The first section is directed to parents and this is a legitimate question. Sue and I don’t have biological children and of course this caused sadness and emptiness. I want to suggest that we are now far from sad or empty. We have an International family. Now 2 son’s in law; another engaged; and a granddaughter along with 2 other grandchildren whom we haven’t met yet.. We have a second family because of our years as a youth leader. Presently we are anticipating a 3 week visit from Martina; our daughter from Germany and her friend. For us life is more than full. (You can assume if you are reading this that I finished it before they arrived.)
Life here in Guatemala is what prompted the title of “How do you do it.” It started 10 days ago. We invited a family whose husband/father went to the USA 5 years ago with the intention of saving every penny so they can get ahead; well he must be still saving because he has stopped sending support to his family years ago. Mom with 4 girls and boy ages 15 to 6 had nothing for Christmas. The nothing is not an exaggeration; they did not have one decoration or a gift. They also did not get to eat the traditional tamales because they cost a few more centavos each to make. This life didn’t sadden the family nearly as much as the absence of a phone call from their Father. Anyway, we invited them to our house for a meal and an afternoon of diversion / fun hoping to give them a smile to take home. Well they didn’t take their smile home; they spent the night. We have a guest room with a queen bed; I inflated a single air bed and threw a blanket on the couch and loveseat. The next day they left with 4 meals and a big smile. The oldest girl asked if she could have an extra night because she doesn’t get any alone time at home. They have 2 bedrooms for the 6 people. The OK was 3 nights long including several hours of encouraging; (I guess once a youth leader always a youth leader.) The return trip home included 2 sisters 13 and 11 years old. As explained through tears; they thought their poverty allowed them to take my pen, pencils, and toothpaste. The first night was less than pleasant as we implemented appropriate discipline. The 2nd night many more smiles and an important lesson learned. We had candy, popcorn, candy, ice cream, and candy. Our 4th trip home included a son 9 and daughter 6 years old.
Here is a list for you to answer; . . .
How do you watch Home Alone enough to write and produce #5?
How do you always discipline with love, fairness, and results?
How do you show God as the heavenly, providing Father to the neglected?
How do you respond to the calls without exhaustion?
This second section is directed towards teachers; HOW DO YOU DO IT?
Let me reminisce a moment then to the question. At approximately 10 years old; I asked If Noah built a boat big enough for all those animals and it got stuck on top of a mountain; why can’t you find it?
A few years later I thought I understood until I asked the question. I guess I know why I must dislike Germans and Japanese but what about the French and Indian war who should I dislike? Apparently I analyze / learn from the other side of the fence. As I am now acting as a teacher; I am experiencing the difficulty of explaining why.
Such as, if I already can’t spell it; how can I “Look it up” in the dictionary? Let’s look at this, shall we OK so I want to spell “alive” and I concentrate on the sound aaa; OK I remember that sound and I try to associate it with a word that I can spell aaaa I got it. . . . . “on” so we look some more olive—got it.
Apparently this is more complicated than I thought: why does the emphasis change from 1st to 2nd syllable. Alive / Olive
Here are a few other pelicularies concerning spelling.
You – ue The e makes the u a long vowel sound so why not?
Read – Rede
A bit more complicated yellow – yelloe What is the w doing there anyway? Do “W”’s make the vowels long also?
Another problem; not just vowels.
Cake – kake or cace why not? I GUESS YOU GES
Cat – kat
Sick – cic – sik – cick –
Box – baz
Sense this is so difficult; I have a sense that it’s not worth 2 sense.
Pluralizing gets more complicated: foot – feet; goose-geese; book-beek..
Another interesting part is suffix and prefix
Decease – The de means to reduce; cease is to stop existence so maybe we are reducing death.
Prevent – pre means before; vent is to exchange air - before you breathe
Withstand – means against standing
DIS DIF IN IL IM IR NON all mean “NOT” isn’t that easier?
Can you explain “increase” infold; inbend
Eye kiid gue an butt ue gotten ta eyedeeah.
As Sue’s father said “YOU DID NOT LEARN ME THAT” As I am attempting to learn Spanish my teacher said “don’t ask why until later”
So, how do you do it?
For some it’s everyday life but don’t take it for granted. Think about the knowledge you have; you didn’t get it by yourself and you should not keep it to yourself.
An uninterrupted cup of coffee is good but drinking your coffee along every day isn’t.
Some may even reverse the question, Dennis and Sue how do you do it? Leaving a comfortable home to live in a 3rd world country (by the way what does that mean?) Being a youth leader for a lifetime; enjoying children without being a parent. For us the answer is quite simple, we are following God’s plan and living with His grace. We hope you are doing the same.
P.S. We rechecked our numbers from Christmas receiving and giving and discovered an error. We had Q5.00 left over, about .63 cents. I went to the street and gave it to a young Mother. I want to be exact as we are our own bookkeeper and auditor.
Thanks for being a part of our life as we serve God in Guatemala.
Dennis and Sue
