a time for everything

¨For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under Heaven...
A time to weep, and a time to laugh...
A time to keep and a time to cast away.¨
- Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 4, 6

Well friends, the time has come for a change for Juli-- a big one. This Wednesday, I´ll be moving to Antigua, Guatemala --a 3.5ish hour drive from Xela where YAVs Laura and Andrew live, and my director Marcia-- and where we started our Guatemalan journey with language school in September.

This has been a really hard decision for me, as I´ve spent nearly 4 months now in Xela, living with my huge and never-dull host family, working at the elderly lunch program, and searching for another part-time project to do. During these months, I´ve talked to 8 organizations-- none of which seemed like good matches because the positions either weren´t what we thought they´d be, didnt´t fall within YAV regulations, or just plain old didn´t interest me. Seeing so many doors close on me, and the frustrating irony of being bored in one of the poorest countries in the world has been extremely trying for me- but I´ve learned a lot about myself and my true passions, so I can see value in this time.

So, 2 weeks ago, my director Marcia asked if a change to Antigua to job-search there might be better... And after our retreat last weekend, I stayed overnight in Antigua to talk to a few people. Here´s where the story gets happy. Marcia´s neighbor took me to his organization, Faith in Practice- an organization that has teams of doctors come to rural Guatemalan villages to do free medical exams during week-long trips. For those who need surgery, they also have surgical teams come down and have their very own (small) guest house where people can stay, free of charge, pre- and post-op. I´ll be accompanying and translating for this trips probably 1 or 2 weeks per month, and then helping out around the office/guest house for the remainder of the time- helping around the guest house, preparing the medical-supply boxes for the trips, data entry of who/what they saw, etc.

After interviewing with FiP, I felt different; not confused, or discouraged, or defeated, but hopeful- like I really could do that and enjoy it a whole lot. So, after a lot of thoughtful prayer and reflection on my time here in Xela, I -with the help of my YAV team- decided that moving seemed like the best idea for Juli.

On Saturday I told my host family- which was hard, because though they´re not perfect, they´ve been very kind to me and it will be hard to leave them, but they took it well; more surprised than anything else. We´re all sad that our relationship has to end early, but I assured them of several visits over my next 6ish months here, so I´m confident this won´t be the end.

So there you go, world. A time of change. I´m looking forward to what God unfolds for me in this next chapter- and as always, thanks so much for your continued prayers and support, world.

bendiciones, juli
http://www.faithinpractice.org/