Losing to Win

Why we have to let go of one thing in order to embrace something else

Hola, amigos y familia 😊

I apologize—I lost track of time, and am late posting yet again. I try to keep up a once every 3 weeks rule. Seems that life has a way of getting away on me though!

Since we left all of the familiar, “normal” things in Canada nearly two years ago, we’ve realized that so many opportunities have arisen because of “closing doors.”

What do I mean by that..?

For example, Tom had a job with a forestry company as an accountant in Canada. They let him go when we left, saying he couldn’t work from a distance. That was pretty disappointing for us at the time. But to our amazement, just six weeks later, they were desperate for some help and reached out to him. So, Tom was able to work as a private contractor, which has been even better than being an employee. And, he’s been able to set his own hours for the most part, and just work part-time. This has been such a blessing, as he could spend that much more time with the girls and me. Now, as that work is ending, and that door is closing, an incredible opportunity is opening up for him, because of us being here in El Salvador.

A couple months ago, we found an amazing Salvadoran nanny who comes to our house two mornings a week. She is teaching the girls Spanish, and they teach her some English words as well. It’s so fun to hear them all talking together. Last week she watched the girls for us while we enjoyed a much-needed evening out. The sunset photo above was our view from the restaurant :)

We recently got a sweet little kitten from Tom’s surf instructor to add to our kitty collection—the five strays and our big boy, Gatito. Unlike the strays, she stays inside for now. The girls named her Cheetah, because of her spots and how she runs like the wind. She is feisty and biting one minute, snuggly and purring the next. She keeps Gatito on his toes too—he’s definitely not bored these days! We all enjoy her antics and mischief, but mostly her snuggles.

I used to say “I could never homeschool. I don’t have the patience or the mental strength to teach my kids.” Then Covid hit, I lost my job, and we left Canada to travel around, so I embraced it.  We started small—the girls would write a few sentences, read a bit, and we made some math flash cards. That worked well during the 7 months we explored Mexico last year.

As a homeschooling mom, I’ve been able to spend so much more time with our girls. After breakfast, we go for our gym class at the pool. They love swimming, and have gotten so much better at it, just from doing it everyday. I often randomly find myself telling them stories from my childhood that are triggered by conversations and being around them. It’s so rewarding to be helping them learn more about the things they see and are interested in. We watch videos about space, animals, and nature. We do little science experiments together. We’re even doing an online course about the Israelites and ancient Egypt right now.

Would they be taking jujitsu and gymnastics classes if we hadn’t moved? Probably not. Swimming and jumping in the ocean’s waves? Would they be speaking Spanish? Definitely not. I know Tom and I sure wouldn’t either! We had been off to a great start with our Spanish 11 years ago, but it fizzled out once we had three kids to chase around, as I’m sure you can imagine. We said, “When we travel again someday, we’ll pick it up.” That “someday” came sooner and more permanently than we could ever have imagined!

Nearly two years ago, as most of you know, we took the plunge, and sold the house we loved in Canada. Tom had built a beautiful cedar sauna in the basement. And we had just built a greenhouse too. We had briefly considered not selling it, and renting it out instead. But the thought of how complicated that might turn out to be from a distance was a deciding factor.

We were at a crossroads in our lives at the time. Losing my job had pushed us too far. What would we lose next..? That thought terrified us some days. Canadians were so divided, and many were being punished or threatened for making the “wrong decision.”

No regrets now on selling our house. Sure, we miss some things about our old lives. In fact it’s been incredibly hard to cut ties with so many of the familiars, jump on a plane, and live in a foreign place, with a foreign language. Believe me, it’s beyond challenging sometimes. Even last summer when we went back to Canada, I admit that on so many levels I wanted to stay. It is still in many ways “home.” And for me, it’s the familiar that will always feel more comfortable, but that doesn’t mean I have to live my life based on that feeling. I can relate to this sentiment—I think Helen Keller was an incredibly wise woman, so I’m quoting her twice in a row today.

Don’t you find that if you’re doing things you feel are risky or give you some amount of fear, you’re embracing life more? Would we be growing the way we have if we’d stayed put the last two years? Or stretched beyond our comfort levels? It can be painful. I’m learning pain isn’t always bad. It’s often a sign of growth. And it’s what we do with our pain that counts. I’m learning to give it to God, and find strength and healing in Him.

Looking at how things have turned out—would we have bought a property in El Salvador, had we not made that hard decision to sell our house? Nope. And our property here brings us all so much joy. The kids swinging in their hammocks, and climbing around in the mango trees. Delicious avocados—way more than we can possibly eat on our own. Juicy mangoes. Little yellow nance fruits (pic below). Tangy mandarins to pick in December. Breath-taking views of the majestic ocean, surrounding farms, and green rolling hills all around. Vultures soaring. Giant golden ants. Ok, that’s something else all together, but we have those too—haha!

We used to spend our summers at the lake, camping, and hiking. Now we hike volcanoes, and hit up the beach to jump in the waves. We have friends over for barbecues. We walk along the beach and come down here—yes, I’m at the beach writing—to listen to the waves, ponder, pray, and refocus.

Tom surfs a few times a week. The girls and I catch the waves on boogie boards. We visit beautiful coffee farms and learn about how coffee berries are processed to make a delicious nectar.

We learn why volcanoes erupt, and why they lie dormant for hundreds of years. We tour ruins of ancient cultures and learn about what those people groups were like. We even learn about the people we live along-side, so recently tormented by gang violence and crime. Now happy to live peacefully, and constantly sharing their kindness and hospitality with each other and the likes of us.

Another thing I realized while wondering what to write in this blog is that I wouldn’t be writing if we hadn’t left Canada. I don’t think I would have felt inspired or that anyone would want to read about my everyday life in Canada. I could be wrong…maybe I could have begun writing.

But leaving Canada and experiencing a completely different life is what gave me the push to write. Because I want to share what it is that keeps us here. Not just what we’re doing and learning. But why we’re doing what we’re doing. I hope and pray I can do that somehow.

Thanks for reading! I appreciate each of you 💖