My first day waking up in Guatemala, I was kind of unsure where I was and it took me a minute to register. I looked around our room and there were 10 or so bunk beds all full of people. I made my way to the bathroom where there were 4 showers, 2 toilets and 2 sinks. There were roughly 20 girls in the room and I thought that this would all be very interesting. I wonder how quickly our Christian attitudes would last. It was only 5:30 but I was determined to find my niche in the orphanage so I went down to the kitchen and muttered something in Spanglish and just kind of pointed, smiled, and nodded- hoping they would get my gist that I wanted to help them make breakfast. That morning marked the beginning of many quizzical looks. I was told "no gracias, manana" and feeling slightly rejected I went outside to take in the beautiful orphanage with the mountains in the background. I found a boy outside sitting on a bench and decided to try to ask him where the baby house was so I said " Donde{then made a rocking baby motion} casa?" That was followed by yet another quizzical stare and a "huh?", so I changed nothing and merely repeated the same broken spanish and gestures and he finally got the idea and pointed me down the hill to the very last house.
It was still early and I felt pretty darn good about working with the babies. I've done the nursery at church for years, my sisters had babies- it was sure to be a good fit. When I got in there the ladies of the house were having devotional time which was incredibly satisfying to see that they were taking care of their walk before they could possibly take care of the needs of the children. God was truly giving them strength each day. Once 6:30 hit, it was all hands on deck, grab a kid, grab a diaper and go. Each night as the team would recap the day- a babies poop was somehow always mentioned. We all decided that the poop in Guatemala was by far the worst poop we've ever seen. So that day I cleaned poop off of feet, on ears, behind knees, etc. After changing enough diapers, I was content to just hold a little girl named Katarine. A bit of a fusser but I felt confident. After a while I decided to put her down, and judging from her size I figured she could stand or walk around. Wrong. As soon as I put her down on her feet, the poor girl flopped to the hard floor. I'm sure the poor child got whip-lash twice as she fell face first and then her face bounced yet again. As I picked her up and wiped her bloody nose and tried to console her (while also looking around the room for someone to console me!), I acknowledged that babies may not be a strength after all. A couple hours later I finally left and told myself that I had paid my dues in the baby house and I released myself from the need to go back. The next couple times I'd pass by, I still got a little anxious and shook a bit.
We were all really excited for our first day of work, including our first day of activity time with the kids. The first group that came after lunch was the younger kids. They would file in the dining hall and grab a lap and allow you to tickle, kiss, throw, etc them. With the older kids, we made bracelets with string and beads. They were surprisingly very enthusiastic about it and each would try to take with them at least 3 bracelets. One older boy asked me to tie one of his bracelets on his wrist, but when I went to pick it up some of the beads came off. The boy looked at me with the saddest face so quickly and very apologeticaly I told him " los dios, los dios"- It was a proud moment for me as I complimented myself for remembering what I'm sorry was in Spanish. The boy gave me a quizzical look and I didn't learn until MUCH later that instead of apologizing I was saying "the gods, the gods". I'm not even sure how often I used that little saying but looking back, I can see why curious stares seemed to follow me wherever I went.
Later that night we recapped with the team, talking about great moments that happened that day- I didn't share haha:)I can share now though because I know that those awkward moments are moments where God is stretching you- getting you out of your comfort zone and in to places where you never dreamed you'd be. What good would it be to leave your home and everything you know only to go to another country and not be stretched, not be challenged, and not be moved?
"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong". 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
