from Mark to Marcos

from Mark to Marcos

Monday, February 25, 2013

Five LOCO Reasons Why I Want to be In Guate

I have recently been spending my time filling out applications and sending my resume thousands of miles away, trying to acquire a position with an organization in Guatemala. 

There are so many reasons why I want to be in Guatemala after graduation and here are some of the craziest and most random:

I want to go to Taco Bell with Dany. Dany is my Guatemalan nephew. I found out that he has recently been asking his mom if we are going to be eating Taco Bell anytime soon (apparently there are some new meal specials there that we have to try). Each time a plane flies bye, he also asks if I am in it. 
*Oh, how I wish I was on one of those planes. 

Debora and I need to go get Te Chai de Vanilla at McCafe. Debora is my Guatemalan Sister (& Dany's mom). Long story short, we are both obsessed with Vanilla Chai (with the occasional shot of espresso). Weekly trips to McCafe are a must when we're together. 
*Guatemalan McDonalds are 5 billion times classier than any McDonalds that I have been to in the US.

I want to make fun of Darwin. Darwin is one of my many Guatemalan brothers, however he is the one that is closest to my age. Our friendship is built on the un-common principle that unkind words are actually quite nice and the more you can offend the other, the more you care about them. Okay, that is only half true. However, we often will call each other "hermana" (vs. "hermano") and use feminine descriptive words (ex. linda & fea vs. lindo & feo). So, I guess I don't want to make fun of him. I just miss my hermana fea! 
*In Spanish, adjectives ending in "-a" are feminine and "-o" are masculine. 

I want to meet more people from Arkansas. Seriously, every time that I am in Guatemala, I meet so many people from Arkansas. Usually, they are awesome people too. So yeah, I want to meet more awesome Arkansas-ians.
*Mama Carmen is pretty much an international superstar in Arkansas.

I want to walk to the little barbershop and pay less than $2.00 to get my haircut. This is actually a lie. However, whenever I think about getting my haircut there, I laugh hysterically. I laugh because last time I got my $1.75 haircut, they chopped of my sideburns! Fortunately, I had 2 weeks between that haircut and the start of school; I grew those sideburns back as fast as possible. 
*When this happened, I felt like the poor little girl that gets her pigtail scissored off in the Sour Patch Kid commercial.

I could write 1,000 more crazy, random reasons (along with 1,000,000 serious reasons) why I want to be in Guatemala, but I will leave you with those five for now.


Sunday, February 10, 2013

Elev8. Inspired, Encouraged and Helped

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

This is a quote that I thought I wouldn't need to use until mid-May, when I graduate. I thought wrong.
This weekend has been one of the most incredible weekends in my entire 22.5 years of life.
I may have cried when it ended, because I wish that this weekend could have lasted much longer. However, I am definitely smiling because it happened. This weekend impacted my life more than I could have ever imagined.

Why? What happened? I can answer those questions with two words- Project Elev8.

This weekend I spent 100% of my time surrounded by fellow Roberts' students, staff, and 28 outstanding teens from Rochester. Unfortunately, many people have assumptions that these teens are gang members, drug users, high-school drop outs, etc. People do this solely based on where these kids are from and what they read about "the city" in the newspaper. Well people, you are wrong. I know 28 of these teenagers who don't meet your perceptions. I watched 28 of these teenagers develop projects that will change people's lives and impact our world. I built relationships with some of these teenagers that will last a lifetime.

I was blessed with a team of three outstanding young men. Young men who are often viewed negatively because of the places they live and the school they attend. However, I am so glad that I know the truth. I know how much character, passion, enthusiasm, heart each of them have. My prayer is that each of them grow up to be men of integrity, excellence and of God. I was also blessed to watch 25 other teenagers leave their comfort zones, open their hearts and share their lives with me and my peers.

Wait, there is more to share. So, before this "Elev8 weekend," I hoped that I could inspire or encourage or help a few kids. Well, yeah, that may have happened and hopefully it did. But, something I did not expect happened. I was inspired, encouraged and helped by a handful of 14 and 15 year olds. YES.

Apart from the three incredibly awesomely amazing teens that I "coached" and that lived in my dorm for the weekend, there was one other that truly inspired me. I learned so much about God's love through the testimony that he shared. His words entered my heart and changed my life more than words shared by almost anyone; I felt Jesus move through this 14 year old. I heard and felt hope, love, faith, forgiveness, redemption, and many other things. I heard and felt God.

So, I hope that next time you hear something negative that happened in the city that you don't assume that everyone from the city is a thug or a high-school dropout. Assume the best and maybe they will change your life. Maybe you will see God shining through them. I am glad that I didn't assume because now I am blessed with friends who are like younger brothers to me.

I cannot wait to see all 28 of these teenagers change their communities and change perceptions. I cannot wait to see God execute wonderful works through these teens. For now, these young men and women will be in my prayers. However, a few of those young men better come back to my campus soon, because I already miss them.

Elev8 teens, I can't thank you enough for the impact you had on my life. You are incredible and God has a beautiful purpose for your lives. For now, I will leave it at that and go to bed smiling because it happened.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

You Have to Dream

"You have to dream before your dreams can come true."

Guess who is dreaming? Me.

For the past 32 months, many dreams have come and gone. One night, my life was being threatened by a siberian tiger. The following night, I was visiting a pterodactyl farm in Florida. Thankfully, each of those dreams only lasted for a night. 

However, there has been a dream that has been with me since May of 2010. On the 22nd of that May, I got off a plane and entered the country of Guatemala for the very first time. On the fourth or fifth night of that trip, I remember one of my friends praying for me and for my future in Guatemala. Towards the end of that trip, I received a letter from another friend that said "Never stop being Marcos." During those moments, I was confused why my friend prayed for a future that I would never have in Guatemala and why my other friend told me to never stop being Marcos. Didn't he know that I was about to be in the US again, where everyone knew me as Mark. Well, friend one and friend two, thank you for your prayer and your encouraging words- they have inspired me more than you know.

That trip and those friends helped create my dream- to have a future in Guatemala and never stop being Marcos. 

I am graduating college in three months. Unfortunately, that means that I have to leave a beautiful community of incredible people. Thankfully, I expect a lot of those incredible people to be in my life for quite awhile. With college coming to an end, now is the time to go live my dream; the dream that has lasted for over two and a half years. Guatemala, see you soon. 

Honestly, a lot can change in three months and I may end up working in Rochester, Nevada, or even on the pterodactyl farm in Florida. However, I am hopeful that my dream will come true and whatever does happen, I'm trusting God.
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I will keep you posted as graduation gets closer and post-college plans are made.