Growth

February 11, 2021

Growth

Hello everyone! I hope you all find yourselves healthy and happy! My apologies for taking so long to share another update, but that just means you’ll have more to read today :)

This week I celebrate two years of living in Guatemala—two incredible, challenging, beautiful years. Last month as we entered into 2021 I was admiring all the posts people were sharing about the words they had chosen to describe their vision or goals for 2021—words like “intentionality” “focus” “joy” “mindfulness” “abide.” As I reflected on what word might be fitting for what I hope for in this coming year, what kept coming to my mind was a word to describe what I’ve been experiencing over the last year. So instead of choosing a word for 2021, I decided to choose a word to encompass 2020. Amidst a year full of change, unpredictability, transitions, highs and lows, and beginnings and ends, the one constant was this—growth.

This past year, my area of ministry shifted as I finished my year-long commitment volunteering in the children’s homes with Hope for Home Ministries and transitioned to volunteering with Nueva Vida, a K-6 school for children with special needs. As the pandemic hit and the schools shut down, my work switched from direct therapy services to administrative work. It was during that time that I began to realize just how much my passion lies in working directly with families. I began to receive referrals through word of mouth of families in the community who were seeking therapy services, and that opened a door into a new area in which I began to serve.

I began to grow in understanding of what daily life really looks like here, as families opened up their homes to me not just as a therapist working with their family member, but as a friend walking alongside them in the highs and the lows. As I have worked in different communities and in different settings, I have grown to understand even more clearly how American models simply do not work in the culture here, that everything has to be shifted for the priorities and needs of this country and of each individual community. I have grown in understanding of the damage we can cause if we are not careful in our approach as we seek to help. I have grown in sensitivity and compassion for the situations that people are facing here—situations layered and layered with struggle, trauma, grief, and pain. I have grown in awareness of my own difficulty in processing all that I am experiencing here and knowing how to handle all the emotions that come with everything I am seeing day to day.

This past year, I also experienced the most beautiful blessing when my boyfriend Derick walked into my life. Our story is a long one, so I’ll share the short version with you all. Derick is a Guatemalan who lives one town over, but his veterinary clinic is half a block away from the house that I rent. When I found my kitten, Leo, on the street in August of 2019, I took him to Derick’s clinic for his vaccinations and neutering. At that time, I had only been living in Guatemala for 6 months, and my Spanish was very basic, so our communication relied heavily on Google Translate. Over a 3-month period I had various appointments for my cat, so I saw Derick every few weeks, but our relationship was never more than a professional one. Fast forward 6 months after my last appointment to May of 2020, and I’m sitting in the central park of town drinking coffee with a mutual friend of ours when all of a sudden Derick comes along and joins us. Little did we know that our friend had intentionally planned to cross our paths that day, and she creatively found a way to start a conversation between the two of us and then find an excuse to leave, so that we would be left just the two of us together. Derick realized that I had advanced in my Spanish during those 6 months since the last time we had seen each other and that I could understand and speak fairly well. When he shared that he was studying for an upcoming English exam, I offered to help him practice English if he would help me with my Spanish. And so it began—we started having lunch together about once every two weeks for the first month and a half, and slowly started finding more reasons to spend time together. In July we went hiking in the mountains together, and what started as an outing between two friends turned into our first date. While sitting in a hammock enjoying the silence and beauty of being away from town and out in nature, we finally broke the ice and had a conversation about our friendship and our mutual interest in pursuing something more. Over the next two months we became more intentional in our relationship, we started introducing each other to our friends and family, and I began to spend more time with his family. On September 6^th he asked me to be his girlfriend, and here we are :)

Derick is a veterinarian and a professor at the local university, but that only gives you a glimpse into what he does and not who he is. Derick is the kind of person that you meet for the first time and you feel comfortable sharing what’s really going on in your life instead of just responding to the standard “how are you?” question by saying “I’m good” when you’re actually not doing well at all. He is quick to turn to the Lord and to scripture to find guidance and consolation and never hesitates to share a word that the Lord places on his heart with the person who is meant to hear it. He loves his family and friends and it’s reflected in the depth of their relationships. He is intelligent, hardworking, and resilient, always with a vision of where he’s going and always seeking the will of the Lord in his life over his own desires. He is funny and goofy and lights up a room with his smile and laughter. He is gentle, respectful, thoughtful, confident, intentional, compassionate, faithful, supportive, and dependable-- I could talk for hours about how wonderful of a person he is and the beauty that I have found in him, but I told you in the beginning I would only share the short version ;)

I have grown so much by sharing in life with him. I have become more culturally aware, learning the intricacies of social norms and the small details that can make a big difference in interactions with the people here to honor and respect them. I have grown immensely in my Spanish language skills, even though there is still so much to learn. I have become much more self-aware in so many different areas of my life--aware of habits, perspectives, patterns of thinking, strengths, and insecurities; I know myself so much better because I have allowed myself to be vulnerable and share myself deeply with someone else. I have learned to allow someone else to care for me instead of always insisting on being independent, and I’ve learned to feel less like a burden in asking for help. I’ve learned to allow myself to be loved and to know I am worthy and deserving of that love. I’ve learned to love more deeply, which has been a recurring theme during my time here in Guatemala. I’ve grown immensely in my faith, deepening my relationship with the Lord, and seeking him more than ever before. What a blessing all the growth that has happened through a completely unanticipated surprise this year. I am so incredibly thankful for Derick and his beautiful heart.

I look back on all the change that happened in just one year and it’s hard to even begin to imagine what this next year will hold. As much as I desire a year full of predictability and consistency, I know that with constant change brings constant growth, and I would choose growth over stagnancy time and time again.

Lately my day-to-day schedule looks like this: on Mondays and Fridays I provide occupational therapy services and English tutoring to individuals and families here in the community where I live. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I go up to the school to provide occupational therapy services with the children who attend there or live in the surrounding community. This week I will finish evaluating the 38 children on my list and next week will begin seeing the kids for regular therapy.

Some ways that you can specifically be praying during this time:

For the provision of a physical therapist and another occupational therapist to meet the therapy needs of the children at Nueva Vida
For the provision of a new house to rent, as my lease comes to an end and my landlord needs to move back into this house
That the Lord would continue to show me where and how he wants me to serve here, and that I would follow where he leads with confidence and without fear

As always, thank you all for your love and support as I continue my journey here; I am so grateful for your encouragement through it all.

Much love,

Lindsey

And of course, more photos!