Saturday the team from NY arrived and it has been busy, busy ever since. Cooking for the 17 of them plus the 13 that live here is a lot of work. Linda and I planned the menu (3 meals a day plus a snack) for the week which included 4 of my recipes in the rotation, we made a shopping list then Heather, Glendie and I went shopping. 5 grocery carts and about $ 1,400 Belize dollars did the trick. On the drive back we pulled over and bought some watermelons and cantaloupes from an Amish man’s cart.
Sunday was church with Pastor Bruce from NY preaching on the 5 foundations of faith. Then we were off to the Xunantunich Mayan ruin (2nd largest structure in Belize). Just a short 25 minute drive and a hand cranked boat ride over the river and we were there. Couldn’t have asked for a better day, beautiful blue sky, colorful butterflies flying around and I saw my first Toucan and Howler Monkey! They kind of sound like a screeching door. The view from the top of the ruins goes on and on with rolling hills, homes scattered about and you can even see Guatemala. For dinner it was toasted cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Linda and I had some quality chatting time while we were preparing the 50 sandwiches. She has such a heart for children, talking about wanting to go to Afghanistan to help take them out of there, similar to what she and Ron did in Africa during the genocide in Rwanda. Just really heavy hearts as we were talking about all this and how convicting it was that we need to be praying for people in this world even more so than ourselves.
After dinner we celebrated Elbia’s 6th birthday! With a Winnie the Pooh piñata and pineapple upside down cake. Glendie (15) is the resident baker and when we were grocery shopping she wanted to try it out for the first time. I was excited to show her how to lay the pineapple and cherries etc. and she was so happy with the result! It’s those small teaching moments that are the best! House building is underway and these NY guys are fast, more to come (slideshow)…
God Bless
Missing you my friend and praying that every day brings something fresh and new into your life!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful thing to be able to spend time with the Braeten's. Ron and Linda were my youth leaders at Smithtown eons ago. Sounds like God is so working in your life and I so love the fact that I can come along for the ride so to speak. God bless you and the venture you are on.
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