Today I Am A Coffee Farmer!

I woke up feeling much better this morning, thank you for all who have been praying for my trip and my health, they clearly are working magnificently.  When I arrived in San Lucas this morning I was greeted by at least 300 young children, for Wednesday is the Children´s Mass.  It brought me back to my days when I attended St. Francis Catholic School.  What joy children bring to our world.  I was so refreshed after mass because I was reminded of the enthusiasm and excitement the world and mass brought to me as a child, and I left being fulfilled and reminded.  There are so many things I have either been shown or reminded on this mission trip.  First, thank God each and every day for our blessings.  It is so easy to be distracted or discouraged in life by certain things because we lose track in what is important.  Never take for granted your family and friends.  They are the base of people who support you and love you, Jesus is living in them and wants you to love and appreciate them with your whole heart.  One thing that is highly demonstrated by the Guatemalan people is family.  They stick together, care for one another, support one another, something I think should be valued more in the United States.  Each day I see people, and I fall short myself, taking family and friends for granted, or perhaps thinking it is better to live away from my family so we don´t have so much conflict or not forgiving those closest to us for pain they have caused us in life.  Another thing is there are no nursing homes here, not saying that it is the way things should be, but I don´t find it very common for children to think they should care for their parents once they are older and need assistance.  Those are just some things to reflect upon.

Feeling refreshed and ready to go after mass, we loaded up in the back of a pickup (Emily Hanson you were right on saying that the back of a truck is the usual form of transportation, so thanks for the heads up!)  and were dropped up at a coffee plantation.  So for the entire morning I climbed coffee trees and rocks so I could grab ahold of branches that held ripe coffee beans.  They look like little berries and if they are bright red that means they are ready to be picked!  It was a fun job, but I think it would be taxing to do it your entire life.  To put things in perspective, me and 7 others picked for 4 hours straight and maybe had 40lbs of coffee.  A 100lb bag is sold for $50 U.S. dollars and on average a coffee worker gets somewhere between .83 to $1.00 a day.  Could you imagine that!?  It has really shown me a new perspective in the value of your occupations and money and made me reevaluate some things I spend my money on.  Tomorrow I will go out with Fr. Sam´s dad to his coffee field´s to see what his usual day is like.  Perhaps take some time today and reflect on your wages and thank God for what he has given us.  I am starting to realize the simpler the life, the more faithful you are to be a disciple of the Lord.  Thank you God in loving me in all the things I do.