Guatemala

November first through the twelfth I was in Guatemala for a medical mission trip with Adventures in Missions (AIM). This trip was something new and something unexpected.. A truly eye opening trip. I honestly was a bit nervous heading out on this adventure and there were multiple times during the trip the nerves came back as well. This trip stretched me, it broke boundaries for me, it raised questions I hadn’t thought of before, and it truly reminded me of the important things in life. I was surrounded by monetary poverty, but was overwhelmed with the richness of love and spirit everyone possessed. The things we take for granted in the US and other major countries, weren’t even options sometimes for some of these families, but that didn’t stop them from living life to the fullest.

I want to split this trip up into different posts, because there is so much to cover and one super duper long post would be too much in my opinion. Plus then I can break it up into more detail and share more pictures and little special moments during my time there!

My overall word for my trip would definitely have to be love. There was so much love shared during my time there. Love with my fellow friends and family on the trip, love with the people we helped in the villages, random strangers we ran into on the street. Not just any type of love though either…. It was God’s love, it was Agape love. That unconditional love that expects nothing in return. So often enough in America and around we love expecting something back and if it’s not returned we get hurt and mad. The truth is though we shouldn’t expect anything back, we shouldn’t expect at all. We should just love on people and help where and when we can. At the same time we have to allow ourselves to receive love.. We can’t pour from an empty cup. Then we can’t help anyone at all. So we must allow ourselves to be loved by Jesus, by others.. Etc. so then we can share that love as well. When we love as Jesus loves and receive that love we will never be empty no matter how much we give. We will always be overflowing.

 

The next few blog posts I’m going to share will break the mission trip up so I can share more about each day and each job we helped with. Get ready for awesome pictures and incredible stories with incredible people. I am so thankful I went on this trip. There were ups and downs for me, but the ups definitely outweighed the downs, and the downs were learning experiences in themselves too. Learning to let go, to just brush something off and not get stressed out. To know there is a reason for everything and maybe some things happen a certain way so the future falls into place better. Maybe we were late for this thing for example because the people weren’t ready to receive us. Or maybe we miss our train or bus because we are safer on the next one. Just little moments like that during the trip that taught me to stop, take a deep breath and look for the silver linings because they will always be there.

 

Picture taken in Antigua, Guatemala