The Countdown

The countdown begins. Actually it never really ends, only resets. The countdown starts again, usually when we are in the airport on our return to the States. Only 365 more days until we are back in Guatemala.

This past 18 months have been a blur for me. My mom broke her femur and required round the clock care, I returned to college, I started a second full time job, my heart was being temperamental resulting in a brief hospital stay and additional testing and procedures, and to top it off a chronic eye condition resulted in a surgical intervention.

My days involved trying to meet whichever deadline was looming the closest. Basically, I was putting out the fire which was the hottest at any given moment.

My semester is over, I am basically caught up on my studio work, and I feel I can take a bit of a breather.

Time to refocus on things which are so dear to me.

Next week, I will be making my 17th trip to Guatemala. Looking back over the past 8 years, my being in Guatemala was not a random occurrence, although events leading up to my being there may have appeared random at best. My family and my friends are meant to be there, up on the mountain.

There are many things I am looking forward to. Being picked up at the airport by our good friend Sergio, passing now familiar sights on our drive to Antigua, tending to mission details and of course spending time

with our friends there who have become like family.

I cannot wait to see the volcanoes when I wake up each morning, and smell the smoke of the wood fires used for cooking. I cannot wait to see how much the children have grown since I have last seen them. There are new babies to meet, and tears to shed for those who have left us since last summer. It is not uncommon for my heart to be full and heartbroken in the span of any given day.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we try to be the hands and the feet of Christ in Guatemala. Let our

love for them be evident, and his love shine through us.