Use the Wits that You Have

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began."

- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Case de Shepherd (the Shepherd house) is far from quiet and tidy this evening. I feel like Bilbo Baggins when he was startled from his tea on a brisk autumn night with a steady stream of dwarves that began to fill his home, eat his food, and fill the air with music. 

The timbre of emotion here is a unique blend of boredom and expectation. Today is a needed day of rest for paths that intersect briefly before dispersion. Emmaus is taking a needed rest before an eleven day excursion up north to Flores & Tikal, then stints in Belize and Honduras. 

My uncle Stephen and his family are graciously staying with us and providing that unique and wholesome feeling of goodness that only family can supply. Soon they'll be departing with Caleb in tow, hitching a ride to the US, spending his first ever summer apart from our family. 

As our family examines the days ahead, and tries to conceptualize our upcoming first furlough, we realize that our emotions have not yet had a chance to overtake our footsteps. We look forward to the coming time of rest. In this clouded view of introspection, I often question my abilities and wonder at my accomplishments. Surely no-one is as surprised as me as the hobbit-hole door of my life is repeatedly blown open with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Yesterday our team of 50 departed to the US after building six houses and dedicating them to the LORD, spending powerful times of prayer with the families that are now challenged to make a house a home.

The day was a mad blend of all that is swirling in our midst. I loaded up Emmaus, we delivered 150 pounds of baby wipes to House of Hope Orphanage, and then headed to Villa Nueva for the house dedications. The trip ended with a faulty turn down a small inner city alley that ended in a flight of stairs climbing the mountainside. It was like a scene from a nightmare, the road ending in impassable and seemingly impossible architecture. 

The team cheered after I successfully and nearly miraculously navigated the inches to spare passages in reverse, while we nervously watched a group of young men who approached with questionable intentions (and unpleasant words). 

Finally, Kellie was contacted by our attorney who informed us that I needed an additional document to pair with my passport in order to exit the country in the coming days. The good news was that our permanent residency status was granted... the bad news, we do not have time to process our new Guatemalan identification cards (DPI). 

And so... we were off to a late evening scavenger hunt as we raced the hands of the clock to five. We met from opposite ends of the city into Zona Uno, went into the government agency known as RENAP. We bounced from counter to counter like a delusional pingpong ball as we collected documents, copies, and sticky stamps for authentication. 

Our brief celebration of completing our mad dash packet was squashed as the official then sent us a block and a half down the road to make our first official tax payment. We stood in line, sweating nervously at Banrural as the large black hand of time edged ever closer to five.

While we were there, Kellie's phone rang and the orthodontist informed that Caleb was ready for pick-up. His time of suffering was over, his braces had been removed. So, in a moment of divide and conquer, I headed to Taco Bell to freak out the staff and procure sixty tacos (since it was now too late to cook for our house of travelers and adventurers), and Kellie shot across town to retrieve Caleb.

By 7:30 PM, we were all safely reassembled at our compound. The van unscathed, our residency approved, braces removed, and stomachs happy... we all retreated to our various corners of the house in pursuit of this thing called rest. 

I've always wanted a lifestyle of adventure since first encountering Bilbo as a twelve year old discovering his story for the first time. In all the movements of this mechanism we call "missions," we are somehow living this tale, and embracing the exhaustions with the beauty. 

Tonight in a twist of irony, the group chose to watch The Lord of the Rings while Antony and I put the final touches on our adventure that approaches. As the sun falls down on today, I breath deeply while I am reminded that the turning of the world isn't reliant on me. God has the plan, I just have to remain willing to step out and take the journey.

I am thankful for all these, my fellow travelers, as we find a convergent path for a time. Surely these days will never be forgotten. And so, we look forward to engaging the path again.

“was I chosen?’ ‘Such questions cannot be answered,’ said Gandalf. ‘You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.” 

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings