40 Things I'm Thankful For

Day 3 

Three Day Weekends

Self explanatory.  Who doesn't like one less day of work and one more day to relax?!  

Here we are, enjoying our day off with a trip to the pool and lunch at Hode's!  

40 Things I'm Thankful For

Day 2:

Mail

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.  

~Phyllis Theroux

 I find so much joy in sending and receiving mail, and I don't think I'm the only one.  All the volunteers down here would agree that it truly makes your day to receive something from home.  I know it's enjoyable to get something meaningful (rather than bills and junk mail!) anywhere you live.  The fact that it is so meaningful is the very reason why no matter how advanced we become technologically it will never replace good old real mail.  

What a wonderful thing is the mail, capable of conveying across continents a warm human hand-clasp.  ~Author Unknown

A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely.  ~Pam Brown

40 Things I'm Thankful For

This Lent I will be posting a picture of something I'm grateful for everyday!  

Here's what I'm thankful for Day 1: 

Laughter 

“The most thoroughly wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed”
~ Nicolas de Chamfort

At the end of a long day at school last week I went to the refrigerator in the teachers' lounge and took a big gulp of what I thought was my tea.  Once the flavor hit me I ran outside and spit it out.  Apparently cleaning supplies are kept in water bottles in refrigerators here in Belize.  Of course it wasn't enough to make me sick and we all got a good laugh out of it so it was definitely worth it.  Who keeps cleaning supplies in water bottles anyway?  Much less in the refrigerator?!  I found out it was an almost all natural insect repellent cleaner they use on the floors.  Only in Belize!  It's still in the fridge, but someone was kind enough to use some masking tape and identify it as "insect repellent"   Hope you all had a good laugh today!  

I saw this cart of cleaning supplies in the bathroom at the airport.  Using water bottles really is the norm here... but at least they're labelled!  

seashells and life

 I've decided this blog post will be about a seashell, Christmas, friendship, life... okay, I'll just start writing. My dear friend Angela asked me to bring a conch shell back from Belize for her. I'm not sure why she didn't get one herself when she came down to visit Belize, but my guess is her suitcase was too full with other souvenirs. Being the great friend that I am, I brought this one home for her.

As I was washing it off before wrapping it as her Christmas gift I got to thinking about it. About how beautiful this shell is. How I'd prefer this shell to one purchased at the store. Why is that? And here are my thoughts... One reason is that it's always great to find something. There's a joy in discovering things, in figuring things out, in finding something, and in understanding. It starts when we're born and it never gets old. I've never met someone who didn't have anything in their bucket list. There's always “I want to try this...” or “I wish I knew how to...” Another reason is that I find this shell, straight from the ocean, more beautiful than the ones from the store. The kind you can buy are smooth and polished; they are so... perfect. There's a real quality to this one that speaks to me about myself and about life. This shell isn't perfect, but it's real, it's true to life, nothing fake, not sanded down and polished.

Every seashell is unique and individual, just like every snowflake, and every one of us. I find it incredible to think about the love God put into creating each shell in the ocean... and then I can't even believe what that means about the love He has for each of us, from the moment He created us and for all eternity. The more you look at the seashell the more you see the small details, the beautiful in the design, the functionality, etc. Just as the more you get to know someone, understand them, the more you see the depth, the complexity of who they are, and you see the beauty of the Creator in that person.

Our lives are just as unique and individual as we are. No two people have the same life, no matter how similar it may seem from the outside. Here's how seashells differ from snowflakes; they have a life story. Each seashell has cracks, chips, and maybe even some algae growing on it. Life is bittersweet. The seashell shows it's endured life's bitter times along with the sweet times. This seashell isn't sanded down and polished; pretending life isn't tough sometimes. It's bumps and bruises along the way, the tough times, are exactly what makes it so beautiful.

Since I've been home for Christmas break I've had several times when the bittersweetness of life is obvious. One being my coming home early for Angela's dad's funeral. Obviously, the funeral was a sad and difficult time but I also couldn't help but feel so blessed to be able to come home from Belize to be there. In every “bitter” time there's an underlying current of the “sweet”. At the funeral, like any funeral, the gratitude for what we had, the wonderful person, the love we shared, and our great times with them, is what makes the loss so difficult. The hard times are what make us appreciate the good times. Remembering the good the times, and knowing that there are more good times to come, is what gets us through the hard times.

It's Christmas. Nobody knows the bittersweetness of life like the Holy Family. Mary's going to have Jesus, the Savior of the world... but not how you'd think, it'll be in a cold stable, they have to flee to Egypt because someone wants to kill the baby... and none of that will compare with watching her Son be crucified. But there were also the sweet times, holding her newborn son, rocking him to sleep, singing and laughing and playing with him, watching him grow into a boy, watching him grow into a man, those good times helped Mary in the hard times. God knows us better than we know ourselves and His plan is perfect. It is through the Incarnation, Jesus' bittersweet time on earth, that all people, from all time, will be saved from their sins. And it is only when we see the whole picture, the good times and the bad times together, that we can see how it makes sense. We attempt to see the whole picture now, but we won't see it in it's entirety, in it's perfection until Heaven.

Last topic. Friendship. Christmas is such a joyful “sweet” time each year. The Church celebrates Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter each year for a reason. It's not just to reflect on Christ's life, but on our lives, as well. We are naturally grateful for what we have this time of year, we're kinder to strangers, we're more generous, we're joyful, because after all “It's Christmas!” This is why Christmas is so many people's favorite time of year. This year at Christmas, those of us who are experiencing the “good” times in our lives, let's pray for those who are enduring the “hard” times. We all will have the hard times at some point, and here's where the friendship part comes in. It is in the hard times that we can most easily recognize the love of God through our friends and family. So, if it's more of a 'bitter' time for you this Christmas, know that it won't last forever, and you are loved by many. If it's a more of a 'sweet' time for you this Christmas, treasure it, make precious memories to cherish, and please pray for those you know who because of poverty, sickness, death, etc need your prayers right now.  

Thanks for reading the whole post! You deserve some sort of reward so go get another cookie, why not? IT'S CHRISTMAS! Much love to you all. Have a very merry Christmas! 

Fish Bite

Last weekend the volunteers took a trip out to San Pedro.  Thanks to Ramon's Village resort and their generous discount for missionaries we could afford to stay at a nice resort with hot water and air conditioning (yes, it's still hot here).  I've been to San Pedro several times but this trip I was able to see a few things I haven't seen before. One of my fellow volunteers took us to a local rum maker who gives free samples.  After trying coffee, coconut cream, blue hole, and chocolate rum, it's hard to resist making a purchase.  It's so delicious!  We also went to feed the tarpons off a pier on the laguna side of the island.  It seemed simple enough after we watched the local Belizean demonstrate.  You simply hold the little fish out about 2 feet over the water and the tarpons jump out of the water and snatch it from your hand.  The tarpons are about 4 feet long and their mouths are about 6" in diameter.  Each of us took a turn.  The hard part was waiting holding the bait over the water and watching about 10 tarpons swarming just below the surface, just waiting, waiting, waiting.  A few of us were successful.  A couple people dropped the bait because it was slippery.  One girl jumped and screamed when the fish jumped, dropping the bait.  When I stepped up the guy told me not to let the bait slip because it was the last fish we had.  After waiting a minute I could feel the bait fish slipping so adjusted the way I was holding it, using my thumb and two fingers.  I made a joke about how the fish was going to take my whole hand since I have such small hands.  When one of the tarpons finally jumped his mouth did go over part of my hand when he took the fish.  It's kind of startling just because the fish are pretty big and you're holding the bait in your hand.  I didn't think anything of the way he snatched the bait from me until I looked down and saw blood on my hand!  Being from the United States I assumed they would not let people participate if the fish have teeth!  Well, really the teeth are just like sandpaper (so the guy said) but it was enough to draw blood and give me a funny story.  By Tuesday I had a couple of students ask me about my shark bite and who got the shark off of my hand!  Oh boy.

A fish LITERALLY jumped out of the water and bit my hand!  :)

All Souls' Day

There are several things the United States can learn from Central America. How to celebrate religious feast days is one of them. For about a week each year the Belizeans honor and remember their dead. Beginning on November 2^nd people make frequent trips to the cemetery to visit their deceased loves ones. The normally ill-plotted and dilapidated cemetery is transformed into something profoundly beautiful and peaceful. Here they have both graves and above ground mausoleum type tombs which are decorated with flowers and candles. The candles lit on all the different sizes and shapes of graves makes for a breath-taking scene. After processing from the Church to the cemetery the priest and the people go to their family members' graves to bless it with holy water and pray for their soul.

I've never been someone who is creeped out by cemeteries and now I find I actually have a love for them. Both years I've been here on All Souls' Day I haven't wanted leave the cemetery after the prayers because it's just so peaceful. Cemeteries contain so much history and love, they show us where we've come from and where we will end up, they remind us to be grateful for all the blessings we have, and they help us keep everything in perspective. It's difficult to get upset about the 'small things' and frustrations at work and at home when you've been to the cemetery that day. You're reminded what's important, what really isn't important, and what matters this minute, this hour, this day, isn't necessarily what matters in the end.

Amazingly enough, we keep learning from our loved ones even after they've died. Our memory of them, their life, their example, and their love... never dies. And because of that we will always be connected with those we love. God has a bigger plan than we can know or understand right now, but what we do know is that we are to pray for them. If our loved ones are in purgatory waiting to join God in Heaven they need our prayers, if they are already with God our prayers will not be wasted, but offered for the poor soul in purgatory who is in most need of prayers. If, by the grace of God, our family members are already with God in Heaven, be assured they are praying for you constantly. It's beautiful to think of how, even after death, we are still united with those we love, praying for each other from here or in Heaven, all working toward the same goal, and knowing by faith that we will achieve that goal and meet again for a glorious reunion in Heaven!

If you're Catholic you can gain a plenary indulgence (under the usual conditions that you receive Communion at Mass and go to Confession with 8 days before or after) each day from November 2^nd through November 9^th if you visit a cemetery, pray for the souls of the deceased, and pray for the Pope. Traditionally 3 Our Fathers, 3 Hail Marys, and 3 Glory Bes are prayed for the Pope. You may offer the plenary indulgence for the soul of a deceased friend or family member. Please make the time to stop by the cemetery today and pray for your deceased loved ones, it only takes a few minutes and it's well worth it for them … and for you :) 

God bless, Betsy

June through October

Hi everybody!  I know it's been a looooooooong time since I've blogged. After many subtle hints from people (and not so subtle hints from Jenny) I've decided to make it up by blogging EVERY week.  To all you who are doubting that this will happen I say thanks a lot for the support!  I figure, if I have time to beat Matt Bower in NFL picks each week than surely I have time to write a little something on the old blog.  I'll try to post each weekend so you can get your dose of Betsy in Belize on Sunday or Monday to start your week off right!  :)
Thanks for all your love and support!  God bless you all.