It has not been fun and it has been by no means an easy journey, but it's also been beautiful to see how He provides in every situation.
First of all, change has always been hard on me.
By nature, I'm an introverted homebody and it's been an adventure of accepting that over the 20 years of my existence. In a culture that values 'DO!' I've always been one to 'feel' or 'think' instead.
So first I just marvel at how God brought me to Guatemala and has allowed me to feel so at home and at peace here from day one. {Sure, we all have our moments of missing specific things about home. Some it's boyfriends, families, or certain types of food. I cringe when I see people walking their dogs because I miss mine an awful lot some days. But overall, I have been incredibly at peace and level-headed about all of this journey thus far and looking forward.}
This week, the J-term / interim / 3-week group is leaving, and it's not easy to see them go. Having extra familiar faces at language school and adventure-buddies on weekends and escorts from homes to tuk tuks at night and people to joke with and bond with was invaluable, so there's another change for you.
Then, this week is moving week. If change in general is hard, imagine packing up once you've started to feel at home in a new place in order to move to yet another new place with more people in less space. At first I was really worried about the move, but after talking to Paul (he's our coordinator down here) I'm feeling pretty good.
I also start volunteering mid-next week (EEK!), which I could not be more excited about. I was really wrestling with weather or not to help out at Hermano Pedro, but the emotional toll that it would have entailed would not have been fun. As much as I love people and am excited to be a future Social Worker, working with people of all ages with all ranges of cognitive disabilities in varying stages of life, death, and coherency who have been abandoned by their families was going to be hard. No matter how you roll the dice, my heart would have hurt in ways that it may not be strong enough to handle right now.
Instead, I'm going to be volunteering 8 hours a week at Semillas de Amor, which is about a 30-45 minute ride from Antigua. I'll be helping kiddos with their English homework, having them read with me, and getting some quality snuggles with the therapy dogs on the property. Although it's a fairly large time commitment, I am so beyond excited and I can't wait to see how God is at work there.
Basically, I've had no choice but to acknowledge that God is calming my heart and directing my path.