Honduras, is beautiful! Rolling hills and the smell of pine needles in the air describes some of this natural beauty. Set on a little hill in the mountains overlooking valleys and surrounded by fields and scattered homes, is a little white church. The mountain road to get there is a hilly eroded dirt road that any 4-wheeler or dirtbiker would love to play on. As we drive up the hill, we pick up some of the church members and they all pile into the back of a small pickup. Yesterday, we had 2 guitars, a couple pieces of sound equipment and 14 people piled into the back. This is normal and their way to get to church twice a week. They are joyful about it all.
As two of my teammates were preaching and translating, my eyes wandered around this little 8 bench church. It was filled with women and children and the men who were present were 5 and most of them are teenagers who run the church. A couple men were outside the building looking in and listening. The group was mixed with faces that were worn and some that were healthy. Some were clean and others were dirty. Sometimes you would get a whiff of dirty bodies, but we were all here for the same thing- to worship our Creator. They have such beautiful hearts as they sing and praise the Lord. The message was on thankfulness and having joy. As my teammate was teaching, it made me think about how often I forget to thank the Lord for even a roof over my head or a bath even if it is out of a bucket; clean clothes even if it is hand washed and dried on a line and then rained on. Most of the time I don’t complain or even mind all those things, but I don’t thank God for them. Even if it is a tent, I have a roof over my head every month. I am blessed. These people have so little, experience such heartache and yet they are so joyful and grateful.
Gratefulness is a type of dependency on God that I want to define my life. The Lord calls us to “give thanks” and “rejoice always”. I was reminded to give thanks again as I saw the Lord’s beauty not only in His creation but also in His people.
