Catching Up!

We arrived back in Guatemala on Friday afternoon and we have hit the ground running.

Update on January Match: Our hearts are overflowing! We are watching God use people in mighty ways. I am encouraged because people realize the school is a complete God-size dream and they want to be part of it. Churches, schools, individuals are having every dollar matched! Your $20 becomes $40–Your $100 becomes $200–Your $1000 becomes $2000! We only have 14 days to reach our goal of $100,000–Will you help us reach it?

Update on Teresita: The information hospital provides about Teresita is very limited and takes time. I have pushed Teresita to ask a lot of questions in order to receive answers about her health. As of Monday night her blood pressure was still extremely high (196/110), blurred vision, and having test on her brain on Tuesday morning. She received the results of her test mid Wednesday morning stating everything was fine. On Wednesday her blood pressure was 130/90 which is high but good! I met with the private doctor yesterday for him to inform us about the next steps for Teresita. His words were “The mother and baby are both miracles from God!” We are thinking Teresita will be discharged today and then she will see the private doctor for more tests. The national hospital will not provide any specific information about the baby except she is off of oxygen, in a regular nursery, and under a light for jaundice. Nancy Westendorp, an NICU nurse for 30 years, was able to spend the day with us at the private doctor and the national hospital. What an answer to prayer as she knew the questions to ask and provided Teresita with information on how to care for herself and a premature baby. Daniela Martin was willing to translate with a very short notice. She was an answer to prayer also. I was impressed with the doctor at the private hospital who has provided Teresita with prenatal care. As we were thanking him for being concerned about Teresita, his response was, “I am only a vessel used by God. He is the one who has saved them!” Continue to pray for Teresita and Carolina Elizabeth! (The baby girl is named after Caroline Ford!)

Update on Our Family–This week we started school. Sydney, who doesn’t care for Guatemala, started kindergarten with a teacher who knows very limited English. Sydney does not know any Spanish! We were very nervous about how she would respond to school. When I picked her up she said, “Best Day Ever! I made two friends and I understood ONE word!” On Tuesday she said, “Today was not as good as yesterday. Today we had to do real “school” stuff.” Overall, I think she will enjoy it.

Lizzi loves all of it! Soy spent last night helping Lizzi with her homework. He would tell her how to spell something using the English alphabet and she would write the letter according to the Spanish alphabet. Extremely confusing, but they survived.

Audrey, who usually sleeps late, has been waking up at 7:00 am. She refuses to play by herself because she will be sooo lonely. She is very high-maintenance and spoiled. It should make for a fun year!