A fun trip to Atlanta

Hey,
For those who enjoy hearing about my travels with alot of the details, enjoy!!  Pictures will follow later, I have alot of photos to go through before I can pick out the best ones...Love, Carol

Tuesday September 13, 2011-Monday September 20, 2011

Left Guatemala at midday.  It was rainy and cool in Guatemala.  Arrived in Atlanta, GA in the early evening.  Millie picked me up at the airport.  We stopped at Chick fil A on the way to her house and I enjoyed a sandwich and free refills.  When I arrived she said that we were going to the Atlanta Braves game tomorrow at 12 pm. I said sounds good to me!  After leaving Guatemala in the cool rain and dampness it was nice to get warmed up sitting in the sun at the ballgame.

That evening she asked if I would need her to wake me up in the morning. I said no I can set my alarm.  I woke up at 5:15 am wide awake.  I thought I’m not getting up now so I went back to sleep.  Later I woke up at 630 am.  I thought I am really wide awake…Well a few minutes later Millie came in and said Carol you need to get up, we have to leave in 45 minutes for the ballgame.  I said what time is it?  She said it is 8:45 am….If you are going to set your alarm, it helps to make sure that you put the time in the correct time zone!  My clock was still set on Guatemala time which was two hours behind eastern standard time….It was funny…

Millie and I took the Marta train to catch the shuttle to the Braves game.  The Marta is a good place to people watch…Our best deal of the day were the bottles of water we were able to buy for $1 dollar before we entered the Braves stadium.  Bottled water inside the stadium was $3.75 dollars. 

The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins by a score of 4 to 1.  There were a lot of school kids at the game. I said there were a million kids at the game…Not really but there were a lot of school groups.  I thought it was a pretty good crowd there for a daytime game.  I returned to my seat after a bathroom break and saw Millie holding a new tshirt.  She had caught it when the cheerleaders were throwing the shirts into the stands for the fans between innings.

That evening we went to Millie’s church, Flat Creek Baptist Church.  I enjoyed eating the Wednesday evening meal with a table full of her friends.  They were sweet ladies.  It was a good Mexican meal. 

The Bible study was on Obadiah and pride.  Obadiah was simply known as a servant of God.  Pride is the root of self sufficiency.

After church it was off to bed with a full stomach after a good day.

Thursday morning Millie and I went to Kohl’s and then to see the movie, The Help.  After the movie we stopped at Walmart.  I was able to get most everything on my list and items for other people as well.  I didn’t have much time at Walmart so I did a quick shopping trip.  The movie was good, too.

That evening mom and dad arrived in Atlanta, we picked them up at the hotel and went to eat at the Cracker Barrel for supper.  I enjoyed BBQ, fried okra, and biscuits.

Once again I went to bed with a full stomach….

Friday morning we went to the Chick Fil A corporate office with Millie.  Millie retired from there after 26 years of work.  The office is located in a nice woody area with walking trails.  The building is 5 stories tall. Inside the building are part of the classic car collection which Truett Cathy owns.  They said that they switch the cars out periodically.  Also there is a small museum with information about the history of Chick Fil A.  In the building there is a cafeteria where the employees can enjoy breakfast and lunch meals.  The lunch meal was very good, there was a wide selection of food including hot foods like fried okra, Chick Fil A sandwiches with and without the bread, salad bar, fruits, pizza, grilled chicken, ice cream and refill your own drink station.   The meal was enjoyable, we ate with one of Millie’s former coworkers.

We were able to go to Truett Cathy’s office even though he wasn’t there.  We also received autographed copies of his book. 

The atmosphere at the office was so relaxed and peaceful.  It seemed to be a place where people enjoy their work. When we finished that tour I commented that if we don’t do anything else today I would be happy with that tour.

After the tour we headed to downtown Atlanta to visit the Coca Cola museum.  Dad, mom and I hadn’t been there in a long time and Millie had never been there.  It was a fun tour which started with the history of Coca Cola and ended with samples of Coca Cola from all parts of the world.  The best was a Coca Cola drink from Peru and the worst was a drink from Italy.  After all the tasting it was nice to enjoy some “normal” Diet Coke.  Millie liked the tour enough that she said she would take her grandkids on the tour when they stay with her.

Needless to say after all our eating at Chick Fil A and cola tasting at the museum we didn’t have to worry about eating supper before (or at the ballpark) going to the ballpark.  I think we were all stuffed after the good meal.

We arrived early to the ballpark which I like to do. I like to have time to walk around and take it all in before the game starts and before a lot of people arrive.  The Braves were playing the New York Mets with a 7:20 pm start time.  The game went long because the Mets got a lot of hits and scored a lot of runs.  In the first inning the Mets batted for about 25 minutes scoring 4 runs.  From that it went downhill for the Braves on that night loosing by a score of 12 to 2.  However it is hard to beat a team which gets 20 hits as the Mets did.

The lady who sat to the left of dad got hit by a foul ball during the game.  She was fine, she got hit on the knee but she did have a nasty bruise on her knee.  Her husband deflected some of the force of the ball when he put his hand out to catch the ball.  I saw the ball coming and thought it’s not coming to us then I realized yes it is coming to us.  Dad and mom talked to the lady off and on during the game then we all went on our way at the end of the game.  We enjoyed fireworks after the game at the stadium.  The stadium made a nice back drop for the fireworks.

After the game we dropped mom and dad off at their hotel and Millie and I returned to her house.  We were all tired after a long but enjoyable day.

The next day the Braves game started at 4 pm.  We had planned to go eat at the Varsity restaurant before the game however we found out that Georgia Tech had a home game that day so we decided it would be too crowded in that area.

Instead, we went to Underground Atlanta and enjoyed a good hamburger meal at Johnny Rockets.  The neat thing was that while we were there the lady who got hit by the foul ball came into the restaurant.  She was there with her husband and the pastor and his wife from their church.  As it turns out they were from a Baptist Church in Deep Gap, NC, which is close to Boone, NC, which is two hours from our home in NC.  They invited me to speak at their church the next time I’m in NC.  We all decided that we had been at the restaurant where we were supposed to be.

We went to Turner Field to enjoy another Braves-Mets game.  Thankfully the Braves played better on Saturday and won the game by a score of 1 to 0.  This one was a fast game, it was definitely a pitcher’s duel.

That night we headed home early.  Millie and I did make a Chick Fil A stop so I could buy some sandwiches to take to Guatemala with me.  Of course I did have to buy one to have for a midnight snack that night as well.

After a good night’s sleep we headed to church with Millie.  The people in the church were friendly dad even commented that he felt like they should join the church because everyone was so nice.  It was neat because there was a newly retired IMB couple at the church.  This was their first Sunday in the states after leaving Africa.  They served for 20+ years in Africa.  We knew some of the same people.  It was neat to meet and talk with them.

After the service the music director wanted to talk to me.  He wanted to get my contact info because he has friends who just returned to Guatemala.  They are a Guatemalan couple who lived in the states for 10 years and now they have returned to Guatemala to open a business.  He was excited that I will be able to contact with this couple after they call and let him know their contact info in Guatemala.

Then we went to Millie’s house and enjoyed a good lunch of ham, pinto beans, cornbread, slaw, cantaloupe, cucumbers and lemon pie.  It was another good meal.  We watched the Braves loose their game that afternoon.  I was able to pack and weigh my suitcases and get those ready for the next morning’s trip to the airport.

On the way to the Falcons-Eagles football game, we dropped mom and dad off at their hotel and also my luggage.  Then Millie and I went to the Georgia Dome to enjoy watching the Falcons win their game by a score of 35 to 31.

It was 12:30 am or 1 am when Millie dropped me off at the hotel.  After a quick night’s sleep I was up early to go to the airport to catch my flight to return to Guatemala.  Mom, dad and I rode the hotel shuttle to the airport and then had a little visiting time after I checked in. 

I had a nice first class flight.  I was so tired I slept off and on during the flight.  I remember the pilot saying we are next in line for take off and then I woke up an hour later.  I arrived in Guatemala around midday and all of my luggage arrived.  My friend picked me up at the airport and I returned home to a very happy kitty.  Kitty followed me around all afternoon, she was glad I was home.

It was a good trip, a very enjoyable one.  I invited myself to Millie’s house to do it again next year…haha…As I was flying I thought I wonder if when the Wright Brothers took their first flight if they could even imagine what flying would become.  Also during the trip I thought how neat it was that God allowed me to meet  Millie on a trip to Panama and have the trip work out. I was attending an IMB conference and Millie was part of the team taking care of the kids.  She offered for me to visit her in Atlanta and go to Braves games with her.  I saw her this past June when she came to Guatemala on a mission trip and after that I started checking ballgame schedules and I took her up on her offer.

A trip to the market

A simple request from a friend turned into a great-unexpected blessing from God.  Traveling from Guatemala City to Antigua, Guatemala usually takes about 45 minutes.  However on this particular day it took about twice that long.  A friend of mine had asked if I wanted to go to Antigua to purchase some items, which she needed to buy for someone else. I said yes I’d go. 

We started on the way and we were delayed because of protests on different roads in Guatemala City.  Teachers and people upset with the health system of Guatemala were also protesting.  At one point the question came up should we return to the city and go another day?  We decided no we’d keep going.

We arrived in the Antigua market enjoying looking at all the colorful handmade fabric items, which the Guatemalans specialize in making.  The market area is a popular tourist area.   I saw a group of Americans who were on a volunteer team working with a fellow IMB missionary. 

As I was talking to them an older man came up and started talking to me.   I was telling him about myself and ministry in Guatemala.  A few minutes later his wife came up and joined the conversation.  We talked a few minutes and then she looked at her husband and said, “let’s bless this young lady with a financial gift”. That was a beautiful unexpected blessing that was. 

I told them thank you and then we went on our separate ways in the market.  A few minutes later the husband came up to me and asked if I knew of an orphanage in Guatemala, which needs help.  I said as a matter of fact, I do. I have a friend who runs an orphanage and she has had a difficult time recently with her sickness and two of her children dying.  I said I know she could use encouragement and support. I said the name of the lady and the wife said I know her personally, I have emailed with her but I haven’t heard anything lately from her. I said that’s why you haven’t.  I said I guess she is the one you are to contact about helping because God brought her to mind and you have a connection with her.

The day started with what I thought would be just a trip to the market and ended with an unexpected blessing from above.