House progress

I know, I know it's too soon for me to write, but we are sooooo excited to have progress on our hill! The road work is being finished this week so we have a decent road to drive up to our hill and the cement pad is in the works. We had a bulldozer level the top of the hill where our house is going to go. It wasn't the original plan to doze it and flatten it but necessary once they found the elevation was too great for our budget. I actually really love it now with a nice flat space for the house to sit.
The view is amazing and I am finally feeling excited at the reality that I know God is going to provide for us to be us there sooner than I thought!
I'll try to keep you posted on progress as we see it.

This is the road heading up to the highest point of our land where our house will be. Mom and Dad your place is directly to the right and Phil and Marlene are directly left of this point.

Wow, this is the jungle portion. This looks completely different with a road in. The road splits the two ponds which are on either side of it. Sad to see those trees pushed down but most of jungle still remains. Saved a few palms to remain in the middle of the road bed.

This was the original set up for the house. We planned on a 4 ft elevation at the front......turned out the slope was deceivingly greater! It was about 9 ft. Time to call in a dozer.

Preparation for cement mixing. They are hoping to just haul water from our ponds out back in the jungle to fill this tank and use to mix the cement. You can see the white marl ground or caliche as they call it. It is abundant on our hill which is blessing because it's great material for building and road bedding and earth block making!

The bulldozed and new foundation set up. Isn't it going to be awesome!

We are loving watching  how they build so simply and rudimentary. Back to basics and no fancy tools. The string line is up and they just used a hose bent in a "U" shape and filled with water to level the string lines.

 

 

On a side note: We got a wheelbarrow yesterday. It was like Christmas for Keaton! Let's see he raked the yard and hauled all the leaves to the compost pile, he and the girls collected hundreds of soap nuts (that's right all you greenies out there we discovered a soap nut  tree where we live....we are collecting as much as we can!) and then he decided to turn it into his school desk. He is quite the guy!

Grab a coffee....it's a long one!

Wow, it's time. Past time. A good time to give a long overdue update! There has been so much that has been transpiring over the past several month and we are just catching our breath. As I laid in bed this morning...wish I could say it was a quiet morning but the parrots and toucans were seemingly having an argument outside my window.

Ok, so since I've left writing so long your gonna get the "coles notes" version because I got me so much to tell you. If my language seem to be changing it's the melting pot redneck Texans and local Creole that are gettin' to me. Hope that's OK with 'yall!

Here we go.

We have recently ended our run of 4 months of visitor. Guess that's what we get when we come from the North and move to the perfect winter get away. Truly, truly, we have been thankful and blessed to have our house full of family all winter long. December my parents and another close couple came. My parents stayed for 3 weeks. At this time our micro green business was just advancing into the start of busy season so we were happy to have a few more hands for two days a week that we harvest. In January, Chad's Uncle Doug came for 3 weeks. We had a great break at the coast for a few days and the kids got their gaming pride put back in balance after gaming with him for 3 weeks. What great fun it was to have him with us. Then, 2 days after we took him to the airport home we picked up Chad's parent. It was great they gave me just enough time to get the sheets washed! Wow, we worked those two to the bones. They were troopers! Helping us through what was our first "busy seasons" for micro greens, helping me keep my head above water with meals and housework. I couldn't have done it without them. Love how God send us help even before we know we need it. Although we didn't do any exciting adventure with them we had so much fun doing our "real life" together. Papa agreed to help Keaton work on a wood working project which was his schooling for 3 weeks. They build us a beautiful mahogany coffee table right from a pile of raw boards. Memories for both those boys they won't forget. Said goodbye to them and 4 days later pick up our good friend Tyler who was coming to torture himself and Chad in a 4 days canoe race. It's an iconic race here in Belize the country prides themselves in this 170 mile river race every year.  Long and gruelling and the boys have confirmed it. Was great, great fun though. They didn't trail a whole lot...nope, nope they didn't. But tough as nails they made it to the finish. The kids and I had a grand time driving to empty place of the country that I never would have discovered before. Felt often like driving to neverland. We love having Tyler here. He is like a big little brother to me and we are so thankful we had the gift of having him with us!

And so the end of March marked the end of our guest. We went through family withdrawl for a few weeks after that!

Day trip to Placencia

Fun times at the beach with Uncle Doug

Keaton and Papa working hard in woodworking class

Hey look....they are IN the boat!

Top of the ruins with "little" bro.

BUT now it was GO time as we said! Not that you guys held us back but we did have some business that we couldn't get done while staying up late just so you could try to beat me in Quirkle! 

I mention our microgreen business. We are almost at our 1 year anniversary coming up the end of May. Wow, looking back what God has turned this into in less than a year is amazing. We currently harvest 2 days a week and run two delivery days a week. One day inland here in our local area and Thursdays Chad delivers a long day to the coast hitting all the large resorts. We grow, harvest, package and sell about 200 containers a week. Once family help in the middle of busy season I was feeling SWAMPED! Couldn't keep up to schooling (that wasn't really happening), business, meals, house work. God knew we needed help and actually we didn't even really ask Him for help because He first gave us a profit word that assured us, "Help was on the way". So, stayed strong. Low and behold we know have wonderful local employee. Ok, for those of you not familiar with Belize culture, having someone who doesn't drink, steal or not show up for work when the weather isn't right is RARE. Leroy, is a young believer, soft spoken, hard working, skilled, and trustworthy young man. We are excited to have him on board with us and pray God will increase our territory so we can provide more work for him.

Word about our business has been slowly funnelling through the resort and we also fly our product to some private islands for special orders. So cool.

The last two weeks we've been seeing somewhat of a slow down in sales and the resorts say they are starting to enter slower season. In the past I'd do worthless worry about what now, how will we make our living. But God has proven to me that he has new things in the works that our eyes can't always see. So we walk in faith. So, freeing! Just this week as we assuming "slower" time is coming Chad come home with reports that several large resorts want to INCREASE their business with us. Tell me God is Good!

The next thing we wanted to get moving on was our property. Don't remember if I reported that we have drilled a well....just a shallow 400ft deep well! But we have water! Next was a road. The road just got dozed about 3 weeks ago and wow it looks like we could actually live there now. We celebrated the day we could drive up the hill and say goodbye to hiking that hill! We are anxious to move up there and if I think about how long it could take to get a house finished I get defeated so I have to choose to trust in God's timing. We have been blessed with some help to get the first step of a house put in and contrary also to Belize culture where things always move slower than you want and expect we have a huge praise that today our cement pad for the house is getting started! You and many others ask us, "When will it be done? When do you think you'll be up there?" On our own finance and will.....could be along time but we are always open to miracles and provision that God provides so to answer the question, "When the Lord wills it".

Interest in the property continues. My parents have purchased a lot and we have another purchasing couple from the States coming in this weekend and several other local people interested in being neighbours too so we will be sharing our breathtaking view.

Do you believe the desire in your heart are created by God? Those things that get us giddy, bring us joy and yet benefit other. Those desires. They are God given. My improvement to better health over the last number of years has turned into a passion. For me it's a lifestyle and I love to share with those are interested in hearing but I long to share it with those who need health improvements. Well, God is birthing a new thing in our path. Long, amazing, non coincidental story of how our path has been aligned with a couple from Texas who we in the early stages of setting up an alternative health clinic here in Belize. We all know North America has very tight regulation with what kinds of alternative treatments can be performed, however, here in Belize we ain't got them rules! (that's the redneck)

So, we are working with this friend to achieve the vision of international headquarters for his already existing clinics in the State and Africa. This puts Chad and I at the very front line of helping people to seek better person health and treatment for all kinds of illness and disease. So, so overwhelmingly exciting! Stay tuned.

Kiddo's. They are doing awesome. The word thriving come to mind. I recently had someone give their definition of prospering and thriving.

Prosper - succeed in material terms; be financially successful

Thriving - (of a child, animal, or plant) grow or develop well or vigorously.

Now, I can confidently say our kids are THRIVING! I look at them and even I who sees them every day can see how they have grown like the weeds the last 6 months. We have a year long growing season here so they grow more, right! Truly they are so wonderful these kids. They have entered the business world. Along with 2 other young ladies the kids have a not for profit business called Kids 2 Kids. Check out their facebook page if you want to see their handy work. They sew and sell and use the funds to support local kids.

I see the kids growing spiritual which is my biggest joy! They pray over people, they sing all day long and we are really seeing their gifting come forth in each one. The kids are eager and diligent school worker. I will agree the sitting and teaching is not a strength of mine but I the kids just sit down and as we Dietrich's say, "Getter done!

You all would be amazed at little Grady...she is blossoming into a grown up little girl! Loving all thing pretty and fancy (Corrie you would be so proud of her!) Grady dances and sings all day, loves crafting and is still dreadfully afraid of all animals. To give you a little glimpse of her fears still she freaked out some time ago because two butterflies where fluttering around her! Seriously.

 

Keaton. I remember when he was 4 I would tell him to stop working so I could have a break.....I think I now say that every day. He has God given gift of work. Truly a servants heart he has. He is joyful and enthusiastic in everything he does. We are just trying to slow him down a bit so he can avoid the possible carelessness incidents! He sings, he sews, he prays, and works like a horse. Amazing.

 

 

Paige. She is no longer a kids. I just noted this week that she is now starting to turn down play time for hanging out with the adults. Grady still drags her to the play yard and because of her soft heart Paige gracefully obliges but she rather would be on my lap listening intently to the adult talk. This girl is my right hand helper. In the case that I need her to she can whip up a healthy, hardy meal for the family on the fly. She's becoming a kitchen master. Still she can be found at the crack of dawn with her nose in a book but I love that about her. She has ready every book we have at least 5 times and tells me they are so good I should read them. She is an aspiring author and has 3 books on the go that she one day hopes to publish.

 

 

So, that's them in a nutshell. They are treasures. They rarely fight, they mostly choose to sleep all in the same bed, they work hard, they never complain.....just the average kids you see!

 

Ok, time to stop. Took me two days to write this so it's ok if it took you two days to read it.

I will end with a word that I told someone yesterday that sums up how we feel here in Belize. This was very articulate and profound for me to say by the way.

" To say that I love Belize is not really the truth, I don't dislike Belize but my love for Belize is not why we stay here. We are staying here because we are confident beyond a shadow of a doubt that this place, not a location place, but a place in God is exactly where we are to be and choose to remain. Because we are abiding in God he has shown us that this is the place, Belize where we are to remain and continue in the work he sets before us. So, my contentment is not found in the tropical beauty but rather in the peaceful presence of God. And in Him I find my rest.

 

 

Love you all. Drop us a line, we love to hear from ya'll!

 

 

Oh, boy. As I sit here I realize its been so long since I wrote I can't remember what I left you with last!
Oh yes....a bit of a cliff hanger I believe. Last update was we were feeling we need to climate control our micro greens and we were feeling a gentle tug to get ready for a move possibly. Alright, I'll take it from there. So, we are still in our same house ....micro greens are not in a climate controlled room. Seems like nothing has changes, but yes we have done much work none the less.
Business continues to grow and we seem to take on new customers other week which is awesome. If you haven't seen our product that we are selling here in Belize check it out on our business Facebook page. We  are Shoots Alive on Facebook. October and November are typically off season for tourism here and so as many...actually most of the resort on the coast close shop we took that as an opportunity to revamp and look at how we could improve our growing. We have taken the last 7 weeks off from delivering to the coast (Hopkins) but have maintained our local Cayo weekly deliveries.
So, we have deliberated and strategized over the past 7 weeks of how to conquer the this extreme heat to improve our growing conditions. We thought maybe an air conditioned climate controlled shipping container was going to what we move to next. However, the overall cost has really held us back as well as we are unsure of where exactly we should locate the business because if we move it to a shipping container we will not be able to host it here were we live.
In the meantime, as we slowly moved from hot season to wet seasons we figured the temperatures here would drop enough to enable out outdoor growing to improve on it's own. Well, with one change always brings another unforeseen change! I'd love to say the temperature are cool....but I can merely say they are "cooler". Our rainy season had been rather dry but we realize with even the less than normal amount of rain we now lack sunlight needed to amply grow the greens and we had our old mould issues return because the humidity is now back to 90% they stay too wet and don't dry out. So, we remedied this by moving most of the growing upstairs in the house under LED lights.
God provides. We have a friend at church who has started a solar business and he had wonderful tiny rolls of strip lights in exactly the lumen and spectrums that we needed. So, although we haven't been able to lower the temperature they seem to be doing well in there new location!
This week we start delivering to the coast again so we are ramping up for busy season.

We have again been amazed at how perfectly God works. We have our first potential clients flying in to scope out several lots on Nov. 29! For me this is so God showing me that when we step out in faith and have faith and live faith we see faith! Confusing concept to explain but in other simple terms. We really knew God led us to purchase this property and although common knowledge and the norm tells us to hang tight land take a long time to sell here....we have held on to and tried to speak our faith that God will provide. Sure there are moments of freak out....but my freak out moment have diminished to a short few seconds. I can't look at all God has provided and the way I see Him giving us all the desires of our hearts and not have faith that "MY GOD SHALL SUPPLY ALL MY NEEDS". Truly, truly He blows my mind every week!
You know I hesitate to talk about finances and funds because I don't want anyone to feel sorry or worried for us but I feel that I need to speak of it as a testament to what God is doing for us and how He is calling us to live and transforming our lives.
Our business is going well but especially in off seasons we are not yet making the amount we need to live off. We have been blessed  to have savings that have supplied us thus far and will provide for a short time in the future. But man, this is largely where God is showing us a "better way". Our cushion is getting slimmer and yet I have no fear. We have to be wise about what we spend but shouldn't we all? I lack nothing. I find peace, actually more peace in knowing that God will provide when we need. How is it any different than trusting that Chad was going to continue to provide and work hard so our needs could be met. Does not our Heavenly Father love us even more than that. Then yes, he will. In fact he delights in giving his children good gifts....sometimes we just don't allow Him to give us gifts. Here's a very recent example of this. My parents are coming (yeah, thank you Lord for visitors!) the beginning of Dec. I have a few school books I needed to order and for them to bring to us. So as I was on CB.com I figured you know what the kids are loving Dutch Blitz, I'm going to just order because they we play a lot of games and the number form of entertainment for us. So, I take it upon myself to order it and yes, it was not a necessity but felt it would be put to great use. Long and short. We attend our small group on Friday (the day after I placed my order) and as the kids are playing this game there the hostess says, "Hey, I actually have two extra games that are brand new....why don't you take one, your kids love it".  I chuckled to myself as I instantly and clearly see how I neglected to go to my unlimited Godly resource. Why had I not just asked Him to provide for a desire I had. I could have. I should have. Then I wouldn't have needed to take it upon my own self to get this game. Simple. Some of you might call this trivial and random or coincidence but I tell you, "Try it". Try Him. You will see that God truly seeks and delight in giving us our requests. Big, small, significant, insignificant, necessary or sometimes even luxury!

I share those stories because that is the journey we are on. We are being so transformed in our understanding and walk with God. It's fantastic, challenging, rewarding, fulfilling and freeing.

Ok, now to quickly scan through what else has been happening in our days. School is going well. The kids are amazing at daily getting to the grind. Paige continues to exude a love for learning. She wakes and starts her daily schedule before breakfast or getting out of her P.J.'s. She loves to learn and write. I look at her and see she growing into such a soft gentle young lady. That is from her Nana ladies and gentlemen! Sorry Mom (Gatt) we but we both know soft and gentle is not a Puklicz trait! No, in reality it's a God trait. She doesn't express much but she recently shared with me that she doesn't ever worry because long or get upset because she just starts  singing praise songs when she feels anything she can't handle and then she's fine. So true. Praise.
Keaton is the same energetic, life loving, helper as usual. School for him is not as exciting but he get's his work done. He's teaching me to be understanding and patient, and patient and patient. Actually, as I teach him I realize he is me. I remember the tears I shed while homeschooling because I didn't understand what I was learning or because I let someone down. He is the same. This is the hard part of homeschool. Recognizing that each child is so different and then having the patience to walk them through their learning curve. All the while trying to build them up. I struggle with this but I pray for God's grace and patience that my frustrations would not harm Keaton because he really just wants to please. He is doing well. though. He excels in Math and we have to work hard on spelling and writing.
Grady. She is studious as the rest of them. She is reading well and find delight in being able to have a school routine like the other two. They all continue to work at their Spanish and they all already know more than Chad and I.   We have recently started playing UNO in Spanish. Mostly so I can remember my colours and numbers!

Chad continues to spend a few mornings a week at the property. He's slugs away clearing the road bed or chopping trees. It's tough work in this 95 degree heat and he never complains.

School is back in so some of our volunteer jobs are back in full swing. We go to our village Learning Centre two afternoon a week and help with home work. Chad and Nery(our close friend) have started taking in 6-9 kids every week to youth group at our church. We run a feeding program through our church that feeds our local school a meal/snack every week. Let's see. The kids are putting their sewing skills to work and have decided to start a sewing business with two other girls so they can raise money to buy gifts for the village preschool for Christmas.
In my life I had the awesome privilege of assisting in our friend home birth. She births unassisted and didn't really need me but was there for support and assistance however she needed. It was awesome to see a women rely on the Holy Spirit to not give her more than she could bear and not walk with her through the birth of their son. Memorable. A healthy 10lb boy was born right before my very eyes. I continue to play keyboard at church. This is my greatest blessing. I am growing in my gifting weekly and am so amazed how God has returned this gift to me. I love being part of worship. Between school cooking, volunteer and the business that we all work at equally I have to be careful not to take on too much more.

We seem to be entering the calm before the storm. .....the visitor storm. Staying true to their words both my parents and Chad's parents are coming again this winter. We will have Chad's Uncle in the new year as well and hopefully another friend...Tyler you are coming right? We always, always welcome visitors. The way it's looking we will have about 10 weeks of company over the winter! And we will love every minute of it. What a true blessing to us that friends and family can come and stay with us. We are so grateful. Guess that leads me to a residency update. We just had our police check last week. Praise the Lord. Now they state a case for us and it goes to the capital city police station then back to immigration for approval. Still will be a few months but we rejoice in every milestone that gets us closer to coming home for a visit!

I'm sure there is so much fore to tell. I would love to commit to being more diligent but writing is not my thing. You are all laughing now thinking back on how long this post was, right? I actually told Chad I was going to start audio blogging. Talking would be so much faster. We'll see. Maybe I'll surprise you. You can all thanks Jennifer Downs for this post. She taunts me every few months when I haven't posted anything. Heck, maybe she's the only out there reading this blog!!
We do love you all. We appreciate all that read this and pray for us and write us.

I will try to post some picture this week to reward you for the lengthy posting.
Blessings

Happy Anniversary!

Wow. As the kids say, "I can't believe we've been here a year!"

A Year. What's in a year.

Leaving family and friends. Making home in a new country with 12 bins of personal belongings. New friends. New church. Relearning how to cook with new local foods. Our first year of homeschooling. Eyes opened to a new spiritual world. Heart open to receive a new way of life. Daddy home! Starting of a new church. Forging relationships with the kids in our village. Persevering through old struggles of depression. Being broken. Learning to receive God's free gift of joy and freedom again. Focusing on erucharisto (giving thanks in all things). Work permits. Hydroponic and microgreen business off to a great start.  Buying land. Applying for residence. Thinking of moving into a shipping container! Waiting with anticipation to see what God is going to continue to make out of these ruins!

Microgreens are growing

1000 mahogany trees to plant on the property

Our view .....one day



Taking in the hilltop view again



These ferns were burned only 3 months ago!



Hanging out in our jungle!

 

That's a small nutshell. There are paragraphs of words that come to mind for each of those miles stones but there is one common thread that I've been learning to focus on for all of them. Hands wide open. I'm learning to keep my hands open. Open to receive what God puts in front of us. You know how easy it is to give thanks for those good gifts and those great moments in life. Yes, we all know the joy of that gratitude. But, what about those moments that seem not so good to us. Is that a bad gift from God? Punishment?  A mistake? The enemy? I know we've all had these questions. But what if we choose to say "Yes". Yes, to what we see as bad, but is given to us to refine us, change us, give us victory, see miracles, draw us in to a closer relationship with the God? What if we have opportunity to make God greater than us, greater than we thought we could be. What if every challenge was seen as opportunity for God to arise? We might have heightened sense. We might be broken. He might be made strong in our weakness. YES!

 

In our year we have been faced with all this. I have seen miracles happen for us. We truly have realized that "there is no fear in love".

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

 

So much going on in our lives and yet we have peace, confidence, and faith that He will never leave us and forsake us, (Deuteronomy 3:18) and He wants to give us his beloved, good gifts (If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:11) We don't make enough to live off yet but God shows us daily how He can and will provide for us. It's truly amazing. We are free. We are free from worry. Worry free from thinking that if we don't work hard enough or plan well enough or earn enough that we won't make it. That's not the life he wants for us. Like our earthly fathers we see that he delights in giving us his children good gifts. He wants to. But rarely before did we have room for Him to do so. We did it on our own.

 

You know, the thing that stirred us to make these major changes in our life was the fact that we were no longer chasing our dreams. Early in our marriage and relationship we were big dreamers. We stopped. We needed and wanted it back. And so we made some life changes. Can I tell you, those dreams are created in each of us by our creator. They are GOOD gifts. Now can I tell you that it brings me to tears to see God unwrapping 15 year old dreams for us. Yes! Detail by detail it is still amazing me. Even this week as we I think back before we came. Our ideal was to have a business here where maybe one day we could return to Canada for long periods. Seeing where the business is headed that could look like a real possibility. And I know those were God inspired dreams that He is fulfilling.

Chad said good bye to a well paying, secure job because we had talked about working together even before we got married. We had interests in property management, house designing and flipping, running a B&B, realestate, being self sustaining, growing healthy food, and living outdoors. Do you know what? All of these are on our horizon. Left to our own devices we would have picked "one' dream.....yielded to God's devices we are being blessed with all of them on the horizon! Seriously. I wish I had the time to be able to share every detail about what is on the horizon here in Belize for us!

 

I will, but I want you to stay tuned for the year ahead to hear about it. So for now I will leave you with a cliff hanger and tell you we are thrilled....yes, I think we are thrilled to feel that we are ready to move. On the horizon right now is the very, very fresh thought to move into a shipping container! For the past month I have been feeling that God is going to stretch me. I think he's been gracious and given me baby steps to be able to live with even less. I think I'm ready to say, "Yes". So, we may end up in a box on a hill with limited water and or power but I'm becoming excited for the opportunity to be stretched.  We do plan to move up to the top of our beautiful hill but it may take a bit of time before we have a "comfortable" home set up. Either way, we are all in. All 5 of us are eager and trusting in our ever faithful Father!

 

Because music keeps me praising when its hard and it speaks to me so deeply I will share with you the two songs that has been on my mind for the last few weeks. I have to listen to my voice as I sing it and I'm convicted of the words that I'm singing. Are they true? One chorus recites:

Because When You Speak, When You Move.
When You Do What Only You Can Do
It Changes Us, It Changes What We See And What We Seek

Can I say that it changes me? Am I letting Him change me. Am I changing in His likeness? This is my prayer. That all he does would so profoundly change who I am, what I can do, what I can give and how I can love and show grace. The other builds me up and reminds me that God is for me not against me and there is NO FEAR in His perfect Love!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWDPJ5EslKo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0mZuVoluFY

Blessing, Stephanie

 

Time To Tell

That's right, time to tell of all the great things that God has been doing for us. We stepped more than a year ago knowing that there was more to this life than what we could provide for ourselves and on our own we were not finding fulfilment or getting any closer to reaching the things that are souls and hearts were passionate about. One of those convictions Chad and I both felt is that we relied too heavily on what "we could provide". Sure Chad could put in a 60 work week and meet our financial needs but is that truly the faith God calls us to? To be self sufficient and self supplying of our needs? I know that God is the provider of those jobs we have that pay the bills but too easily we were gaining pride in positions and rank.

Psalm 127

¹ Unless the Lord builds the house,
    the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the guards stand watch in vain. It was time to walk out on the water and see if we could have our feet say what our mouths preach. If we say we trust God to be our supply and proclaim that He will meet all our needs according to His riches (Philippians 4:19) than needing to be willing to trust him for our supply!

 

So, now it's time to tell you just how great our God is!

Our Shoots Alive company is now up and running. We have had two sold out weekends at the local market and the feedback has nothing but positive....ok, there was one stick in the mud old guys on a bike that wasn't thrilled about them but he ain't steeling my thunder! We have a lovely assortment of 6 flavours of nutrient filled microgreens selling weekly now. We have only a small green house so we are taking it slow in adding new customers. However, our first restaurant/café/resort pitch went great and they are on board for weekly delivery already.

It was nothing short of a God appointment. Our first week at the market I saved a few containers so I could stop at a very small café that is connected to one of the more "shwanky" resorts in town. You know the kind that Cameron Diaz and Prince Harry go to! Long story short as I am showing them the sprouts I have to sell they are blown away! Why you ask? Because the chef proceeds to tell me they are just revamping their menu and they are plating the new menu for all the bosses in 3 days. He says, "We've been looking for something like this and couldn't find anything close." We could only say, "Thanks you Lord for this time and this place that you put before us".

We were on a high after the first week. And he does the enemy of lies was out not liking the joy, excitement and eucharisto (thanksgiving) we were attributing to God. So, the second week in the greenhouse was satan's attempt to rob that from us.

 

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

 

We had a drastic rise in humidity and literally when we walked in the green house early in the week we had slight mold starting and the microgreens were turning to mush throughout the trays due to way to much moisture. It was heartbreaking seeing it and thinking that by the time Friday (harvest day) came we could have nothing left to sell. We did move our small fan from the house into the greenhouse but aside from that we prayed. Yes, I spoke out loud every morning I entered that greenhouse and said, "God you are the giver of life and You cause all things to grow". We thanked him daily for what He was doing and I tell you the truth Friday morning harvest day.....we had the best harvest of all but one kind of seed!

Our flesh wants to scramble and make fixes and do everything we can....which we can but sometimes we need to throw our hands in the air and cry, "Lord this is beyond me, take it. I TRUST you. I THANK you."

What did God give us. A little miracle. A blessing. A little more faith. A testimony for our test.

So simple and yet it would be so easy to claim it was our fan that saved the day!

My sight is starting to be transformed. I see through altered lenses. Or do I see more clearly now? Why do I so easily boast in other things and not in the Creator, the Giver of all good things.  I'm getting there but I need to keep my eyes open. When I open them I see all around, everyday the goodness of the Lord.

 

 

Our passions and our desires are being filled daily. As we progress on developing the 30 acres we have purchased we are in awe that all the dreams we had over the past 10 years are becoming a reality. Thanks you Lord for creating us for a purpose and filling the passion You made us for. We will soon be carving out the road bed at what we now call "Vista Del Sol" our neighbourhood building project by D9 Developers. That's us and our good friends that we are partnered with.  

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking but we are excited to see what appointments God has for us next.

The Burn

The property doesn't look great now but rainy season is upon us and it's already coming back to life.

It actually could look like a snowy mountain.

Planting day for Shoots Alive

This is what the breath of God breathed for us last week

Just cause she's cute!

Harvest Friday's! A family affair and everyone has a job to do!

Our desire was to work together and  that we do now every Friday.



Green things make me happy!

Micro bath....a double wash, a spin, a pat dry and......

The final product.

Yummy, yummy ready for the market

 

Blessings to all,

Stephanie 

The BIG News!!!

Hi All

It's Chad again....Stephanie mentioned some big and exciting news in her last post.  Well, here it is...We are buying property here in Belize!!!  A prayer answered by a God that surprises and delights us constantly when we give our desires over to him. 

Several months ago our closest friend here in Belize who is a very experienced real estate investor who is from Belize told us about a 33 acre property 6 minutes down a bumpy gravel road heading towards a beautiful and growing tourist area here in Belize.  Close to zip lining, cave tubing, water falls, Mayan ruins, luxury resorts and lots of adventure!  So we headed out with our families and took a beautiful and challenging hike around the perimeter of this hilly property consisting of high hills, jungle, fern meadows (the ferns are 5-6 feet high!) and dry creek beds. (it was a dry time of year).  We did bush whack with our machete up a big hill and found we had a 360 degree view of the mountains in the distance.  So beautiful.  We were in awe of the beauty of what God has created! 
Our pictures just don't do it justice.

The jungle

 The beautiful house on the property!  Just kidding.

We were immediately excited but the plan was to wait until June when the listing with the real estate agent expired.  Our partner in this found out about the property through his many contacts and thought it best to wait to save a pile of money.  We were in no hurry so we decided to wait it out.  As we were partnering 50/50 with our friend we knew many factors were involved in bring this deal to fruition so we were not getting our hopes up.  We gave it to God and said whatever your will is we are OK with it.

While my brother was here for a visit I felt compelled to take him to the property to show him what we were thinking.  The original plan was for our partner and us to each build our homes on the top of the hill and severe 5 lots or so along the road frontage below our building spots.  During our hike we found that the property has many great hill top sites.  we immediately rethought our plan to included 10 lots spread throughout the property with a fruit tree/garden area at the front and a nature trail surrounding the entire 33 acre property.  But we still weren't getting too excited because although June was getting closer it was still a long way off and our partner seemed to be waning in excitement for the property.

To our surprise our partner called 2 days later to ask if we wanted to do this deal NOW!  NOW, What!  The owner was eager to do the deal and he would deal with the real estate company to eliminate commissions.  So in 5 days from the hike with my brother we had made a down payment on the property as partners and are going through the process of purchasing the property. 

Today was a big day as we started clearing/ under-brushing the land so see what the lay of the land really looks like so we can start identifying building sites and map out a subdivision plan.   This is done the old fashion way with machete in 100 degree weather.  And yes, this white boy was working side by side with a couple of Belizeans with my machete. We are so excited for this opportunity as property development had always been a dream of ours and God has opened the door for us here in Belize. 

So if a 1-3 acre slice of heaven sounds pretty good to you then stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks and months as our project progresses. 

With the thought of building a happened to stumble across a mahogany lumber sale at our local lumber yard.  I ended up picking up 4 skids of beautiful mahogany lumber for $450 US.  This stuff is beautiful, some of it is 2 inches thick and 12 inches wide!  I sanded a small piece after it was delivered and it came up amazing.  I am looking forward to building a few tables and maybe even a kitchen with this lumber.  I am sure I will post the cool stuff we are able to create with this bargain find.

Anyway, all that to say we are super excited with what God is doing right now and our days suddenly got every busy.  We will keep you all posted as things progress, in the mean time be thinking about the tough winter you just had and the fact that it was 80-90 degrees all winter long in Belize.  Who will be the first to contact us to purchase a great investment here in Belize??!!!

The Last of the Snowbirds

So many new things to tell about but I'm going to keep you all hanging until the next post! So mean but I wanted to take some time to first reflect on our latest and last of the snowbird visitors.

 

We just spent Easter with Chad's brother and his family. The kids were thrilled to have cousins to share beds, clothes, hats, shoes, hair do's, stories, adventure and laughter with. I'm going to do very little writing this post and let the pictures do the talking. We have a good story to tell for almost every picture which  made it a truly memorable and fantastic week.

For us it was reminiscent of our cottage vacations together so it felt very familiar which is always a welcomed feeling for me.

   We toured almost every day. We wore the kids out on hikes, zip lines, swimming and the bumpy, bumpy van rides! The fair skinned red heads who just came out of hibernation from a long deep winter did amazing in the  90+ degree weather we were blessed with. We were able to take our first trip out to one of the two main islands. We chose to spend a day at Caye Caulker, the smaller of the two islands and for me it was the highlight excursion. A small quaint island town where only golf carts and bathing suits are needed! The water is every shade of teal and turquois you can image! We had an awesome paddle boarding experience over pristine water filled with sting rays, tarpons, and starfish. It was a breath taking paddle! By now Mandy is laughing because the experience didn't exactly start out that way. But I'll loose my pride and leave you with a laugh to end this post so that you can all join the laughter.

 

So, we decide to rent two boards. First Mandy and I would go out and exchange off for the boys to go out while the non boarding team watched the kids. Mandy and I got the very quick briefing of how to paddle these things. After a slightly confusing discussion about how we were planning on just handing off the boards to the guys and returning the boards at the end of our two hour rental the guys realizes that Kyle and Chad filled out waiver forms but we had not yet. As he was contemplating making up get out of the water and heading back to the shop to sign a waiver a gentleman walks up to waters edge inquiring also about renting a paddle board. In true Belize form he looks at us and says, "Oh screw it, just go". They prefer business over policy! Anyway, all that so I give the guys an alibi as to why he maybe neglected to remind or explain it was very import to get on the board the correct way. It started out easy but I got rocked off and slid back on part way getting out of the rough water. No big deal.....unless I neglected to notice I was on the board backwards! Let's just say a few of us have erased the time span from then till Mandy pointed out that my board was backwards! I was  a tad bit frustrated and that's never a pretty sight, right Chad! Got her switched around and it was smooth sailing! So, yes. A rather funny moment that we call laugh at NOW.

 

Enjoy the pictures. And feel free to be the next lucky guests to be greeted with fresh coconuts and home made tostones at the airport! Our visitor schedule is now wide open!
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