Why God? Why am I here? How can this be part of your plan?
We ask ourselves this question often. But don't worry, God does have a plan for you. It may involve things that you don't' understand, it might not be how you wanted things to go, but He has a plan. I was definitely asking myself "WHY?" as I stood outside the hotel that our contact had reserved. I mean, seriously, why am I here? How am I standing outside a room I don't want to go in? Outside a room I don't want my stuff in? A room with a bed that I sure as heck don't want to sleep in?!?!
But here I am:
** Me outside of my hotel room in Leon, hourly rates included
I was not comfortable with this, none of us were. We just got here, but we are so ready to leave; unfortunately we don't have choice. Not tonight at least. As our team sits outside of this hell, we pray. We pray for comfort and protection, we pray for the people that frequent this hotel, we pray for the family that runs it, we pray for peaceful dreams, we pray for love… true love. And you better believe, we pray for a better place to sleep tomorrow. We pray.
** Paradise Auto Hotel
How did we end up here you might ask? On the outside it may look like a mistake, but we now know its not. Our first night in Leon was in an hourly rate hotel, the rest will be in hostels, thank God. But instead of being upset we left the comfort of our temporary home in Palacaguina, we are thankful. We are thankful for this "mistake" that was made on AIM's part, on our squad leader's part, on our team leader's part. The "mistake" that took us to Palacaquina by "accident." See what had happened was… my team was supposed to be in Leon the whole time. We were supposed to spend a few days in Granada with the squad then head to Leon. But we didn't. We went to Palacaguina with three other teams.
When all 4 teams arrived, our contacts didn't seem to notice the "mistake". However, upon arriving to the church of 516 Now, Jaime, our contact, mentioned that he thought he was only getting one team. But we brushed it off… A week later we are packing up our belongings and heading out.
** Packing up our home in Palacaguina before we head out to Leon (its like Training Camp, guess that was good practice!)
** Perfect form, the proper way put on your pack 🙂
** Iveth, 516 Now's intern who is such a blessing to our teams!
** Jaime, our first contact, dropped us off here on the road for our other contact to come get us 🙂
** Our mode of transportation this month
But this wasn't a "mistake." Maybe it seemed that way on the outside. But God had an amazing plan. Our time in Palacaguina was a gift from God, and we see it as such:
– We got to learn about being a team from the Joy Bombs
– We got to minister to people in the community through testimonies, laughs, hugs, and actions
– We got to meet and minister to a wonderful high school team from Spartanburg, South Carolina. It is amazing how God allowed our teams to connect because God has plans beyond our understanding
– We got to meet and minister to Iveth. What a blessing she was to our team. We hope that we were half the blessing to her that she was to us.
– We got to spend time with three other teams on A-squad… working together and having fun!
– We got an introduction to manual labor 🙂 Little did we know how much this would help our team
Our time in Palacaguina was amazing and flawless. Our God has such a heart for His children, He truly loves us. He gives us great gifts and amazing opportunities.
** Adelphoi with Iveth before we left Palacaguina
So just like our "mistake" move to Palacaguina, nothing truly is a mistake. God has a perfect and wonderful plan for you. You may not see it today, you may not see it tomorrow, but you will see it! He has good plans for you, in His timing, plans to make you prosperous, good plans.
"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" ~Jeremiah 29:11
