I just found this...

in my draft archive and I can't believe I forgot to finish it and post it! Anyway, here 'tis:

Maria
This is my beloved friend and spiritual mentor, Maria.














She's married to this guy. He is Pastor Mario, and together they lead our sister church, Zoar, in Guatemala City. (Aren't they so cute?)















Do you ever instantly fall in love with someone? I did with Maria. Let's just say that after I got off the plane to Guatemala (those of you who know me just shuddered in revulsion at the mood you're picturing me in...), I was a zombie from all the Xanax and lack of sleep and basically, just wanted my mom and my bed. But Maria was the first one to greet me, and in her I instantly saw a mother, someone who already loved me. How could she already love me, you ask? This is how: she has been praying for me for 2 solid years and I just met her in March.

Words can't express the magnitude of the gentle wisdom that she imparted to me while I was with her. Her faith in God is palpable. You're with her for 5 minutes and you feel like a stronger believer because of her strength.

I miss her so much! Every time I hear her voice on my answering machine or over the phone, I well up in tears and get choked up, because she's my Guatemalan mama. She and Mario and their kiddos are supposed to try to come up this month, and I'm praying that it works out!

Here's a shot of me, Maria, and Dawn in Antigua, just having fun together!

Some artistic shots taken in Antigua (some in the Spanish Embassy; others just along the sidewalks or in courtyards)

My other sweeties

This is Cesar (pronounced "say-zar"). I met him in the courtyard on our first day of the VBS during his recess/playtime. Our group was just mingling with the kids, getting to know them as they were playing. They had music blaring from the second floor and Cesar was dancing to himself, having a good ole time. I decided to join him and he thought I was hilarious, so we danced together, both of us giggling. After awhile he ran away and I started playing with more children. Then Cesar came running back, carrying the pop that you can see on the chair to my right. I didn't realize for a minute that he was offering it to me, and I thanked him for it. Then someone whispered in my ear that Cesar had bought me that pop with his only money...probably his allowance for the day or even the whole week. I wanted to bawl on the spot but caught myself, knowing that that would just confuse him, so I smiled broadly and gave him a big hug, and then picked him up and smooched him and told him, "Gracias Cesar, mi bambino!" And he got embarrassed in such a cute way because the other fellas his age were pointing at us and laughing, so he ran away again. However, throughout the rest of the week, he would find me and we would dance and he would want his hug and to be called "mi bambino."

This is Alex. This little guy was a pretty emotional little man. He was just as quick with tears as he was with a smile. But, since I'm a pretty emotional girl, he got the sympathy vote with me and I stuck to him pretty closely throughout the week. At one point on Thursday I found him crying in a corner and it turns out another boy had accidentally kicked him and he was just heartbroken about it! I don't think the teachers wanted me coddling him as much as I did, but I honestly couldn't help it. He had tears the size of his eyeballs and I just really wanted him to smile his adorable smile instead. Here's us, just hanging out, and I have him grinning in this picture, yay!

This is a darling little 5-month-old named Gabriella Nicole (her mama and granddaddy called her "Nicole"). I met her mama, who was recovering from surgery, just before this picture was taken, and she was so kind to let me (and several of us) hold and love on her beautiful little baby. You can't see it in this picture, but Nicole has gold hoop earrings in her teeny-tiny little ears, and she was wearing this soft green crocheted sweater. She had the most expressive eyes and I just couldn't get enough of her. I kept thinking, "Man, do I ever want to adopt from this country!" Every time I look at this picture, I have the same thoughts. Guatemala has the most gorgeous children in the world!

My Shadae
(pronounced "shuh-dye")
I can barely look at this picture without tears streaming down my face. Of all the "ninos preciosos" (precious children) that I had the privilege of meeting in Guatemala, this was the one I would have packed in a suitcase and carried home without batting an eyelash. This little sweet pea is only 6 years old, but there is already a lot of knowledge in her eyes. And by "knowledge" I don't mean intellectual...there was something deeply troubling this little girl. I have no idea what it was, but I do know that most of the kids we ministered to came from broken homes, and that abuse (of all kinds) is common. I wish I'd had more language so that I could have communicated better, but I gave her the language that is universal...I held her hand, sat with her on my lap, carried her around like a baby, kissed her cheeks, and said "Te amo" (I love you) to her every single day I had the opportunity to spend with her. Of course, I had a jillion other little ones who wanted (and craved) my attention, so I couldn't spend as much time with her as I would have liked. In any case, I will be looking for my sweet Shadae the next time I am in Guatemala, and I hope to have more Spanish by that time so that I can tell her that I will always be available for her, and that I will help her in any way I can. Please, please say a prayer for her, that she will be delivered from whatever is hurting her, that angels will watch over her, and that most importantly, that she will come to know Jesus, who will be her Rescuer and Savior if she will ask Him.

The first of many pictures, but so aptly self-titled...(taken at the aeropuerto in Guatemala City upon arrival)

12 more days...

It's for sure!

Yesterday I was given the green light by my boss to take a week off in March...to go to Guatemala! I am going with Adam and a team from our church, Southside Bible, to our sister church in Guatemala on a missions trip March 15 to 22. We're still working out our agenda, but I believe, as of right now, that we'll be doing the following:

• putting on a vacation Bible school of sorts for the kids, with puppet shows and skits and lots of fun things like that
• ministering to the teachers of the Christian school associated with our sister church by getting some one-on-one time with them, to encourage them in their noble work
• helping Pastor Mario and wife Maria do whatever needs doin' at church and in their ministries!

I've put lots of prayer into this, and my prayer has simply been this, that if God wanted me to go on this trip, that He'd open doors and prepare the way, and He has done that...and then some. Things just keep working out, and I keep feeling the nudge of the Holy Spirit in stronger and stronger ways. I know that God has a work to do in my heart on this trip, and even though I don't know exactly what that is, I have a feeling that part of it is to simply open my eyes to another world out there that I've been blissfully blinded from in my cushy Greenwood, Indiana, USA existence. A world of poverty, of danger at every corner, a world of struggle and weariness -- and getting to know the people who find joy in the Lord despite all of these things.

So even though I'm NOT looking forward to leaving the luxuries of life that I shamelessly enjoy, I know this will be so so so good for me. Pray for me that God strips away the spoiled-ness of my life for this one week and in so doing, that I can be poured out in service to others.