The Church

This year is going to be great! It has started off excellently, and I want to keep it that way. Last year was completely exhausting. As a Resident Assistant, my schedule was constant, my body was deprived of sleep and nourishment, and my emotions were exploding out of me uncontrollably. It was difficult for me to have a social life outside of Smadams (my Resident Hall), and that prevented me from spending time with my dear friends.

Already, in this first week of school, God has blessed me with the time and energy to catch up with my very dear friends that I missed excruciatingly last year. My heart is happy, and my face is smiling!

I love friends!
God knows that we need friends.
He knows that we need people.
He created the Church because we NEED the Church.
And my friends are definitely my Church.

Thank You, God, for providing for my needs.

Welcome Week

This week I have been crazy busy with Welcome Week. ACU is unique regarding Freshmen. While most universities abuse the freshmen, the upper class men at ACU serve and love the new students. All week I have led these excited little critters all over campus and all over Abilene. We have had great discussions, we've played mafia, we've praised, we've scavenger hunted, we've run around with dead minnows. Their exhilaration is contagious, and I am so excited for this upcoming year! It will be a good one! And it is my last one as an undergraduate- wow!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy Jig

After just a few hours of sleep, a missed flight, a comfort-cup of icecream, and a long day in airports, Jana and I made it home! It is so nice to be picked up on time by people you love so dearly! I'm glad to be back home, but I will definitely miss Guatemala.

Things that I will miss about Guatemala:

1. Leche Chai from Cafe Portal, served by our friend Carlos.

2. My babies at the hospital. Oh, I love them so much!

3. Magaly, my patient teacher whom I love.

4. A great exchange rate (7.7 Quetzales for every dollar)

5. Mountains and volcanoes all around

6. Reading in Central Park

Things that I love about home:

1. Bathrooms- soft toilet paper, automatic bathrooms, being able to throw tp in the toilet

2. Fitting into the crowd (and not being the only red head in a country of dark skin, dark hair people)

3. English- I can understand what people are saying!

4. Guys opening doors for you, and not just staring or saying crude things

5. My Chi hair straightener

6. The Texas skies

A Beautiful Gift from God

On Wednesday night, right after dinner, our family beckoned us all to the roof of the house to see Volcan Fuego erupt! It was amazing! Never, not even once, did I ever believe that I would get to see such a sight as lava exploding from a volcano! There is no way to express the awe I felt. How can someone put into words such a thrilling performance?
“We were created to love beauty. We love beauty because God loves beauty.” (Ted Dekker, author of Black) God’s beauty is endless. The beauty of the volcano was like nothing I’ve ever seen or experienced before. It was such a gift! It was “something that brought pleasure, like all of God’s gifts.” (Ted Dekker) I’m so blessed! I’m blessed, not just to have seen the eruption, but to be a daughter of such a beautiful, loving, and giving God.

Thank you, Jordan, for these great pictures!

The Kingdom of Heaven Belongs to Such as These

We’ve been volunteering to work with the patients at a Catholic Hospital. This hospital is run solely on donations (mostly from the US and Europe); and it is different than a typical hospital- it is not a place for the ill to get better, it is a home for those with special needs.

Our time there is trying on the body and spirit. Our first day we were asked to go play with the children… but they’re all in wheel chairs. They don’t speak, they don’t understand, they’re fragile. We spoke monologues, we sang, we touched, we fed, we shooed flies from their faces, we wheeled them around.

These children may not know what we are saying, and they may not remember who we are (if they even acknowledged our presence in the first place), but maybe we can make their life more enjoyable by loving on them. Maybe we can give them a reason to smile.

It breaks my heart to see a five-year-old the size of a 10 month old baby (his name is Melvin). It kills me to see a baby cry non-stop for no known reason (Gaspar). It hurts me to see an 8-year-old with a head bigger than his body (Jo-Jo). I hate the truth that these precious children will live their entire lives in this hospital.

But, as much as it hurts to play with these kids, it is worth it! I am so blessed to be with such innocence. I am so grateful to have such extraordinary children to love. Thank You, God, for giving life to these children. Thank You for providing wonderful nurses to care for them so lovingly. And thank You for promising these precious ones a wonderful life in Heaven with You.

El Lago Atitlan

Last weekend we traveled to El Lago Atitlan. This is a lake that is known for its beauty, and goodness, I can see why. We rode for nearly three hours on the windiest, bumpiest road imaginable, and boy did we feel sick! It was terribly nauseating! But, we made it to the lake, and it was gorgeous!

Right next to the lake is the city Panajel, which was filled with more tourists than Antigua (surprising, I know). All along the side of the road were marketplace booths. We were bombarded with Guatemalans trying to sell us their treasures.