It was our very first night in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. After an afternoon packed with walking around our new city and figuring out ministry for the month, we were all pretty exhausted and ready to snooze.
While getting ready for bed, I noticed my sleeping pad was a little less firm than I had pumped it up to be, but I didn’t worry much as I gave it a little more air. It didn’t take too long for me to fall fast asleep.
Around 11 o’clock or so, I woke up feeling like I was on a boat in the middle of the ocean. The floor underneath me was literally rocking back and forth! It was absolutely the most bizarre sensation I have ever felt. I was so disoriented and thought it was a dream, until my teammate said the word “earthquake.” Oddly enough, I felt no fear. Which, side note, hopefully in another natural disaster my survival instincts will actually kick in. However, what I did feel was the squishy state of my sleeping pad.
At this point I was pretty nervous and checked all the valves to make sure they were closed… They were. I pumped it up as much as I could, and tried to go back to sleep, yet my mind was racing with the possibility that my awesome bed for the year could have a hole. I began to pray/beg God to let my sleeping pad hold the air. It didn’t. I probably woke up 20+ times to roll over, because my body ached so much from sleeping directly on the bedroom tile. I don’t know if it was the possibility of waking my teammates up or the fact that I was too tired to move, but I didn’t get up to pump air in again.
I’d never slept on such a hard surface, and never really had the desire to try it out. The cool thing is, that me and my new mini team of 3 got assigned homeless ministry for the month. When I woke up after sleeping on the floor, I had confidence that my horrible night’s sleep was purposeful. I knew that the Lord was in the process of granting me with perspective. I tried to find an explanation for why my sleeping pad went completely flat, but there was no hole to be found.
I believe that God was preparing my heart to minister to individuals who sleep on the ground every. single. night.
Often with nothing to keep them warm or dry, and often with nothing to satisfy their growling bellies or the spiritual emptiness that only God can fill. There I was frustrated that my luxury pad wasn’t performing well enough, but I still had a warm sleeping bag, pillow and roof over my head. How much more helpless might these individuals feel in their drastically different situation?
If I’m not careful, I can get to feeling entitled to things like a comfy night’s sleep. We don’t deserve anything more than the next person. I wasn’t too surprised when my sleeping pad worked like normal last night, and I had a newfound gratefulness for it. I love how God uses crazy nights like this to communicate his intentional messages.
Please join me in praying for all those effected by the earthquake, and as always thank you for following along and for your endless encouragement!
Over and out,
Julia
