Adventure After Adventure
Sunday, July 14, 2019
My First Day Back - Jacob
Does he remember how lucky he was to live here, to spend his first 2 years of his life in a country that enjoys the simple things, or running around playing in the dirty street with the neighborhood kids? As soon as he finishes breakfast he is already climbing my dirtbike and making reving sounds with his mouth, so around the neighorhood we go. A few hours later I walk to the cornerstore, which I did not know I missed doing so much, and arrive to big exagerated welcomes from the neighborhood kids and their parents saying how much they missed us and many asking about my health. They tell me they heard I was in the hospital for months, some heard I almost died and I respond with a chuckle and say "Nope, just parisites," knowing every story in this town gets more exagerated evertime it is told. Soon the visits start, people start coming to the house and we are met with many smiles and laughs that soon turn into long faces when we share we are not here to stay. Even worse when we share that we want to expand our ministry to other countries. They ask us why, as if Peru was not good enough for us or as if they had done something wrong. As they try to convince us that we have misheard God I explain that we are called to the nations, not just Peru. We tell them we will be in Peru a few months a year and that seems to ease some of the pain. That night we sat down with our Peruvian team members that now live in our house to visit and chat, for me and Noe as usual it turns into a ministry meeting as our wives roll their eyes and say "why do guys always have to talk about their work." With each ministry topic I realize more and more this family is thriving in this home and God had raised them up for such a time as this. Sometimes I wonder which is the next country, or how many more times will I move, or say goodbye to a country, culture, and people I have dearly fallen in love with. I know this is the life I chose when I said YES to God, no matter what it would cost me. As I leave my melted heart stained in this land and watch the wind blow away my footprints in the dirt roads, I wonder if I have left a mark in this nation. God reminds me of the many salvations I have wittnessed, and all the native missionaries we are still sending out. It gives me peace in knowing that these people may forget my name, or even my face, but they will never forget the day they felt the love of God for the first time or decided to answer the call no matter the cost. These last few months in the States have not been easy by any means, but knowing that God is getting ready to expand our ministry more than we could imagine gives us comfort in being obedient even when its uncomfortable. I will remember to charish even more my time here and thank God for this ministry he has entrusted to us. I am excited to see what God has for us these next few weeks and years, where ever that may lead.
Monday, July 30, 2018
Counting the Cost
Friday, April 8, 2016
Goals
Friday, March 4, 2016
Shadows
Growing up in a big family, and I'm sure this happens in small families too, I was identified as someones daughter, or little sister. Hardly did I stand on my own. Although it was nice to sometimes enjoy the privilege that came with saying I am so and so's daughter, there was this constant shadow hanging over me; I could not seem to shake it. With this shadow came expectations; being the little sister meant that I should be just as brilliant as my older siblings, or as well behaved etc. finally I left home and went somewhere, where no one knew anything about my family. It was just me. I built my reputation on its own foundation. I was a clean slate, I could make you see whatever I wanted you to see. You had no one to compare me with. I loved this new sense of self. Finding myself. Creating myself. Becoming who I always wanted to be. I had confidence and I had insecurities, but it was me. The good, the bad, the ugly, it was me. I found myself, than a crazy thing happened, I got married; now I became my husbands wife. It was no longer just me; I had put myself back under someones shadow. I was lost behind him. Who would ever see me now? Would my talents be recognized? Would I be liked for me? Would I only be invited as his plus one for every event? Would my opinion matter? This person I had worked so hard to create, to become, to allow the world to see, to shine so bright, was being hidden in the shadow of my husband. It wasn't his fault or anything he did, it was the way the world saw us. I had left my world and entered his world and became only his wife. But than another crazy thing happened; the Lord met me there. He found me in the shadows, because he had put me there. You see, there was this women that I had created. The self confident women. I had created myself. I began to rely on the people around me and the things that I did to define who I was. In the shadows the Lord began to mold me and shape me into the women HE wanted me to be. In the shadows is where I began to find myself in christ. I started to become the women that God had always created me to be. Not self confident, but God confident. I no longer rely on others to define me, I rely on God to tell me who I am. What I think. How I feel. What I believe. What I should say and what I should not say. I am found in the shadow of HIS wings. I am not in my husbands shadow, or my families shadow. I am in the shadow of my creator. The author and finisher of my faith. God has a unique plan and purpose for my life. One only I can fulfill. So I must stay in HIS shadow and be defined by HIS standards to become the women HE always intended me to be.