So I’m sitting here in bed recovering from a rough morning of sickness, and all I can think of is how much I love Jesus. I was in the bathroom pep talking myself on how there are always trials and pain in life and how this is only temporary, when my roommate, Faith, started to play and sing with her guitar the praises of The Most High God. In that moment Christ quickly reminded me how, even in crappy times, worship will always cure my soul and body. His love is so deep and singing to him even when I’m sick will draw me closer and closer to His heart. I love what He does for us. The World Race (and life in general) comes with a lot of aches and pains but He is never slow to build up his beloved’s and bring them to a place of comfort and rest.
Sometimes I am overwhelmed by His perfect love. It is really hard to comprehend a loving Father who does not require much from us, but through my time in Guatemala, he revealed to me so many things that will push me to be more like Him.
MINISTRY:
I ended up spending the last 2 months of Guat Town serving at a house for men, women, and children who have cerebral palsy and other diseases that cripple the mind and body. Truly, truly, I could not have asked for a better ministry. When I was at home in the States I begged God for an opportunity to love until it physically hurts, and that is what I got. Loving people who cannot give love back really showed me more about who God is and his love for us. We would bathe and dress and feed these people who could not take care of themselves and it hurt. So many times I caught myself questioning why God would do something like this. BUT GOD DOES NOT CREATE JUNK! If he decided to create them, than there is a purpose for their life. I slowly started to understand that they were created to reflect the Glory of the Lord. They were born into this world so that one day, I would come and Jesus would teach me more about him and his perfect sacrifice. And it is well with my soul.
DAILY LIFE:
Life in Antigua was super great. I lived in a house with 21 people, 14 girls in one room with one bathroom, and 7 guys in the other room. So you could say it was chaotic almost all the time. We would all cook meals together and buy groceries for our teams. We would watch movies together and have epic dance parties. The noise level was pretty dramatic, but that only indicated the amount of love that over flowed from this Guatemalan home. I loved living with so many people. Every Wednesday we would gather together and worship for a few hours and every Friday our host lead a bible study and we dove in as a family. Jesus taught me so much here about true love. Almost every morning I would wake up and go to the roof and see the volcanoes smoking. Jesus would meet me here and we would get ready for the day together. He never failed to win my heart each morning.
THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT GUATEMALA:
- Chicken buses!!!! Haha. Big school buses cram packed with people. This was our main source of transportation to get anywhere.
- Tikal, Monte Rico Beach, Day of the Dead kite festival, and Lake Atitlan. SO…MUCH…BEAUTY
- Gracias- People here are so grateful for everything.
- Pepian- best Guatemalan food ever. It’s like rice, chicken and soupy broth. I adore it.
- Cobblestone- All the streets are cobblestone and if you don’t look at the ground when you walk, you be trippin’.
- Mountains- Ah they are so beautiful. We hiked a few and they are just exquisite!
- Futbol- But that’s a given for everywhere BUT America.
- Quetzales- This is the currency here and it is about 7.6 Q’s to one USD.
EXTRA CRAZIES:
- Macklemore…. I kinda got obsessed with his music. Shout out to my sisters, Leah and Andrea, for introducing us!
- Limes and vegetables– I love eating veggies now. And I flavor everything with limes!
- Pride and Prejudice– Some of the women in my house, and I walked around calling each other Mrs. Darcy. Enough said…. Go watch the movie!
- Dirty feet– it just happens… embrace it.
- Coffee– The coffee here is amazing and I drink it all the time. I even bought a Christmas Starbucks french press to-go from the market for like 10Q to aid my new obsession.
- Insanity-Me and Shawn T got pretty close these three months. hahah
To be continued……….
So the next chapter of my life is going to look a little different. On December 2nd my squad ships out to Thailand. We have a 10 hr layover in LA and then a few hours in the Philippines and then we reach “the land of smiles.”My team is going to be living in Bangkok, which is the capital, and working with an organization called WYWAM (Youth With A Mission). I am so excited for the change but I am also going to miss Guatemala. This land is so beautiful and Jesus truly has his hand over everything here. The relationships I made here could never be replaced.
So much has happened here but I hope this helps give you an idea of all that I have experienced in Guatemala.
so until next time …….
