Well it's officially almost been two weeks since I have been home. And while I love being home with my family and my friends, I do miss my immersion life. I miss my host families and my immersion family even more. It's a strange transition going from seeing a group of people almost every day to be suddenly separated from all of them. Modern technology allows us to still communicate with each other from time to time but I wish they were here with me. One of the things I wasn't expecting to struggle with is making decisions! During our trip, we would often fantasize about how great it will be when we could choose what food we wanted to eat and when we wanted to eat it and having more than our few outfits to choose from but now that I can, it's overwhelming! I just want to snuggle up with my t-shirts and have pizza delivered to my house so I don't have to go out into the real world. Thankfully, I have been able to keep myself busy by planning times with friends to catch up or I would probably become a hermit.
However, seeing people can still sometimes be a challenge. Especially when you want to try to sum up 6 months of your life into a coffee date. There's really not a very good way to do it. It's hard to describe what I experienced because it's all about the people I met. Not about how many buildings we built or how many projects we accomplished. It's all about the relationships we met, and when you go to a new place every couple of months, you meet a lot of people. And honestly, I don't know how well I impacted the people there. Of course I loved strangers like my family and tried to show the joy I have received from Christ to everyone I met, but I can never repay some of these families I met for how wonderful they made my experience. And maybe that's what we were supposed to learn. Sure, the places we went to did not have the technology and comforts we have in America. But when that all is gone, you get to see the beauty in these people's hearts. And that's what I will take away from this trip.
Being separated from your phone and computer for so long gives you the opportunity to spend a lot of talking to God, which is something that I unfortunately don't really spend a lot of time doing. It made me realize that maybe the times we feel like we don't hear God's voice is because we allow so much other stuff to block it out. But when we look in the Bible, those who really wanted to hear God's voice separated themselves from the distractions of this world so that they could hear Him. Jesus went and prayed by Himself. Elijah was taken up on the mountain so he could hear God. Sometimes God wants to tell us the next step He wants us to take in our lives. Or sometimes He just wants to tell us about someone who needs our prayers. Don't be afraid to listen.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Live Dangerously
So imagine this for a moment: you are asleep in your bed, having wonderful dreams. And then around 1:30am you wake up to the sound that's the equivalent of hail hitting your car in the winter (something I don't have a lot of experience with but work with me). But of course, after a second your brain realizes it's the rainy season in Belize and considering your house has a tin roof, rain is hitting basically a giant speaker system. Then it hits you.. "Whoa! Next Thursday I will be getting ready to board a plane to go home!!" Which gets you thinking about everything you have experienced the past six months and things you hope to experience when you get home and the next thing you know it's 4am and you haven't really done much sleeping. The whole point of that story is me saying that I GET TO BE HOME IN A WEEK!! And again, not that I don't love Belize, I just really miss America.
But before I get carried away, here is a little bit of what has been going on. Last Thursday, I got to go back to 7 Miles because one of my host sisters was graduating primary school! It took our siblings a bit to warm back up to us but it didn't take long for us to pick right back up where we left off. Our 7 Miles parents were super excited to have us back. They even begged us to stay the night with them but considering it's an hour car ride to get back to Santa Elena and there is no phone reception, we had to say no and return home. It was hard leaving them the first time when we knew we were
going to be coming back but it was really hard to leave them that time. We left with the hope that maybe one day God will give us an opportunity to return to this family that loved us like one of their own.
This week has been one full of projects to keep ourselves busy while we prepare for returning home. There is a week long team in a city not too far from where we are so a few of us have gone every day to help out with their project. It is a fine line between being helpful and being invasive. One of their leaders asked us to give their group a summary of what our trip is about which is nice sometimes to be reminded that yeah, what we are doing is pretty cool! It can be easy to (in a weird way) take this trip for granted because it is our life for the moment. But it is actually pretty awesome.
Yesterday we went to this place called "A Painted Conversation". This lady had this vision to create a mural that represents this area and get people of the community involved in making something beautiful. I'm not exactly sure how she put it together but basically, she created this image on the computer that she traces block by block onto these very large painting papers and creates like a paint by number. Then groups or individuals can come in and paint part of it and when it is finished, it will be a big, beautiful masterpiece inspired and put together by members of this community. It was really cool just listening to her vision of the mural and explaining everything she feels like it represents. Plus, I find paint by numbers very relaxing and they require no actual talent so it was right up my ally!
Since this is my last blog post before I return home, I would like to end it with something for you to contemplate. And not just in a "hmm... interesting" way but in a "whoa! Maybe I should really think/ pray about that" kind of way. So the other day, we were downtown and we saw someone had grafittied "Be dangerous. It's safe out there." Which at first just seems kind of funny because normally you would switch the words "safe" and "dangerous" but then I got thinking about how
different life would be if we lived like that. Not just like in a way where we would maybe go on more adventures but what if you lived your spiritual life dangerously? It's so easy to live our lives in a spiritual safety zone with our safe churches. And safe friends. But what would happen if you let God lead you out of that safety net? I don't want to really give examples of that because I don't want to limit your ideas but think about it. What would happen if you decided to live dangerously for Christ? Yeah, it's kind of a scary thought but God breathed galaxies into exhistance! He can do some pretty cool stuff! Why not be a part of it? Who knows, you might get to do something cool like live for a while in some cool foreign places ;)
But before I get carried away, here is a little bit of what has been going on. Last Thursday, I got to go back to 7 Miles because one of my host sisters was graduating primary school! It took our siblings a bit to warm back up to us but it didn't take long for us to pick right back up where we left off. Our 7 Miles parents were super excited to have us back. They even begged us to stay the night with them but considering it's an hour car ride to get back to Santa Elena and there is no phone reception, we had to say no and return home. It was hard leaving them the first time when we knew we were
going to be coming back but it was really hard to leave them that time. We left with the hope that maybe one day God will give us an opportunity to return to this family that loved us like one of their own.
This week has been one full of projects to keep ourselves busy while we prepare for returning home. There is a week long team in a city not too far from where we are so a few of us have gone every day to help out with their project. It is a fine line between being helpful and being invasive. One of their leaders asked us to give their group a summary of what our trip is about which is nice sometimes to be reminded that yeah, what we are doing is pretty cool! It can be easy to (in a weird way) take this trip for granted because it is our life for the moment. But it is actually pretty awesome.
Yesterday we went to this place called "A Painted Conversation". This lady had this vision to create a mural that represents this area and get people of the community involved in making something beautiful. I'm not exactly sure how she put it together but basically, she created this image on the computer that she traces block by block onto these very large painting papers and creates like a paint by number. Then groups or individuals can come in and paint part of it and when it is finished, it will be a big, beautiful masterpiece inspired and put together by members of this community. It was really cool just listening to her vision of the mural and explaining everything she feels like it represents. Plus, I find paint by numbers very relaxing and they require no actual talent so it was right up my ally!
Since this is my last blog post before I return home, I would like to end it with something for you to contemplate. And not just in a "hmm... interesting" way but in a "whoa! Maybe I should really think/ pray about that" kind of way. So the other day, we were downtown and we saw someone had grafittied "Be dangerous. It's safe out there." Which at first just seems kind of funny because normally you would switch the words "safe" and "dangerous" but then I got thinking about how
different life would be if we lived like that. Not just like in a way where we would maybe go on more adventures but what if you lived your spiritual life dangerously? It's so easy to live our lives in a spiritual safety zone with our safe churches. And safe friends. But what would happen if you let God lead you out of that safety net? I don't want to really give examples of that because I don't want to limit your ideas but think about it. What would happen if you decided to live dangerously for Christ? Yeah, it's kind of a scary thought but God breathed galaxies into exhistance! He can do some pretty cool stuff! Why not be a part of it? Who knows, you might get to do something cool like live for a while in some cool foreign places ;)
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
I Can't Belize It!
This past week we reached a very pivital date. June 12th marked 5 months since we left home and officially less than 3 weeks until we get to be back! This trip has been great and I definitely wouldn't trade my experience for anything but being away from home for so long really makes you miss it a lot. Especially because it seems the closer we get, the more we dream about being home. Maybe because we can actually deram about all the things we miss with the hope it will one day soon be our reality. Belize really isn't all that bad though. For instance, I am currently writing this blog from an air conditioned ice cream shop... Sometimes you just kind of need to spoil yourself a bit :)
The weekend was a very fun but very crazy one. Our sister had her quinceanera on Sunday which meant all this past week, we had various people coming in and out of our house helping our mom with cooking and preparing decorations. Saturday night, we had like 20 people come over to our house to help make tamales. Like several hundred tamales. And since Bekah an I are unexperienced tamale makers, we were given the glamorous job of cleaning leaves (which if you have never made tamales before, it acutally is an important part of the process). Oh and if you read my last blog post, I said we were going to try to get fun party dresses. Well, we kept going in and out of stores confused why none of the stuff was fitting us properly until someone finally told us that all of the clothes are in petite sizes. And considering I am 5'8" and my roommate is 5'10", it's no wonder none of this stuff fit us. We didn't need to start weight watchers when we got home, we just are a lot bigger than the people that live here are. So even though we had to wear the same church apparel that we have been wearing for the past 5 months, we still had a good time at the party... Until a rain storm decided to come through and make an appearance. Picture experiencing a small hurricane in a building with no windows and a tin roof. It makes it sound and feel a lot more dramatic than it probably was but it definitely sent everyone in a panic. But hey, at least it wasn't hot anymore.
So as you may or may not know, our team is the first immersion team to come to Belize which is cool because it's new to not just us but also to our organization but also hard because we don't really have any of the solid connections we have had in the other places. Which leaves your team with two options: either be bored and frustrated or go out and find stuff to do! So some people on our team have started making connections for us to get involved with some preschools and apparently Thursday we are going to go paint a mural that will be put up on some public place. So we will be getting to make a visible mark on the community. Maybe it will be something other teams will get to see and know that we did that!
Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the concept of love. Love of family. Love of friends. Love of strangers. Love of people who maybe are difficult to love. In God's mind, choosing to love people isn't an option. It's the only option. Jesus said the two greatest commandments are to love God with all we got and love our neighbors as ourselves. There doesn't need to be any more instructions than that because if we are so focused on loving others and loving God, we won't want to commit sin that would hurt them. Everything else just kind of falls into place when we put the needs of ourselves aside and love others with everything inside of us. And that's what I am going to keep doing for these last 16 days. Loving with all of my everything.
The weekend was a very fun but very crazy one. Our sister had her quinceanera on Sunday which meant all this past week, we had various people coming in and out of our house helping our mom with cooking and preparing decorations. Saturday night, we had like 20 people come over to our house to help make tamales. Like several hundred tamales. And since Bekah an I are unexperienced tamale makers, we were given the glamorous job of cleaning leaves (which if you have never made tamales before, it acutally is an important part of the process). Oh and if you read my last blog post, I said we were going to try to get fun party dresses. Well, we kept going in and out of stores confused why none of the stuff was fitting us properly until someone finally told us that all of the clothes are in petite sizes. And considering I am 5'8" and my roommate is 5'10", it's no wonder none of this stuff fit us. We didn't need to start weight watchers when we got home, we just are a lot bigger than the people that live here are. So even though we had to wear the same church apparel that we have been wearing for the past 5 months, we still had a good time at the party... Until a rain storm decided to come through and make an appearance. Picture experiencing a small hurricane in a building with no windows and a tin roof. It makes it sound and feel a lot more dramatic than it probably was but it definitely sent everyone in a panic. But hey, at least it wasn't hot anymore.
So as you may or may not know, our team is the first immersion team to come to Belize which is cool because it's new to not just us but also to our organization but also hard because we don't really have any of the solid connections we have had in the other places. Which leaves your team with two options: either be bored and frustrated or go out and find stuff to do! So some people on our team have started making connections for us to get involved with some preschools and apparently Thursday we are going to go paint a mural that will be put up on some public place. So we will be getting to make a visible mark on the community. Maybe it will be something other teams will get to see and know that we did that!
Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the concept of love. Love of family. Love of friends. Love of strangers. Love of people who maybe are difficult to love. In God's mind, choosing to love people isn't an option. It's the only option. Jesus said the two greatest commandments are to love God with all we got and love our neighbors as ourselves. There doesn't need to be any more instructions than that because if we are so focused on loving others and loving God, we won't want to commit sin that would hurt them. Everything else just kind of falls into place when we put the needs of ourselves aside and love others with everything inside of us. And that's what I am going to keep doing for these last 16 days. Loving with all of my everything.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Last Stop: Santa Elana!
Well, I didn't think we would ever actually get here but we have finally made it to our last stop on our trip! Last Saturday, we made our last move from 7 Miles to Santa Elana, Belize. Which even though both are in Belize, they are very different because Santa Elana is a city and we haven't lived in a city for a while. It is kind of weird to be around so much traffic and so close to so many stores. And this isn't even that big of a city! Further proof of how going home is going to be a major adjustment.
Our last few weeks in 7 Miles were ones filled with lots of adventure hikes and even more peanuts. But Rachel and I did manage to get all of them done! Our family obviously did most of the work because apparently we are not very fast. Our last day, our family took us to the river for one last day of swimming. We got to play around in the water with our siblings and even started teaching them how to swim! The thing that was so amazing about our 7 Miles family is how much they felt like family. We have lived with several different families throughout our trip and although I have never felt like I didn't belong in a house or questioned their hospitality, this family made me feel like one of their own. Like our parents really became our parents and took care of us when we were sick and our siblings really became our siblings and we all laughed like siblings and sometimes even got on each other's nerves like real brothers and sisters. There were lots of tears and hugs when we left. But hopefully, God will let me come back to visit my 7 Miles family.
In my Santa Elana family, I have my parents and then 2 teenage sisters and a 12 year old brother, which it is fun having siblings closer to my age. Our dad is a brick mason and our mom keeps herself busy selling kitchen products and helping make food for all of the parties that we attend. Which with all of the graduations and stuff going on right now is a lot. Plus, we go to church like all the time. Like if people got doughnuts every time they went to church, the whole country would have diabetes. And one of our sisters is having her quinceanera next Sunday!! So we have been helping get all of the decorations together and our sisters are helping us go shopping for the perfect party dress. It is actually very helpful to be so busy because it helps distract from the fact we are so close to being home!! (as of 6/4 we are 28 days away from being home!)
So I have been reading through 1 and 2 Kings because I don't really even know when I have read those through all the way and I came across this story that just blew my mind! It's found in 2 Kings 6 and Elisha is in a sticky situation because a king wants him dead and has surrounded the city he is in with an army. So naturally, Elisha's friend that is with him starts freaking out because there doesn't really seem to be a way out. Then Elisha prays that God will open his friend's eyes and his friend looks again and the Bible says he saw "the hills full of horses and chariots of fire". Like what?! Can you imagine how cool that must have been to see?? And the thing is that God has us surrounded by His army all the time, keeping us safe from all that is after us. Like that song by Chris Tomlin! God's angel army is by our side!
Our last few weeks in 7 Miles were ones filled with lots of adventure hikes and even more peanuts. But Rachel and I did manage to get all of them done! Our family obviously did most of the work because apparently we are not very fast. Our last day, our family took us to the river for one last day of swimming. We got to play around in the water with our siblings and even started teaching them how to swim! The thing that was so amazing about our 7 Miles family is how much they felt like family. We have lived with several different families throughout our trip and although I have never felt like I didn't belong in a house or questioned their hospitality, this family made me feel like one of their own. Like our parents really became our parents and took care of us when we were sick and our siblings really became our siblings and we all laughed like siblings and sometimes even got on each other's nerves like real brothers and sisters. There were lots of tears and hugs when we left. But hopefully, God will let me come back to visit my 7 Miles family.
In my Santa Elana family, I have my parents and then 2 teenage sisters and a 12 year old brother, which it is fun having siblings closer to my age. Our dad is a brick mason and our mom keeps herself busy selling kitchen products and helping make food for all of the parties that we attend. Which with all of the graduations and stuff going on right now is a lot. Plus, we go to church like all the time. Like if people got doughnuts every time they went to church, the whole country would have diabetes. And one of our sisters is having her quinceanera next Sunday!! So we have been helping get all of the decorations together and our sisters are helping us go shopping for the perfect party dress. It is actually very helpful to be so busy because it helps distract from the fact we are so close to being home!! (as of 6/4 we are 28 days away from being home!)
So I have been reading through 1 and 2 Kings because I don't really even know when I have read those through all the way and I came across this story that just blew my mind! It's found in 2 Kings 6 and Elisha is in a sticky situation because a king wants him dead and has surrounded the city he is in with an army. So naturally, Elisha's friend that is with him starts freaking out because there doesn't really seem to be a way out. Then Elisha prays that God will open his friend's eyes and his friend looks again and the Bible says he saw "the hills full of horses and chariots of fire". Like what?! Can you imagine how cool that must have been to see?? And the thing is that God has us surrounded by His army all the time, keeping us safe from all that is after us. Like that song by Chris Tomlin! God's angel army is by our side!
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Kids, Carrots, and Cake
Hello from Belize! I cannot believe we have finally made it to our last stop on our six month adventure. We are actually going to be staying in two different areas while we are here which will make time go even faster! All of us are definitely loving it here, but it's also hard not to be excited about going home since we are so close. (May 16th marks 47 days until we get to go home.) Right now, we are in a little town called 7 Miles. You can try looking it up but you will be lucky to find anything about it. It's very small! But we are kind of enjoying isolation for a moment. A lot of the families here are farmers so our days are filled with different agricultural activities. I've become a professional peanut picker!
Currently I am living with Raymon, his wife, and 5 out of their 10 children (everyone has very big families here). From day one, I have definitely felt welcomed as family. We got to our new home on May 4th, which was a day before my birthday. So while we were talking with our family, they asked how old we were and the fact that the next day was going to be my birthday was brought up. My mom instantly got super excited and told me she was going to make a very nice dinner for me. On my birthday morning, I woke up to the sound of all my new siblings walking past my door saying "Audrey. Hey Audrey. Happy birthday!" Then later, we went carrot picking with our dad and a couple of our brothers. I have a whole new appreciation for salads. I also got a very weird sunburn on my back from bending over to pick the carrots. Just my luck! I got to eat my yummy delicious dinner and was very satisfied with how my day had been. Then, one of my older brothers came back in our truck and pulled out a birthday cake!! I was so shocked and happy! These people had only known me for a day and went out of their way to make sure I had a wonderful birthday. And our family's kindness and generosity has not stopped since then!
Our host family has a little truck so we get to go on field trips all the time. Sometimes it is to go visit family, sometimes it's to get groceries. So this last Wednesday, Rachel and I were picking peanuts and our dad came and asked if we wanted to go into town with him and his wife. We said sure thinking we were going to one of the little towns only a few minutes away. But an hour and a half and a car ferry later, we reached the town of Spanish Lookout. The first thing we did was get some food from a restaurant called "Dis da fi wi chicken". (If you figure out what that means, can you let us know?) But they had barbecue sauce! It's the little things like get us really excited. Then we went in and out of various farming necessities stores. Rachel and I would walk around in amazement at all these stores had. It's funny how small stores and little towns have become our norm. I'm just trying to imagine how overwhelming a mall is going to feel when we get back!
So since this is our third and final stop, here is a list of some things I have done in every country:
- I've had fresh coconut in every country! Belize coconuts have the best tasting coconut water but I liked the inside part of the coconut best in Haiti
- I've held baby animals (baby bunny in Haiti, puppies in Jamaica, and kittens in Belize)
- I've had a bagged drink in every place. In Haiti, all our water came in bags. Jamaica had very tasty and sugary bag juice. In Belize, they pour the soda out of the glass bottle into bags with straws so that the bottles can be recycled
-I've also had a coke in every country! They really did taste slightly different but that may have just been in my head
- Our team has celebrated a birthday in every country!
- I've had an outside shower in all but one of my host homes. It does make you feel rather vulnerable but I am going to kind of miss bathing in nature
- I've tripped and scraped my knee in every country. Those of you that really know me will not find that unbelievable at all
- I have been very spoiled by my host families :) In Haiti, I would get my own little bowl of hot dogs when she made fish because she found out I didn't really like seafood. In Jamaica, we got a deliciously big fruit plate every morning with breakfast. Here in Belize, we get cookies or a little snack every time we go on a road trip which has happened a lot
One Bible story I read recently that has really stuck out to me is found in 1 Kings 17. It begins by introducing Elijah and his message to King Ahab that it would not rain from quite a while. So first, God told Elijah he needed to go hide for a bit but not to worry because God was going to send ravens to bring Elijah food to eat. I have never been instructed by God to put my faith in a bunch of birds but I imagine that took great confidence that they would continue to come back. Then, God told Elijah to move to a town where someone would take of him. Elijah met a widow and her son with not a lot of ingredients to make bread. Definitely not enough to feed 3 people for an extended period of time. But she believed that God would continue to provide. But she must have had some doubt because God allowed her son to become sick almost to the point of death. Elijah cried out to God to heal her son and He did! Then the widow said she really believed Elijah was who he said he was. But I got to thinking, who needed God to show up the most? Did the widow need to be reminded that God will provide food even when it seems like she has nothing left? Did her son need to be tested to literally the point of death so that he would remain faithful to God for the rest of his life? Was it a test for Elijah for God to see if he was someone He could depend on to do His work? I don't think there is just one answer. I think God places people in our path because we need to learn something from each other. He pushes us so that we have unshakable evidence that even when it seems all hope is lost, He has been and will always be there.
Currently I am living with Raymon, his wife, and 5 out of their 10 children (everyone has very big families here). From day one, I have definitely felt welcomed as family. We got to our new home on May 4th, which was a day before my birthday. So while we were talking with our family, they asked how old we were and the fact that the next day was going to be my birthday was brought up. My mom instantly got super excited and told me she was going to make a very nice dinner for me. On my birthday morning, I woke up to the sound of all my new siblings walking past my door saying "Audrey. Hey Audrey. Happy birthday!" Then later, we went carrot picking with our dad and a couple of our brothers. I have a whole new appreciation for salads. I also got a very weird sunburn on my back from bending over to pick the carrots. Just my luck! I got to eat my yummy delicious dinner and was very satisfied with how my day had been. Then, one of my older brothers came back in our truck and pulled out a birthday cake!! I was so shocked and happy! These people had only known me for a day and went out of their way to make sure I had a wonderful birthday. And our family's kindness and generosity has not stopped since then!
Our host family has a little truck so we get to go on field trips all the time. Sometimes it is to go visit family, sometimes it's to get groceries. So this last Wednesday, Rachel and I were picking peanuts and our dad came and asked if we wanted to go into town with him and his wife. We said sure thinking we were going to one of the little towns only a few minutes away. But an hour and a half and a car ferry later, we reached the town of Spanish Lookout. The first thing we did was get some food from a restaurant called "Dis da fi wi chicken". (If you figure out what that means, can you let us know?) But they had barbecue sauce! It's the little things like get us really excited. Then we went in and out of various farming necessities stores. Rachel and I would walk around in amazement at all these stores had. It's funny how small stores and little towns have become our norm. I'm just trying to imagine how overwhelming a mall is going to feel when we get back!
So since this is our third and final stop, here is a list of some things I have done in every country:
- I've had fresh coconut in every country! Belize coconuts have the best tasting coconut water but I liked the inside part of the coconut best in Haiti
- I've held baby animals (baby bunny in Haiti, puppies in Jamaica, and kittens in Belize)
- I've had a bagged drink in every place. In Haiti, all our water came in bags. Jamaica had very tasty and sugary bag juice. In Belize, they pour the soda out of the glass bottle into bags with straws so that the bottles can be recycled
-I've also had a coke in every country! They really did taste slightly different but that may have just been in my head
- Our team has celebrated a birthday in every country!
- I've had an outside shower in all but one of my host homes. It does make you feel rather vulnerable but I am going to kind of miss bathing in nature
- I've tripped and scraped my knee in every country. Those of you that really know me will not find that unbelievable at all
- I have been very spoiled by my host families :) In Haiti, I would get my own little bowl of hot dogs when she made fish because she found out I didn't really like seafood. In Jamaica, we got a deliciously big fruit plate every morning with breakfast. Here in Belize, we get cookies or a little snack every time we go on a road trip which has happened a lot
One Bible story I read recently that has really stuck out to me is found in 1 Kings 17. It begins by introducing Elijah and his message to King Ahab that it would not rain from quite a while. So first, God told Elijah he needed to go hide for a bit but not to worry because God was going to send ravens to bring Elijah food to eat. I have never been instructed by God to put my faith in a bunch of birds but I imagine that took great confidence that they would continue to come back. Then, God told Elijah to move to a town where someone would take of him. Elijah met a widow and her son with not a lot of ingredients to make bread. Definitely not enough to feed 3 people for an extended period of time. But she believed that God would continue to provide. But she must have had some doubt because God allowed her son to become sick almost to the point of death. Elijah cried out to God to heal her son and He did! Then the widow said she really believed Elijah was who he said he was. But I got to thinking, who needed God to show up the most? Did the widow need to be reminded that God will provide food even when it seems like she has nothing left? Did her son need to be tested to literally the point of death so that he would remain faithful to God for the rest of his life? Was it a test for Elijah for God to see if he was someone He could depend on to do His work? I don't think there is just one answer. I think God places people in our path because we need to learn something from each other. He pushes us so that we have unshakable evidence that even when it seems all hope is lost, He has been and will always be there.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Final Thoughts About Jamaica
We left Jamaica yesterday to begin our journey to Belize! We are all very excited for Belize and all of the newness and unknown it brings with it. But how do you leave the place that has been your home for 8 weeks? How do you say goodbye to a community that has welcomed you with open arms and treated you like one of their own? How long do you have to look outside at the scenery to guarantee you will never forget what every tree looks like? The memories I have made from Catadupa, Jamaica are ones I hope to carry with me for the rest of my life. And if God blesses me so, I have been promised a bed and meals from several new friends if I ever return to Jamaica.
One real cool thing that happened this week occurred at our last Tuesday night church service. I felt the presence of God there stronger than I had since we had been there. The church we were a part of has a Pentecostal background and they just seem to understand more about the power of the Spirit than any other church I have attended. At first it was pretty intimidating not because it was weird but because I didn't really understand it. But that last night, we all opened ourselves up to the Spirit. Our group showed a new vulnerability in our worship that we hadn't really let ourselves express yet. We were singing and praising and praying harder and more genuinely than I had seen us do so far. But my favorite part was when Pastor Gordan invited us to the front so the church could pray over us. The craziest thing was it didn't feel like we were a visiting group that they were praying for before we left. It felt like our church was sending us off. It was then I really realized. We were more than just visitors. We were truly family. A family not defined by DNA, but one designed by God.
Our last week in Jamaica was full of assisting another group with one of their projects. It was fun because it gave us a chance to interact with the other group and share our experiences with them but it also caused our last week to slip away faster than we were expecting. Our last night there, some of our host moms hosted a party for us with cake and other yummy treats! My current host mom surprised us also with a last dinner of fried chicken, french fries, and pepsi. It was a little funny how American our last dinner in Jamaica was but she really was so happy to make it for us. It was too cute!
So recently I have been reading through Psalm because let's be for real, it's a pretty awesome book of the Bible. The one that has stuck out to me most recently is Psalm 19:1-6 which I won't quote but you should totally grab your Bible and look it up. Spoiler alert: it's about creation. The way the author describes it is so beautifully poetic. The same wonder and awe he feels looking out at the world is very similar to how I am starting to feel about it. I haven't ever really been a huge outdoorsy person, but this trip is starting to change that. God didn't just give us things we need to survive. He gave us things to enjoy! He gave us a world full of mystery and wonder. And the coolest part is, we don't have to do anything to maintain it. We just get to sit back and give God praise for the beautiful world we have around us.
One real cool thing that happened this week occurred at our last Tuesday night church service. I felt the presence of God there stronger than I had since we had been there. The church we were a part of has a Pentecostal background and they just seem to understand more about the power of the Spirit than any other church I have attended. At first it was pretty intimidating not because it was weird but because I didn't really understand it. But that last night, we all opened ourselves up to the Spirit. Our group showed a new vulnerability in our worship that we hadn't really let ourselves express yet. We were singing and praising and praying harder and more genuinely than I had seen us do so far. But my favorite part was when Pastor Gordan invited us to the front so the church could pray over us. The craziest thing was it didn't feel like we were a visiting group that they were praying for before we left. It felt like our church was sending us off. It was then I really realized. We were more than just visitors. We were truly family. A family not defined by DNA, but one designed by God.
Our last week in Jamaica was full of assisting another group with one of their projects. It was fun because it gave us a chance to interact with the other group and share our experiences with them but it also caused our last week to slip away faster than we were expecting. Our last night there, some of our host moms hosted a party for us with cake and other yummy treats! My current host mom surprised us also with a last dinner of fried chicken, french fries, and pepsi. It was a little funny how American our last dinner in Jamaica was but she really was so happy to make it for us. It was too cute!
So recently I have been reading through Psalm because let's be for real, it's a pretty awesome book of the Bible. The one that has stuck out to me most recently is Psalm 19:1-6 which I won't quote but you should totally grab your Bible and look it up. Spoiler alert: it's about creation. The way the author describes it is so beautifully poetic. The same wonder and awe he feels looking out at the world is very similar to how I am starting to feel about it. I haven't ever really been a huge outdoorsy person, but this trip is starting to change that. God didn't just give us things we need to survive. He gave us things to enjoy! He gave us a world full of mystery and wonder. And the coolest part is, we don't have to do anything to maintain it. We just get to sit back and give God praise for the beautiful world we have around us.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Three Months In
So here's a thought a lot of us have been struggling with this past week: we have officially been away from home for 3 months. That means 3 months since I have been able to play games and hang out with my family. 3 months since I have had lunch or coffee with any of my friends. 3 months since I have been able to praise and worship with my wonderful church family. 3 months since I have been able to drive my car. 3 months since I have had constant cell service (that one I don't mind so much). 3 months since I have slept in a bed that was actually mine. 3 months since I have been able to look at a closet or go shopping. 3 months since I have had Chick-fil-a (if you knew how many dreams I have had about waffle fries and sweet tea, you would feel so bad you would try to send me some internationally). 3 months is a long time to be separated from everything that is familiar to you!
But it also has brought it's really awesome things too. It's been 3 months since I really cared or worried about how I looked or what I wore. 3 months since I sat on the couch and watched Grey's Anatomy all day. 3 months of intentionally reading my Bible and surrounding myself with God. 3 months of meeting new people and being challenged in new and excited ways. 3 months of having to eat new foods that I may not really like but I eat them because it makes my host moms so happy when I do. 3 months of choosing to think about other people before I think of myself. 3 months of worshipping God on Sundays with awesome people that are crazy about Him. 3 months of trying to be a servant. These 3 months have definitely not come without their fair share of challenges and struggles but I have learned that I have to be dependent on God first. I can't call my mom or my friends when something goes wrong or when I am having a bad day. God has shown that He really is the source of my strength and someone I can depend on in my time of need. And for those of you that wrote me notes or gave me letters of any kind leading up to this trip, just know I really do love having those. They have helped on many homesick days. And if I have learned so much these first 3 months, I can't wait for all of the amazing things these next 3 months have in store for me.
We are also finishing up our time in Jamaica! May 2nd we are leaving Jamaica, spending another night in Miami (Yay America!), and heading out to Belize on May 3rd. As much as I have loved my time here in Jamaica and have loved becoming a part of this community, I am super excited for Belize. This is their first time having an Immersion team and from what I have heard, they are almost as excited as we are about going there! It may or may not be obvious but I really love traveling. So getting to fly for 2 days and going to a new place is something I am really looking forward to. Belize's national language is officially English which hopefully means we will have the ability to get to know people on the same personal level that we have here in Jamaica which I really do appreciate. At this moment, that is all I know about what is ahead of us in Belize but I can't wait to share all of my awesome stories with you!
Recent highlights from Jamaica:
- There is an ice cream man that rides around on a motorcycle! A cone is about 50 cents
- My house I am at right now has a little porch with an incredible view of the mountain! Definitely have taken full advantage of that
- We got to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2 the other night!
- We got help dig a hole this week for a project at the church. I'm glad we don't get that dirty every day but it was kind of fun
- It's the rainy season in Jamaica so it literally rains every day. I love it!
- My current host family has a boy that reminds me of my little sister Riza and if you know her, you can understand how entertaining our house is
- It's cool enough for me to wear my sweatpants at night! I don't really need to but it makes me happy that I can without melting so I wear them just because I can
- I am finally getting really good at washing my clothes by hand
- Our host mom gave us Jamaican chocolate bars the other day! Yum!
Recently I have been thinking a lot about Abraham. In case you need a refresher (you can check out Genesis 12 for the full story), God came to Abraham (formally Abram) and told him "Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father's house to the land that I will show you" -Genesis 12:1. Before this, all we know about Abraham is that his dad's name is Terah and he was married. That's it. We don't know anything about his childhood or really anything about who Abraham was. But apparently God thought he was a stand up guy. God looked down from heaven and decided Abraham would be a great person to begin His nation of Israel. That kind of seems like a crazy huge responsibility to me! And all the Bible says about his response is "So Abram went.." He just went! He didn't say "You know what God, I'm not really sure You know what You're talking about. See I have a family here. And a nice house. And a good job. I will follow You wherever You send me... as long as it's under my terms." No! He just went. And where God was taking him didn't have directions on a GPS he could follow so he knew he was heading the right way. I'm pretty sure there wasn't even a map. Abraham trusted God so much that he was willing to just get up and go. I'm trying to figure out where God is telling me I need to get up and go, but I hope to have faith like Abraham and just follow.
PS One of our team members had to leave last week because of some serious health issues her dad is experiencing. From what I have heard, her dad might have a possibility of a very successful recovery but I would ask you to please please keep her and her family in your prayers!
But it also has brought it's really awesome things too. It's been 3 months since I really cared or worried about how I looked or what I wore. 3 months since I sat on the couch and watched Grey's Anatomy all day. 3 months of intentionally reading my Bible and surrounding myself with God. 3 months of meeting new people and being challenged in new and excited ways. 3 months of having to eat new foods that I may not really like but I eat them because it makes my host moms so happy when I do. 3 months of choosing to think about other people before I think of myself. 3 months of worshipping God on Sundays with awesome people that are crazy about Him. 3 months of trying to be a servant. These 3 months have definitely not come without their fair share of challenges and struggles but I have learned that I have to be dependent on God first. I can't call my mom or my friends when something goes wrong or when I am having a bad day. God has shown that He really is the source of my strength and someone I can depend on in my time of need. And for those of you that wrote me notes or gave me letters of any kind leading up to this trip, just know I really do love having those. They have helped on many homesick days. And if I have learned so much these first 3 months, I can't wait for all of the amazing things these next 3 months have in store for me.
We are also finishing up our time in Jamaica! May 2nd we are leaving Jamaica, spending another night in Miami (Yay America!), and heading out to Belize on May 3rd. As much as I have loved my time here in Jamaica and have loved becoming a part of this community, I am super excited for Belize. This is their first time having an Immersion team and from what I have heard, they are almost as excited as we are about going there! It may or may not be obvious but I really love traveling. So getting to fly for 2 days and going to a new place is something I am really looking forward to. Belize's national language is officially English which hopefully means we will have the ability to get to know people on the same personal level that we have here in Jamaica which I really do appreciate. At this moment, that is all I know about what is ahead of us in Belize but I can't wait to share all of my awesome stories with you!
Recent highlights from Jamaica:
- There is an ice cream man that rides around on a motorcycle! A cone is about 50 cents
- My house I am at right now has a little porch with an incredible view of the mountain! Definitely have taken full advantage of that
- We got to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2 the other night!
- We got help dig a hole this week for a project at the church. I'm glad we don't get that dirty every day but it was kind of fun
- It's the rainy season in Jamaica so it literally rains every day. I love it!
- My current host family has a boy that reminds me of my little sister Riza and if you know her, you can understand how entertaining our house is
- It's cool enough for me to wear my sweatpants at night! I don't really need to but it makes me happy that I can without melting so I wear them just because I can
- I am finally getting really good at washing my clothes by hand
- Our host mom gave us Jamaican chocolate bars the other day! Yum!
Recently I have been thinking a lot about Abraham. In case you need a refresher (you can check out Genesis 12 for the full story), God came to Abraham (formally Abram) and told him "Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father's house to the land that I will show you" -Genesis 12:1. Before this, all we know about Abraham is that his dad's name is Terah and he was married. That's it. We don't know anything about his childhood or really anything about who Abraham was. But apparently God thought he was a stand up guy. God looked down from heaven and decided Abraham would be a great person to begin His nation of Israel. That kind of seems like a crazy huge responsibility to me! And all the Bible says about his response is "So Abram went.." He just went! He didn't say "You know what God, I'm not really sure You know what You're talking about. See I have a family here. And a nice house. And a good job. I will follow You wherever You send me... as long as it's under my terms." No! He just went. And where God was taking him didn't have directions on a GPS he could follow so he knew he was heading the right way. I'm pretty sure there wasn't even a map. Abraham trusted God so much that he was willing to just get up and go. I'm trying to figure out where God is telling me I need to get up and go, but I hope to have faith like Abraham and just follow.
PS One of our team members had to leave last week because of some serious health issues her dad is experiencing. From what I have heard, her dad might have a possibility of a very successful recovery but I would ask you to please please keep her and her family in your prayers!
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