About maybe 3 weeks ago? (honestly can’t keep track of time!) I had to go get my visa renewed. Quite an experience! But what. I have 2 months left in this beautiful Country that has become my home. These beautiful people who have become part of my life, and I don’t ever want that to change. This culture that I’ve grown into. It’s all so become a part of my life and it’s a part of my life I don’t want to end. I’m not ready to go home to the culture in America. Granted I miss my family and friends a lot! ❤ But like my friend keeps reminding me, you still have 2 months. Take it day by day and focus on what’s in front of you! (thank you for always reminding me!!);)
(And I may have honestly thought about making this my more permanent home a few times…ok, more than a few.)
We honestly don’t know how long someone will be in our lives until they move on in their own life. It’s hard to let people go. Let them go live. But what little time they were in our lives, how did we invest in them? Pray over their tiny little life that’s just starting?!
I honestly miss holding this chubby little hand. Miss his hair that stood straight up after it dried from his bath. Miss his cuddles and watching him look around the world around him. Miss watching him light up and smile really big.
So I have started helping in the school 2 mornings a week, and have absolutely loved it. 1) getting to know more of the kids and 2) I love watching them learn and grow. Teaching them new things or just helping with what they are working on in school right then. It’s also given me an opportunity to grow in my Spanish providing I hear less than 10 English words in that time of being in the school! But it’s been good, and if/when they speak slow enough, I can understand most of what they are saying!!
I’ve been going through a lot of training lately. Just in everyday life. How you react to situations, am I going to act like my age and take responsibility? Honestly some days I don’t really want to be an adult. Overcoming so many fears, becoming more confident.
In my recent bible reading, Luke 9:23-24
“23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”
Letting go of my own interest and pouring into others interests. Into the interest of this little kid who wants to play with one toy for what seems to be a really long time to me. But it’s a way of investing in their lives.
Daily taking up my cross and following Him in what He has planned for me. EVEN when it doesn’t make any ounce of sense to our human brains. It’s perfect in His plans and it’s all working for the greater good.
For Samana Santa (Holy week) us staff get time off (we all take turns in two groups.) and combined with my weekend off, I had 4 days to just chill or go out and do something. So I took a little road trip with 4 friends to Quetzaltenango (Xela). About 4-5 hours through vallies, little villages, mountains, and pretty much the whole way was curves. But it was worth it. So beautiful. And can I just say I love being surprised by Guatemala’s way of doing things. Like their hotels! Not at all what I expected but it was actually really cool/funny to see how they do it. (or the way they tie their cows by the road to graze!)
So, so many gardens. It’s like one huge quilt laid out over the mountains.
My one friend Vivian and I were partners in the water park we visited (my first ever water park!) And the slides I thought I wouldn’t like ended up being my favorite;)
And all of the slides had their own names, but we renamed them all to what we thought it reminded us of.
Day 2 of our vaca we visited Fuentes Georginas, the hot springs which was amazing! I’ve never been to hot springs before in my life and this was a good first time! But man, once you’ve been in such warm water and get out, the air is freezing!
This is Guatemala. You could get places quickly or be stuck in traffic for a really long time.
One of my favorites is coffee with sweetbread. The sweet bread is hard and crunchy, kind of like a cookie, But when you dip it in your coffee, it’s amazing! (This ‘cookie’ has a name, but I don’t know what it is. It’s just good food lol!)
Something I’ve been thinking over on the trip,
Psalm 18:6,
“in my distress I cried out to the Lord, yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from His sanctuary, my cry to Him reached His ears.”
Jesus, King of kings, being praised by thousands of angels and thousands that have gone before us, being praised and lifted high by His creation, but in the midst of being Mighty, Majestic, High above it all, He hears my simple little plea for help. What seems big to us is really just a speck to Him, but he doesn’t shove us away because our problem is so tiny to Him, no. He takes the time to listen to us. To hear us out and help us in the midst of it. What concerns us concerns him.
How awesome is He? How compassionate and merciful!?
God is so overwhelmingly good. So faithful to us. Always right there with something encouraging when we are down. I’m so thankful for the God I serve.
“Que todo lo que soy alabe al Señor;
con todo el corazón alabaré su santo nombre.”
Anna-en-guatemala 