We Made It-Guatemala City

Hi All!

Greetings from Guatemala City, Guatemala!  Although this blog is mostly dedicated to mommy "things" I thought I would use it as my platform to share the journey of my first mission trip.

Yesterday was a whirlwind day that started at 3:15 AM.  I could probably say that it started earlier than that because I didn't really sleep much that night.You know how the mind races.  

"Did I pack my toothbrush, my camera, enough underwear and socks? Did I pack too much?  Too little?  Did I get everything set up for SG?  Does she have enough food for while I am gone?  Did I remind Husband about emergency numbers and contacts (as if he doesn't already know these)?  Did I remember to pack my passport?  Wait....hold on, yes I did.  Wait, maybe I should check again...just in case."  

That was basically the dialogue I had with myself the night before.  Speaking of which, that didn't go exactly as planned.  As you know making the decision to come on this trip was very difficult for me.  `````` was very hard to decide to leave SG for so long.  I had imagine that the night before my trip SG and I would spend lots and lots of time together.  I imagined that she would fall asleep in my arms as I fed her the last bottle for the night.  Um no, that is not what happened at all.  Looking back I know God planned it that way.  As with any long term trip I was SWAMPED before I left.  I had tons of work to wrap up in addition to photography business, personal business and SG business.  My daughter, ths lil spunky thing that she is, decided we didn't need a sappy goodbye.  Instead during her nighttime feeding she giggled, played and wanted to just be put in her crib.  No SG snuggles.  :(  Husband and I had a "last supper" if you will to get some quality time in before I left as well (my mother in law was staying the night which allowed us to do so).  We had an amazing dinner with amazing conversation.  It was awesome!

When I came home I couldn't help myself and once again I scooped SG out of bed and rocked and snuggled her.  That's when the tears began...you know the ugly ones I had a few weeks back...those.  I sat and held her for a long time and talked to her about how much I loved her and all my wishes for her should something ever happen to me.  Oh and speaking of that, on the way home I gave Husband a long list of wishes for both of them should something happen to me.  For some reason I became very melancholy on the way home and I wanted to make sure Husband understood how much our little family meant to me.

The day started at 3:15AM. We were on the road by 4 and I arrived to the airport by 4:30 AM.  Our flight departed at 6:30 AM and by 9:30 AM we were in Mexico City for a layover.  Literally the second Husband had dropped me off I had already begun to miss my family.  This was the first time I had traveled without Husband in a long time.  It's funny because before we met I traveled alone all the time for business and never minded it and now I am so accustomed to having him with me that it just didn't feel right.  By 12 PM we had arrived in Guatemala City.

I knew I would love Guatemala City as soon as we walked out the doors of the airport.  The weather felt AMAZING...probably no more than 75 degrees.  Our group piled into our van and headed to the seminary that we would stay in for the first 3 nights.  The seminary is very basic yet has all we need (i.e. beds, blankets, towels and a light).   Simple things like having to use a community shower, not being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet, not having your own room, and more remind you that we are so very blessed at home.

Our day ended with a meeting with a group of college students by the name of GEU.  This amazing group of young adults are an organization whose mission is to minister to students in the local university.  Guatemala is a religious country, but not exactly a faithful country.  We were told that about 30% of the population claims to believe in God but less than that carry out their faith.  It was such an honor to meet this group who face a huge challenge everyday ministering to one of the toughest audiences I can think of...college students.  I was in awe of their passion, dedication and courage!

I have been taking tons of photos but will have to wait until I get home to post and share them.  Tomorrow we have a very long day ahead of us.  I am hoping to catch up soon with more updates.

Until then...