Coming & Going

9 hours. 540 minutes. 32,400 seconds.

In the last six weeks (42 days) we have visited four states, six cities, and slept in eight different beds. But the last 3,628,800,000 milliseconds cannot be defined by the numbers. It has been an amazing (and sometimes difficult) experience to be back in the States for this short time. Since returning from Israel on August 5th, we've been able to enjoy the food we've missed, see family members that we haven't seen in a very long time, go through the inevitable process of reverse culture shock, and prepare ourselves to again leave the United States, this time for a very different destination.

We now only have 9 hours until we board a plane bound for Guatemala City (well, Ft. Lauderdale, really - a second plane will be taking us to La Aurora). Our bags have been packed, unpacked, and repacked countless times since the beginning of August, and now we are more than ready to be in one place for more than a week at a time.

We are so grateful to everyone who has supported us in the last three months, since we first announced that we would be moving to Guatemala for most of 2014-2015. We have been absolutely blown away by the support and generosity we found in friends and family, and no words in the English language can express our gratitude. We could not be moving to Huehuetenango without your support, thoughts, and prayers. We are so excited to begin work with More Than Compassion at the School of Hope in January. Before we move up to Huehue, we will be living in Panajachel on Lake Atitlan for the three months before Christmas. The primary goals there will be to learn conversational Spanish for the upcoming year and to adjust to the culture before immersing ourselves in the orphanage. Additionally, Becca will be studying for the GRE and I will be starting research for his Master's thesis. We don't really know what to expect in the next three months (I'm hoping for a lot of mango) but we are eager to set up a second home in Guatemala and start learning about the country and culture we will be devoted to. Hopefully we will update here with what we are learning, who we are meeting, and where we are going. For now, thank you so very much for your support, and God bless you in this week!

Best,

Brooklin & Becca