bonnie and the kids put the second coat on the next day. And Phil & Judy are down here with the Love Guatemala team to help wherever they can. And Fernando, and Seth, went to the city with a poor Gringo like me to help get some business done. And Nic, Ramon, and Marcos went to visit Oscar in the hospital when he wasn’t feeling well. And so many of you are praying for us. And, and, and...

Last week I had an Abba moment. (No, I wasn’t the Dancing Queen. I mean Abba Father, Daddy.) I was reading a book Bonnie passed on to me.* I realized, again, that God LOVES me. I realized that discovering this truth in some amazing palpable way has been the most significant, life changing thing in my entire walk with Jesus.

I got up to go outside, and appreciate it over again. We were on vacation at Lake Atitlan. It’s beautiful. I sat on a rock overlooking the volcano and lake, and His love obliterated everything for a few minutes. I discovered (He revealed to me) that the desires of my heart, that I had expressed to Him just a few days earlier, could be realized by a life flooded in this TRUTH.

...Then I noticed the bananas growing, and the old man walking down the road in his white striped knee-length pants and cowboy hat, and the rest of my surroundings returning. That's how it is. Our Father’s love is there every morning, but it only arrests us occasionally. Like being in a new culture, some things are incredible, until you've been around them for a while.

I think sometimes our spiritual lives are impoverished by a god whose love is routine. God's is NOT. When our hearts are awakened by his indiscriminate acceptance of us, his warm affectionate embrace, his bizarre and complete approval of us, his own orphan-adopted children... our everyday lives become transformed, marked by such a generous, reckless love that could only have its origins in something (Someone) completely Divine. Father, mark my life with your generous Love! (*I’d like to recommend this quick little book that I found very profound: The Furious Longing of God, by Brennan Manning.)

Thank God for ongoing safety and guidance. Pray for our car, as it’s needed for some things we are hoping to do with the Love Guatemala team, amongst other things. And you could pray that we’ll hang in there for our last month here. We’re all still doing pretty well. We’re getting out to help at sites, or to get together with other people around here. Hannah gets to Skype with some friends and generally likes it here. Aaron & Matt like to play gamecube/DS but sometimes need more to do (or maybe just need separate rooms?). Bonnie needs less to do—laundry & cooking take up most of the day without all the modern amenities—but is an amazing support for all of us. Tori’s beginning to wonder who she is. Pray for the staff here, and the Love Guatemala team that’s here this week: for God’s love and joy and health to be with them all. Although there are no officially confirmed cases in Guatemala, the swine flu is throwing a bug into some things here.
(Oh yeah, and pray for those Canucks too!)

PS our pics (especially of Lake Atitlan)are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/jkornelsen