R & R at Lake Atitlan

"He wraps himself in light..." The psalmist must have experienced a morning like this as inspiration! Getting up a little early this morning allowed me the privilege of experiencing a multisensorial presentation choreographed by God himself. As I walked out to the point of land overlooking Lake Atitlan the sun was still pulling itself out from under the cover of night. Silver gray clouds hung low around the surrounding volcanic peaks while the lights of the towns and houses sparkled like diamonds sprinkled along the shore and over the slopes. A light breeze was blowing in from the east, an advance herald to the coming sun. All around was a symphony of bird voices, each calling to their own kind and anyone else who would hear to be sure all were aware another day had arrived. As the tops of the mountains gradually turned from black to red to green the valley almost imperceptibly filled with light. All the while,the only thing running through my mind was the chorus to an old hymn- "Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee. How great thou art! How great thou art!"

Since we did not have far to go today we got to push breakfast back to 9. The students like being able to sleep in, especially since a number of them had gone for a midnight swim with Mark (the orphanage has a pool). Mark also took about 25 students for a 5 mile run before breakfast so they are still getting some exercise. We had a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, refried beans, ham and plantains at the orphanage, and then headed down to Panahachel on the shores of Lake Atitlan.

After parking the buses at the hotel we will stay at tonight the group walked down to the docks and boarded a large motor launch for the trip across the lake to Santiago.  We docked at the Tiosh Abaj hotel which is where we have stayed in past years.  They cooked us up a nice lunch of hamburgers and french fries. The hotel has beautiful grounds with gardens and cool stone buildings so it was a nice relaxing stop. And it was nice to be in the shade since it was quite sunny in the morning.  By the time we headed back across the lake the clouds were gathering again.  It didn't rain, but they did reduce the heat of the sun a bit which made for a nice ride back to Panahachel.  The launch had a nice wide, flat roof the students could be on, and a good selection of music so they had fun dancing their way both ways across the lake.

We got back to the hotel around 2:30, and had our bags unloaded and distributed to our rooms by about 3:30. After that the students were given free time for the rest of the afternoon to swim in the pool or shop in the market (a 3-block walk from the hotel) or just hang out and enjoy the ambiance.  We are looking forward to dinner at 6:30 or so, and then another evening of worship and team sharing.  Last night's was very powerful so hopefully tonight's will be as well.

Our Word for today comes from Philippians 4:12-13. "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Our prayer is that all of the team members, having experienced all of these extremes over the course of this trip, will more readily see God's hand and provision in all their circumstances.

Tomorrow we will head to Antigua where we will have a free day in town.  We will have at least one bus go early so we can get to our hotel in time to see the US play in the World Cup. We will vote tonight to see if some buses will go later or if we will all go early.  We will stay in Antigua tomorrow night and then get up early Friday to get to the airport.  Prayer requests for tonight and tomorrow include open hearts for sharing and a continued appreciation of the fact that we are here as missionaries rather than tourists.  Talk to you tomorrow from Antigua!