Thinking...

of fairies and sugar plums.

Just kidding - I have Guatemala on my mind. Wondering when I'll be back...

Wishing, Hoping, Praying

I am really missing Guatemala. Yesterday I spent my day at an amazing water park and had a BLAST! One of the guys that came along was wearing a souvenir on his wrist. It was a beaded bracelet that was CLEARLY from Guatemala. I got to talk to him about a little. Also a friend of mine that I met this summer is back at the orphanage with a team. I'm not sure of all the details, but I'm sure that she's at Casa Bernabe.

While I'm having an a grand ol' time here at home with school, family and other stuff, I'm not going to lie - I'm really missing CB. I wish I could wake up and get a million hugs in the morning. I'd like to talk to missionary friends about what they are learning, missing, wanting, enjoying, etc. I want to be there to help kids write their names. I want to be THERE!

Jim Elliot, the late missionary to Ecuador, said: Wherever you are be all there!

So for now - I guess I'm saying that I'm praying for Guatemala. I'm praying for the kiddos and their caretakers at CB.

And then...You have to come back home!

Friends,

There are lots of stories I want to share with you. Many are written in my journal, i.e. Highlights, Lowlights, Most exciting, Things I won't ever forget, etc. I hope those make it on this blog. I need to make time to type it all out.

In the mean time, I'll be honest and say adjusting to home has been a bit harder than I imagined. I don't know why - - Well, Okay, I do...Watch this video and maybe you'll have an idea why.

The Faces of Casa Bernabe

The A-Team

We have dubbed our team of two as the A-Team. There is a family that is also here that isn't a part of a team and we've added them to the team. It's been awesome building a relationship with them. Because there are so few of us, we have the privilege of being floaters, whereas the teams that come through get permanant assignments. As the A-Team, we go wherever we are most needed and it's given us the opportunity to build relationships with three of eight houses. Two of the houses are young girls ranging in age from six to seventeen. And the other house is a house full of rowdy boys.

the cutest girl on the A-team and me

With Casa Ester, we helped clean their house and organize their belongings. We also play hair salon and the girls get to fix our hair however they like. We both have ended up with serious prom hair! We also taught them how to play a card game that everyone seems to be playing these days - Egyptian Rat Stew.

Some of the girls working on Ashley's hair

parting her hair to make french braids

With Casa Promesa, we helped prepare for a lovely Quincenera. It was pretty funny how we all (everyone from Casa Promesa) were working so hard to make the house look like a party. Then the World Cup game started and everything came to an absolute halt. We finished in time and the Quincenera was PERFECT!!

I hung up the lights using a HUGE ladder...have I ever mentioned I'm TERRIFIED of heights?

the beautiful birthday girl!

We also had the opportunity to take the girls of Casa Promesa out to the movie theater to watch the World Cup on the big screen. It was SOOO much FUN! The outing included lunch from Burger King and delicious ice cream. All the girls were very appreciateive and itwas fun for us to be able to bless them in that way!

The BOY in the girls house. He works the charm!

With Casa Nuevo Pacto, we have just hung out. We've watched a movie and created the most ridiculous dance moves. (hahahaha!!) We also went to a going away party for one of the boys. It was bittersweet.

he was a little one the last time I had seen him

oh the TORTURE! haha! He was probably five the last time I saw him!

Some of the staff members took the youth away for an overnight retreat. We have had an awesome time babysitting one of the staff member's two young boys. We have watched movies, eaten lots of palomitas (popcorn), played in the mud and laughed a WHOLE lot!

Best Buds!

the sweetest boy you ever did see!

We are here!

Ashley and I flew in yesterday! We had our friends from Casa Bernabe pick us up from the airport and they took us to Pollo Campero. I think it's was really awesome to have dinner with them. With my friend, Sara Drake Salguero, it was as time never passed.

As soon as we got to the orphanage, I don't think I've seen my friends as much because they are so busy! And I suppose Ashley and I have been "busy" too. And we had to get over being overwhelmed by our dorm room. There is a team of girls here. There are about 13 girls in the dorm and we share two showers and two toilets. We are all girls so there's plenty of luggage! Ashley and I got our stuff organized to where it's easily accessible and not taking up so much room. So that helped us get over our OVERWHELMED-ness!

This morning we woke up SUPER early to help at the school house with the special education class. It was sooo FUN! We helped them with the letter L! Luna, Lunes, Limon, Lisa, Luis, etc. The activities were so hands-on and really REALLY fun! I'll admit that I was a bit hesitant, but OMG - I LOVED it! At noon, the kids were free to go home. We told them that we liked it so much we will come back tomorrow - but their vacation starts tomorrow. Classes will resume July 5 and we WILL be there. Until then, we will be doing random things, ie caring for a house full of girls, working in the kitchen, etc.

Casa Bernabe has changed soooooo much! OMG - they have the most amazing garden that is seriously breath-taking! And extremely delicious, I might add. We had a salad straight from the garden today. YUM!

This elevation has me sooooo incredibly thirsty! I've been drinking more water than I have in my entire life!! Not such a bad thing, per se. It's just really hard to breathe and I think the water provides some extra oxygen! I don't think I've ever had any elevation problems before, except the one time I ran to the car at the top of a mountain in Colorado. I nearly passed out then. It's not as bad here, but there is a set of stairs that seems a mile long! My goal is to get to the top of the stairs without losing my breath by next Wednesday.

Anyway, I'm really excited about being here! I can't wait for more!!

THANK YOU!

This trip would not be the same without your support! Thanks to you, I was able to raise sufficient funds to pay for the flight, room & board, and baking supplies that aren't available in Guatemala for the missionaries and the kids they shepherd.

I can hardly believe I'll be there in four short days. I'm really looking forward to my time there and sharing it with you!

Just to let you know, the mission's office at my church requested Ashley and I keep a blog through the church mission's blog. I hope to post the same material on both. If it differs I'll post the link here. And I have NO idea how much internet time we will have. But what I do know is that I WILL POST PICTURES when I return!

T-minus 4 days!

Hi there! I've spent the week tying up lose ends for the trip and I think the ducks are all lined up nicely.

On Thursday, I realized how unprepared I am for this trip. Yes, I have the list of items I'm taking with me. Yes, I have my passport and necessary documentation. Yes, I have every material thing I need to go down there. I've already started packing! But I realized that I'm so unprepared emotionally. I've been so excited about actually going that I haven't stopped to wrap my head around the stories of these kids.

Don't get me wrong...I'm SO incredibly thankful to have all that's listed above. What a blessing!

I got an email from one of my missionary friends and she explained to us a delicate situation they have there. Imagine having to care for a TEN YEAR OLD GIRL who is pregnant and due in one short month? I don't know her story, and I'm honestly frightened to know it.

My dad always said that I'm too much of a softy for this stuff and that he's afraid of my heart being broken. I'm bracing myself because I think I'm well on my way.

While I was in college, I received an anonymous note with this scripture from Luke 12:48 on it: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more." I think about this note often and I this is one of the reasons why I want to go. I think that God's given me so MUCH and feel incredibly unworthy. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I read Richard Stearn's The Hole in Our Gospel and even more this week when I got the email from my friend in Guate. What will I do with this time? How will I make a difference? What will I do with what I learned in that time? How will I share it with others?

Please pray for Ashley S. and I while we're down there.