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We Thought We Knew What to Expect… We Didn’t
We left at 3 a.m.
The kind of early that feels a little bit crazy and a little bit hazy at the same time.
Half asleep, running on coffee and anticipation, we made our way to O'Hare wondering what the week would hold.
I hate to admit this, but I had expectations.
If I’m being honest, I thought I knew what Guatemala would feel like.
I didn’t.
The travel itself was smooth—almost too smooth.
TSA was surprisingly easy, the flight was calm, and when we landed in Guatemala City, we walked through customs without the chaos we had been warned about.
The family we traveled with kept saying, “This is unusual”
And I remember thinking—Okay, God… what are You doing? And also, thank you.
The First Surprise
View From our Window
We rented a van and started driving.
No traffic. Minimal stress. Just normal roads, and familiar movement. We made it to the house in under an hour. Honestly, it felt very similar to the States.
That wasn’t what I expected.
I had quietly prepared myself for something more overwhelming. Something that would immediately feel different.
But instead, I found myself looking out the window thinking,
Why does this feel so… normal? So safe?
I probably came in with some subconscious fear or assumptions, and honestly, part of me wasn’t really sure what to do with that.
A Beautiful Landing Place
You can see the volcano "burping" on a clear day from our window
When we arrived, Hilmar, the director of the ministry Senderos De Luz, came to welcome us. I'm so excited to share more about him and his ministry.
The house was stunning—peaceful, clean, spacious, and far more comfortable than I imagined it would be.
And that caught me off guard.
I think I expected something uncomfortable.
Instead, it felt like we could breathe.
Did I mention our room overlooked a volcano?
An actual volcano.
I stood there for a minute just taking it in, trying to hold the moment still. It didn’t feel real—and yet, somehow, it also felt… steady.
Everything we needed was there: clean beds, towels, even the small things that make a place feel like home.
No bugs. No stress. Just quiet (except for the dogs in the background).
And again, that thought came back: This isn’t what I expected.
A Different Kind of Reality
One of our solo walks to the grocery store
There were grocery stores less than a mile away. Clean. Familiar. Easy.
We felt safe.
We felt welcomed.
The only real barrier was language—
but even that softened quickly, because everywhere we went, people were kind.
Genuinely kind.
Ending the Day
We ended our first night meal prepping for the week
That night, we ate, we prepped, got settled, and crashed—completely exhausted from the long day, a quiet foreshadow of every day yet to come.
But exhaustion wasn’t the only thing I felt.
There was something else… something I couldn’t quite name yet.
It wasn’t just excitement.
It definitely wasn’t disappointment.
It was more like… a realization forming underneath everything:
Maybe this week isn’t going to look like what I thought.
Before falling asleep, one simple thought kept circling in my mind—
People are just people.
Different country.
Different language.
Different culture.
But still… people.
What I Didn’t Know Yet
Adela - 90 year old widow for 40 years. She sold vegetables in town as recent as two years ago.
What I didn’t realize that first night…
Was how much that simple truth would grow.
How much it would stretch me.
How much it would challenge what I thought I understood.
And how much God would use this week to change not just what I saw
—but how I see.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
— Isaiah 55:8 (ESV)
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for meeting us in the unexpected.
Help us to let go of our assumptions and stay open to what You’re doing, even when it looks different than we imagined.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
**Stay tuned for part two!**
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