"God kind of has a sick sense of humor, doesn't He?"

I made it! I am writing to you from Guatemala, with many apologies for not updating sooner. (Believe me, my mom reminds me daily)

I’ve been here for almost three weeks now! I bought my ticket and came two days later, after learning that my mom needed surgery. I spent my first few days visiting her in the hospital and being insanely car sick every time I went anywhere with my Dad. After a few days my mom was able to come home with us! Since she wasn’t allowed to move much or go anywhere, it was a good excuse for us to spend a week laying around, watching movies, and reading books together!

As of now, I am in my second week of language school! It’s a great school and I can already understand a lot more Spanish than when I first got here! But there’s definitely those times when I am sure I’ll never get it. As much as I can understand, it still seems almost impossible to say what I want to say most of the time.

I am so amazed by God’s provision. Fund raising always seems to be such a long, horrifying experience – but in the end, it has been sooo rewarding to see people I don’t even know give money and prayer for my trip! The body of Christ truly amazed me! The title of this blog came out of the mouth of one of my best friends, Kristy, during one of our long distance phone calls. Two weeks before, I had gone into the doctor’s to get a mole removed and shortly after, I was told that the test results came back atypical and I needed to go to a dermatologist to make sure he could get the rest of it taken out. I don’t have any health insurance so that seemed like the end of the world for me. I called Kristy one night, crying to her about how I’d never get to Guatemala and there was no way I could pay for my doctor’s visit AND a dermatologist visit AND another lab testing.

That same night, a dermatologist from my church called me and offered to do my operation FREE OF CHARGE. “Alright, God. Sorry for not trusting. You’ve got this.”

During my meeting with Dr. Gardner, he asks how much more support I need to raise before I can leave, I tell him, and he pauses for a second – “Okay, I’ll take care of the rest of that.”

That’s when my call with Kristy comes in:
“Wait a minute, so this dermatologist appointment that was one of the reasons you couldn’t go right away is the reason you got the rest of your money?!”
“Yep.”
“…………..God kind of has a sick sense of humor, doesn’t He? …I love that about Him”

So, thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone what has given toward this trip. I have been greatly encouraged by your gifts and prayers. It has been a daily reminder for me of God’s provision.

So far, so good. I LOVE my new roommate Becky! It’s one of those friendships that you KNOW God has been preparing you for your entire life. We are so much alike in so many bizarre ways and we’ve already spent too many nights staying up way too late talking and laughing and craving big hunks of carrot cake.

God has already stretched me in some serious ways since being here. I know that these six months won’t necessarily be easy but I do know that God is doing something in me. And I trust that. So, in some ways I’m crying out for brokenness – and in so many other ways I am terrified beyond words for some of lessons God has planned for me here.

I’ll try to keep the updates coming more frequently! Please keep me in your prayers as I’m still adjusting to a new culture and language! And praise God for his provision in every aspect of this trip!

With Love,
Kimberly