Thankful

Since yesterday
was Thanksgiving, the natural time to think about things that make us grateful,
most of my thoughts were in Guatemala. My mom, my friend Steven, and I got home from our visit to Casa
Bernabe on Tuesday night, and I already want to go back. Knowing that I can’t
return for at least a year and trying to explain that to the kids was really
hard, but I am thankful-yesterday and always-for the wonderful people at Casa
Bernabe who spend their lives protecting and providing for those children.
Maybe someday I’ll end up back there for longer, but for now I want to thank
all the people who provide loving homes, caring families, and committed
sponsorships for the kids of Casa Bernabe. To read about how much of a
difference sponsoring makes in their lives, check out my previous blog. Please
enjoy this video of some of the pictures from our time there.

The first song is
in Spanish, but I want you to understand the words so I’m including them below
along with my rough translation. During Casa Bernabe’s big Thanksgiving
celebration last Sunday, the children’s choir sang this song and I thought it
was the perfect way to express the journey they are on and the safe destination
that Casa Bernabe has become for them. God has brought them through such times
of horror to a place where they can realize their own significance in His
plans. Please read the words before you watch the video.

Ha sido largo el
viaje pero al fin llegue. It’s been a long journey but I’ve finally arrived.

La luz llego a
mis ojos aunque lo dude. The light came to my eyes even though I doubted.

Fueron muchos
valles de inseguridad, There were many valleys of insecurity,

los que cruze. and
I crossed them.

Fueron muchos
dias de tanto duda, There were many days of so much doubt,

pero al fin
llegue, llegue a entender…  but I
finally arrived, I came to understand…

Que para esta
hora he llegado, that it’s for this moment that I arrived,

para este tiempo
naci, for this time that I was born,

en sus propositos
eternos yo me vi. I saw myself in His eternal purposes.

Para esta hora he
llegado, For this moment I arrived,

aunque me ha
costado creer. although it has cost me to believe.

Entre sus planes
para hoy me encontre. I found myself in His plans for today.

Y nunca imagine
que dentro de su amor, I never imagined that inside His love,

y dentro de sus
planes me encontrara yo. and inside his plans, I would find myself.

Fueron muchas
veces que la timidez, There were many times that timidity

me lo impidio, held
me back.

Fueron muchos
dias de tanto duda, There were many days of so much doubt,

pero al fin
llegue, llegue a entender… but I finally arrived, I came to understand…

Que para esta
hora he llegado, that it’s for this moment that I arrived,

para este tiempo
naci, for this time that I was born,

en sus propositos
eternos yo me vi. I saw myself in His eternal purposes.

Para esta hora he
llegado, For this moment I arrived,

aunque me ha
costado creer. although it has cost me to believe.

Entre sus planes
para hoy me encontre. I found myself in His plans for today.

Ha sido largo el
viaje, pero al fin llegue. It’s been a long journey, but I’ve finally arrived.