Day 4

today is 10/21...our 4th day. it is also the day that i visited the prayer tower. when i walked in the door there was music playing. it was something extremely familiar, it was in spanish so it took me a minute to totally figure it out. it was a song by MercyMe called "I Can Only Imagine." i say that is "my" song but its just because everytime i hear it my spirit stirs. (idk if theyre the right words) then i walked upstairs to pray...what a strong beginning to the day!

Shmeil did his devo @ breakfast & it was sort of an extension to mine...surrender. it was great! we left for the worksite @ about 815am. Lisa & i worked w. the framing of the windows. we had to cut & bend more rebar because we ran out. we got 4 more done and we have 4 left until they extend the doorway frames. we wrapped up, cleaned up, & started playing futbol (soccer) w. the boys. Lisa sat & played w. the girls & smaller boys. it was soooo awesome, it kinda reminded me about the orphanage in Tijuana. sure, i will play w. the kids but its sooo hard to leave. i get so attached & i cant stand that!!

i love kids i really do...but the discipline that needs to be done is something i cant do. i know that because of how i was raised when i was little. thats my major worry, thats why i say im never having kids...im just concerned about how i'll react to certain situations.

anywayz, the ride home was good & we got ready to go out. thats when we discovered our toilet was clogged. we went out to eat & the mall to come back and find it still clogged.

*side-note* this morning John said that today is usually the day where he sees teams getting homesick & such. well, i think thats what my problem was on Day 3. i wasnt thinking about it until he said something then i started thinking about somebody i like & how i should have brought my phone so we could text. oh well, i will see him when i get home ;)*end side-note*

dinner was good, we went to the mall & it was great. just like any other mall but in spanish! we ate @ Pollo Campero (camp chicken) here it means like country chicken or hillbilly chicken...oh man it was good!! @ the mall there was a wal-mart type store. i got batteries for my speakers, V8 Splash & 2 Sobe Adrenaline drinks. my Sobe's are for tomorrow in case i lose energy ;)

one more thing before i go to bed...the devos so far have been about surrender & submission. so....that means something to me. i feel like God is showing me something or just trying to tell me to shut up & give up(me that is). He wants ALL of me, not just some of me or the part i wanna give up. surrender...totally!

-->God show me & help me do what you want<-- until l8r...peace! ~Kali

Day 3

day 3 was monday, 10/20. it was a full work day which meant i was up by 630a, breakfast @ 7a, and on the road by 8a. my devotion was after breakfast & i was nervous but it wasnt so bad. @ the site we met some new workers then we got to work...no sifting but i aligned the rebar for the windows. Lisa couldn't quite get the hang of it @ first(sleep deprivation), but that was okay because she was A LOT of help by cutting the wire i needed to tie the rebar together.

after i did two things for the windows i was feeling a lil discouraged. idk why but it hit me like a bull dozer!! i waas standing on a barrel so i didnt have to bend the rebar & i was sooo scared! i got down after i was done & i was actually crying...then i helped out w.some brick stuff & then did another thing but this time Vincente said i could pull them down (window framing)

we all got done a little late today so we couldn't spend time w. the kids like we had wanted to but we still had the next day. after we got to the compound, we cleaned up & dinner @ 6p then we were able to call home. i called but no answer, they didnt know the number i was calling from (John's cell)

that was okay though...for some reason i didnt wanna call but Scott told me i should...so i did. i know i will see them when i get home so it was all alright. one thing imma do before i leave is go into the prayer tower. its across the road from our place & its literally a tower, its so beautiful. i think tomorrow will be the day! tonight we go to the guys place for prayer...cant wait, last night was REALLY inspirational.

we went to PB's & we shared some things from the day. i was gonna say something but i couldnt because, well idk why. i figured my feeling of discouragement kept me from sharing...i wrote in my journal that it was okay because it wasnt the first time i've kept from sharing something just because i didn't feel right. i tried to justify it...y? idk but for the rest of the night i contemplated the thought of "what if?" what if i would have shared? what if somebody needed to hear what i had to say? what if sharing would have opened my heart? i guess i'll never know

stay tuned for day 4...tomorrow! ;)
~Kali

Day 2: hyper-extended

day two was a nice day. we got to sleep in, go to church, and work. the sleep in part sounded REALLY good until i woke up @ 530a and then again @ 645a. it was chilly in the morning and rainy @ night but the view is unbelievable!! there's a volcano to the right after you walk out our door. personally, its nothing like i imagined it would be.

church was different. PB preached (did he ever!) very inspirational stuff...then he asked us to step up to the front so the congregation could pray for us but also so we could pray for them (connection) & that's what happened...then we sat, they took offering & then worship. i didnt recognize any of the songs & that's okay because the songs aren't what matter.

we worked for about 3 hrs and it seemed like we made some progress. we headed back to the compound & John made me slap a cow!! yep, thats right, i was sitting shotgun & he kept edging me on...elbowing me towards the window & everything. when we finally got back, we had 1 hour until dinner. i showered, changed, & headed to my stoop to write. the scenery is beautiful & the porch is a PERFECT spot to write. dinner time arrived so Lisa & i slowly walked to the hall...everyone showed up so we went inside.

dinner was good & then we headed to the guys place for reflection time (prayer & sharing)...we sang, prayed, & God was just so powerful. we spoke about some issues that ended up covering my whole devotional for the next day. before Lisa & i left i asked if i even had to do my devo because PB pretty much covered it...he said yes & i said ok.

this trip was just so eye-opening; for my devotion i didnt have any verses. i mean i knew what i was gonna speak about but i just didnt have any scriptural back up & i started journaling today & the first verse that was on the page as the PERFECT one!! alls i could say was THANK YOU JESUS!! the verse, Luke 6:38. translation, The Message. "Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back - given back with bonus and blessing." like i said...PERFECT!

that's all for day 2...day 3 will come later tonite or tomorrow...enjoy!
~Kali

Day 2: extended

ok so yesterday in my post i mentioned an event that i said would NEVER be spoken of EVER again! that event is actually quite amusing once you think about it.

at the time of this mishap i was terrified, embarrassed, upset, and frankly just plain stupified. the mishap in question is the knocking down of a wall. yes i said knocking down of a wall and yes we were there to build walls!! ;)

as i had mentioned in my previous post John had given me the task of making grooves in the wet cement of the new walls. i was working on my 1st wall and John had showed my how to execute my task he had also told me that i could use either the ladder or a stack of blocks to reach the top. i opted to use the ladder because the blocks were too unsteady for my liking.

so here's exactly what happened: i put the ladder against the wall (no problem), i rested at the 5th rung (no problem), i started to make the grooves (no problem) and then it started; i saw the ladder slowly start to move!! yes, my initial reaction was "OH MY GOSH!!"...then i dropped my tool and started to jump off of the ladder. as soon as i took one foot off of the ladder the 6^x5<> wall collapsed!! THATS RIGHT!... collapsed!

i couldnt believe what had just happened: i had just knocked down a wall that a team of about 3 men had just built in a matter of 20 minutes. it was hard work, no doubt and the fact that i just wiped it all out was a huge disappointment. as soon as it happened i could feel my heart racing, my eyes got watery and it felt like everyone was looking at me.

i looked at John and the workers as well as the members of our team, that i could see. a look of astonishment came over John's face. i told him i was sorry, he said it was okay. i looked at the forman, vincente, i said "lo siento" (im sorry) and he said "no problemo" (no problem). George was there w. his handy camera ;) and Lisa was there for a shoulder to lean on. PB laughed it off. Scott laughed...to make me laugh. Josh just looked at me and said "only you kal." John said "now we'll teach you to lay brick and you can fix the wall!" :)...we all laughed.

that's it!...that's the event that i swore wouldn't leave Guatemala. now its on the world wide web. on the plus side, John told me they could fix it in no time and they did. George took pictures but they were lost (oops!) i wont ever forget that event...needless to say, the rest of the week went on without so much drama! ;)

Day 2

our first work day was saturday...10/18...i woke up @ about 630am because breakfast was @ 7am...they made breakfast for us @ the compound.

(^the Prayer Tower across the "street" from our Bungalow^)

we left the compound @ about 815am and made the journey to the worksite, which i must say was rather rough. the roads weren't really paved and we had to put the 4Runner into 4-Wheel drive. i totally thought that was kool, it felt like i was in a side car of a quad. we couldn't make it up the hill because it was all mud and so we had to walk but that was okay...we were there!! we were in Guatemala and still none of us could believe it!! as soon as John made his way up to the school we learned what it was we would be doing throughout the week and we started straight away

our first task, as a group, was to extend the rebar towers that already existed. cutting wire and twisting wire consumed most of the day. after we were finished John gave me the job of making grooves in the wet concrete of the new walls. midway through my first wall something happened that will not be spoken of EVER again! not even here.

after i was dismissed from my station, Lisa & i were shown how to sift sand - we had to sift so they could use the dirt to mix w. the concrete in order to make mortar...every little thing adds up to make something big!...the sifting of sand was a bit tedious, it hurt my shoulder and i kinda couldn't take too much of it. Lisa & i went back upstairs to find out what else we could do, John said we could continue to make grooves because outside of sifting sand & grooves there was really nothing else for us to do

we opted to do the grooves and finished out our day, in the rain, @ about 5pm...man did i get burnt but guess what...we didnt see a single ray of sun!?!? we got back to the compound @ about 6pm, dinner was @ 7pm and after dinner we went to the guys bungalow to watch the Rays vs. Red Sox game by the 4th inning i was dozing off and TOTALLY ready for bed! we left and went back to our place...i was laying in bed reading my Bible and i dozed off w. it on my stomach...i woke up, put it on my desk, turned my light of, my music on and CRASHED!

there it is...day two of my Guatemala experience. day three comes tomorrow...hope ur ready! ;)

~Kali