Homesick

At first, I just didn't have as much energy as I usually do. It lasted for several days and I couldn't figure out why. 

Then came the emotional chaos. 

Several times I found myself almost snapping at people or dealing with a minor situation in a not-so-tactful way. I could be laughing at something, then several minutes later be wishing that I didn't have to be around anyone.  

Then...one night I found myself sitting on my carpet in my bedroom crying. You need to understand: I'm not a very 'emotional' person. Oh, I feel very deeply - I'm just more of a 'head' person. I usually reason by facts and am not usually emotionally up and down. It takes a lot to make me cry.

The reason I was crying was very small; in fact, I don't even remember why! What I do remember is that images of the people at home started flooding through my head. The fact that I wouldn't be able to attend the wedding of two of my friends in October suddenly seemed like an even bigger deal than before. 

As I sat there, talking with God and looking for an explanation as to what was happening with me, it hit me - I was homesick. For the first time in my life, I was homesick. It took almost a whole week of 'off kilter feelings' before I realized what was going on!

My reasoning side came into play again and I wondered - why was it hitting me so hard if I've only been here for a little over 4 months? Wait - it's been way more than 4 months. I've actually been gone since October, with a one month break in March when our family went home for my brother's wedding. That month back was filled with wedding plans then travel plans for me to return to Central America. 

So, I guess I did have a reason to feel homesick. 

But, I learned something!

As long as we're living on Earth, there will be many times that homesickness will hit when we least expect it. 

Which is why our relationship with Christ holds so much hope. 

One day, I will leave my physical body behind. One day, everything I'm doing now will stop. One day, I will quit breathing. 

Earthly life is temporary just like me living here in Guatemala is temporary. On the same day we exhale our last lungful of Earthly air we will take our first lungful of eternal air. As a Christian, it's such a special fact for me. It's a hope of knowing that one day all the hard days will end and I will be going to a permanent home to live with the One who makes this temporary life worth living. I will get to spend every day in the same home as my Best Friend and One who gave everything to show me what true love is. 

The day I get to meet Jesus Christ is the day I will truly be home - a home that I'll never have to leave again! 

"For here we have no lasting city (home) but we seek the city (home) that is to come." Hebrews 13:14 

P.S. A special "thank you" to several of my family members and friends who stayed up (very) late to chat - you know who you are :) I am blessed! 

Break-Time

The last few weeks have been packed with out-of-the-norm activity! It's been fun being able to do stuff my regular schedule doesn't involve, but I am looking forward to getting back to a regular routine of visiting families again and spending time with my coworkers. Yesterday (Thursday), I went out on a normally-scheduled visit for the first time in 3 weeks. 

A few weeks ago, our 'Bethany' staff teamed up with a group that was here to help jump-start a store for one of our families. It involved lots of painting and shelf-making and inventory-stocking - oh, and a lot of painting, too! The above picture is the awesome new store-front. 
Last week, I was working on quarterly updates/progress reports all week to fill in the sponsors on how the families are doing.
Then, this week a few of the directors from Bethany One Family came to check out how the program is doing here in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. The VP of the organization brought his wife and two daughters along. They wanted to take a few days to visit Lake Atitlán and Antigua but needed a staff member, or several, to go along as 'tour guides.' This same week, Binduses', Pattersons', and Rachel's church, The River, was here and Tammy and Rylee were scheduled to fly back to the States for a month. The Binduses and Pattersons wanted to spend as much time as possible with their church so Tammy asked if Rachel and I wanted to take the trip into Antigua. We were more than happy to oblige! It would only take up Tuesday and Wednesday, so Rachel could still spend Monday and the weekend with her church team; Maddie also wanted to go along, and since she's actually been to Antigua before, she had a good idea of where stuff was located in the beautiful old tourist town. 
We were going to take off at 8:30 Tuesday morning, hit the lake and do some shopping in the market, then go on into Antigua around 2:00 in the afternoon. Plans changed a bit due to one of the daughters getting a case of bad altitude sickness. We ended up skipping Lake Atitlán and just taking off around noon to head straight to Antigua. 
It was one of the best two-day vacations I've ever been on! We saw a lot, ate a lot, walked a lot, and even chilled-out a little. I forgot to take pics of the Jade Factory and Chocolate 'Museum' we visited, but clips from the rest of the spots are on here. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking! 

We went to some cool convent-ruins Tue. afternoon. They had some parrots sitting in the lobby. 

Smile for the camera! 

Sistas - Rachel, Maddie, Me - in front of the gorgeous fountain in the courtyard. 

There was this cool chocolate shop right in one of the old rooms in the ruins!

Maddie thoroughly enjoying the delicacies ;)

We were trying to figure out what the table was doing in the 'Archaeology Room' but never came to a conclusion :/

Cool artifacts 

Some of the statues in the 'Art Room' - it was one of my favorite rooms (besides the 'Chocolate Room', obviously!) but I was too busy looking to take many pictures. 

There's a spot for weddings set up in the ruins of the old church. 

Our beautiful hotel reminded me of something from the 'Chronicles of Narnia' with all the nooks and crannies.  

We ate dinner at a restaurant that sold rabbit stew and lamb burgers! We all seemed to be in the mood for their scrumptious pasta, though, so no opinions on the flavors of those dishes ;) 

Antigua, Guatemala at night

The sistas and I got up at 5:30 to catch the sunrise from the roof of the hotel. 

One of my favorite spots we visited was the cross overlooking the city - gorgeous view! 

The Devos family

It was overcast on Wednesday, which made for a great back-drop for pictures! 

On our way back from the cross, we stopped in at La Merced - a beautiful old church built almost 300 yrs. ago.

Sanctuary

The walls were filled with displays of the different saints - this extravagantly decorated one is the statue of Mary.  

Front of the sanctuary

Antigua Arch and Clock

In Everything

"As a Christian everything I do, say, write, and how I live has one specific purpose, above any other - to honor and glorify my Savior, Jesus Christ..." 

Market day in Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Henry, Gloria, Rachel -
my awesome 'Bethany' coworkers

September 2013 -
Almost a year ago, I sat down to write a 'profile introduction' for this blog. I had been working for several days on setting up the blog spot and choosing the theme, name, color scheme, etc.

As my hands poised over the computer keyboard, I realized that I didn't know exactly what to write. So I prayed. I asked God to give me the words to write - and as I prayed I realized how slightly over-whelming the task was that I had taken on in starting a blog. You see, I'm not a writer - seriously. My sister is the one with the writing talent. Want proof? All you need to do is compare our stack of journals! Hers can be considered an actual stack while mine consists of less than a handful of paperback notebooks, each one containing dates to entries from several different years! I write sporadically if I journal at all while my sister goes through at least one journal a year.

Me and one of our 'Bethany' families

She's the one who has aspirations of becoming an author one day - not me! People have told me that I have a gift for writing, just as they have told me that I have a gift for teaching. In reality, they both lean towards the side of being a chore that I know I'm required to do. As I prayed that September day, God reminded me of why He had impressed it on my heart to start blogging in the first place - to share stories. Stories that go beyond words. Stories that make a soul impact. While I was contemplating the fact that blogging and sharing stories would require writing and

Maddie, Rachel, Me - sistas at heart

putting into words thoughts and ideas that were usually just left swimming around in my head, I realized that there was no way I could do it on my own. The hardest part of writing is narrowing down into sentences what I usually see in pictures. Sharing stories would also mean that I would have to try to snap pictures with a camera and hope that I could use them in relation to the stories I would be telling. Picture-taking is even harder for me than writing! Most of all, if I would be writing stories that made a soul impact, it meant that I would have to write it out like a teacher would - in a form easy to grasp. Teaching is one of the hardest

Me and some of the kiddos at a
feeding program

things for me to do if I don't have some kind of guideline to follow. It then hit me that blogging would be a combination of three areas in which I consider myself as weak. "God," I prayed, "this is gonna have to be Your blog, not mine. You're gonna have to write these stories, not me." In which He gently reminded me, isn't that supposed to be a truth in my entire life, not just in the areas that I'm the weakest?

August 2014 -
Recently, I've been tossing around new ideas for the blog. I want to change the look of it in celebration of making it through the first year of blogging! Hopefully, there will be a new color scheme, a new background, new pictures on the 'My Family' tab, and just a general overhaul coming next month! This morning, I was browsing through the

A tienda (store) that we helped
jumpstart last week for
one of our 'Bethany' families

different tabs and making mental notes of what to change when I read my profile introduction. I had been thinking about updating that too, but when I read it, I was reminded again of why this blog is even here in the first place. As I scan through all the stories - all the little 'life updates', all the 'profound thoughts', all the 'not too impressive' pictures - and as I back-track through the journey of my own life this past year, I am reminded of how good God is. He has proven over an over how He cares for His own. The stories you read remind me of so many that I will probably never get the chance to write down but have changed my life. They remind me of how God took even the weak things in me and made something good out of it. What you read on here is genuine

Visiting beautiful Lake Atitlan
and the volcanoes
with a group this week

proof of 2 Corinthians 12:9: But He says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." In everything - word, deed, thought; work, play, quietness; visiting families, working with my peeps, hanging out with "the minions, sistas, and co.", taking hikes, going to feeding programs, playing with kids, going to Lake Atitlan with a group - in absolutely everything, my life is not mine but Christ in me.
In conclusion, please be encouraged in your own journey. Whatever seems too big or too hard right now is only an opportunity for Christ to shine in your life in ways you can't begin to imagine! In the weak and strong areas, in the good and bad times, in everything - absolutely everything - this journey is worth it and so much better with Christ in you. 

At one of our three feeding programs -
A portion of your funds, when you come on a mission trip
to serve with Manos de Jesus/Pray America, helps feed a child for a year.

"...This journey called life is only worth traveling because of the Life He has given. I hope that reading this blog will give you a small glimpse into how wonderful God is and how He proves it in my own life and in the lives of each of His children."