Not all who wander are lost....

The more and more time I spend in this city, the more I don't ever want to leave. For instance, the view from our hostel upper-deck porch....it reminds me of Kenya. Mountains full with the color green. Just one reason I love this place. But even more, the people! Everyone we have met here, natives and other travelers, they are amazing! Before we left Wisconsin, when we told friends and family we were traveling to Honduras, we got the response, "Did you know thats the most dangerous country in the world?" And if you look at the numbers, yes these people are correct. However, from first hand experience, at least so far on this trip, I have not felt in danger in the slightest way. Everyone has been nothing but wonderful to us, and because of that we have felt very welcomed.

Last night we ended our night with "happy hour." Afterall if was a Friday night. While walking around the city yesterday we stopped at a restaurant/bar with the coolest decorations from all over the world. To say the least a man outside, Juan, convinced us that we should come back later that night, so we did. When we arrived later that night the place could have won a Christmas contest for the best lights in town. It was so lit up; which is ironic because later that night the electricity in the whole city went completely out. Good thing they had a generator, so we weren't stuck in the dark too long. We told Juan that the reason the electricity probably went out in the first place was because they were sucking it from every other place in the city haha.

While sitting and having a drink with Juan, he commented on my tattoo and suddenly the conversation had turned to talking about Jesus. He told me his favorite Bible passage, Psalm 23, at first in Spanish, and then again in English. Probably because of the blank look I gave him as he was reciting the passage. If you have not read this powerful message I have typed it below.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[a] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

When he resaid this passage in English, I could not help but smile. What a powerful and inspiring set of words that make me want to go share Jesus with the world.

Today we woke up early so we could get a head start on our day visiting the Copan Ruins. The picture posted with this blog is us standing in front of the Petroglyph Staircase, which we were told is probably the most important feature of the site. During our time there we were blessed with a tour guide who easily overwhelmed me with the amount of information he knew about this place. He has been giving guides since 1982, and literally knew every little detail, about every single structure there was on these grounds. He also turned a 2 hour tour into a tour that was more like 4 hours, and believe me, if we wouldn't have sped him up at times it would have been more like 5 hours. Alisha took notes there was so much information. It was awesome. He was such an knowledgeable old man. I could tell you everything I learned in this blog, but you could also just Google Maya Ruins at Copan and read about the most interesting facts yourself. So instead I just want to share a bit of what stuck out the most to me. Fidel, our guide, continually put emphasis on the amount of human sacrifice that occured during this time period. "And their blood was given as a sacrifice to the Gods," is what he stated multiple times during the tour. This got me thinking. How lucky and blessed are we to have someone who was gracious enough to give His own life as a sacrifice for this world. Jesus :) If you ask me, pretty blessed.

So far this trip has been more than I could have even expected! I feel so unbelievably blessed to be in this beautiful country, full of beautiful history. Until next time...

#honduras