God has a sense of humor.  Have you experienced that in your life?  Well, I have…. Just in the last few months to an extreme.  At the beginning of 2012, I said to Mark, “Wow... it feels like life is finally s

God has a sense of humor.  Have you experienced that in your life?  Well, I have…. Just in the last few months to an extreme.  At the beginning of 2012, I said to Mark, “Wow... it feels like life is finally starting to slow down and get to a point where I can breathe again.”  Well, apparently, God likes to keep us on a roller coaster—probably to ensure I keep clinging to Him—because on February 20^th, life got really crazy again.  How so?  Because we are seriously pursuing moving to Guatemala!!!!!  "What???", you are probably saying... "Mark & Katy are out of their mind"!! 

Let me start the story at the beginning.  Last summer, Mark’s engineering firm, Cannon & Cannon, Inc. became connected with a couple of guys (Kris and Kevin) working in the Ulpan Valley of Guatemala.  They are working through a partnership between David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, and a Guatemalan relief agency called CAFNIMA.  They are living in the valley with their families in an effort to bring clean water to this remote valley and train several Guatemalan men to build and maintain these water systems.  Kris & Kevin connected with Cannon & Cannon and asked if their firm might be interested in adopting one of these villages.  When they heard the idea, there was a suggestion to pitch the idea to the water engineering community in Knoxville to see if any other firms might have an interest in participating in a project like this.  The response was more than they expected and a group was formed called Knox Pro Corp, through which the various firms would have the opportunity to send teams to participate in Project Ulpan and connect with these Guatemalan villages. 

On February 15^th, the board of Knox Pro Corp, embarked on an exploratory trip to see the project first hand and begin design on a preliminary water system.  Mark was a part of this team.  Their last night there, Kris asked several guys on the team to please pray for someone to come replace Kevin, whose family had committed to be in Guatemala until June 2012.  Mark felt as if the Lord was tapping him on the shoulder & saying, “That’s you!”  He mentioned it to the guys during that conversation & said he would discuss it with me, but was pretty sure I would shoot the idea down. 

So, when he walked in the door on February 20^th, and asked if I wanted to move to Guatemala, my first reaction was something like, “Are you on drugs???”  But when he further explained the details, I began to agree with him….. this was a perfect fit for him & for our family. 

And so, we are off!!!  Mark & I are leaving tomorrow (April 11th- 16th) to spend time with the people involved in the project, see the valley, answer some of their questions and have many of our questions answered.  We are tentatively planning to move to Guatemala in late July, spend the month of August in language school and remain in the country for one year.  We are very excited and the Lord has already begun to surprise us…. Doors aren’t just opening, they are being blown off the hinges. 

Please pray for us as we go to Guatemala this week….  Specifically, pray for our children as we are away & for those who are caring for them.  For Mark & I, you can pray for clarity, wisdom, clear direction, questions to be answered, and for safety.

Thanks friends!!  We would love for you to stay connected with us.  If you would like to click "follow" on this blog, that will help you stay posted.  We'll be using this blog as a means of connecting during this journey!!