Day One: The Journey

5AM came a little early for the team. We met at a Quick Trip to carpool and pray for the journey ahead of us. As we drove to the airport, we shared pleasant conversation of our present interests and the trip ahead of us. Tiredness had sapped any external excitement we had for Guatemala as we jumped through the many hoops of fire at the airport commonly known as security, but internally we were all anticipating great things to come. While the security gates were tremendously inconvenient, most of them were passed through relatively smoothly, save a rather awkward encounter Matthew had with our host. Let´s just say that they were on a first name basis after their encounter.

The plane ride itself was much less troublesome. It served us as an opportunity to get to know one another. As we began our descent into Guatemala City, I could not help but notice the wondrous beauty of the land beneath us. There was much to be learned in the landscape of Guatemala. The picture painted below us called for my attention. I laid my book aside, directing my eyes toward the picture below me as I struggled to find the words to describe the childlike excitement I felt. I simply could not communicate the wonder of my experience to my team mates sitting beside me.

There was a profound lesson for me to learn as I was a spectator of creation. In the physical realm we dwell in, we can often elevate our attention to the created rather than the creator, or the provided rather than the provider. As human beings, it is natural that we gravitate toward the tangible. The bible has a different plea however. Psalm 97:5 tells us that "The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth." The verse provokes a question: if these mountains are wondrous, how much more wondrous must the sculptor of them be? These awe-inspiring masses of land melt in the presence of their creator. The full beauty of creation is found in the pursuit of the creator. It requires a certain attention to the things of God. Today, where is your attention? The only reaction we could produce from ours was worship.

-Michael