RAOK #34 - Guatemalan Goodness

Little concrete block church in Olintepeque, Guatemala

Last summer, the hubs and the oldest daughter embarked on a life-changing adventure when they went on a mission trip to Guatemala with 10 other people.  They worked at that cute little church shown above.  It was the first such trip for either one of them and I admit I was jealous that they got to go!  Someone had to stay behind with the other youths and since it was the first time to go to a totally different country, we agreed it was better for big daddy to go. So I was the designated parent at home.  Next time....!

I could go into so many details about that trip and everything they experienced and felt, but then this post would get way too long and I might lose my point along the way of what my RAOK was.  Suffice it to say two things:  The daughter came back and that Sunday after church she updated her Facebook status and said "It's kind of funny how I sat in a nice big air conditioned church this morning and the only place I wanted to be was a small dusty one where I could barely understand a word being said. God has definitely moved this past week."

The second thing that both of them said was that we Americans "feel sorry" that people in other countries do not always experience the same wealth and amenities that we do.  But, when they got down there they realized that the joke is really on us . . . because those people REALLY KNOW what it is like to depend on God for everything.  We don't seek Him as much because we are more financially self-sufficient, but they truly understand what it is like to be blessed because they rely on Him for everything.  Very thought provoking, eh??

Let me tell you about RAOK #34 and then I'm going to share some neat pictures.  One of the necessary items for our group to have was an interpreter.  The only one in the group who spoke much Spanish was my daughter who went through a language immersion program for five years and also has three years of high school Spanish behind her.  But learning the language here and speaking it there are two different things!  So the liaison from Guatemala arranged for a couple of interpreters for the group.  Isaac and Raquel were the two interpreters and my family grew to love both of them while they were there.  Raquel has never been to the United States and it is her dream to come here one day. So . . . RAOK #34 was my sending a letter to Guatemala to her with our desire to sponsor her visa to come here sometime this year.  She is SSOOOO excited and we are too.  We can't wait for her to come and stay with us and learn all about our culture here.

They took many hundreds of pictures but I'm just going to post a few to give you a taste of what they experienced:

Make-shift medical clinic staffed by our team.  Not surprisingly, the #1 complaint? Stomach issues!

A make-shift dental clinic was staffed by a dentist on our team and his wife. Because there is little or no dental care available, they pulled hundreds of teeth.  This is where my daughter spent the majority of her time working and my husband handed out toothbrushes and taught scores of children to brush their teeth!

Here is some of our construction crew.  With just a few people and in a short amount of time, they built a retaining wall for the church and also installed a ceiling with working electrical lights.

People came by the hundreds and waited for free medical and dental care that they either do not have access to or cannot afford.

Unbelievably, the local fire department had neither a defibrillator nor training on CPR techniques.  Our medical guy arranged for the donation of the defibrillator here in the U.S. and then provided life-saving training.

A few members of the team were responsible for providing entertainment for the children and making them more comfortable with these "strange" Americans.  This was especially important for those who would later have a scary dental or medical procedure.  My daughter told a funny story that one of the little girls with wide brown eyes kept taking her finger and swiping it over my daughter's skin.  She finally realized that the little girl had never seen freckles in her whole life!

The husband is shown here with the widow of the original pastor of the church (in front) and family.  At the Sunday service she told the congregation that she could "die in peace" knowing that her church was finally going to be completed and a ceiling installed - the answer to her prayers of many years.  On another note, the hubs LOVES little kids - check out that adorable little baby hand on his face.  If I wasn't, like,100 years old in baby-making years, we'd probably have more.  I think he was ready to swipe one of those beautiful Guatemalan babies and bring one home to me though :)

As you can see, he looks gargantuan next to the Guatemalans who tend to be smaller in stature than we.  During the trip, many men and women alike made comments about how big he is as he TOWERED over everyone there!

YES, they REALLY DO carry things around on their heads!  I wonder if they ever get a headache?

Some members of our team are shown here at the little church that came to mean so much to them.

Peacefulness

Did you miss me?  I just returned from a deliciously long four-day weekend at a cabin retreat in the hills.  The kiddos had Spring Break and this year we decided to go somewhere close and do something relaxing versus something touristy.

Here's the view from the Cracker Barrel rocker on the back porch:

Unedited photo from my camera. Have I mentioned I love my camera?

There are some of my favorite people in the  WHOLE WIDE WORLD.

And here's the view OF the back porch:

Delightful!  The weather was my perfect weather - sunny, high 60's, and pouring down rain at night.  You could smell it in the air and hear it on the roof.  With all those trees there, the air was so pure and clear and cool.  One deep breath and you could just feel the tension and stress melt away.

The vacation consisted of sleeping in, reading, napping, doing crafts, hiking, coffee, rocking, napping, sitting by a fire, eating, fishing (son and dad), napping, hot tubbing  and watching movies (Kids only. Hubs and I were not interested in watching TV).  Did you get the emphasis on napping?  Two different days I found myself falling asleep in the wing back chair by the open window, even with the noise of the kids in the forefront.  All I needed was some support hose and grey hair to complete the picture of an old granny falling asleep in the middle of a family gathering.  It was great! I'm practicing for 25 years from now.

This morning I woke up feeling so rested and ready for my week and I was reflecting over my morning coffee and devotions about how much I seek peacefulness in my life and how our weekend was the perfect example of it.  The hubs and I are peaceful pretty much all of the time together.  My kids and their friends were such a delight to be around with very little conflict or bickering and they all pitched-in at the end to clean up the cabin with absolutely no complaints.  It was wonderful.  The older I get, the less tolerance I have for unnecessary drama of any kind and I actually have found a certain level of disdain for people who seek it.

I really don't get it.  I know adults in their 30s,40s, 50s and beyond who constantly seem to be in an upset about something or with somebody.  They get bent out of shape over the smallest of things, waging a grudge against the slightest wrong, and seem hellbent on their latest vendetta.  I say "Get over yourself already."

I saw a quote once that said "Life is not a dress rehearsal." * and that is the heart of what I was feeling this morning.  This is my one life I'm going to have and I don't want to waste one minute of it not being as peaceful as I can.  I want to let those slight injustices just roll off my back, give grace and have mercy upon people around me, and truly be an example to my children and others of what it means to live a life as free of unnecessary drama as possible.

It doesn't mean that I'm not ever going to be righteously indignant over something, or that I am not going to stand up for what is right in the face of something that is wrong even if it creates conflict.  Sometimes there is necessary conflict and you deal with it.  But as for the petty junk that some people seem to thrive on, that's not going to be me.

*Upon investigation, it appears that the "Life is not a dress rehearsal" quote came from Rose Tremain, a British author.

RAOK #33 - Picture this...with your tongue out.

I'm going to be in SO MUCH trouble when this post goes up!  Ah, what the heck though right? My family is so adorable... and sort of .. weird.  In a good way though.  If that's possible.  Anyway, they seem to have a thing for sticking out their tongues or making goofy faces when I take their pictures.  They're going up on the www with their tongues out and I say that serves them right for always being annoyed that I want to take their picture.

Despite their annoyance and reluctance, I know that someday they will be thankful that I was that freak-o mom who always had a camera with her.  I am already glad!  When I have gone to scrapbook all these moments we had together, I am SO aware of how much I would have forgotten if I hadn't captured it on film (first) or digitally.

Pretty much everyone has a camera these days. (Admit it, even if you don't carry a camera you probably have one on your phone!).  HOWEVER, what I have found to be true is that hardly anyone ever sends their pictures off to the relatives so they can enjoy them too.  Poor grandma and grandpa!

RAOK #33 is something I did for a family member and you can easily do too.  It will really add to the quality of life for your poor loved ones who never get to see pictures of your kids sticking out their tongues!  (Oh, sorry.  That was just me, wasn't it?)

Load those digital pictures up to an online site like Walgreens or Walmart then do a search for the zip code of your loved one.  Find the nearest location, then put grandma's name and address on the order.  You can be really nice and pay for it with a credit card but you don't have to.  Unless it is a huge order, they can pay for it when they pick it up!  It's sssssssoooooooo super easy and I can't tell you how happy it makes the grandparents to get new pictures of their grandkids to carry around and hang up.

Last note and I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!!! PPPPPPuuuhhhhLEASE... back up your pictures!  That means your iPhone, your digital camera, and your memory cards.  I know heartbreaking stories of people who lost all the baby pictures they took when their iPhone crashed, someone who lost a camera that had 6 months worth of photos on the memory card, and another person who lost the memory card itself (those things are so tiny!).  Take a minute RIGHT NOW AND GO DO IT.  And don't tell me you don't have time, you have time for Facebook and you're reading my dang blog right now!  So get off here (come back later though, ok?) and go back up your pictures.

RAOK #32 - Pizza for Patriots

I usually try to come up with some clever post title to entice you to come read my blog.  Today, I didn't have to because the blog post name is the company name!

While scanning the www for ideas for my RAOK mission, I ran across a company called Pizzas for Patriots.  I think everyone agrees that those in the military are our heroes as they make sacrifices daily that the rest of us really don't.  If they are deployed, many times they are barely afforded any basic comforts like sleeping in a delightful Tempur-pedic bed (every single night when I nestle in my bed under the covers I groan and say "I love my bed, I love my bed, I love my bed."  I am always so happy to see it!).   They may not get hot showers, they may be in miserably hot or cold conditions.... we all know the drill and we think about it and are thankful for all they do for our country.

What I never thought about though was how lonely it must get for them longing for the familiar comforts of home. . .  like pizza.

I'm not a pizza nut like my kids are, but if I haven't had a piece in a few weeks, I'll start wanting one.  Some of these guys and gals haven't had a real piece of pizza in MONTHS. . . and there are plenty of other foods that they enjoy at home that they are not getting in Iraq and Afghanistan for sure!

Pizza for Patriots is run by a retired military man and his wife.  They work with several pizza providers and arranged for DHL to tranport these pizzas to deployment areas like Afghanistan.  What a super great idea!!  I'm not sure how the pizza tastes after it goes from here to there, but I myself always like pizza better the second day anyway and I bet those guys don't care!!

You can make an online donation for any amount to help provide pizza for patriots, which I did for RAOK #32.  Someone somewhere far away will be enjoying a piece of pizza with my name on it (figuratively of course)!  And the next time I eat pizza, I will remember to pray for the guy/gal who ate my pizza and say a thank you for them and the sacrifices they have made!

RAOK #31 - Rx for Wellness

In a lot of ways, I think I'm a pretty good mom.  But I think all parents are plagued about the things we know we need to do better.  Hopefully we take steps to fix those areas that need improvement.

One of the ways that I have been less-than-successful is when it comes to taking medicine or administering it.  I really want to be on top of that kid needing the antibiotic three. friggin'. times. a. day. for one thousand years  fourteen days. But for some reason I am not as good as I need to be about it.  My mom says that I legitimately have too much going on to remember everything (which is why my family calendar is online, color-coded, updated daily, and looked at about 10 times a day).  I'm obsessed with my calendar, and I don't forget or miss much when it comes to things we need to do or places we need to be.  The Rx, however, is a different matter.

A few months ago, in the throes of winter and all six of us taking turns getting sick for weeks on end, the lightbulb finally went on and I developed a chart for the refrigerator.  We all get into the fridge multiple times a day and it is hard not to notice the 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper staring me in the face.  I have finally developed something that makes me more successful in this area, and also eliminates confusion between me and the hubs when we are both doing the medicine man routine.

In my birthday post, I mentioned the preschooler was home sick the whole week.  I ran out the chart and posted it, but then realized I can't be the only one who stinks at this, right?  (Right??)  So I developed a generic chart for all you peeps who take meds and forget them or are parents who are struggling with it.  RAOK #31 was done the week of my birthday but I'm just getting around to posting it.

Here is a sample of the completed chart:

 Note there is room to write the day and date, and three sections for meds: 2x daily meds, 3x daily meds, and the pesky "alternate Tylenol and Motrin every three hours for a fever" section that EVERY parent surely needs!  Who can remember at 2am whether the last time out of 20 you gave Tylenol or Motrin?   This chart helps you track the time and the type so you never have to guess again or scramble for a piece of scrap paper to write it.  You wouldn't want to accidentally write it on the letter stating you won $5 million in the Publisher's Clearing House, now would you??

Here is the printable version.  If you can't get it to work properly, email me at justina {at} soarr dot com (it is spelled out so spam crawlers cannot grab my email and start sending me junk.  If you use it, type it in the way you normally would with the asterick and period etc.)  To your good health (and your kids'!!)

RAOK #30 - College cutie care

This cute guy is not my son.  But I sort of feel like he's my son.  Because he's the son of one of my BFFs and his sister is one of my daughter's BFFs.  Confused much yet?

Jr. is one of those teenagers to whom I was referring in one of my earlier posts (here).  He's one of those young men that restores your faith in the future.  Not only is he totally nice but he's a responsible student, good citizen, and a Christian who lives out the faith.  He was co-valedictorian of his graduating class last year.  If you ask him who his best friend is, he will tell you without shame that his best friend is his dad.

The last two years, he was my life-saver. Every morning my daughter had to be transported to her private school a few miles down the road.  When the hubs traveled, that meant that I had to wake up the littlest one and drag her out to the car just to get the oldest to school.  It was a huge hassle and usually didn't result in a good start to the morning, especially if I had to take a warm delicious sleeping baby out of her warm delicious comfy bed and carry her out into a snow storm.  Not fun!

So for the days the hubs was gone, I started asking Jr. if he would swing a little out of his way to get my daughter.  He always did it willingly without complaint.  One time, the wires got crossed and he and his sister ended up at the school without my daughter.  He took an unexcused tardy and came back and got her because he's that responsible and didn't want to leave me hanging.  He even bailed us out as recently as his spring break from college a few weeks ago when our car was acting funny and he followed his dad and my daughter back to our house to make sure our new driver was safely home.

Jr. went off to college last fall to pharmacy school.  I'd been thinking about a way to thank him for all he did for me the last two years and I thought a little college care package might just do the trick (RAOK #30).  I remember being in college and looking forward to the letters and care packages from home, it always made me so happy! 

I started by grabbing all the good things I knew he'd love - Oreos, Little Debbie's, Red Bull . . . you know, the staples of a freshman's diet.  Then I brainstormed for other ideas and realized "What am I thinking?  BOYS want food... not magazines and trinkets!"  This stash should last him and his friends... what?.. about a good two days right?

Thanks, Jr., for all you did and I hope you are loving college.

Also, can't end the post without a shout out to his sister, Tia, who is really like one of my own kids!  She's a special young lady too and I didn't want to spark any sibling rivalry with this post... but her care package is waiting in my pantry :)

P.S.  The mom and I are taking resumes for available females for this prize of a guy, but just know the requirements for approval on dating him are more stringent than college admission!

RAOK #29 - A T-shirt saves the world?

Several weeks ago I stumbled upon an organization called "Sevenly" (www.sevenly.com).  They have capitalized on a very simple and powerful marketing concept - they sell unique, one of a kind T-shirts and hoodies that are only available for one week.  $7 of each purchase goes towards their "cause of the week".

They haven't even been around for a year yet, but they have already raised over $300,000 for their various causes!!  I bought my first shirt several weeks ago ... then another week ... then another week.  I find I'm a bit addicted to them.  They change the cause every Monday at 1:00pm EDT and their causes are incredibly diverse.  The week I did RAOK #29, it was for a domestic violence shelter which touches me because women I am close to from more than one branch of my family have been affected by this and I also personally know some friends that have as well.  They raised $15,239 in one week for Sheltering Wings!

The shirt I bought for domestic violence.

NO, they are not!



CURE Childhood Cancer

This week's cause is for Clean Drinking Water in India.  Children are dying for lack of clean water and the money raised through this week's purchases will be used to drill three wells.

The dudes (and dudettes) at Sevenly have segregated their company's mission down into 7 major categories:  slavery, water, hunger, aid, poverty, medical and disaster.  The twist is that each cause only lasts one week and they only produce t-shirts to fulfill their orders.  Once a T is gone, it is gone.  Every shirt and hoodie is a limited edition design.  The design team is edgy and probably young, and the Tshirt and hoodie quality is dynamite. ... soft, very high quality, and wash well.  This is not your scratchy buy-for-$5-at-discount-store-and-slap-a-logo-on-it kind of shirt!

I highly encourage you to check out www.sevenly.com.  When you get your goods in the mail, their packaging says "WHOA DANG.  Look at you changin' the world and stuff"

Exactly.