Visitors!

We've been blessed to have lots of visitors this past month!  It's always great to share our lives here and introduce visitors from back home to new friends and community here.  We're sad to see them all leave, but are so honored that they made the trip! 

At the beginning of June we had a small group of family come - my mom, my cousin Jessi, my "Aunt" Patsy, my "Aunt" Linda, and Meghan.  Okay, so they're not all blood related, but they are family nonetheless. 


The group minus Megan. I didn't take any pictures so I borrowed this one - I'm sorry I don't have one with you Megan!

We spent a few days in Antigua, then we headed to Pana where we kept busy with work visits to homes and preschools, Spanish school, volunteering, and we tried to always end the day with dessert!  I was so impressed with how these women opened their hearts to the community and allowed themselves to fall in love with the people.  It was really great for me to view our life and work from a fresh perspective.  We had some great conversations about service and poverty and I felt filled with genuine fellowship.



The blood relatives

And of course we were David's greatest cheerleaders!  Someone has a video of us doing the wave in the gym, cheering and screaming for David and his team, The Mean Machines. They won both games and we take partial responsibility for that. ( :  I will be lonely this weekend cheering for David alone.

And then mid-June two of my best friends from college came to visit!  I was grateful for their bravery to tackle the journey and customs alone and arrive in a foregin country at 9pm - as one had never left the country before.  We started our journey in Guatemala City, did a quick stop in Antigua, and then spent the majority of time in Pana.  We had fun together shopping and making home-made meals in my tiny kitchen.  They came along to work with me a few times, but also set out on their own adventures with Linda, who was staying longer for Spanish school.

They were with me when I visited Rodrigo, which ended up being a very emotional day/weekend.  I was grateful for their companionship and support during the process.  They were so compassionate and wanted to do something to help.  It always helps to face pain when you're surrounded by close community (who let you cry and rant for hours).

A huge thank you to all of our visitors for coming!  We were blessed by your fellowship, support, and conversations.  Thank you for coming and allowing us to share our lives -- the beauty and the pain -- with you.  We are honored that you took the time, energy, and resources to come.  We can't thank you enough!

We are now turning our attention towards a long list of things we want to do, people we want to visit, and last-time experiences before we depart.  Reality is sinking in that we really are leaving our once-foreign-now-comfortable home.  Some days we are itching to be close to family and friends, to sit for hours in conversation and process.  Other days I'm just not sure how we'll say good-bye to our Guatemalan friends here.  We know God will provide the words and the way.  Step by step.