a cultural celebration

If you are friends with Abigail on Facebook, this post isn't really a surprise to you. This past weekend, May 18th we celebrated Abigail "coming of age" through a fiesta de quinceañera.

The court for the quince: (l-r) Zephaniah, Jose, Alexander, Benji, Misael, Timothy, Abigail, Giani, Selah, Morene, Sasha, Zion

Last year Selah was able to be a part of Bethsy's and that was when Abigail decided she wanted one. It came with much discussion. 

Bethsy's Quince

I struggle because I am not one to plan details. Thankfully, Selah took up the reigns there. If you are wondering what a quince is here is a good short video on it:

I debated it but to be honest the idea of celebrating a child and dedicating them to the Lord as they are coming into adulthood was meaningful. I don't at all think it's a be all end all. As a teen, I got to attend a Barmitzvah. In some ways, a quince is the Christian form of this Jewish tradition. I do think honoring a child in this way can be significant. The real blessing to us came in that so many people came around us and helped make the day possible.

Abigail and Nathanael did a Father/daughter dance. Sorry about the photography. I had issues with the phone

Glendy was Abigail's madrina (godmother) and on top of it she planned all of the dances. Eve did all of the awesome decorations. Hermana Blanca and many other ladies in the church made the food. Pastor Ed and Dyna helped out with planning, renting tables and the sermon. Elizanie, my mom and Julie Groff were able to read verses to Abigail. Tim Groff took photos. Tanya helped with doing hair and opened her house to multiple people walking in and out all afternoon. Mariana and Rosa were the MC's and interpreted (into Spanish)

Julie and I try to navigate the bow on the back of Abigail's dress

Giani and Misael at practice. The court practiced about 15 hours of dances before the party

Jo interpreted for our church. What a blessing to celebrate and worship together as hearing and Deaf church.

Hector, Abigail and Glendy (the madrina and padrino)

Jose Luis and Zion

We are so thankful to those near and far who came to celebrate Abigail! In fact, my mom (Mary Ruth Ziegler) came down for 6 days surrounding the quince. She not only helped with makeup and washed my dishes, but she also helped complete the painting project that I'd been wanting to do for months now! Nathanael and I talked about her task-oriented nature :) (I do follow in her footsteps!) She didn't once complain about the heat. She and Julie helped put the curls in Abigail's hair. Of course, I just enjoyed being able to see her in person and hug her!

Abigail, Rosa, Mary Ruth, Mariana and Jo up front reading a verse

Benji and Selah

Abigail has set a precedent! We will see what the 2 more quince's we have will look like ;) I did talk a little with Zephaniah about how they really don't have a celebration for males. He said that when he turns 15, Nathanael and Misael will take him out for pizza. Then he wants them to sing happy birthday to him. We have 6 years to think about that. I am thankful at least one kid is thinking of a simple way to celebrate.

worship: the Deaf seating was on the left side of the church

Mary Ruth and Mariana

For now? Selah is already planning her quince!

Misael and Timothy holding Abigail during the dance

Celebrating Nathanael

I have been getting behind in my posting. I think part of it is this idea I have that everything I write about has to be ministry related or have a lesson involved. Yesterday I had been looking for a post on the blog (which I didn't find) I skimmed some of my old posts. Some of them were simply about what was going on in our lives.

In the spirit of just communicating what is going on in our lives, we are celebrating Nathanael.  He turned 38 on March 5.

One of the things that Nathanael really misses here are hiking trails. He spent a while trying to find a trail we could hike but scrapped it. Last year we went to Crooked Tree. This is a lovely place, but the trails are often flooded. We need to schedule a hike during dry season. (we just always seem to forget).

We went out for bubble tea, a Davis family favorite. It still delights me that the Taiwanese woman behind the counter always knows my order. ( I do get the same tea every time: Green milk tea, no sugar, lychee bubbles) Abigail always dreamed of saying "get me my usual". I could say that but she doesn't know enough English for that to be effective. The bubble tea enjoyment was peppered with Quirkle games.

For lunch Ed and Dyna had us over. It was a time of me feeling grateful that we are devloping friendships here. We spent way too much time discussing the details of Abigail's quince, while the kids enjoyed games.

Final stop of the day? The Lagoon in Corazal. It opens to the ocean so the water is salt water. We had a great spot to refresh ourselves in the water. The kids even climbed the trees.

Pizza for dinner.

The girls got roller skates for Christmas. I had no idea they would be such a hit. They are probably some of the most used Christmas presents we have ever gotten. The park in Corazal was a great place to skate before heading home.

And finally Nathanael has finished his BA!  We are all so proud of the work he put into it!  (and at times the work I put into it.)

May you be blessed this week as you celebrate ordinary and extraordinary events

Fun in celebrating

We had the pleasure of celebrating with others the past few weeks.  Here are some of the ways we've done that..

As I mentioned on a previous blog post, we take off school and work on Mondays. One of our "regular" stops on these days is the Library. 

Since we are frequent visitors to the library, the children were invited to a Christmas Party at the Library. The children arrived and were ushered into the main area where they watched a movie.  They were handed snacks of pop-corn bags

Following the movie there was a raffle for small presents. The plan had been to decorate cookies and eat outside. Unfortunately, the day was found to be chilly (by Belizean standards) with an occasional spritz.  They moved the tables inside for festivities

Instead the children decorated a cookie inside.

They were also given lunch of rice and beans, stew chicken and soda.

Somehow three of my 4 children ended up with Coke!! 

They really did enjoy themselves!

The next celebration starts with breaking a window. If you haven't read our post about meeting Levi, feel free to do so.  :) 

We are thankful for Levi and his family. It was an honor to be at his wedding celebration and to meet his wife.  Zion was especially excited since it was the first time she has been to a wedding. 

Of course the children enjoyed meeting the puppies that were at the church! 

The final celbration was at a children's club. Selah, Zion and Zephaniah have enjoyed being a part of Koinonia's children's ministry.  They have meetings every Saturday. You can earn tickets by memorizing verses, attendance, and bringing your Bible.  

Since the children had only attended one other time, they were 'gifted" some extra tickets.

They were able to worship with all of the children

And then they stood in line for an ideal. (a popsicle in a bag)

Personal space here is a different concept than in the states. The children take it in stride. 

They then played carnival games with their tickets and won prizes. 

We have really enjoyed celebrating and learning more about culture.  May you all have a blessed Christmas!  

Coming next week the way God blessed and surprised us recently!

Spring