Month One, BELIZE:
This month was full of...
Shampoo, but no conditioner. Head full of soap, sudsy body, water cuts out... whoops. Creamy peanut butter, crunchy peanut butter, spoonfuls of peanut butter, ALL the peanut butter! Bananas for breakfast, bananas for dinner, Google search: "is eating two bananas a day good for you?" Sabbath, another day of Sabbath, followed by another, off day followed by a Sabbath, and guess what... "it's a National holiday so take another Sabbath!" Horses roam the grounds. Note to self... don't feed the horse a banana. Chickens everywhere, on the porch, in the front yard, in the back yard. "I laid out chicken for dinner... sorry chickens..." Our home has a soccer field, oh wait it's FUTBOL! Dribble the ball, juggle the ball, GOAAALLLLLL!!! Ministry change-ups, go-with-the-flow, "can you girls be teachers?" "Of course!!" Mental health. Teaching it. Embracing the journey with our own. Learning. Learning from our students even though we're the teachers. Learning that it's OKAY to NOT be okay all the time. Break downs, break throughs, broken ceramic plate on the cool kitchen floor. ZOODLES! 1 power outage... the power's STILL out... THE POWER'S STILL OUT... 1 power surge, "oh no, not again!!" "How old do YOU think we are?" "The 'youngest' is actually the oldest, and the 'oldest' is actually the youngest." Walking, bus rides, walking, taxi rides, walking... walking... more walking. High highs, low lows, tears, laughter, and Taylor Swift jam sessions. Trips to the store, a trip to the market, trips to get water. "We're out of water..." "We need more water..." "Sheldon??..." Sleepless nights, thankful mornings, delirious days, STRONG coffee. "Let's check out this coffee shop on our off-day!" Tried a new shop on the next off-day, back to the first coffee shop for this month's last off-day. "You found good wifi?!?!! Download ALL the Netflix!!" Reunions with the old, shared smiles with the new. New places, new faces, becoming a NEW creation as I learn what it means to "die to self." Students teaching me Creole, laughing at my Creole. "Wait... what does THAT mean?!?!" Taxi drivers teaching me Spanish. "You can speak French???" Bizarre Google searches, ask Siri. "Heyyy did you know..." Excited for the future, but trying to remain present in the present. Being still. Being intentional. Being here. Being quiet. Being my most authentic, vulnerable self.
What a month it has been. Belize you're full of beautiful people with the most beautiful hearts. As month one draws to a close, I am overwhelmed by the love and faithfulness of a good, GOOD Papa.
-Meagan
