Grandmother Power: Creating Happiness in Guatemala

Grandmother Power: Creating Happiness in Guatemala

By: Susan Deborah Schiller

The Power of One Grandmother on Fire can change a nation. One little life touching other little lives, one-by-one. This is a story of how one grandmother is creating her world in Guatemala, bringing happiness to widows and orphans. Felipa and Estrellita (photo above) are two of God's princesses who now have a home of their own, as one of the "first fruits" of this grandmother's second life.

Sally York, a feisty Puerto Rican has been married to her college sweetheart, Erv York for nearly four decades. Erv and Sally raised  four children while pastoring a church in the small town of Hillsdale, Michigan. Busy with homeschool and community projects, counseling, marrying, and loving their church family, Sally never lost touch with a dream she nurtured in her heart, like a yet-to-be-born baby.

Just like babies, dreams have a life of their own, growing in the unseen realm of our subconscious mind, fed and fueled by our imagination, our faith, and the little steps we take to make them real.

The dream kept beckoning Sally even as she cared for her aging parents while celebrating the births of each of her grandbabies. It takes loads of courage to do the work to follow your dream, and sometimes that means disappointing the people around you, who haven't been tenderly nursing that dream as you have.

Erv and Sally took turns helping each other through burn-out, depression, and the change of life. At first, they didn't realize the power of the unborn dream, compelling them to make the changes in their lives, to get ready to live their second life – a second career – another round of helping families get married, raise children, and live healthy lives. Kind of like morning sickness and a swelling body, growing pains are a normal part of growth!

Sometimes life, like a River, takes twists and turns you don't understand until later, after the dream is launched.

Selling their house and buying a larger home in the country allowed their expanding family the room they needed to grow together. This house was to be a large part of their retirement nest egg, but then there was this dream… that wouldn't be quiet, that couldn't be ignored. Soon afterward came the day when both Erv and Sally took stock of their lives, their purpose, and their values. They shut down the noise around them, took a much needed one-year sabbatical, and then the contractions began to get closer and closer.

Having a baby causes a couple to make radical changes in their lives!

  

The York's growing family, grandchildren on the left… and Sally with her daughter, Sarah, on the right.

Sally's dream to train midwives in a third world country kept growing and was determined to be birthed, even though it seemed impossible. Sell their beautiful home? Risk losing their retirement savings? Quit being pastors? Leave behind their precious children and grandchildren? To stop dreaming, at any point, is to risk a miscarriage.

Just like having a baby, dreams don't just come true on their own. Preparation, patience, persistence, and a whole lot of work is the starting point.

Sally and Erv are normal, ordinary, somewhat dysfunctional, a little bit on the crazy side kind of people. That's what happens when you mix French-American with Puerto Rican American, I guess.

What they discovered is that as you step out into your dream, the next step will faithfully appear. After all, it's God that put the dream there!

It hasn't been easy for the York's, and they've had plenty of reasons to quit. But once you give birth to your dream you can never go back. How could a loving mother give up the baby in her arms? For Erv and Sally, their Guatemalan baby had arrived and there was no turning back.

Their passion is contagious and now their family and friends honor, respect, and support the Yorks for making this change. Social media, video conferencing, and trips back and forth keep the family back home in Michigan bonding stronger and stronger each passing year. Their time together is even more precious than before!

Now their family is expanding to include Guatemalan women and children!

 

The Yorks went to Guatemala with open hearts and hands. They did not seek official "positions" nor did they have titles or other qualifications. They just served in whatever capacity was needed, whether repairing vehicles, cleaning toilets, cooking meals, or cuddling babies. It took a few months to get acclimated, to find their niche, and to gain the trust of the Guatemalan community.

Sally has a degree in Allied Health but in a third world country you often find yourself being and doing so much more, as the needs are so great, so she continually takes more classes to upgrade her skills. Now she finds herself training midwives – older women just like her – how to deliver babies and so much more.

Erv, the man who pretty much knows how to fix or build anything, uses his skills to create the world they live in… water and plumbing systems, electrical systems, you name it! He used to preach to a small congregation on Sundays and now he preaches with his whole life, every day, to the families in this rural Guatemalan community.

It's the Power of One in action. Whether it's a single mother Sally and Erv employ to keep house or an orphan teenage mom who needs a mother to take her under her wing, Sally reaches out to whoever is in front of her. And wherever Sally is, Erv is usually not too far off… living the dream, himself.

  

In talking to Erv last summer, I discovered his joy and passion for Guatemalan life has truly given him a new life. Erv is Sally's steady companion and partner, the person who gives her the most joy in life, with her kids and grandchildren coming in a close second.

I don't think there is anything that could tear either Erv or Sally away from each other… their home is in God and in each other, no matter where they pitch their tent… or in this case, an adobe house!

Do you need a lot of money, certifications, titles, degrees, etc to fulfill your mission in life? Maybe, maybe not. This dream all began with the Fire in the heart of one Grandmother from Hillsdale, Michigan, who saw herself delivering babies in a rural third world country. She began with what she had: her passion, a little money, and a willingness to do whatever it took.

Yet, her dream almost died, despite the love and nurture she poured into it. Social and cultural expectations often put a damper on our dreams and we run out of fuel.

For Sally and Erv, when they picked up their dream and ran with it, new life for them was just around the bend. As soon as they began walking in faith toward this dream, which appeared only as if in a fog, for awhile, the angels honored their walk by placing 10-cent pieces everywhere they went. The coins represented, to them, God's faithfulness – that He was pleased with their faith.

For the York family, money and degrees are not as important as obedience. Instead of pursuing money, money now pursues them. That is abundant life!

You don't have to wait until you're a grandmother to make a difference, to have a dream, you know…

Some people die at age 25, long before their body catches up with old age. Don't let that be you!

What is your dream? What kind of world are you creating for yourself? Are you living in a state of awe and wonder, loving what you do and where you live? That's real life. That's the abundant life God promises for each one of His kids.

To read Sally's stories in her own words, here are a couple of links:

• The Tiniest Foot, the Biggest Miracle
• A Cause for Celebration

Let your God-dream shape your family legacy! Create your world with happiness 🙂

With all my love,

Sue

Susan Schiller knows how it feels to lose everything: marriage and family, church and reputation, finances and businesses, and more. Susan's upcoming, interactive memoir, "On the Way Home," tells the story of how she came to be known as "the most abused woman" her counselors had yet met and how she learned to navigate her way out of hell to a rich and satisfying life. In her lifetime, Susan has served in duties ranging from home school mom – to pastor –  to full-time deliverance minister – and to Midwest regional prayer coordinator for a large international ministry. These days you can usually find Susan soaking in her favorite hot springs pool, reading a book (or several), blogging, baking bread, or hanging out with her family and friends. You can get a free copy of Susan's upcoming book, "On the Way Home" by registering here.

Copyright 2012, Susan McKenzie, http://TeamFamilyOnline.com. Permission is granted to copy, forward, or distribute this article for non-commercial use only, as long as this copyright byline and bio, in totality, is maintained in all duplications, copies, and link references.  For reprint permission for any commercial use, in any form of media, please contact Susan Schiller.

  

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Tagged as: Choosing Love Today, Deborah White Dove, Dreams that Shape A Legacy, Life Story Writing, New Family Legacy, On the Way Home, Real People Real Stories, Rewriting the Future, True Religion Speaks, Writing a Life Story