It was a rough day—a day that I wanted nothing more than to be comfortable. It was a day of mentally being on the battle field.
It all started 2 days ago, with a 21-hour bus ride from Honduras to Nicaragua. My stomach was bloated, and my bowels seemed to have stopped working; my feet were swollen and tender. However, we arrived at a beautiful farm in Nicaragua and spent an entire day enjoying the beauty of the land and resting in the Love of our Savior.
I woke up in the morning, my lower stomach bloated and heavy. I tried using the restroom—nothing. We ate breakfast and said our goodbyes to the other teams. I tried using the restroom—nada. We grabbed the machetes and went into the field, clearing half of a football field for the plantation of new plantain trees. My bowels seemed to be moving, but when I reached the restroom—nothing. I continued hacking at the brush with the machete and stepped on an ant hill—within moments, my legs were swarming with small ants that had a bite like no other. My legs burned and swelled with hives for the next hour, and it took every ounce of me not to scratch. After 2.5 hours, we finished clearing the field. I stepped on another ant hill—hives and burning returned for another hour. I headed back to the restroom—nothing. My stomach cramped and I was almost nauseated. After resting outside for a short time, I was fed up. I cried, pleaded with God for a bowel movement and headed to the restroom. After about 20 minutes, it FINALLY CAME!!! Thank you, Jesus, for comfort!!
Not long after, the pickup truck arrived to take us to our host’s house. We piled 13 people and all our backpacks and day bags in the truck!!! Yep, you heard me—in a pickup!! I sat in the back, and within minutes, my back was cramping as I distorted my body to keep myself from falling out. Ryan and Julia held my arms. It was a long ride, full of back cramps and numbed legs. It was NOT comfortable! I really pressed into prayer as the 15-minute ride continued.
We arrived. I stood in the back of the truck and allowed my legs to regain circulation. I jumped out and stretched. We entered the house and sat down for a delicious lunch!! Yay, comfort, I thought. After lunch, we gathered with the hosts and had a meeting about what the month would look like. As I sat there, it hit—my body was achy, I felt dizzy, my heart was racing—I just wanted to go lay down. I prayed through the meeting, and when it finished, I was immediately in bed. I can’t be dehydrated. I already drank 5 liters of water today. As a laid there, my body continued to ache; my heart hurt with every fast beat. I was uncomfortable—again! I tried sleeping—nada. I recited scriptures and prayed as I lay in the bed, but I was easily distracted by the aches. I started crying and reached my hand out, requesting prayer from my teammates. Amber was quick to grab my hand and she prayed for me. After many questions from the team about how I was feeling or if there was anything they could do, they all left the room to allow me to rest. I FINALLY fell asleep, but was awakened multiple times with a full bladder (a sign of good hydration). Taylor entered the room and asked me how I was doing. After a short talk, we were convinced that I had replenished the fluids throughout the day but not the electrolytes. The team left me to sleep. When they all returned from a funeral in the community, I was awake but not feeling much better.
Before bed, our team prayed together to close out the night. Taylor prayed again, specifically for me. Her prayers were powerful; I had the sense that she was shooting arrows that were taking down the enemy that was attacking me. I went to bed knowing that I would sleep great and would awaken refreshed and HEALED!!
I went to bed with my mind in a comfortable place, slept great and awakened this morning refreshed and feeling 100%!!!
