Well helllooo there. :) Hope this blog finds you well.


I must say that I have been dreading this first blog but before you get all in a tissy, (uh, yeah, don't do that...) let me just explain.


I think everyone who goes into a trip like this one to Guate goes in with expectations even if they try their best not to. Some people are real optimistic and some try to be as pessimistic as possible so they couldn't possibly be dissapointed. So I of course had some expectations of my own. Its hard to even put them in words but I'll try my best. I think I expected to really encounter God in a new way and I expected to just learn a lot about love and how we as Christ followers are called to love and what that best looks like with a language barrier and extreem cultutal differences. I expected to find joy in the little things and contentment in all things.


Now what I got was much different. And I still don't really know what to do with it all.


First of all, let me say that the joke of the trip was that we were winning at Disaster Bingo. If all the spaces on a bingo card where disasters or things that could go wrong on a trip, we would have gotten a bingo. Without a free space. We kept saying we were going for black out. Now, I am not joking here. We faced a errupting volcano (one that we climbed a week before it errupted... I mean, we poked the lava with a stick, that's how close we were) and then we had a tropical storm. (Oh Agatha...) and that storm caused flooding, mudslides, and collapsed houses. Also, there was a massive sink hole in Guatemala that swallowed (yeah, swallowed) an entire building and threatened several others. In addition, we had a girl get very very sick and so she was hospitalized for two nights for a severe intestinal infection that had been causing her to throw up blood. That same girl also had her wallet stolen later in the trip. I'm not even joking, this all happened. And I'm not even counting the drama between the team members and missionaries that can only be expected when a group of kids stick together for three weeks.


But even with all this craziness crammed into three weeks, we were able to hang out with some of the coolest little boys and play some awesome games of soccer with them and then we met some of the cutest little kids at a couple of orphanages and I think my heart is still there in Guatemala in little Maria's hands.

I think with all that I experienced while I was there, the one thing I was most certain of was that God was in control and had a plan the entire time. And it certainly wasn't our plan. But even this was something I already know and I hadn't yet forgotten it. With all the stress of the trip weighing down on my shoulders, I most often found myself not so much as barrying my face in the shoulder of God as some might expect, but rather with His arms around me, just leaning on Him for support. It was almost effortless, like He was the one holding on to me, keeping me close, and supporting me when I didn't even think I needed it. I was blessed by His faithfulness, love, grace, and about a zillion other attributes that He possesses.

I think I also expected to learn a lot about love but I can actually sum up what I learned pretty simply: God wants us to love not like its the only day you get but love like you have only minutes left. I think I will spend some more time on this thought in another blog but that's what I learned about love from little Maria.

And as far as joy and contentment, I must have dodged all that like raindrops because while I wasn't so much as anxious or stressed, I just wasn't content. I was a little restless in all that we did and it was a little draining.
I think I also learned a lot about being a leader. And about failing. But since this is already a novel, I'll save those for another blog as well.

But I will close with a few more thoughts.
I am very thankful for the experience that I was blessed with in Guate. I adore my team and the missionaries and all the people we met there. It was a good three weeks even with all the craziness but words cannot express how thankful I am to be home safe and sound and enjoying some summertime.

And last but not least, since I keep talking about her, let me introduce you to Maria, my little Gautemalan orphan that I serisously considered smuggling home. I was blessed enough to be with her for a couple of hours one morning and she stole my heart.


 
What more can I say? God is good. :)