Just when we thought our life could not get any crazier and joyful, it did. The new crazy joy came in the form Avital Fae, the newest addition to our little immediate family. Avi was born at 11:43am on May 30th after 39 hours of labor. At 8 pounds 5 ounces, twenty inches long, she is a happy and healthy baby girl. The last few weeks have been a crash course in how to be parents to a newborn – which is how it’s supposed to be, I’m sure all you parents out there will tell us.
We want to say thank you to every single person who has supported us (and Avital) during this season. We feel beyond blessed to have received all kinds of encouragement and gifts from our friends and family in the United States, Canada, England, and Guatemala. Avi is already very spoiled with clothes, cloth diapers, travel cribs, and more (and I’m sure having both grandmas here didn’t help with the whole spoiling thing). So thank you, from all three of us.
We could not be happier with how the birth went (midwifery is catching), and every day is a new step forward with our daughter! We have spent the last two months in Guatemala City, and now we head back to Huehuetenango. As we get ready to jump back into the fray, I wanted to take time to reflect on this season and update all of you on the past two months.
When we stepped out of house parenting in February and booked an apartment in Guatemala City for May and June, we expected to take a step back and catch our breath a bit. We imagined a month of a sabbatical (of sorts) followed by a month of paternity and maternity leave. While we haven’t returned to Huehue since leaving at the end of April, this chapter has not been the season of rest that we expected or hoped for. But we could not be happier with the way God used our time over the past two months.
First and foremost, we have had the opportunity to connect with many brothers and sisters, meeting some of the coolest people we have ever met. We found an awesome church in Antigua, began friendships that we pray will last a lifetime, and received immeasurable encouragement from men and women who have a lot more experience than us in pretty much everything. Becca has received support and advice from missionary moms, I’ve had some validation in our purchase of a car, and we both have connected with awesome people that are doing similar things with a similar vision as us. This is simply not something that would have happened if we had stayed in Huehue – or returned to the United States, for that matter. The friendships formed and connections made during the past two months are invaluable to us.
The second piece of big news is that we bought a car! Cars are notoriously difficult in Guatemala, so we put off buying one. Despite putting it off, we had a nagging feeling that a car would just be a necessary part of life now that we were going to be a party of three. A few weeks before Avi was born we stumbled on an exceptionally good deal. Through two different connections, we found the car we were hoping for from the very beginning. Not only that, but the missionary that sold it to us shaved off $500 from the price for us, and a trustworthy mechanic rebuilt the engine two years ago. All of this convinced us that this was one of the best deals we were going to find. We took out a $3500 personal loan to purchase the car, since it can be difficult to find a good deal on a car that is also in good condition. It’s a 1996 Toyota 4Runner in great condition. Relearning to drive a manual transmission in the big city was a little crazy, but we are getting the hang of it. If you are interested in supporting us in this purchase, you can find more information in the “P.S.” below.
The final piece of big news is that we have finally submitted all of the necessary paperwork for Guatemalan residency! That was one of the major reasons this season has been busier than imagined. We gathered our paperwork stateside back in September, but we were waiting for the birth of our Guatemalan citizen (that’s Avital) to complete the process for permanent residency. The few weeks after she was born were filled with embassy visits, passport appointments, a few runs to RENAP (the National Registry) and a few meetings with our lawyer. As of two days ago, our applications are officially being processed. Now it’s just a waiting game – the process can take anywhere from nine to twelve months. We are praying it will only take six, since this is the first step toward being able to foster or adopt in this country.
Looking forward, we have two major prayer requests that we would like to share with all of you.
Prayer Request: Transitioning Back to Work in Huehue in July
July is slated to be a crazy month back home. We have three mission teams joining us in the month to come, I’ll be jumping back into my responsibilities with Story International, the kids go on vacation from school, and we have our own baby girl to take care of. Please pray for wisdom in creating space for our own family, as well as for strength to do the best that we can do in our work with and for the kids.
Prayer Request: Financial Provision
We want to be honest: this season has hit us harder financially than we expected. Between fees associated with our residency process (a total of $1100), purchasing a car ($3500) and deciding that we should finally get health and life insurance ($2000) we are not in the best place financially. Please pray for both peace of mind and provision in this area.
As we finish packing up today to return home tomorrow, we are thankful for this season. More than anything, though, we are excited to get back to our apartment, our community, and the kids that God has called us to love.
We look forward to this next chapter as a new family, and we invite you along for the ride!
Love in Christ,
Brooklin & Becca & Avital
P.S. We are thankful for the good deal that we were basically handed in the car. We have already been able to use it for our community as they come in and out of the capital city, and moving back to Huehue will be much easier with it. While we are convinced that the 4Runner is necessary, the purchase does put us in a sticky situation financially. We have already fundraised our basic living costs for the year, but this did not account for the newfound necessity of a car. One of our supporters has already pledged $1,000 toward the car, so that leaves only $2,500 to fully pay it off. If you feel called to help us offset the cost of the car, or have more questions about the purchase, you can reach out to us at brooklin.nash@gmail.com.
One of Avital's first outings - (the 4Runner is also featured)
Avi isn't so sure about her new passport
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