Reluctant Recruit

The adventure for this decade of life began in Guatemala. I reluctantly went along on a mission trip with a group from the church in my old hometown…where I grew up and where my sister still attends.

At the time, I was struggling with the emptiness of my “empty nest” as well as a few other things and, even though I’d been praying for purpose and passion in my life, I wasn’t actively seeking either. It was easier to ask God questions about direction than to go out of my comfort zone to look for it. As the trip drew near, I felt like my cousin’s little girl who, when told to apologize for saying “no” responded, “I wanted to say ‘no’; I’m sorry for saying YES!” But I had said "Yes,"so I went along out of obligation.

Casa de Cocos...our home while in Guatamala

We traveled to the small town of Monjas, Jalapa in southeastern Guatemala and partnered with a nonprofit organization working with ENRO  (Escuela Normal Regional de Oriente), a boarding school that makes 9th-12th grade education possible for kids from all over the eastern region of Guatemala who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend high school.

Our projects consisted of painting 4 girls' dormitories and donating a couple of goats to start a sustainable goat project.

I'm grateful to the amazing group of people who shared with me not only this beautiful adventure, but also their friendship, their hearts, and very importantly...their hundreds of photos which make possible the first few posts of this blog!