First Day

Today was my first full day in Guatemala, and boy it didn't disappoint. I woke up this morning to the birds chirping and the sun shining on my face, with a few hours to kill before I had to be downstairs to meet the kiddos. I got up, got ready, made myself some breakfast, then I had time to just sit and ready myself physically, mentally, and spiritually for the day. I started out my day watching a sermon entitled "Discerning the Will of God". Every single word in that sermon was a word that I needed to hear. The pastor read from Romans 12:1 which says "Therefore brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship." This verse is a powerful verse urging me on how I should be living as a follower of Christ, but one main point that stuck out to me the most. It was focused on the phrase "a living sacrifice", he said "if He, dies sacrificing for you, then you can live sacrificing for Him" and let me tell you that was like a punch in the neck. I have always heard that verse and heard people talk about being a living sacrifice for Him, but never in those words. Sometimes we hear things said the same way or the 'nicer' way and they never really go past just words coming out of someone's mouth, but sometimes you need someone to be real with you and to not sugar coat the words you need to hear. As I go through this journey, my prayer is that I will be that living sacrifice for these people that Jesus was so desperately for us. Then my day started full swing, I got to the feeding center and began helping the teachers set up for the day. Shortly after the kids arrived, and I'm not gonna lie, it was very nerve racking, because of the language barrier, but in the end it was an amazing day. The teachers introduced me to the kids gave me many many hugs, and then they prayed over me. They prayed over ME...woah woah woah, I should be the one praying over them, but they took the time out of their day to pray over me. Wow. That got me good, and in that moment every bit of nervousness, or anxious feelings disappeared and I knew from then on that God is so good and there is a specific reason I am here, and a reason each of these kids are here. I then went inside with the kids and they started singing and worshiping, and let me tell you these kids sure know how to worship. I stood near the back because I didn't want to be a distraction for the kids and sitting there watching these little kids raise their arms, singing at the top of their lungs with tears streaming down their face broke me into a million pieces. I watched as the teachers went around and individually put their arm around each child and pray specifically for each one of them, as I saw these kids worshiping the Lord with a genuine understanding of what it meant to worship it touched my heart so much. Two girls in particular were standing in the back and made eye contact with me with tears rolling down their face, all I could do was embrace them with tears rolling down my face and pray for them specifically. In that moment the Lord taught me that true worship isn't just in 'grown' people who understand it, but that its a personal thing to each individual person. I have no clue what these girls were going through, but in that moment I could feel God's presence in abundance, and hey this was my FIRST day, I can only imagine what the days to come are going to look like. Then, I went out with Deidra and one of the teachers to do a couple home visits, and I got to make tortillas with one of the kid's grandmas. Let me tell you these ladies make it look so easy and they can pump out tortillas so stinkin' fast, but she was so patient with me and taught me how to make each one better. After I got done she could tell I was proud of my work, so she took one that I had made and gave it to me. I was a little hesitant to eat it at first, but she was so excited to share with me, so I took it and I ate every bite of it. It was such a good encouragement to me that even with the language barrier (because I can speak some Spanish, but not a lot at all) she was so friendly and welcoming to me and it was a reminder that just because you can't always understand someone, does not meant that you can't be a blessing to them. That was my day in a nutshell. Today was the first of many days in this beautiful country and I am looking forward to each day here on after.