Things I Miss

It seems that every day there are things we talk about that we miss.  Don't get me wrong, we are enjoying Guatemala and love this country.  However, there are just some things you can't get here… like a juicy Chick-fil-A sandwich with steaming hot pickles.  Hmmmm, we've said daily we wish we had a Chick-Fil-A here!  And how could I forget Publix?  Oh, how I miss shopping for groceries in that wonderful store!  I enjoyed the customer service and the talks with the employees who carried my groceries out and loaded them in my car.  Here's a big one: driving where people follow traffic rules!  Yep, I miss that people actually stop at stop signs :)  I miss people saying what they mean.  While I love Guatemalans, I'm not gonna lie - I'm not fond of the "telling you what you want to hear" mentality.  I just want the truth!  For instance, when both Mark and Buddy were both sick, our vet told us, "Oh, I think they will be fine.  I think it will be okay.  I don't think you should worry."  We LOVE Estuardo.  He is a great guy, but there's a point when I just wanted to say, "please tell me the truth.  Is my dog going to die?"  I appreciate the positive attitude, but really, I just want someone to shoot straight with me!  I miss the ease of doing things in the US.  Things here are great.  We have access to Walmart, a mall, fast food.  We really can't complain.  But, there was a certain ease of doing things in the US that just doesn't happen here.  People just don't understand that sometimes it literally takes an hour just to get to the store and back - not counting the actual shopping and purchasing.  And how could I forget places like Chuy's, American Eagle, Old Navy, Bojangles, Cook Out, QT …. I could so go on and on!  There are TONS of things I miss.  There's new things I think of every day where I'm going, "oh, I wish we had…" or "oh, I miss …" but seriously, I can't complain.  Yes, there are things I miss, but the Lord has been so gracious and kind to provide for us and take care of us.  He allowed us to find coffee creamer that I LOVE for much cheaper than it was at Walmart.  I've been able to get Cherry Dr. Pepper at Walmart.  We've found taco kits that Briggs likes.  We've made some of our favorite dishes from home (excuse me, from the states.  Briggs reminds us that this is home) that we didn't think we would be able to find ingredients for.  I could go on and on about the blessings of God since we have been here, too.  So, yes, there are things that I miss about living in the good ol' USofA, but I wouldn't trade those "inconveniences" for the experiences that we are having here.  We are learning and growing and changing.  And I'm learning that that's not always a bad thing!