January 2009
www.allisonfamilyinguat.blogspot.com
With the New Year comes new hope, new beginnings, new dreams, new resolutions and new goals. It is the time of the year to examine where we are at and where we are going. The New Year will also contain new struggles, new heartbreaks, new issues and new problems, and maybe even some of the old ones. For us, the New Year means that we have now arrived at the halfway point of our trip.
The last three and a half months have been filled with many blessings, lots of adjustments and some struggles. Our latest struggle was losing Caleb’s glasses in the river. We had walked along the canal for 45 minutes to get to the river. After the glasses dropped in, we spent lots of time searching and watching and praying. I (Lori) kept asking the Lord to show me where they were. I felt so bad about losing the glasses and about ruining our day. The kids had been having so much fun exploring and climbing.
The Lord didn’t answer my prayer the way that I wanted. While I was looking around with tears in my eyes, my mind came back to a song we sing in church. It is called “Blessed Be Your Name.” It talks about praising the Lord “When the world's 'all as it should be'” and also “On the road marked with suffering”. It reminded me that God is still God even when things are hard and when He doesn’t answer my prayers the way that I want.
Caleb cannot see without his glasses and getting him new glasses while living so far from home is not easy. However, our situation cannot compare to the struggles that many here in Guatemala are currently walking through. Don had a mom and her children in clinic on Sunday who were complaining of a stomach ache. They didn’t seem to be ill, so Don was not sure what to do and asked Leslie. Leslie told him to ask her if she was married or if she had to buy her corn. The patient told Don that her husband had left her three years ago and yes, she had to buy her corn but she didn’t have any money. You see, in the dry season, the only way to have corn is if you planted enough in the rainy season or you have to buy it. As you can imagine, it is very expensive to buy corn during the dry season. The women’s stomach hurt because she was hungry. Don ended up giving her a bag of beans telling her that it was a gift from Jesus. This will get her by for a while but then what will she feed to her children?
This patient’s struggles are so much greater than ours. Our family has not once gone hungry. Our family is intact and we have a great optometrist/friend in the US who immediately responded to our call for help. Fortunately for us, many pairs of glasses have been donated to the Ficker’s ministry. We found a pair with Caleb’s prescription that had wire rims. He put them on and jumped up and down yelling, “I can see! I can see!” Our family also knows Who to lean on during these times of struggles. The Bible says in Romans 5:2-4 “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Our hope for this New Year comes from knowing that the Lord holds us in the palm of His hand whether we are in a time of blessing or in a time of struggling. We pray that your New Year is filled with the hope that comes from knowing Him. Happy New Year from the Allison’s.
Here are a few pictures from our trip along the canal.
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