in my first blog post from guatemala i wrote, “in a land of the eternal springs life is abundant and full of greenery, fruit, and so much freedom. when landing in guatemala city, emotions were all over the place. unexplainable and it has taken a couple days to truly comprehend the beauty that ive found in my new home.”
and as i sit here with only two and a half weeks left in guatemala i realize i still don’t truly comprehend the beauty i have found in my new home and whatever i thought i knew. man oh man, it barely scratched the surface of the preciousness of this place. i walk through my ministry town, i ride through hills and volcanoes on a chicken bus, i watch healing and miracles happen, i meet people who seriously love like i have never been loved before.
there is physical beauty in creation that i have only dreamed of seeing, smelling, and actually letting my fingers graze against. and yet here i am. walking through it all. admiring. reveling. smiling. touching. sitting in expectancy for so much more. and yet this week, the beauty of this place and these people is actually the very thing that broke my heart.
i see it all.
i see mountains.
i see volcanoes.
i see laughter.
i see places that literally stick a smile on my face. leaving it there for hours upon hours.
i see people. people struggling. but people that the lord has promised gold and pearls.
i see broken houses. physically and emotionally. but more than anything i see houses that the lord has promised to rebuild in more strength and restoration than before.
i see dirt roads with footprints from giggling children running faster and faster.
i see flowers. fields of them representing the hand planted and picked people that the lord calls royalty.
i see clothes lines of hand washed clothes that i know mean people fighting to provide and love their family.
but i know thats not what they see.
they see normalcy.
they see everyday views.
they see children being a nuisance at times.
they see people. their neighbors. they ask how they are doing and call it a day.
they see their houses. they see the place in which they call home.
they see the dirt roads with footprints from the long walks to and from work and markets and other villages.
they see flowers. they see weeds to be plucked. they see fields of flowers that could be used for crops to help provide further for their families and communities.
they see clothes lines filled with clothes that to them mean another chore on the checklist to get done.
and that is what breaks my heart more than anything. they have burdens and concerns so great at times they can’t always recognize the beauty in which they are called to walk in. they can’t appreciate all of the glory and peace that i always feel when i walk through any part of guatemala.
but despite it all. they love so well. they provide and fight for their families. they welcome me in to their homes. they pour their hearts out to me. they speak life to me. they thank me for the things i do, and i get to remind them that it is not me. i am not an angel sent to save them. i am a messenger with a word from their father to remind them that they are a beautiful people. a worthy people. a warm people. a vibrant and so loving people.
what an honor and privilege i have to walk these streets. to meet these people. to admire the beauty. to remind them of it when the burdens of normalcy and routine and mundane life we all face, come crashing in.
what a privilege is to walk in a season of learning to have the lord’s eyes as my perspective to see past the normalcy and routine and mundane life and see the beauty and glory and goodness instead. what an honor it is to receive the sweetest of cheek kisses, the warmest hand holds, the tear filled thank yous.
guatemala, you have been so sweet. can’t wait to finish this time calling you my home in some extraordinary ways. and can’t wait to just watch from afar after this the amazing mission you will complete. a little more than two weeks till i leave you, but man oh man am i taking a part of you with me. my heart will always be filled when i think of you and the sweetness and preciousness in which you have wrapped me in.
