Brain dump: Lessons in a Guatemalan village

I am sitting here by my lit Christmas tree, a fire in the fireplace, sipping coffee, and my mind has a hard time computing all I have experienced in the last few weeks.

The juxtaposition of the daily struggle in the villages of Guatemala against my imperfect North American lifestyle is vivid. The abundance of my home and blessings against the need and lack we witnessed is stark. (Check out my Instagram reels for reference).

And yet, in our abundance (especially highlighted in this Christmas season), we sometimes miss how blessed we are. We have been lulled to sleep in our excess. Our struggle stems from having too much, whereas the struggle for our Guatemalan friends comes from having too little. 

I wonder aloud what I should do about all the thoughts running crazy eights in my brain as I’m simultaneously trying to jump back into the race I left at home.

Here is my brain dump:

*I already know this in my mind, but here it is again – it’s not the material stuff that makes a life. If it was all taken away, would I still be ok, or do I depend on my stuff to be happy?

*No matter our possessions or status in life, we all have problems. They vary, of course, but sometimes they come out of overabundance. 

*When I have been given an abundance, I need to hold it lightly in my hand, ready to bless others. I saw people sharing gladly out of their lack; surely I can give gladly out of abundance.

*Sometimes you go to do “mission” work and come home realizing you were the mission, blessed and changed.

*I had no say in what part of this globe I was born in. I could just as easily have been born into a home on the side of a volcanic hillside, and my life would be drastically different from the one I know. Art was holding a baby with big brown eyes, his adoring parents sitting nearby on plastic stools, and you wondered what the child’s future would be.

*An entitled attitude is a problem; maybe we, in our comfortable life, have more of it than we care to admit. We cannot just point to our young ones and say, “oh, how selfish the generation!” – the younger generation learned from us.

*Darkness and evil exist. It looks different in different countries and may feel more real and evident elsewhere, but we better not think it doesn’t exist in North America. It’s just disguised as delicacies that we inadvertently and sometimes not so inadvertently partake of with no thought. We must wake up from our lackadaisical attitudes to the reality of what we let control our lives.

*Joy can be found in a simple abode when hope is placed in the eternal Hope found only through Jesus. It’s not just a Sunday school answer but the only answer. For all the struggle found in a foreign country, in North America, in our homes and in our hearts. Jesus will always be the answer.