12:00am christmas day i got woken up pretty abruptly. i was scared to death. was i going to die? we’re these gun shots going to kill me? i jumped out of bed, saw my teammate look out the window to our (almost) entire squad outside in awe of all the fireworks that the country was putting on. every way you looked you saw fireworks. not just any firework show but it was like grand finales everywhere! i remember back to my going away party when i did 10 facts about each country and one of my guatemala facts was that they do fireworks on christmas and that it was huge for them. but the fact went on to say that dozens of people die each year from it.
i shortly caught myself saying prayers for all of the people shooting off fireworks. nobody plans to lose a loved one this way, but i pray for the Fathers protection, grace and love over these families and villages.
i’m still in awe of all the fireworks that were being lit off. i think i can say that almost half of all the fireworks that were being lit off would be illegal in illinois and they’re so readily available on the streets and in every store here in guatemala and they’re pretty cheap (at least i think i remember that being the case)
this is going to be a running diary of my day. so right now i am going to set my alarm and go to bed!
8:45am. i woke up. stayed in bed because i didn’t need to be out of bed until 930am. i decided to get out of bed early to shower so i could have Dan braid my hair because she’s the best. 10/10 would recommend.
secret santa at 10am. we opened all of our presents at once the went around the circle and shared what we each got then got 2 guesses to guess who our secret santa was if they didn’t write their name on the gift. shortly after presents we had brunch!! it was so yummy! we had keesh, homemade cinnamon rolls, pineapple, watermelon, pancakes, cinnamon apples, and eggs with chorizo!! it was all made by the squad and tasted soooooo yummy!!
after brunch we were free to do whatever we wanted until 2. whether that was sleeping, calling family, cooking, journaling, or painting we did it all! sj made popcorn for the squad to snack on— my oh my is she the best at making popcorn! at 2 we started to watch elf and…well, i fell asleep during the movie…i have such a hard time staying awake during movies.
dinner time came around pretty quickly. 6pm we started eating dinner. we had yet another candle lit dinner with the whole squad- but this time some squad mates made food not our hosts! it was amazing! after dinner we had family feud world race edition!!
some categories were:
christianese, random facts about each team, things found on the free table, etc
team hope was literally losing the whole time (and i believe it’s ONLY because we have an unfair advantage i don’t care who you ask! we have 5 people. other teams have 6-9 people!) BUT we came up and got second place!!!! — we decided that we were named team hope for as time as this. never lose hope. we can do it. and we did!! yay!
i made a few final calls to finish the night and now it’s time to go to bed to be fully rested for a full day of ministry tomorrow!
i hope everyone had a merry christmas all over this earth- back in the states, Nicaragua, Germany, Spain or wherever you are! much love for you all!
