Guatemala 2009

Yesterday’s travel went surprisingly smoothly. But I was reminded what a job it is to travel internationally. Coming home through immigration and customs was a little nerve-wracking. It’s not that I was trying to transport anything illegal… it’s just that I have to sign forms and promise that I’m on the up-an-up, and I can’t help but wonder if I’m forgetting something that will get me into trouble.
“Am I bringing food items? Does that mean the granola bar in my purse? Or can I just answer ‘no’ to that in good conscience?”
For some reason, on this whole trip, I kept getting pulled aside to have my things and my person checked and double-checked. It was probably just routine, random checks, but I started to get a little worried that perhaps I exuded a suspicious air.
So, when we landed in Chicago and we were all clear and heading to our vehicles, I was happy and relieved and ready to make the final trek home.
Most of our team arrived in Chicago shortly after 2 pm, but several had to wait and take a later flight from Houston to Chicago later in the afternoon. I haven’t yet spoken to folks on that second group, but I did see a few of them in church, so I trust they all made it home safe and sound.

It took our little group of 5 longer than it should to drive home from Chicago, thanks to several “necessary” stops along the way. But we finally made it and were so glad to see family again. The children were beaming from ear to ear and wanted lots of hugs from their mama who’s been gone for over a week.
Since I can only write from my own experience, I want to encourage the other team members to either post here in the comments section, or to e-mail me their thoughts for posting on the blog. I’ll also try to communicate with Dave Keithley and see if we can post a health update on him here.

Yesterday evening my children and I shared some stories and showed some of our treasures, but then finally Laura, Isaac and I dragged ourselves off to bed for a sound sleep. Thanks to getting home at a reasonable hour, we were able to sleep well and get up in time for church this morning.
This afternoon I took yet another nap, and when I awoke, I had to lay quietly for a few moments trying to figure out where I was. A motel? Solola? home? Finally I heard the children’s voices and woke up enough to remember that I’m home.
My world now has no Spanish speakers in it. I’m eager to walk down to the street to our Hispanic neighbors and try to speak Spanish to them. I want to ask them to help me continue learning. My heart and my world has again been stirred with a passion to communicate with the Spanish-speakers around us.  I’m eager to see what God has next for me.