January 9, 2008 "Expecting"

Back in Guatemala! There's something about living in the mountains with little to distract you from experiencing your day fully. It was definitely time for us to get out of Seattle's wintery wonderland. After snow for two weeks and walking around our neighborhood in snowshoes, we relished the beginning of our 'summer' here.
Right now I'm sitting at Casa del Mundo, a beautiful little hotel hideaway tucked off the shores of Lake Atitlan. A great place to just sit back and reflect on our experiences here. We are approaching Will's 52nd birthday and the two year anniversary since we began this new journey into the unknown. I would have to say that in some ways I'm less anxious than when we first arrived back in 2004. We've made friends, become a part of a small faith community and had our fair share of gastrointestinal earthquakes that Guatemala is becoming more like home away from home. Something as small as going to a local nursery and buying plants helps me to feel like this is 'my neighborhood'. I'm trying to remember names of the locals that we come in contact with. Not too difficult since many of the names are biblical.....Solomon, Israel, Lazarus. Speaking of names...The other day I was having a conversation with the Lord and asked when we might have small ones here at the home. I heard the Lord respond "soon". The next day, Pedro our caretaker told us in passing that his wife, Josephina is expecting a baby within the next 10-15 days! We responded with a 'Felicidades!'. Congratulations! We hugged and told him how happy we were for both of them. Pedro shared that they already knew that they were having a son thanks to ultrasound technology in a larger town nearby. Then came the amazing and very humbling part of our conversation. Pedro asked us if we would name their son. Will and I....gringos.....it was like God weaved one more thread through this tapestry that He is creating. I already knew what to name him immediately. In the past, I had prayed to have a son and when he came I would name him 'Samuel' after the prophet in the Old Testament whose mother cried out in desperation for a son. Well, God has His ways, doesn't He? And get this, Pedro said that their son's second name will be "Antonio" after Will's middle name. So, Samuel Antonio will be
making his appearance by the grace of God, very soon! This event has been a comfort to me.
I wasn't able to have a son as I had hoped but I'm going to have the incredible experience of watching Pedro's son grow up and maybe, just maybe I'll get to babysit him :)!