May 18, 2012
May 10th
is Feliz dia de Madres (Mother’s Day) in Guatemala. It is celebrated the same day every year. I was missing my own children and
grandchildren very much, and really did not know what to expect on this day
here in Guatemala.
The day started
out with Alma coming to my door very early in the morning and asking me if I
was a mother. I said, “Yes, I am”. She gave me a big hug and told me ‘Happy
Mother’s Day’. She then told me her
birthday was that day and that she was 14.
I told her my oldest granddaughter is 14. I got another hug and kiss and then she said,
“Miss Sharron, I love you so much”. Alma
had started coming to my class room a few weeks ago to talk to me and she wants
to learn to sew. She is not in the 4th
or 5th grade so she can’t come right now. She helped me make the decorations for my
classroom and we have had some good times visiting and getting to know one
another while we worked together.
At my cross-stitch class that afternoon,
the girls decorated the marker board and wrote in English, “Happy Day Mom”.
Later in the
evening a group of girls, from the Esperanza dorm, were passing out roses to the
entire group of mother’s at Casa. They
came to my door and gave me a beautiful pink rose and they all hugged me and
told me, “Happy Mother’s Day”. I was so
overwhelmed with these showers of love that it made my heart rejoice. It is true that I was not at home this
Mother’s Day and may not be on many other special holidays. However, we serve a Father who knows these
things and looks down and reaches out to us through others. He shows us that not only has He not
forgotten us but He is giving us love through them. In my heart, I said, “Thank you Lord for
making this day so special to me”.
Then I heard
another knock at the door. It was
Lillian, the young woman, who is a university student and teaches sewing in the
mornings here at Casa because she has classes in the afternoon. She hugged me and told me, “Happy Mother’s
Day Sharron”. I almost cried when she
came because her own mother, who would have been close to my age, died when she
was very young. Another knock on the
door came shortly after that and when I opened the door, I saw my three friends
at the door with dinner in their hands.
They had made Lasagna and brought plates and forks as well as my
favorite drink here (Mango). It is a
type of Kool-Aid they sell here with tropical fruit flavors. They also made me two cards; one was in
Spanish and one in English. The art work
on the cards was done by Susi, the youngest of the sisters. The sisters, Marlin, Mirna and Susi come by
almost every evening to help me practice my Spanish. If they have a lot of homework and can’t
stay, they always stop by and tell me ‘good night’ and hug me. On one of those evenings, they asked me to
tell them about my life. I enjoyed
sharing with them the hand of the Father in my life so that they would see the
goodness of God. On the next evening,
they shared with me. These girls have
become very special to me.
One of the
hefe’s in the Esperanza dorm has asked to call me, ‘Mama Sharron’. A hefe is an older girl who is in charge of
the younger ones and they help the dorm parents. I told her she could call me anything but
‘gringa’. I don’t personally like the
word but it is what I get called when they do not know my name. Gringa means ‘white woman’.
I love the girls here and so many have already
become very special to me in different ways.
I go on line to Casa’s web-site to read their stories so that I can be
familiar with them. If you want to read
some of these stories, go to: www.casaontherock.org I’m sure as time goes on, I will get to
know many more. When I look at these
children, I thank the Father that He has brought them here where they have a
nice place to sleep, three meals a day, clothes to wear, and an education. They also hear about Christ and how to become
a Christian and live according to the Bible.
While these children are safe, there are many, many more in this country
who are not. I pray for them as well as all
the children here. Many have experienced
unspeakable things in their life, and it is very hard to overcome them. I am confident that as they put their trust
in Christ, He will help them to go above and beyond what they have
experienced. Scripture says:
“I will repay you for
the years the locusts have eaten —
the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm
my great army that I sent among you. Joel 2:25
the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm
my great army that I sent among you. Joel 2:25
Just some of my
thoughts while living here in Guatemala…
