Put Down Your Umbrella... and Get Drenched!!

Sharing an Umbrella

  Rainy season has officially descended on the village of Zapote.. and that means that EVERY... let me emphasize that once more... EVERY SINGLE... AFTERNOON it rains. Usually it starts POURING somewhere between 4pm and 6pm and the storms may be passing, or may settle in for the evening. However, with the rain comes cooler temperatures... WHICH I WELCOME ENTHUSIASTICALLY. The temperatures in the weeks prior to rainy season have been in the 90s-100s and at times it was all I could do to sit in front of a fan and drink water (there is no A/C in Guatemala). I praise God for the evening times when the temperatures cool into the 80s and become much more tolerable.

  A side effect of the rain, however, is the swelling of the rivers. As you may remember, we must cross FOUR RIVERS on the way to Zapote. There are NO BRIDGES, so we drive THROUGH the rivers in a four-wheel drive truck. Due
to the rain, the paths of the rivers also change which means crossing the river is different every time we come through.  As we were returning to Zapote on Monday morning, we were approaching one of the river crossings. As we came around the corner, we could see down the hill to the river and... STUCK... IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER... WAS A BUS. There was not even room for a motorcycle to pass through between the rocks and where the bus was stuck. So, we parked along the side of the road... and began... waiting. Fortunately, we were bringing groceries back with us, so we knew we would not starve in the meantime!

The Bus Stuck in the River Crossing

  As soon as we parked, we began discussing divine appointments and pondering what God could be doing in this moment as we were sitting along the road waiting. We speculated (jokingly) that he was probably keeping us from being kidnapped by a group of bandits farther down the road. A few moments later we were STARTLED to see what appeared to be a large group of men from the United States walking down the hill toward the bus. (It is VERY VERY VERY RARE to see non-Guatemalans in this area of Guatemala. Tiffany and I are THE ONLY TWO non-Guatemalans in the village where we live, so you can imagine our surprise). I decided to walk down to the river and see what this group from the United States was doing here in Guatemala.

  To my immediate surprise, the two leaders, Carlos and Andy, were very familiar with Zapote, the school where I work, and were two of the original individuals to visit Zapote, help plant and build the church here, and help support the work at the school!! Talk about divine appointments!! We shared stories and I found out that they were coming to visit the school later that week. While we were sharing stories, the team of young men worked together with the locals and were able to put enough smaller rocks under the wheels of the bus to get the bus moving forward again and out of the river. Another thing that ALWAYS IMPRESSES me about Guatemala is how quickly people jump in to help each other in times of need!! We were shortly on our way and were only a "little" late for work that morning :).

  In this season, God has been speaking so many things to my heart and my spirit, and it seems like one of the common themes has been letting go and putting down walls that I have built up over the

years. For the past few mornings, the lyrics of a song have been jumping out to me each time I hear it. The lyrics say "Put up my umbrella and let me get drenched in you.. Put up my umbrella, and let redemption rain fall over me." I find it so appropriate that during the rainy season God is calling me to "put up my umbrella.. and let Him drench me". I am remembering how to be playful again (I may or may not like to put on my rainboots and go puddle jumping from time to time... the looks I get are hilarious... but GOD LOVES TO PLAY). I am being intentional in playing with the kids at the school more and taking breaks from work to go love on some kiddos and share HIS JOY with them. I am also letting God open up areas of my heart and spirit that need fresh life breathed into them. I am remembering that we can TAKE GOD AT HIS WORD and hold onto the promises He has given us. Despite dreams and visions looking dead, there comes a season when the rain will come... wash off the dirt.. and breathe life back into those places. So.. let us.. put down our umbrellas.. and GET DRENCHED!!

I thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Feel free to share my blog with others. I appreciate each of you, your prayers, and your support as I continue on this journey.

Blessings,
Meaghen