Hola!!!

“Bienvenidos a Guatemala”

These were the words that greeted us upon arrival into Guatemala City airport. As we all exited the plane and began to make our way to customs some of our nerves were a little on over drive………to say the least. Before we retrieved our bags we got our passports stamped……YES!!! One of my favorite parts of traveling is seeing those stamps fill up the pages of my passport. Customs followed after retrieval of our checked bags. Thank the Lord no bags were lost on this first leg of the journey. Customs can be very intimadating at times but we were such a large group that they basically just herded us through, one bonus to traveling in a large group. Thank the Lord again.

At the airport Jorge and Jose were waiting to bring us to our hostel in Antigua, a short 45 minute drive away. Driving through the streets of Guatemala was so much fun cause we were able to take in all the sites, smells and sounds. We arrived at our hostel and were greeted by the rest of our squad(mostly leaders and finance people) who had arrived a few days earlier as well as our squad leaders, and alumni that would be leading us through this transitional process. We quickly dropped off our bags and all met for a debrief meeting.

At this meeting we found out that a few of our teams had been changed around because some of our fellow squad members had decided to leave the Race. My team was one that had been changed around and I am no longer with my original team. I have been placed on a new team……My team leader is now Brooks and my teammates are Dawn, Michael, Abby, Ashley, and Emily. I am excited for this new team since I have practically spent the last 36 hours with Dawn and Ashley in the airports so I look forward to getting to know them more. It is hard to leave my old team because we have gotten to know each other but if there is one thing the Lord is still teaching me at this point is that “expectations” and “World Race” are never to be used in the same sentence. It is extremely hard to let go of control, but I know it is a requirement and one area of my life the Lord is trying to work on with me. I know as soon as things get comfortable on this Race the Lord will change it all up once again. The sooner I learn that, the better my experience will be in the coming year. A quote Ben once told me has taken on even more meaning to me now “Peace begins; when expectations end”. Oh soo true!

So as I am here in our first country I have a few specific prayer request;
That I would be able to continue to leave my expectations behind.
For team growth since teams have been changed.
As well as continued safety.
 
Until next time
AV