Here is your warning… It is just past midnight and I am tired. But I have these thoughts swimming in my head and I needed to get them out. This might not be a perfectly structured or thought out blog, but these are my thoughts at the end of month one.
Yesterday I stood on our roof and just allowed the breeze the swirl around me. I tuned in to my senses. I felt the soft wind, I could hear dogs barking, children playing, and a soccer game where my entire team was cheering for our towns soccer team as they lost. I could smell the scent of Guatemalan stoves, tortillas, and the delicious chicken our host family was making for lunch. I was staring out at the absolute beauty of the place I get to live in.
This month is pretty much over. My bag is packed again and in about 11 hours, we are leaving San Pedro la Laguna, Lake Atitlan and heading to Antigua. I know this month has been significant for me. I recognize in this moment the need to set up some reminders of what has happened in the last four weeks. I cannot believe it has been four weeks since I jumped out of what I finally thought was stability and back into life on the field. It has been four weeks of feeling alive and like the breath in my lungs has more purpose than in the last year. I have loved this month but I am looking forward to the next few days and the next month. Antigua is like going home.
I don’t believe in coincidences even a little bit. I believe that my God is strategic and detail oriented. As I have had one on ones with my 12 college girls we have talked about seemingly everything. We have gone into some pretty heavy spiritual depths and we have talked about boys. We have laughed together, cried together, been clueless together, and found answers together. Each day something happens that makes me say, “this moment is exactly why I am here.”
I know that being here was the first step into God reminding me who I am and that I said I would follow where he leads me. He has some pretty big plans for me, and I just tucked them away for a “maybe someday” time, with no real intentions to pull them back out. But God remembers those things. I find such joy in living my life to serve him and the people he puts in front of me. I get life and excitement from helping people discover who it is that God has said they are and helping them experience freedom.
This family we are living with is so amazing. Their story is wonderful. I love them and what they are doing to further the Kingdom in this place, but I am equally as excited and expectant for next month. I rarely get attached to places anymore, but what I never get sick of being attached to is the beautiful thing God is doing all across this world. I will never get sick of hearing those stories and being a part of those stories. So I will be a little bit sad tomorrow when we leave, but even more so I am overjoyed. I am waiting on the edge of my seat to see how we will encounter God and how he will encounter us. I am excited to have another month in this beautiful country with its color and wonder.
Leaving this beautiful lake and even thinking ahead to leaving Guatemala at the end of July doesn’t even feel real. I feel like this country has an open door policy for me. I can come and I can go, but I am always welcome here. I love that about a place.
These are just my midnight ramblings. I am so thankful to be here and cannot wait to share more (in a coherent fashion) with you about what it is that God is doing in my life.
Much love,
A
