My Lessons

I've narrowed my learning experiences for this trip into 4 basic lessons. Of course there's so much not addressed here in terms of knowing God's sovereignty and accepting His justice even if it doesn't make sense to us - experiencing the lives of these people whose lives were torn apart by the earthquake - serving God every step of the way and trusting that He is faithful to protect both our team and my family at home.

I read a book on this trip called Cold Tangerines, that was recommended by my friend Rachel. It is a collection of short stories about how everyday life can be seen as extraordinary with the influence of God's love. I'm going to quote this book a few times here as the author's words seem to capture my heart better than my own words would.

1. Copper Pennies - In Cold Tangerines, the author talked about how once you start collecting something you notice them everywhere you look. She compared this to the little pennies that God puts in our path to say "What can I do today to remind you again how much I love you and how good this life is?". God certainly met me in this manner and showed me in tiny, tangible ways that He purposely places gifts meant specifically for me into my day just to say "I love you, Carrie'. During the church service where we were working in Ica, a mother went forward to pray and I offered to hold her baby. This 4-month old baby boy was so precious and I just held him and prayed blessings and protection over him for the remainder of the service. That was a gift directly for my heart as I missed my own babies. In Cold Tangerines she says "It is rebellious to choose joy, to choose to dance, to choose to love your life".

2. 100% - During our team debrief/processing time one evening we were singing a song by Lifehouse called Everything. The words we sang included
You're all I want, you're all I need. You're everything, everything.
How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
Being able to sing these words with all of my heart and mean it in spite of being away from what I thought I need and want most in this world was an incredible experience. God is IT. 100% of me wants to live for His glory and I want to see myself consumed to reflect nothing but him everyday in everything. I want my life to be "The act of life lifting up and becoming an act of worship and celebration, a sacrament, an offering." and as in Cold Tangerines, the author notes "When you've tasted it, smelled it, fought for it, labored it into life, you'll give your soul to get a little more, and it's always worth it".

3. Community - God showed me a lot about community during this trip. Watching these students love on one another despite differences was amazing. The vulnerability and honesty they brought to the table shocked me and made it clear how as adults we stifle and hide so much of ourselves in an effort to avoid all vulnerability. God calls us to have a place of community where we can know others and be known by those people - completely. I will be seeking harder to find this community and create the space needed for honesty among us. Cold Tangerines puts it this way, "The truest thing is making a life with God, with honor, honesty and community. It demands that we release the need to be the best."

4. Challenge - I believe my biggest challenge is in telling my story honestly. God has made it clear to me that I was not sent to Peru so that I can come back and tell everyone how fabulous Machu Picchu was. That is not my story - at least not all of it. I am to take this opportunity to present the truth and share my heart with other people. To be vulnerable and take the risk of opening myself, my experiences and my beliefs to the people who surround me.

God has been revealing himself to me so personally, and I love it. May this journey continue to consume me leaving me changed in every possible way.

The Rest of the Story

On Thursday, we finished our work at the church in Ica, and rode the bus back to Lima. Friday after breakfast, we took cabs (I felt like I was on The Amazing Race) to the colonial area of Lima and we toured the Monestaria San Francisco and the catacombs that have been excavated under the church. It was very cool - creepy, but cool. We then walked from the Monestary to the Peruvian Presidential Palace and watched the changing of the guard.

We ate lunch at the plaza and then took cabs back to Parque Kennedy where the Flying Dog Hostel is. We shopped at a local market for souveniers and had dinner at a chicken restaurant in the Larco Mar shopping center on the beach.

We caught a flight from Lima to Cusco at 9:30 Saturday morning. We dropped our things off at our hotel in Cusco and then had lunch at this restaurant with huge windows looking over the entire city of Cusco. It was so beautiful and the sky is incredibly blue at 11,000 feet. We toured some Inca ruins at Saqsayhuaman - they are absolutely unreal. The size of the rocks they use and the precision of their work is incredible! After a short rest at the hotel we headed to dinner in downtown Cusco where we sampled the local delicacies of Guinea Pig (not so highly recommended) and Alpaca (really good! tender and not too gamey).

Sunday was our day at Machu Picchu. We got up to catch our bus at 5:45 and rose 1 1/2 hours to the train station then rode another 1 1/2 hours to the town at the base of the mountain. We rode the tourism buses up the windy road to the entrance (at roughly 40 MPH on a VERY windy road). I learned to not pay attention to the road when we were traveling in Peru - if I did it got me a little concerned about my safety.

We entered the park and headed straight up the Inca Trail for the Sun Gate. The Inca Trail comes up of Chile and was traditionally used as a main access point to reach Machu Picchu. This was my crowning glory - I made it all the way up to the gate and I was so proud. We then followed the trail back down and toured the ruins for the afternoon. This place is amazing. I was showing Tony pictures and I look at them and think - I was there! Incredible. Their ingenuity and workmanship is breathtaking and the Andes mountains themselves are amazing.

We ate dinner in the town at the base and caught our train back to the bus and then on home to the hotel in Cusco. Our flight left Cusco at 7:30 the next morning so it was a short night of good sleep and then off to the airport. From this point, we spent 18 of the next 30 hours traveling.

Now I'm home, back in the arms of my kids and Tony. It was a great trip and absolutely worth every sacrifice made, but it's nice to be home knowing everyone is safe and sound and together.