If you haven't given up on my little blog yet, and you still care about what I have to say, this post is long overdue and I'm sorry! My Blogger has been messing up and I've been real busy.
Just two days after I got home from Guatemala, Mom, Dad, Parker, Meribeth, Sawyer, Emily, KJ, and I headed off to Nashville for the Summit 9 orphan conference! I had an amazing time in Nashville! It was such a time of encouragement and learning. I especially enjoyed spending time with sweet Harper Salem (Adeye Salem's little girl)! I have dreamed of meeting her since she came home from Ukraine three years ago. I'm glad to be home now, though.
Back to business-- I'm going to write one post for each of my five days in Guatemala. Day one:
I actually arrived the night before, but it was late, so I'm counting today as day one.
I got up at 5am because of the time difference and it was SO bright outside! I just wasn't tired. I lied in bed for a while and was the first one to breakfast:-). Since this was a mother/daughter trip, Village of Hope set up devotionals every morning for the moms and daughters. Since I didn't have my mom, Addisyn Block (Amy’s oldest daughter) stepped in as my mommy for the week! So we did devos together every morning. It was a really good time to get to talk to someone so similar to me. Sure she lives in another country, but our hearts are cut from the same cloth.
After devos we all took a tour of Village of Hope (VOH). There are two families that live at VOH, the Blocks and the Uchereks. We got to hear both of their stories and I just got blown away by God's sovereignty.
Everyone on the mother/daughter team was asked to bring shoes, and shoes we did bring!! Together we brought over 400 pairs of shoes!! Thank you to everyone who donated those shoes!! Day one we had to sort all of them into sizes and gender. Then we had to tie the pairs together to keep them together. We did that until lunch. Meanwhile I was loving getting to know all of the lovely ladies that were on the trip. I just love getting to meet new people, and there were not two families from the same state! We had a pretty good sampling of the nation at that little village in Guatemala:-).
After lunch we started on some more projects. Since it was a group of only girls, we got to do some really fun decorating stuff. We painted all kinds of wall decor for the boys' and girls' rooms. All the while we were all dreaming of the kids that will look over at their wall and see our handwriting, or our paint job. It was truly a blessing. Those projects carried on throughout the week.
A few hours later we packed up and went to the local market in San Lucas. I got to try lots of traditional Guatemalan foods and see the Mayan women in their traditional clothing. I loved every minute! It was just so cool. I love experiencing other cultures. I am so blessed to be only 15 and have experienced many different cultures.
We returned from the market and went back to our decor projects. I got to tell our family's story many times throughout the week. We had a lot of good talks while making bracelets or tediously cutting out letters. I got to talk to one mom on the trip who's sister went to Heaven when she was my age, also. I always love it when I can meet someone who has gone through the same thing. You just can't say you understand unless it's happened to you. I don't wish losing your sister on anyone, but its just hard to truly relate if it’s never happened to you. It's just nice to talk to someone who DOES get it. She's been there. I was grateful.
We had dinner and then some free time. I hung out with some of the other girls and then went out to play soccer. Some Guatemalan teenagers came over for dinner and then to play soccer. I am no good at soccer (or any sport, really:-)), but I wanted to hang out with everyone, so I played. It was so funny to have us talk in English and they're asking Kallan and Addy (the Block’s older kids) what we're saying, and then they talk and we're asking the same questions! Lots of laughs through the language barrier:-).
Every night the team gathered together to have a group devo. Each night was a different leader. It truly was a special time to share and learn from each other. I was so tired, so after devo I went straight to bed. Addy, Maya, and Aleigha Block were so sweet to share their room with me! I said goodnight and was asleep before my head could hit the pillow!
To be continued......
