It has been nearly a year since I last posted. A year of ups and downs. The first half of 2013, I was sure that a door was going to open in Guatemala and starting that May or June, I would have been living my life as "Marcos." That, however, did not happen. 

The second half of 2013 until present day, I have been living my life as Mark. A reality that I didn't think was going to happen. To my surprise, I have been loving this reality. 

I am beyond thankful, however, that God allowed me to be Marcos in August of 2013. Even though it was only for two short weeks, I was able to be the big-brother that I loved being to several children in both Santa Cruz, Guatemala and at Hogar Mama Carmen in Guatemala City. What was even better about those two weeks, is that I was able to introduce twenty-something of my favorite people to my favorite place. What is better yet, that trip was an incredible life-impacter and blessing to several of my teammates who stepped out of their comfort zones and allowed God to work in their lives.

Shortly after returning from that trip, I received a message introducing me to an organization called More Than Compassion. MTC works towards educating orphans in Huehuetenango, Guatemala in hopes that they can break the cycles of poverty and injustice. Based on what I have heard from the staff, read from the website, seen in their pictures and watched in their videos, MTC is an incredible, new and growing organization. Two weeks from today, I get to see it for myself. When I purchased my plane ticket, I thought that I would do what I normally do when I travel to Guate -- stay in the City, see friends, and hopefully visit Santa Cruz. However, I could not be more excited about this new (not normal) opportunity. God has already blessed this trip and I cannot wait to see what he does in and through me.

As I mentioned earlier, I am loving life as Mark. However, I am excited to become Marcos again (in a new place to a new group of people), even if it's only for sixteen days.