"Really! there's no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. The cost of rescue is beyond our means, and even then it doesn't guarantee life forever, or insurance against the Black hole.So don't be impressed with those who get rich and pile up fame and fortune. They can't take it with them; fame and fortune all get left behind. Just when they think they've arrived and folks praise them because they've made good, they enter the family burial plot where they'll never see the sunshine again." Psalm 49: 7-9, 16-19, The Message 
For those of you who took the quiz on facebook AND guessed SOLAR SYSTEM, felicitaciones! Correcto! Katherin's very own interpretation of said heavenly system done totally without buying a thing! It bobbled too when you held the end; quite clever! Anyone got any other ideas as to what this is/was?
So this week has been one totally full of really busy yet fabu stuff! A week of layers many days, with multiple activities, some unexpected, needing attention simultaneously, it seemed. Our friends, John y Sharon Millane, were coming in for a muy rapido visita on Thursday, the 8th, so the early part of the week was spent prepping for this. We knew to prepare the guest room, and of course to have the Lily(name of this gorgeous place)looking as good as she could.We had help with this; here's Lesbia weeding the front planter under the careful supervision of Pink.
THEN we received an email from John on the 4th asking for a nice meal to be served AT the Lily for our very 1st board meeting of Asociacion Rosa de Saron, the new NGO ministry that now oversees La Lily. So in the next 3 days, we went to Guate once and to Antigua 2X to buy dishes, glasses, silverware, a tipico tablecloth, items we didn't have in our modest cocina. And thankfully Rosa helped by doing the grocery shopping and by hiring a chef. 4 of the teens got to assist the chef in making pepian, a popular yet quite involved tipico meal.We were looking forward to showing the Millanes the cement work they funded. Here are some before and after views of the work:
The first 2 columns on the left are the front driveway and part of the garage, while the last column is the back sidewalk. What good work Domingo the albanil did, si??!! The garage had to be car-free for a week, so it just happened that the 1st day we could drive on it was the day of the Millane's arrival. So we made a wee ceremony out of it:
The kids love to make our friends feel welcomed! And don't Juanito y Saron look good AFTER taking the red eye from LAX?? But Sharon was soon off to test out our bunk
beds, having really earned red eyes by not sleeping at all on the flight down. And all the time this welcoming was going on, Guillermo was working on a new water challenge, not having any! We work off a cistern/pozo/pump system, and a part had failed so the well went dry, literally. G's solution was to hook up the city water, which we hadn't used cuz we have a well, don't you know, by running a long, skinny hose from the front of the property all the way to the backyard. When he checked it an hour later, the well was still dry. THEN Rosa told him we only get city water from 2 to 4 pm everyday. Who knew? G got an electrician to come out and together they got the part to work at least so the cistern could be filled while he went searching for a replacement part. (As of this writing, it STILL isn't fixed amd we have to juryrig it to keep water in the well) 
Thursday was also Patsy's last sewing class before her journey to the states. She really made some 
progress with the girls; look at this almost complete quilted pillow top of one of the girls!Such an impactful ministry! Such an honour to have this op for the girls! Please keep Patsy in your prayers as she went to Texas for shoulder surgery. Rosa de Amor also received 2 new girls on Thursday afternoon, sisters 14 and 9 yrs old. If you could only see their faces when new kids arrive; so scared, afraid, sad, mad, confused. And the younger girl, Gilda, has signs of malnutrition. Help Lord!
We also received mail from the sky Thursday; Sunday, the 11th, is election day here in Guatemala, and the incumbent mayor of San Lucas flew over our house dropping 100s of flyers so we would vote for him. NOT! The kids thought it was fun...until they had to pick up, and sometimes fish out of the trees, every last paper! What a waste!
Meanwhile, back in the backyard, chef Angelica, in the fancy white chef's coat, is working with Ana Gabriela, Marta, and Elsa, trying to hide from the camera.
Floridelma, yellow shirt in foto on rt, also got to help out. Love the new use for diapers; not enough hairnets to go around,so, wa-la, quite handsome hair containers, don't you think? They all had fun AND learned a lot! 
Ana Gabriela and Marta also got to help serve our meal that evening. Again, they did a fine job
even though Guillermo seems to think he needs to get waaayyy out of Marta's way. I love these girls!So here we are, the brand new board of Rosa de Saron, having not only our first
meeting, but also our first meal together! Good food, good fellowship, good discussion, good purpose and reason, good God!Whew! Glad to be moving onto Friday! Think I'm gonna use bullets for the rest of the week:
*went to Antigua ealry Friday for a meeting with the lawyer for RDS; walked right into a political rally parade so the Millanes got a peak at the goings-on politically, complete w/firecrackers, por supuesto!
*then we sent them off in their rental car for a lunch meeting in Guate. Directions: 1st get out of Antigua, then stay on the hy, passing 1 Walmart, and when you see the next one, turn; the restaurant will be across from Wally World! sounds pretty easy, right? Well, they did indeed make it, and since being late is fashionable here in country, they were quite fashionable! After they ate, they shopped, at Wally world, of course....and brought good food for Rosa and kids and goodies for RDS
*we returned to the Lily, oh wait, we agreed at the meeting the nite before that this will now be known as Las Rosas, most appropriate me thinks...so we returned to Las Rosas and got the dishes done and the room cleared since same room is the classroom and the psychologist's office. G still working on the water caper
*
The 9th was also Floridelma's birthday; we do know this is the date, but there are conflicting birthdates/ages on the court paperwork for this young lady. She's either 15 or 18, or maybe somewhere in between, and she is not sure herself. Geez! So we picked 17 for this year. Needless to say, she was rather subdued. So glad we got to celebrate her so she knows she is loved despite the challenge she's been. Sort of like how Jesus loves me in spite of myself. tyj! *we had the most delightful evening visiting in our wee sunroom w/Juanito y Saron, dining on apples and a delish spanish cheese Saron found at Walmart
Sabado: an amazing church from Villa Nueva
came with a delightful program for the kids.
Their team consisted mainly of teens/youngadults, and along with them came some Hebrews, rt foto, with a story to tell about a dad with 2 boys,lt foto, a pig who ate better than one of the sons, about second chances and reconciliation. Too fabu! The kids sat totally paying attention.
*Sharon y John got to hang out with the kids; here's a foto of Sharon visiting with
Miguelito, her inspiration for returning to LBCC to learn more espanol. He is a really special boy, even when his face isn't painted!*G, me, Juanito, y Saron made a Guate shopping trip in the afternoon, hitting Novex, Pricesmart, Wally world, and Cemaco, then G y Juan returned AGAIN later that night to retrieve a forgotten clipboard w/ALL John's notes. Wee.....Rosa had cena waiting for us: tamales and tortillas! Yea.
Domingo, 9/11...election day here
in Guate, also departure day for the Millanes. They took the bus w/the kids to Iglesia Elim; G worked on the clothesline as this is the only day washing isn't done;I walked to LaTorre to prep for almuerzo: stirfry veggies and tamarind jugo, oh, and some more of that spanish cheese. The kids gave them a warm, joyful sendoff. What fun and what an honour! bye
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