Day 5 & 6

Sunday, August 1
After a beautiful morning service, we had a lunch of pasta with a pica de gallo salsa. In the afternoon, I witnessed God's imminent grace once again as one of the most miraculous things I have ever seen appeared in the sky. Over the lake, a rainbow was visable. Rainbows are always a beautiful miracle from God, but in this one, all the colors were present, AND you could see both ends. Stretching across the waters of Amatitlan, hawks in flight, this breath-taking sight hung over the lake like a halo. After a photo session of attempting to capture this astounding scene (my pictures do not do this landscape any justice), another rainbow, less vibrant, yet just as spectacular, appeared above the first. It was the perfect parting gesture from the Lord, as we are planning to return to Zone 1 tomorrow morning. Now we really do know where the end of the rainbow is, but the treasures that lie there are far more valuable than any pot of gold.

Saturday, July 31
Not much worthy of mentioning happened today. We did not have matins, and were allowed to sleep in a little. Unfortunately, my internal clock had other plans. I was up at the usual time, but persisted in reading until an appropiate hour for a light breakfast of yogurt. All the flan that we made must be eaten by tomorrow, as the Forefeast of the Life-Giving Cross begins. The faithful fast from August 1st until the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos on August 15th. We had a nice dinner, and lots of flan, with the nuns and the boys. They are great. They are free-spirited, faithful little souls around the age of 17. Two of them are twins, very well known by the missionaries, who love to serve in the alter with the missionary priests. They live at "Rio Dulce" another orphanage in Guatemala. It is primarily children from the jungle of indigenous backgrounds, who speak a variety of languages. It is so wonderful to see the boys continuing their life with Christ on their own in such a not as encouraging environment.