January 18, 2007
You, Lord, brought me safely through birth, and you protected
me when I was a baby at my mother’s breast. From the day
I was born, I have been in your care, and from the time of my
birth, you have been my God.
Psalm 22:9-10
Marcia, Migde and Josh.
What a blessing and a challenge to be new parents! We ask you to pray for Migde and me and Josh on this new adventure.
Thank God with us for this natural and healthy birth. Pedro Josue
Lucas Towers (“Josh” or “Josue”) was born
in late September 2006 as a healthy, alert newborn, and we’ve
been delighting in him during his four months in this world as
he learns to smile, laugh, grab hold and pull on my hair, look
at books, and travel on airplanes! He’s loves to smile and
make his variety of talking noises to anyone he who will listen.
Marcia and Josh.
Celebrate with us his baptism, which welcomed him into God’s
family. While in the United States over Christmas, Josh was baptized.
Then in January we celebrated that baptism with his Guatemalan
family. We thank God that as Psalm 22 states, “from the
time of [his] birth, you have been [his] God.” Pray that
we may be able to show him God’s love.
Pray for me as I’m starting back to work full-time again
after three months of partial maternity leave. May I have the
time and patience to have a strong relationship not only with
Migde and Josh but also the young adult volunteers.
And especially pray for Josh, as he learns to navigate the contrasts
between the distinct worlds in which he’ll grow up. May
he learn and adopt the best parts of each context. Some differences
are simple. We live in Quetzaltenango (Xela), in the western mountains
of Guatemala, where this month the temperature can drop below
freezing overnight and Josh is wrapped in warm clothes and blankets.
And he has to adapt when we drive two hours down the mountain
to Santo Domingo, Suchitepequez, to visit his grandparents, aunts
and uncles and cousins (Migde’s family) in the tropical
heat where he’s happy in just a diaper.
He’s surrounded by family and Guatemalan friends speaking
to him in Spanish, but we hope he’ll pick up English from
Mom, from computer phone calls with his grandparents back in the
United States, from the young adult volunteers, and from other
mission co-workers!
Josh.
Some differences are more profound. In the Guatemalan family,
he’ll soon love playing with lots of cousins in their very
simple living conditions, running barefoot in the dirt and inventing
all kinds of games, and sleeping together in one room; some of
these aunts and uncles haven’t finished high school. With
his U.S. family he’ll enjoy going to the swimming pool,
running on the carpet, playing with building blocks, and sleeping
in his own room; most of his U.S. aunts and uncles are professionals.
And like all children born of couples of different races, he’ll
need to learn what it means to be a child of a white North American
and a Guatemalan—to be both, but at the same time not quite
either one.
Thanks for your prayers!
Marcia Towers
Mission Co-worker
Young Adult Volunteer and delegations coordinator
Guatemala
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 63
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