Lessons learned since being in Peru:
1. While sand boarding down the steep sand dune is fun, climbing back up is not. Therefore, conserve your strength and limit the amount of times you go down the hill. Otherwise, you might just collapse halfway up the sand mountain.
2. I am incredibly weird because I seem to be the only person who is still thoroughly enjoying the platefuls of white rice we have for every single meal.
3. Hiking through the desert while holding the hand of a nine-year-old girl named Ana would become a favorite moment.
4. There truly are oases in the desert. They are called Starbucks.
5. Just as many bugs exist in the desert as they do in the jungle.
6. I actually can overhand serve a volleyball.
7. God created me to be a woman of authority with a voice to be heard.
8. I must have all my needs met in Jesus in order to truly love others well. Otherwise, I will be approaching the relationship with a hidden agenda of—I need you to give to me, I need to you to validate me, I need you to notice me…
9. Through my incredible ministry contacts, I now have a clearer picture of what it means to tirelessly work to advance God’s Kingdom on this earth.
10. I am physically exhausted from the labor, mentally exhausted from attempting to carry on conversations in another language, emotionally exhausted from entering into the pain of others. But, our God is the God of overflow. He “fills everything in every way.” (Ephesians 1:23b) Praise be to Him for continual rejuvenation!
