It has been over a week since our return from Guatemala and I am still having a difficult time answering the simple question, “how was your trip?” I struggle with the answer because I am not sure if people want the quick response, “great,” or are they prepared for what I really want to share. Do I tell people it was a hard trip for me emotionally, that I learned some things about myself that I am not proud of? Do I tell people that each time I go on a mission trip my heart breaks a little more and I struggle with coming back to the United States? Or, do I share the part about how I saw God move in amazing ways and how I saw miracles happen in my life and those around me. Do I tell people what it was like having so much anxiety before I left that I started to question that God would help me overcome it, but He did and I am embarrassed that my faith wavered a little? Do I tell people how the Devil uses these missions to find loopholes in the marriages of those that came on mission with us? Or do I share how over the years we have been able to see God working to build up a healthy church and community in Guatemala and this trip we got to see how far they've come and the great work they are doing? Do I tell people about the village that came together to help re-build a home of someone that is non believer and how they have become a source of encouragement for the broken people in their village. Do I tell people about serving in the Senior Center and how moved I was by the women that ran the home and her selflessness? Or do I tell people that there is brokenness everywhere, not just in poverty and not just in third world nations? Do I tell people that what I witness while I am serving is a faith that I pray for daily? Do I tell people of the kindness and generosity or our partners in Guatemala? Or do I tell them, how each time I go on mission with my husband that our marriage strengthens and I fall more in love with him than I ever could have imagined? Do I tell them, that the first time I went on a mission trip I wanted to fix all that did not work in our host country and how much I thought they needed, but now I realized they are rich in faith and blessings and I live in spiritual poverty? My list of questions is endless, which is why, so much of the time my answer is simply “great!” God is so great and I am so blessed that he continues working in me, showing me, and molding me into the servant that he wants me to be!
