AUTHOR JANET W. FERGUSON
  • Home
  • Novels
  • About Janet
  • Blog: Under the Southern Sun
  • Contact Janet
  • For Book Clubs
  • Press Kit
  • Get a Free Novella

Blog: Under the Southern Sun

Southerners Traveling South/Guatemala

7/22/2015

4 Comments

 
Picture
So I couldn’t journal—couldn’t write, couldn’t take notes. Nothing. For three years I’ve been interviewing friends and relatives about mission trips to Guatemala and Honduras. My first two manuscripts have characters who visit those countries. Then, kind of out of the blue, our youth group was actually going. My son said it was “okay” if I chaperoned, and of course, I jumped at the chance.

But, once I got there, my writer brain shut off. Meanwhile, the teens and everyone else journaled every day … just like the youth minister asked. All I could do was read the provided devotion and the book of Romans, for whatever reason. I sat around with a goofy grin, played with some adorable children, and watched our group of young people interact with the community.

Maybe that’s what I was there for, since I write or edit or critique all day every day? God wanted me to just be there, eyes open, heart open.

I saw mountains, tropical flowers, big beautiful brown eyes, tanned smiling faces. I found hugs, good food, prayers, and love that surpassed language barriers. My heart ripped in two for an elderly woman with a broken hip sitting in a plastic chair being cared for at home by her two sons, for an orphanage full of adorable children so excited to see Americans they crowded at the fence cheering as we drove up, for special needs children cuddled in the arms of our teens, for a mother on her knees praying thanks to God over and over for the food our kids delivered to her family. I felt pride as our chaperones and sons and daughters worked alongside the Guatemalan men to construct a cook shed. I admired the great faith and spirit of the Guatemalan women.

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Inside, my mind collected emotions and praises for blessings, both physical and spiritual. Really, I’d already heard about all these kind of experiences from the people I interviewed about their mission trips. I’d already written about it from their descriptions. So, way down south of Mississippi, I lived in the moment—me, God, and Guatemala.  

Have you had an experience like this? A mission trip or service trip? A place that captured your heart?
4 Comments
    Stay in the Loop!
    For News & Giveaways Click Subscribe Button!

    Under the Southern Sun

    Janet W. Ferguson
    iNSPIRATIONAL FICTION

    Writing Christian Fiction because stories have the power to change lives.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Alabama
    Anxiety
    Books
    Devotional
    Family
    Georgia
    International
    Louisiana
    Mission Trips
    Mississippi
    South Carolina
    Tennessee
    Texas
    Women Of The Bible

    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Novels
  • About Janet
  • Blog: Under the Southern Sun
  • Contact Janet
  • For Book Clubs
  • Press Kit
  • Get a Free Novella