Saying goodbye…

We are down to the wire here in Guatemala, only 5 days before Andi and I go home. It’s going to be sad leaving all of this, but I am SO excited and so anxious to be home. We’ve fulfilled our purpose here and its just time, you know?

 

Haven’t had a whole lot to do this past week, we’ve had our regular kid’s ministries and church stuff, but other than that, we’ve mostly just been hanging out around the house. Due to extreme bored-ness, we have started riding the crazy “chicken” buses to Antigua and San Lucas around here to hang out. Its not as insane as it was made out to be-I actually really enjoy riding them. Plus it gives me an opportunity to get super close with all the Guatemalans…we sat four to a seat the other day. I was basically sitting in this woman’s lap!

 

Tom and Elizabeth and Cheryl Leigh took us out for breakfast yesterday at this awesome restaurant in the Hotel Santo Domingo in Antigua. They had a breakfast buffet….and oh man, it was so good. Probably one of the highlights of my trip. I’ve probably gained atleast 10 pounds since I’ve been here because I eat so much, I feel like I’m a middle-school aged boy or something, it’s like my stomach is a bottomless pit. I’ve taken a worm pill, so I don’t think that’s it. Maybe things will get back to normal when I get home, otherwise I will probably be a fatso before long! Haha.

 

I’m very much looking forward to: washing my clothes with a washer and dryer….hot showers…no flies….my mom’s awesome cooking…..sitting on couches (they don’t have many here!)……seeing signs in English…..and talking to people in English (!)….and much more. It’s going to be great to be home. I’m so blessed to have had the opportunity to spend the summer here and meet so many wonderful people. I don’t take that for granted whatsoever….but I’ve realized how awesome home is!

 

God has made me so grateful for what I have, He has opened my eyes to seeing the needs of others, He has given me a boldness that I didn’t know existed in me. He has done so much more in my life that I can’t even explain, and if nothing else was gained from this trp, at least I can say that He brought me out of my habitual life and spent 8 weeks working in me. Before I came to Guatemala, I really liked God. He was pretty cool, and I trusted Him to take care of me and stuff. I even tried to spend everyday reading the Bible and saying a 5-minute prayer, probably so I could give myself kudos and feel good about it. It’s nice to be able to say that I really am in love with God. I spend time in His Word everyday because I enjoy learning about Him and what the life of a Christian should look like. Praying is still a struggle for me because I may be ADHD….but I’m working on it. He has definitely matured me as His daughter in the past 8 weeks, and has drawn me closer to Him and to being the woman He desires for me to become. I’m not sure what my life is going to look like in the future, but I feel ready for anything! One thing I have learned from working for Hearts for the Children is that we should always be prepared for things our plans to dramatically change; I may not be completely ready, but I’m closer to whatever that point is.

 

I’m pretty sure this will be my last post before I get back to America. It will be a crazy and emotional week of goodbyes, but ”all good things must come to an end.”

 Thanks to all who have taken the time to follow me throughout this summer. I appreciate all of the encouraging messages and emails. It meant so much to know that someone cared enough to follow this, so thanks for reading! I am blessed to know people like you, and am so thankful for all of you. My flight will be landing Tuesday night around 6pm EST, so please pray that we will get there safely!

 

Dios le Bendiga

Updates!

(Sorry not to have written in a while! I’ve tried to post the twice before, but the site wasn’t letting me get on. This was all supposed to be posted sometime last week.)

 

 

This past week has been the craziest by far! A group of 19 from Marietta, GA got here last Saturday for a week packed full of work. The group was made up of a lot of youth, adult chaperones, a doctor, dental hygienist, and OBGYN nurse. We went to several places including Sosoya, Gorion, Embalauda, October 20, the city dump, and our own clinic at the Mary Magdalena house downtown setting up medical/dental clinics. At each place we went, there was triage, a pharmacy, the doctor’s station, a place to de-lice hair, a room where the nurse did pap smears, and a teeth-cleaning station. It was hard to keep everything organized, but by the end of the week we had things down. We saw over 600 patients this week!

 

Some days, we split the group and the guys and me and Andi also did some construction on the church building over in Embalauda. I cut the grass with a machete. It felt really cool…but it was hard! Most of what we did there was cut grass and clean rebar, we were supposed to pour cement but weren’t at the site as much as we would’ve liked. Hopefully the cement will be poured, otherwise this group will just have to come back next year and cut more grass and clean more rebar, and there will never be progress. That part of it was a little frustrating.

 

Wednesday we went out by Antigua and zip-lined through the mountains. It was really fun! It started raining about the 4^th platform and got pretty chilly, but I just think it added to the experience.

 

This group worked HARD and didn’t get much down time, even though I think they deserved much more. We had late nights and early mornings, so everyone was pretty exhausted by the end of the week. We had so much fun with these people, I felt like a part of their group and a part of a family. They were a huge encouragement to us and we miss them already. They live only 2 ½ hours away from us though… so hopefully we may see them again!

 

Andi and me are getting down to the last couple of weeks of our trip. It has been a great experience being here, but we are excited to go home! Seeing everyone packing up and heading to the airport Saturday made us a little jealous, but next time it is actually our turn, which is hard to believe. We are both apprehensive about what the next two weeks will hold! Pray that God will give us patience so that we can enjoy the time we have left here.

 

Dios le bendiga hermanos y hermanas!      

 

 

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” –1 Peter 1:13