Last week, our Leadership Council from our home church, Pathways Community in Largo, FL, was here for a visit, and I got the chance to hang out with the ladies in the group.
We went to a small village near another small village called San Antonio de Agua Calientes, and we were welcomed into the home of a lady named Victoria. She described to us how she saw a need in her town for the women to be able to earn some money for their families. They were weaving beautiful textiles, but other people were buying them and taking them to the Mercado (market) in Antigua, and the women weren't making much profit.
So, Victoria started a co-op. Each lady had to contribute a piece of aluminum, and together, these pieces formed a roof for a small shelter. On this dirt floor, every day, the group sits and weaves. This is their tradition.
Victoria described their daily life to us, from grinding rice into milk for a drink called Horchata, to how they balance baskets on their heads so they can carry a lunch into the field for their husbands, to the weaving process, to cooking tortillas.
She taught us about their Mayan traditions, and we acted out a Mayan wedding ceremony (I was the groom!). Then, we all made our own tortillas on their small stove, and sat down to a Guatemalan lunch that had taken these ladies hours to prepare for us.
As I listened to the descriptions and ate the amazing food, I felt so humbled. These ladies were kind, generous, and treated us as honored guests. They answered all of our questions, were so loving and hospitable. I felt shallow for my grumbling about my small kitchen and lack of dishwasher when I saw their tiny shack of a kitchen.
I need these reminders more often. It is like jumping into a vat of cold water. I wake up to what's real and true, and the pieces of my life shift back into the proper places.
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