First, I am just now posting this because the internet has been down for almost a week so sorry for the late update but here it is now!
Secondly, it was different for me because 4 of the people at Casa Bernabe whom I have become good friends with left to return to the states.
Two beautiful women visited Casa Alabanza for the past 2 weeks, to see the child that one of them has been trying to adopt since he was born a little over 7 years ago. They have showered the boy and all of Casa Alabanza with the joy of their loving presence as well as with their many generous gifts. These ladies spoke such beautiful, honest, and Christ-centered advice into my life as they shared their stories with me and I am so very grateful to have met them. But the family that is adopting this little boy is from Texas, so maybe the Lord will let our paths cross again!
The other couple that left last week had been in Guatemala for almost their entire first year of marriage and were only a couple years older than me. They were so generous to share their time and their stories with us. They were both full of contagious laughter and good advice about the culture of Guatemala and of Casa Bernabe. Casa Bernabe is already so different without them around and we were sad to see them go, but I'm so thankful that they became our fast friends!
Finally, last week was different because our team got to travel around Guatemala! Last Monday our group spent the day in Antigua, a beautiful historical city about 2 hours away from Casa Bernabe. The couple that I just mentioned had lived there for language school earlier in the year so they volunteered to come with us and be our tour guides! We got to experience some incredible sightseeing, eat lots of delicious food, shop in the artisan markets, and experience an very different part of Guatemalan culture.
This past weekend we spent time in an incredible place named Panajachel, a lake surrounded by 3 volcanos and many many mountains. It was pretty surreal sometimes and definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I couldn't get over the fact that wherever I turned, I would be staring at a volcano or a vast mountains range. The first day after we checked into our hotel, we rode a boat to a village to watch some weaving and swam in a hot spring that flowed into a little part of the lake! Our boat driver was wonderful and seemed to know everyone no matter where we stopped. He was constantly cracking jokes (in Spanish) and he got plenty of laughs as we swam through the cold lake water to reach the hot spring. We made sure we hired him for the next day to take us to the other side of the lake to hike the Volcano in San Pedro.
He set us up with an amazing tour guide whose sincerity and care and laughter made the 5+ hour round-trip hike just that much more wonderful. This volcano is inactive so no lava sightings or anything quite as crazy as that but the views were absolutely stunning. The last day we went to a nature reserve to go ziplining! It was such a thrill and gave us yet another incredible view of one of the biggest volcanos. We got to hike around in the reserve and down to the lake, and even got to see some monkeys while we were hiking!
The whole weekend was a time to soak up all the incredible beauty that was undeniable and all-encompassing. It can be hard sometimes to trust in God's plan for this world when I see so much pain in the lives of many of these kids, and even harder when I think of the many more children who are not living in a place of safety and healing like Casa Bernabe. But I was reminded this weekend of the verse that says "If I so clothe the lilies of the field, which are here today and gone tomorrow, how much more will I clothe you, oh you of little faith?". If My God holds volcanoes and mountains in his hand, and even in this broken world can speak His glory so undeniably through His creation, I can be confident that His a plan for this broken world is worth waiting for. And some how we are to help each other to "consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds because we know that the testing of our faith produces perseverance," and when we learn to let go and let the power of the Spirit, which raised Christ from the grave, work through us, then we will indeed be "mature and complete, not lacking anything". I have been desiring and praying for wisdom in the day-to-day, that I can know how to let the Spirit's power work in me and through me. But it can be hard not to be "double minded, blown and tossed by the wind" because such a steady faith requires a lot of patience and surrender. But I know that even when I grieve over the brokenness of this world that I am close to the heart of God for He too is being patient, wanting and waiting for His children to trust in Him and find rest in Him alone.
Thank you for reading, thank you for praying.
"Oh magnify the Lord with me,
Let us exalt His Name together!"
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