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Morning came early for me on Sunday.  Like REAL early.

At 3:45 am, I crawled out of bed to get ready to go home.  My body ached, my eyes stung, and my head felt foggy.

I was a whole-bunch-of-something, but I don’t know what.  Excited to go home and see my family, yet sad to leave the beautiful children of Nicaragua.

My precious roomie, Edie, and I moved around slowly as we tried to apply a little bit of life to our faces and enjoy one last messy bun moment together.

Wanting to crawl back into bed and yet wanting to fly like superman home, we finally packed everything up and headed down to the hotel lobby.

My other Compassion buddies were there waiting for us, and we joined them in their quiet, half-asleep chatter.

Karina, our Compassion  from Nicaragua told us it was time to get on the van to head to the airport.  We moved toward the van like a slow moving herd of cattle and plopped our exhausted bodies into the seats.

Still in a sleepy daze, we began the long road home.

Right before we approached the airport, Karina turned around and said she had something to say.

She told us how much this trip of Compassion bloggers meant to the children of Nicaragua…how much she has enjoyed working with us…how the children will never be the same because of the work that Compassion does.

Then she began thanking us for coming to Nicaragua and for loving on the children.  She thanked us for sharing the children’s stories with all of our readers all over the world.

It was really hard for me to accept her thank you’s.  It is always hard to receive them when you know will all your heart that you received way more than you gave.

But I smiled at her and soaked it all in.  And then she said something that will echo in my head for years to come…

“Please never forget us, because we will never forget you.”

Forget them?!!

Are you kidding me?

How in the world could I ever forget them?

I left part of my heart in Nicaragua, and I will never be the same.

I will never forget the honor of meeting my sponsored child, Cesar.  This child is a rock star in my eyes.  I told him that I cannot wait to watch him grow up, and I am so excited to see all that God is going to do in his life.