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.