It is amazing how quickly bonds can be formed in such a short amount of time when the same Heavenly Father is shared.

Jake and I spent the past week with a group from Alabama. The majority of the team was a youth group from Thomasville Baptist Church in Thomasville. I was 1 of several translators. We spent most of the week with them from the time they got here last Saturday to late last night while they did VBS at 2 of the local schools and evangelized through one of the neighborhoods.

Translating is always an exhausting job because it uses a lot of brain power and when you don’t use your brain as much,  it’s even more difficult (I knew someone would have a joke there, so I had to beat them to the punch.). However, the best part of translating is being able to help people communicate that because of a barrier cannot. We become a way to bridge the gap for them. Hmmm…kind of what Jesus did for us!!  God the Father can’t understand the words we speak unless we have invited Jesus to “translate” for us!

I love that Jake was able to experience what a week-long mission trip would be like. There is a sense of purpose and urgency that is much more evident in a week-long trip that can get easily lost in a 2 month trip. Also, he was able to connect with other kids his age and see Guatemala through their eyes. He also made connections with some of the adults. I love my boy, but he isn’t as quick to make connections as I am.

The lessons of this week went right along with the lessons the Lord has  been teaching me all summer…same Scripture references and everything! There were also a bunch of surreal moments, that I wouldn’t believe unless I hadn’t experienced them myself. The Lord was surely speaking!

As we said our goodbyes last night, I went around hugging everyone and felt as though I was saying goodbye to my family. I know the bond that is formed when I have come with groups in the past, but I knew most of them, so I didn’t expect this week to be the same since we didn’t know any of them. I guess it goes to show that when we are working together for the Lord, we are bonded by His love whether we know each other or not.

I know the friendships that were formed were genuine and I can only pray we can all see each other again, prior to Heaven!! Love and miss y’all already so very much!!!

18 days until we fly home…August 8th is coming up quickly!!!