Missing You All!!!!

So Sara has been bugging me almost every day to blog. haha I was just waiting a while so I had something interesting to write about. So...here is the last few months for me in a nutshell. After getting back from Guatemala, the reality of needing a job finally settled in. Not fun. I was hired by a family who wanted me to nanny for their 10-month-old little boy, but it didn't pay as well as I would've liked, so I sadly declined (although I really wanted the job). The family was really bummed cause they really liked me, but I then had another interview with a family who wanted me to nanny their two little boys (ages 2 1/2 and 3 1/2) but that fell through as well. I didn't feel that was the right fit for me. So...I finally called a bunch of different daycares/preschools, desperate to find a job with kids. EVERY SINGLE DAYCARE I CALLED WASN'T HIRING. I got really frustrated. Then finally, one of the daycares I called said they were, in fact, hiring. Long story short, I got the job and just started it this past Monday, and I love it! I am an assistant teacher in the 1 and 2 year old room. God does truly provide! Also, I am planning on (hopefully) returning to Guatemala in May for a week to visit my kiddos. So I am working on that and getting more excited as I think about the possibility. :) Anyways, that is my life from the past few months in a nutshell. :)

this might become the best day of morgan's life.

because i am actually writing on the blog. sooorrrryyyyyy i haven't until now but life has really just taken off and i haven't really had time to write on the blog.

okay scratch all that. i have had time to write on the blog. but i never could think of anything good to say, or i would start writing a post and then have to leave to go somewhere cause i forgot i had something, or what i wanted to say wasn't sounding good on paper (blog paper? screen paper?). i guess i just need to say what i need to say. (yes, im listening to Say by John Mayer while writing this.)

ANYways. i guess ill say what everyone else is saying. I miss you all. A lot. Life just isn't the same withough you guys in it 24/7. There isn't a day that goes by that i don't think about every single one of you and what we would have been doing at that time of the day. I still can't believe i spent an entire two months in a foreign country with 10 other people speaking a different language half the time and now im back to my old, english speaking, busy as ever life, and you all are not here to share it with me.

(fyi. i just wrote two paragraphs. and then deleted them. not what i wanted to say. oh goodness. maybe ill just tell you about my life. here goes.)

August was absolutely crazy / amazing / awesome / hard / sad / worth it / filled with missing everything. Half of the time what was going through my head had no room for missing guatemala cause i was so busy with life. August was filled with jumping right into Admin for our Youth Ministry and then going on our 5 day Youth Retreat and then leaving straight from there to go on vacation where i ended up getting the stomach bug. Lamest vacation ever. Oh well. I came home and jumped right into nannying for four year old twins, who are sooo much fun but actually really tiring. So i treasure wednesday evenings when i get off work and have a five day weekend.

September was work work work. and then it was gone.

October was work work work work. and too many youth things to remember. The last two weeks of October if i wasn't nannying i was working at the church getting ready for our annual Harvest Party. Safe to say i will never ever forget how to get to Sams Club, Whole Foods, Stadlers Nursery, or Wal-Mart. And they all happen to be the furthest distance away from eachother as possible. But it was all worth it in the end when I was sitting around an I-hop table at 1 in the morning with the best Admin Team in the world.

And then October, too, was gone.

And now its November 6th. and hopefully this time next year i will have been in Africa for the past 4 months. I'm praying about going there for 6 months to a year. Our church is planting a church there in North Africa and im thinking about going and (surprise!) taking care of the church planters children so they an focus on establishing a christian church in a country that doesn't want one. So pray for me as i seek to do God's will in this.

But Guatemala forever is in my heart. I miss it constantly every single day and many nights i long to be back there with children climbing up on me and wanting me to hold them and comforting them. And just loving them. Because i do. I love them so much.

And i love you all so much. Hope November has gotten off to a swell start. Come visit me. I have a Pollo Campero in my mall.

Andrea!!!

Andrea, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Hooray for family!

Hi there my wonderful amigos guatemaltecos!

Sorry to be such a lame blogger. It's funny how life just takes over, you know? I just spent the weekend with my twin brother Brian and then my grandparents. It was just wonderful to be able to talk with him and meet his friends (and especially girlfriend!), although I confirmed my suspicions that he got all of the athletic coordination and I got none. Sigh. (Oh well. I've been consoling myself with my mad Boggle skills at Windsor Park nursing home! But not quite as good as Helen's, although I suppose she's got about 65 years on me. Asi es la vida). And then being with my grandparents was so restful. It's such a blessing to allow people to care for you and love on you. And I feel even more blessed than that because my mom is coming to visit this Friday! Which means lots of homework before then (at least, when I'm not procrastinating with blog posts), but I'm so excited to be able to spend an entire weekend with such a wonderful person who also happens to be my mom.

I guess that's a bit of an update about Lauren's life. Love and miss you guys!!!

worst bloggers ever.

Seriously? Matt, Sarah, Emily- excellent. The rest of you? bleck.
Fall break = best time ever.
I went to Honeyrock(Wheaton's camp in the northwoods of Wisconsin). I shot a rifle(empowering), used a pottery wheel(humbling), canoed, ate s'mores, snuggled up by a fire to read/nap, mountain biked, shot arrows, sat around campfires, carved pumpkins, played games, made friends, watched people sail in pumpkins(it was a pretty big pumpkin...), etc... Basically, most relaxing weekend ever. My sister gets married in 4 days. AHHHHHHH. pray for me. I wrote my toast this weekend, and I'm hoping I won't be a blubbering mess when I give it. I love you all a lot. A LOT.
-Morgan

Time has FLOWN.

Seriously? It shouldn't be October yet. This is just ridiculous. This semester has gone by ridiculously fast. I've been sooooo blessed by friends, and God has continually showed me purpose here in the last week. I've struggled a lot with being away from my family in Guatemala(as my Wheaton RoHers can attest). It's been a really hard transition from mom to student. I've found it hard to talk about and extremely hard to process. I started going to the counseling center as well as opening up more about it, which I'm hoping will help. I know that God has me here for a reason, it's just hard to see in the midst of heartbreak. I'm trying to listen to him more and allow myself to grieve, which is pretty hard for me to do. I've found SUCH joy and purpose in this space of confusion, though. I coordinate a tutoring ministry here on campus where a bunch of Wheaton students drive down to the southside of Chicago every week and help kids with their homework. The kids live in the government housing projects in a rough part of town, and they're a little.... rough around the edges. This is my 2nd year doing the ministry, and last week the 2 girls I tutored last year came back. Their reaction to seeing me was pretty much one of the greatest moments of my life. It made me see a portion of God's plan for me here at Wheaton. It was as if God was saying, "See? It wasn't all in vain. I'll bless what you do."
In other news, my sister gets married in 2.5 weeks. !?!??!?! It's insane. There's so much to do, but I'm getting excited about it. I'm busy planning the bachelorette party, getting my dress fitted(because it is GIGANTIC), and talking Sara through all of the remaining details. I'm soooo excited, but I also can't imagine how INSANE that week before the wedding is going to be.
Prayer requests:
My continuing adjustment to life here, and figuring out what God wants in that
I'm speaking at Wyldlife this Thursday... AHHHHHH prayer please.


I love you all soooo much- I wish we could all live together forever. Ideally? We get one of those houses we picked out on Lake Atitlan and take all of our kids there. We all grow old together, hanging out with the natives(with our Spanish, which is obviously perfect) and eating yummy food. We'll obviously have a sauna and an in-house masseuse.

Hola =)

Hey ROH Guatemala family! This is my 1st blog ever. School is overwhelming. I have 4 exams between this next week. Just finished one of them, it was a take home midterm. 2 on Monday and 1 Tuesday night. It was a big adjustment back to college after being in Guatemala and home. Making some new friends with transfers and new freshmen that came in this year. Got sick last week with a sore throat that turned into a sinus infection. In bed all weekend through Tuesday really. Back to classes on Wednesday, so a lot of studying this weekend to make up time being sick. :( Anything I can be praying for? That's cool Allison, that Linette is staying with you.Emily, I got your support letter today! Will be praying for you. I miss all of you. Prayer requests for myself and family: My Mom is still trying to raise the air flight money to pay back her missions organization. Get totally well from this sickness. Also that I do not stress out about all I have to do this semester. My exams this next week to go well. We need to all go back to Guatemala soon! God Bless:)
Sara