As I sit in the airport, I have the perfect opportunity to reflect on all the things of these past two weeks. So many new experiences were had and opportunities taken that I don’t think anyone expected. We practiced Spanish (even now I am overhearing a Spanish group speaking in the Atlanta airport), formed bonds, and showed love. I wouldn’t have traded any of this for the world.

These last few weeks have been more than just a vacation, even though to some it may seem that way. Every day we woke up (after very little sleep, most likely), attempted to take a cold shower, and stumbled to breakfast in hopes that we had enough fuel to get us through the hectic morning with our kids. Then lunch, followed by an afternoon of rigorous hard labor. Some days the chaos levels were worse than others, but each day had their memories that will stay with us forever. I recall one of the days when it seemed like no matter what we did, the kids were running every single direction. I definitely got my workout in that day.

Reflection has caused me to focus on the unofficial theme of this trip: love. Every night we had a talk that always inevitably circled around the topic of love; true godly love. The subject of love encompassed everything we did. The kids had the biggest hearts and open arms for all of us. I remember the first day we arrived at Eagle’s Nest Orphanage; we stopped in to meet the kids and little Elena ran up to me and jumped into my arms, with no knowledge of who I was, all she wanted was my love, which of course I couldn’t help but give her.

The children at Eagle’s Nest Orphanage have so many blessings, yet so many are lacking the love from their families. In the community of Solola, people have so little. They eat in the same place their chickens, dogs, and waste are, but they have families. While it may seem like the community doesn’t have much, our kids would trade all of their material things at Eagle’s Nest to have a family. Eagle’s Nest does an amazing job with trying to be that family. Most of the kids act as if they are all one big family. The older kids help the younger get ready every morning and the younger kids look up to older ones, just like every other family, loving each other along the way.

But they still need love. These last two weeks, our team had the opportunity to love them with open hearts. I will never forget the memories I made with our kids and how much I love them. I know that everyone on our team will never forget the impact they made on us and just hope and pray that we made an impact on each and every one of our kids. Saying goodbye to the kids that had completely taken over my heart was the hardest thing that happened this entire trip. I had thought some days were really hard, but never as hard as having your heart break as you leave 35 of the most amazing kids behind. 35 amazing kids, each with a big story, but an even bigger gift of love.