Shaun Groves
Yes, there are a lot of tears shed on a Compassion Blogging trip but, as sick as it may sound to those who haven’t been there, we do laugh a lot too.
There’s tremendous joy in being with children. Extraordinary freedom to be a goof when no one knows your name or face or will ever see you again. Deep gratitude for every breath, meal and CocaCola product. And friendships often forged in a fast few days.
And there are also bunnies.
And wook at the widdle kitten.
And time to space out and think about bunnies and kittens.
And there are gunslingers.
And, yes, well, there are vultures.
And rats.
But there are also chunky baby legs wearing frilly socks and new shoes.
And kids who tickle armpits…
And smell their fingers afterward.
And make their friends smell them too.
And there are hundreds of generous blog readers like you who sponsor children.
Unspeakable joy.
Thank you.
Amanda says:
There are no words for how much I loved this. You are my hero for posting the arm pit picture. I’m only sorry you had to miss our talent contest because it was one of the highlights.
Shaun Groves says:
You will river dance for me someday. You will.
Christine says:
If he’s smelling his fingers after tickling your armpits, and getting his friends to smell them too…um…may I suggest it’s time to try a new deodorant. Just sayin’…maybe… 🙂
Heather EV says:
Your blogging trips always shatter my heart. I sponsor a Compassion girl, but it never feels like enough. She fills me with such joy whenever I get a letter or whenever I think about what she is being given through my small donation. My family can’t afford to sponsor more than one, but I always wish we could do more.
Ken Summerlin says:
Talk about being transparent? The armpit story was great . . . how funny!
Patricia Jones says:
So funny!!
Lisa-Jo says:
CAN NOT BELIEVE YOU FESSED UP TO THAT IN PUBLIC. Or that Keely was fast enough to get it on film. Or that you shared the photos.
I need to go back and look at the bunny again to cleanse my eyes.
deidra says:
Thanks for the laugh! Oh my! I needed that! I really, really needed that!
Jill Foley says:
Great post – it’s nice to be laughing instead of crying.
Tiffany says:
That was really funny! The armpit picture…oh my gosh cracked me up. LOL!
Steve Jones says:
Maybe I am just a guy, but the spaced out picture in front of the pink sheet would have been more difficult to post than the armpit stuff. That took some guts to fess up to! The armpit stuff is just boys being boys and definitely hilarious!
Shaun Groves says:
Keely makes it her mission on these trips – especially this one – to catch me looking as goofy as possible. I don’t even REMEMBER staring off into space in front of the pink sheet. I have no idea where that was or what I was doing on the ground. None.
Must have been jet lagged. Central to Mountain is a killer ; )
Keely Scott says:
Mission. . . ACCOMPLISHED!!!
Doris says:
I wuvved the bunny and dah widdle kitten. 😉 You sir are amazing…I’m enjoying reading along getting to know you and what you do.
cara says:
Okay, I just went from bawling at Anne’s last post to coming over here and snorting out laughter at yours.
That must be how you guys can do this… if it was all dumps and vultures and crushing filth and poverty I don’ t know how you’d talk anyone into going with you.
You know we already have 2 kids through Compassion and I keep thinking “We can’t afford anymore” but then I think about how I’d ever look Jesus in the face and justify how I bought any thing more than we truly need (that happens weekly btw) having seen these pictures. I don’t know. How do you kill the lusts of the flesh to make saying no to yourself something joyful?
The way Ann writes about the trip – you can almost smell it – it’s like you’re with her.
I am undone, Sir.
Kelly @ Love Well says:
I can’t believe you didn’t include introducing Ann to Mexican food in this list.
Poor Canadian. How will she return to normal life now?
Kandi says:
Oh wow, that picture of Amanda kissing the baby made my heart melt!
And the sweet baby girl with her frilly socks….Oh my…
I know how hard it must be to see the things you’ve seen but I believe you are truly blessed to be a part of this organization and spread the message of God’s love. Thank you for bringing this reality to all of us…We would never know if your bloggers and photographers didn’t show us.
Thank you.
Ann Voskamp says:
(And I have photos of a winded you losing in arm wrestling to one very happy six-year-old. And no, you can’t buy them from me and yes, I am going to post them. Sorry about that 🙂
I need to write about the laughter of the children — when I close my eyes, I can hear Guatemala laugh with children, children smiling everywhere, anyways.
Everywhere, anyways.
Experiencing His love, just in the moment, His presence — and therein is fullness of joy.
There is so much joy…
All’s grace,
Ann
Ann Voskamp says:
(And the bunny photo? Keely and I agree: it’s National Geographic calibre… stellar.)
Sharon O says:
I have been extremely blessed to read these blogs and be a part of your trip. The little kids are adorable and even in the midst of poverty there is joy. Thank you for setting this trip up and the bloggers have been awesome. Your song was incredible. God bless you.
Beth W. says:
I love, love, love this post!!! I went to Haiti a few months ago, and over the course of our trip learned a lot of great lessons, but one of them was that deep down people are the same everywhere.
*wives nag their husbands
*boys chase girls
*cell phones go off during church
*laughter is contagious
Thank you and the rest of your group, for bringing Guatamala to us. We now have faces and names when we pray for this country. God Bless.
jen says:
I feel like I’ve said this over and over again, as I’ve read about this trip, but here goes again:
I just love this – so good to hear of the fun of the trip. Somehow reading about the silly kids makes it more real for me . . . and reading Ann’s comments about the laughter, now I can hear it too.
rebecca in etx says:
love it!!
Ryan Detzel says:
It’s odd you know…being someone who has gone on one of these Compassion Blogging trips and then seeing another one happen without me. It kind of feels like you’re supposed to be there. Also, like you know the people and have a vested interest in those who are going. I was praying for you all and expecting great things to happen for the Kingdom. No doubt about it, you and CI are changing the destiny of so many lives along this journey.
What kind of love is it that we get to do this kind of stuff for our King?
Michelle says:
Ah, another laugh!
After a rough couple of days,today I happened to find a Youtube video of our beloved Mr. Groves entitled “Car Talk”… I laughed, and I laughed… Finally the tears on my cheeks were from laughter instead of sorrow.
I may need to go watch it again.
Armpit sniffer… :snort:
Keely Scott says:
Are you framing that Bunny Print for me?
Shaun Groves says:
Christmas is coming.
Keely Scott says:
birthday is sooner. =)
Shaun Groves says:
Duly noted.
Shannon says:
When I read this and other postings written by you and Lindsey and Ann and Amanda and Lisa-Jo (how is it that you assembled a blog trip made up entirely of folks from my blogroll?) from Guatemala, I began praying. My husband and I decided this afternoon to sponsor a little girl in Guatemala who shares the same name as our daughter (though with a different spelling – Joselin for our child in Guatemala, Jocelyn for the daughter here).
Thank you for organizing these blog tours. They matter. They move people.
This one moved us. And it will make a difference for Joselin (and hopefully Jocelyn as she learns to care for the girl who shares her name in another country).