iBienvenidos a Guatemala!

The smells of gasoline and fried food fill the air.
Honking, whistling, and the throttles of motorcycles flood my eardrums.
Vibrant colors and stone roads as far as the eye can see.

iBienvenidos a Guatemala! (Welcome to Guatemala!)
It’s so hard to believe that we’ve been here for one week already! Guatemala is an absolutely beautiful country and I’m so blessed that we get to spend 5 more weeks here.

My team is working with a ministry called Hope, and throughout the week, we do a variety of activities: house visits, worship, VBS, music class, Beauty for Ashes (women’s ministry), and soccer! The kids are absolutely precious and our love for them and their love for us transcends all language barriers. Whether they’re using us as personal jungle-gyms or sitting in our laps during a lesson, it’s so evident that they appreciate any attention we can give them.

During one house visit, the mother was telling us about two of her childrens’ health concerns. The daughter has been having stomach issues for over 2 weeks and the son may possibly have parasites. While she was talking, the youngest son came over to me and another one of my teammates and started to roll marbles on the ground towards us. We flicked them back and forth and he got quite the kick out of it. Despite his and his family’s circumstances, he still had the brightest smile and found so much joy in a small colored glass ball.

His joy reminded me of Psalm 146:1-2, “Hallelujah! My soul, praise the Lord all my life; I will sing to my God as long as I live.” The phrase, “praise the Lord all my life”, isn’t just talking about the duration of our lives. Yes, we want to praise the Lord for however many years we get on this earth, but it’s also talking about our day-to-day lives. “All of my life”, refers to every aspect. Every day, every event, every trial, every victory. Throughout everything, for all of my life, I want to praise the Lord. Praise to Him because even amidst difficulty, joy can be found. Even in the little things, even something as small as a marble.