Coming Alive

I came to Mississippi to visit my fiancé, to get to know his family and see how I would fit here when I eventually would move here, but when I came my first thoughts were that I didn't belong. The south may be in the United States, but they have their own set of rules and language. I thought I knew what the south was like after living in Dallas for three years, but big city Dallas, is nothing compared to small town Mississippi. I was very discouraged that I might not like this place as much as I hoped I would. I met Jacob's friends and family, and although they were all nice people and treated me with Southern hospitality, I couldn't help but feel that I still didn't belong with these people. God has implanted on my heart to be a missionary to other countries, not just my own. I've always been more comfortable being the only white English speaking person. On Sunday afternoon, Jacob took me to a Spanish church. The moment we arrived and the music started, I felt something come alive inside me. This was my home. In a place where people didn't speak my language and didn't look like me. This was where I belonged. Among those of other cultures.

On our way to church we stopped at a very run down trailer, to pick up a hispanic mother with her four children. Her husband had recently been taking by the police and they discovered that he was living here without the proper papers, so he was sent back to Mexico. So we did what we could and where able to connect her with this church and bring them hope. I know more clearly what my calling is and where I belong, and although the Southern culture is not what I hoped it to be, I know that I can adapted with God's help and learn to "become all things to all men that I may by all means save some".(1 Corinthians 9:22)