We made it!

Everything went well today, and we're here at the children's home. It's nice to be in the land that needs no air conditioning! It's great to see all of the kids again- and have them laugh at us because we don't speak Spanish, but we'll be working on that starting on Monday.

It has been a pretty long day- we didn't finish packing until late last night (nearly midnight). We had a little excitement, though, to give us a diversion from packing. Missy, the red-tongued dog, found a 5' rattlesnake in the yard around 10 pm. She started barking, so we went outside and I had to hop a couple of fences to get to it, but I killed it- with a little help from my dad. I couldn't be there for nearly a month and not kill one...

Anyway, we finished packing and then got up to go to the airport at 3:30 am. My parents got up early with us and took us to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye to them- we got pretty used to seeing them the last few weeks. But we were also excited to get to Guatemala. All of our bags met the weight restrictions- one was exactly 50.0 lbs! We flew from Midland to Houston on an iddy biddy plane which was definitely not built for people my size. But it was a nice flight.

When we were in the airport in Houston, we got a nice surprise during our layover. Kara looked at the gate right across from us and saw David Depew, the president of our mission organization. He was catching a flight to Nicaragua just a few minutes before our flight to Guatemala, so that was a fun surprise to get to see him.

When we got to the airport in Guatemala, Wendy (one of the other missionaries here) was there to meet us. It was kind of a crazy scene, with a crowd of people around us with whom we can't communicate. Thank the Lord for Wendy! She brought us back to NLCH (after a stop at Pollo Campero for lunch- yum), where we got to see these wonderful kids again and even got to have a tour of what will be our apartment when construction is finished. It's really nice...

It's great to be back here. We've been talking about it for so long, and now it's finally happened. Now we just pray that this whole experience can be all that the Lord desires it to be for us.

Happy Birthday, Krista!

My sister, Krista, is celebrating her 32nd birthday today (I hope that you don't mind me putting your age on here -- what else are little sisters for?!). I am so blessed that we have always had a very close relationship. She is a Godly woman who has provided me with a wonderful example of a great wife and mother (she has three children under the age of five!). Krista, I love you very much and I hope that you have a wonderful birthday today!

Today is the Day!!!

It is now after 1 am and we leave for the airport in less than 3 hours ... I can't sleep. I am sitting here reflecting on what this day means. I thought that I might feel sad or scared when this day arrived. Surprisingly though, I am very happy and excited.

Since this adventure already seems like it has been a long time in the making, I thought I could use a reminder of why we are going to Guatemala. I started reading some of the entries in my prayer journal (which I must admit, I am not too consistent in keeping). I want to share an excerpt of one of my first entries about Guatemala. It was on December 1, 2005: "I feel that I am at a crossroad and this is an extremely important time in the course of my life. Do I really believe in you, Lord? Do I trust you? Do I believe that there is more to you than I know right now? Will I follow you even if what you are asking me to do doesn't make a lot of sense? I could be happy and content working, raising children, believing in you, reading my Bible and attending church. I could be content with a mediocre relationship with you -- but could it be that there is something so much greater that you desire and offer? What would it be like to step out and fully trust you, Lord -- to see who you really are, to fully devote two years to you not really knowing why or what you plan to do, to fully trust you when others think that we are crazy, when we think that we are crazy, when the many doubts set in? How can we be sure that it is you leading? -- and yet, we continually end up back at this point where somehow we know that for some reason this is right for us. May you give us the courage to face what lies ahead. We desire you, Lord. Your way is not always easy but we want to follow it. We want to take the chance to experience and search for what could be -- to dare to think that you really do offer more than I so easily settle for."

Thank you for accompanying us on this journey! May you experience more of God today than you thought possible.

I hope to post again later today ... from Guatemala!

Packing... and Re-Packing

It is extremely hard to pack everything that you want for two years in two suitcases that cannot weigh over 50 pounds. I was very proud of myself when I was able to condense things enough to fit in my two duffle bags (of course they were bursting at the seams!). Then, Daniel weighed them and much to my dismay, I learned that my first bag was 15 pounds overweight and my second was 19 pounds over. I was close to tears – Daniel, seeing this, offered to put some of my things into his bags. He should win some kind of great husband award for that! I also eliminated several things that I decided I could surely live without and now we have four bags that meet the airline weight limitations. Hopefully, the airport baggage scale is the same as our bathroom scale!

Support Update

We just got a new report, and we're now at 79.09% of our fundraising goal...

More Campmeeting Pictures

Our nephew, Jack. This was the coldest & wettest campmeeting I can remember. It rained every day and the temperature was in the 60's a lot. It made for some happy ranchers.


Our neices, Brooklin (5), and Hannah (8).


Kara's dad looks pretty natural in his hat & boots.


Me, Adam, and my dad.

Campmeeting 06

We returned last night from our annual trip to Bloys Campmeeting in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. There aren't many places in the world I enjoy being more than I enjoy being there. My family has been going since my great-grandparents went in a covered wagon in the early 1900's. You can read more about the history of the campmeeting here.

The days at campmeeting are filled with worship, beef, and lots of sitting on porches. (Sounds like glory to me.) It's special because it's a place where my family and others have gone for 5 generations now to reconnect with the Lord and with friends. This year was really meaningful to us since we know we're heading to Guatemala this week and that we may not get to be there again for a while.

So it meant a lot that we could be there, sing some of the same great old hymns that my great-grandparents sang there nearly a century ago, hear some good preaching, and visit with family and friends. I loved getting to see my brother, Adam, and his family. It was especially fun getting to know his baby boy, Jack, who just celebrated his first birthday last Friday.

This year also meant a lot because Kara's parents came for the first time. They flew into Midland on Friday evening, so we were able to spend four days together at the ranch before going to campmeeting. On their first morning at the ranch, they were welcomed to West Texas by a 6 ft. rattlesnake that my dad killed right outside the house. I think that they enjoyed their time here, especially at campmeeting. I know that we enjoyed having them there with us.

The night before Kara's parents left we had a special time of prayer with them and my mom in the prayer chapel at campmeeting. I can't imagine doing what we're about to do without the support of Christian parents. They certainly don't want to see us go, but they absolutely want God's will for us. Hearing our parents pray for God's blessing on us during our time in Guatemala will be a memory that we carry with us while we're there.