you can find more photos on my flickr account. A few months ago, I bought a bracelet from a store called MudLove that has the simple word “abide” written on it. At the time, I didn’t realize that this bracelet would speak so much truth into my life.   As you can probably sense from our blogs, this trip has not been what we expected.  For me, many things have exceeded my expectations and some things have just been different than what I expected.   Ministry is one of those things that has just been different. Until my expectations weren’t met, I...

At training camp, they told us to toss out all expectations. Left unmet leaves us still seeking, unsatisfied in where we are. I thought I didn't have many. Easy surrender because I thought I was open to anything.  That was before two weeks into the trip and I'm standing in the middle of a dirt field with a hoe and they keep saying we have to do the whole thing. The second morning of all day hoeing, I realized I didn't do as good of a job surrendering as I thought.  With each sling of the hoe, I let the frustration grow. How is hoeing a field ministry? How is this...

Well, I love Guatemala.   I love the people. I love the culture and the colors. I love the doors on every single home. I love the tiny convenient stores and cobblestone roads. I love the coffee and traditional, homemade Mayan outfits.                         I’m even in love with living with 18 other people and the packed “chicken buses” (However, I do miss my daddy, clean water, my own bathroom, and washing machines more than I ever imagined).   Today we went to a new church. It was all in Spanish and I...

We have now been in Guatemala for a couple of weeks now, and I can say that our time here has not been how I imagined it would be. As I settle in to life in Antigua, I find myself feeling more at home each day. I love Antigua- it is such a beautiful place. I am surrounded by eighteen wonderful teammates and I have so enjoyed doing life with them. But not every day is pure joy and perfection, as you might imagine. I have experienced joy and excitement, but also frustration and even a bit of sorrow. But through every whirlwind of emotion I experience, God has been teaching me so...

Sometimes during my life I just stop for a second and ask myself, “What is my life?” I examine the crazy situations and then I assess it. Today I had one of those moments. I’m finally getting used to the crazy,  non-sensical driving that makes up Guatemala, so the hourish drive yesterday morning to a Mayan 7th-12th grade school was no big deal. We walked through a parade, finally learning not to respond to the vendors cries of “Special price for you my friend!” and into the high school. Up some stairs, through some hallways, and then I looked around and...

We're halfway through week 2 in Antigua and we're still going strong! Today my small group was supposed to go volunteer at a daycare where the children of the market workers go. That fell through so instead we went into the square in Antigua and did some "Ask the Lord."  Heather W. and I broke off and walked around trying to see where the Lord would lead us. Hearing God speak to me is something I've been working on and praying for. I desperately want to hear His voice. So for a while I was feeling discouraged. We were having an amazing time talking to people...

PHOTOS For some reason, photos won't load on this blog. I'm uploading as many as possible to my flickr account, so check it out at the link above! I'm really struggling to find words to write this blog. This last week has been such a mix of emotions: excitement, frustration, happiness, sadness and pure joy.  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week we all took off our "normal" ministries to help out another ministry. We spent the days hoeing and raking a field that will eventually be a community tomato farm to help families get out of the poverty cycle by...

So I've been with my team for a week and already I feel like a different person. The Lord has taught me so much about Himself and how much He loves His children.  The hardest thing I've done so far on the trip is definitely working at the hospital for adults and children with cerebral palsy. The first day we worked there we were invited to "pray" with the patients. We helped walk some of the adult women to the men's area where a catholic priest walked around touching their hands as they (or at least the people who were able to) responded to...

We have officially finished our first week of Guatemala and I have absolutely loved it! Before we flew down to Guatemala, we spent four days at Training Camp on the Toccoa Falls Campus. We spent that time getting to know our team, learning about the culture we were about to live in, and drawing closer to God through worship and Bible studies. I have absolutely loved getting to know everybody on my team! I had no idea I could love and grow close to a group of people so quickly. The days we have spent in Guatemala have been incredible! We visited some of the ministries that we will be...