I spent a week in the Guatemala City area with a group of 24 "Girlfriends on Assignment" from our home church, Petra Christian Fellowship, New Holland, PA! We had a wonderful week, working with Orphan Resources International. They are an awesome organization, reaching out to almost 50 private orphanages in Guatemala.

We spent most of our time at "Amor del Niño" (Love the Child), a children's home established by some friends of ours who arrived in Guatemala just 3 months before we did, 13 years ago. We did a variety of projects -- washing windows (and all the iron bars that cover them!), cleaning cribs (literally turned the cribs upside down to be sure we had removed all the dried gunky formula), sewed crib sheets, painted, and, of course, loved on the babies. This home receives a record amount of babies (they had 13 that couldn't sit by themselves yet). I fell in love with a stiff little one -- and I love to cuddle, so how did that happen?

She was such a honey -- when I wasn't washing windows or painting, I was with her. Well, I did hold a few others... there was the teeny, tiny three-week-old who wanted to sleep her life away ... we woke her up (by removing her layers, of course) and I managed to get a whole ounce of formula into her by tickling her cheek almost constantly. And one little boy I held alot -- he was the opposite. It pains me to see that bottle propped up to him in the bassinet, so I'd pick him up and he'd drain the thing... don't know how often that happened.
And, like I said, we cleaned windows... and the iron bars that everyone in Guatemala puts on them for security reasons. Those things are a bit of a pain to clean, to say the least! And this house had tall windows.

I call this my 'Brenda ladder'. The ladders were occupied, but I just had a small section of window to clean up at the top yet. I was determined to finish it and I didn't want to wait for a ladder. So I climbed the bars and held myself there while cleaning. It was toward the end of the day, and if I had trained by doing regular pull-ups with one hand, I would have been fine. But that was not the case, and I was getting weaker. Brenda noticed that my backside was just about shoulder level for her, so she came and gave me the best seat that I ever cleaned windows from! It was actually comfortable --- for me!!!

On tourist day, we went to Antigua -- I love Antigua. Cobblestone streets, ornate churches, lovely weather... and beautiful wooden doors everywhere!
And, did I mention the McDonald's with the most beautiful courtyard? We didn't eat their food, mind you, we just took pictures in the courtyard!

Here I am with girlfriends Bethany, Maria, and Sharon. The totally best part of the whole trip was connecting more closely with the 'Girlfriends' from Petra. They all gave so much to be part of the team -- I just tagged along from 'next door'. I may never again see little Ester, Kimberly, or Mynor (May the Father's face shine on you and fulfill your every need!), but I am SO looking forward to being with some of my 'Girlfriends' again when we are in PA! Thanks Ladies for allowing be to be one of you!