News from Santiago/Tzanchaj

Has it really been 3 weeks since we last updated? I think time is flying. Today (Friday) it's flying anyway.


In most recent news...
Josue turned 1 year old on Monday. He enjoyed his cake immensely, as you can see, and we all had a good time playing games in honor of him. He is precious and we love him dearly. He hasn't started walking quite yet; he uses a walker quite well but isn't brave enough to let go.

The town festival is happening this week. Or maybe it happened last week. A fair comes to town during the festival so we took the kids on Friday and ate pizza (it's the only time our town has pizza!) and the kids played games and bought fun fair stuff. It was a long day being out in town with 7 babies in a culture where people just push you if you don't move fast enough, but I'm happy to report we all survived. We are almost as cool an attraction as the Ferris wheel when we all go to town. Crowds of people stood around and stared at us for what felt like forever. Some people even ask the kids if we ever eat any kids that live there. Its almost laughable, and yet its sad to see a culture so steeped in traditional Mayan religion and the fear that surrounds them. This first picture is all of us right after we first sat down--in about 10 minutes we were completely surrounded by people.

The latest project the home has started is growing a garden! Dave is renting the piece of land next to the house for a garden since the price of vegetables is climbing and we eat lots of fruits and veggies! We will have to clear the trees and brush before we start planting. I'm looking forward to having a garden and we hope it does well! I don't have any pictures of the lots and its still looks like trees and brush right now anyway.

Today (Saturday) we had a pool party and hot dog roast with two families from town. The one family is here translating the Bible into Tzutijil, the local dialect. The translation project will take approximately ten years. The second family is here working at the local hospital. The husband and wife are both family practice doctors and do lots of great work at the hospital!

And now it's Sunday! Its hard to believe tomorrow is August 1 already! We've been here over three months now. Some days I think I can't stretch anymore or I will pop; and other days, I only hope and pray that I actually am growing in this part of our lives. Josh and I were discussing the other day how we could totally waste these two years here. And really, we all could waste our lives day by day if we don't make a habit of everyday looking to Jesus and seeking to make Him the reason for everything we do. I can totally bypass teaching moments, moments to point these children to the Father if I'm looking at life as a big to-do list. And honestly, it's pretty easy to see the dishes, the laundry, the dirty diapers, the cooking and cleaning and forget to live with the eyes of our hearts open to see God. We're learning this; not perfectly, but increasingly.
God is also teaching me about servanthood. This is hard for me. But when I fight against this daily dying, I can't help but think of Jesus, who left EVERYTHING and washed the disciples' feet and died on a cross.....for me. And you. I have no lofty answers to the hardness of servanthood, only the heart feeling that I cannot resist serving because of The One who served me and gave me true and abundant life.

Thank you to all of you who faithfully pray for us and send letters and packages and emails. We hope and pray that in some way, our lives will give glory to our Heavenly Father. Many blessings to all of you today. Happy Sunday!

and P.S. Thank God that all the picture uploaded successfully the VERY FIRST TIME! This is HUGE. Okay, that's all!

Hello to all.
These past weeks have been quite busy! I think this is pretty typical, though. For all of you.
We have experienced an exciting answer to prayer: Isaac is crawling!

He also turned 1 year old on Thursday, the 30th.

And got a haircut on Saturday. Poor child, its been a busy week.

Jacob got a haircut too. That little thing in the front of his head wasn't my idea. Just so you know.

NOTE: From here on, this post may be considered boring by those who prefer pictures. I've been working on this blog for about 5 days now and I'm having issues getting pictures uploaded. My apologies. Hopefully, I can update with pictures soon! 

On Sunday, Josh & I went with some of the kids into town. We took two babies along which made for quite the adventure, but it was good exercise and we had a good time! This involves riding on the back of a truck...it gets interesting.

On Monday, we celebrated the 4th of July like most of you all probably did too! The kids wore red, white, and blue and we had a grand party! We had LOTS of delicious food and played fun games and set off fireworks. (I don't know if there is a proper term for this but these fireworks aren't the pretty ones that go up in the sky and are colorful. These are just loud. And blow newspaper all over the place.) It was a good day!

ANOTHER NOTE: For any of you interested in doing a fun family mission project or something like that....
Orphan Resources International, based in Ephrata, PA, will ship any donations marked "Hands of Compassion/the Reichards" to us free of charge! All you need to do is get your donations to ORI. Canned goods/nonperishables are gladly accepted! For example: pizza sauce, salsa, green beans, canned fruits like peaches and pears, pie fillings, pickles, and just about anything else that people can or eat out of cans! Any questions, feel free to ask!

Another Saturday is winding down. We've been here almost 3 months now. Sometimes it feels like forever. Other times it's hard to believe its been 3 months (almost) already. Thank you so much for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers and supporting us in this part of our journey!

The following quote is challenging me to develop a culture of gratitude. It takes practice and hard work to make gratitude the habit of my heart. Being grateful allows me to see God everyday in the everyday life. "He is invited to do great things who receives small things greatly." -Cassiodorus

Blessings,
Josh & Donna