I have only been in the Philippines 11 days but somehow it feels like a lifetime ago and leaving the states is a distant memory.
I can only describe this past week as beautifully messy. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it has been rough. I failed to mention that during our travels I came down with a major cold. The 14-hour flight from Taiwan to Philippines were the longest hours of my life (altitude pressure was my enemy). One of the things they tried to stress to us was when you start to come down with something, do not try to tough it out. Go get checked out. I brought a medicine chest with me but nothing was knocking it out. So I decided it was finally time to go to a clinic. Now that in and of itself was an interesting experience to say the least. They literally gave me 6 antibiotics. My first thought was this is a little excessive!!! (SO SUPER CHEAP) And the sweet people there were like you are here doing such great work, you don’t have to pay for the visit. JUST WOW. Now I’m coming out the other side and if I ever saw the doctor again, she would get one Lauren sized American hug that would come with a whole lot of gratitude.
So with all the said, my team has loved me so well and shown me a whole lot of grace. I had to miss out on a couple of days of ministry building the house for Rudy that I talked about in previous post and that was so very hard for me. I wanted my handprints to be on that home and by not being there I felt like an unproductive part of the team and that somehow I was letting them down. It was then as those words were coming out of my mouth to my team, it instantly became about me. Okay Lord, I hear you. They so lovingly picked up the slack for me and knew how much my body needed rest. Tears were shed as I was lying in my room with a bed in another country miles away not feeling well AT ALL surrounded by tissues, no AC and trying to sleep and get rest feeling so far away from the comforts of home and questioning God about being here and thinking I did not sign up for this.
Uh, yes you did Lauren!
Simply put. I was UNCOMFORTABLE. He did not call us to a comfortable life, he will make us uncomfortable, whatever that looks like. But he choices these moments to see if we are going to see him in both the uncomfortable and comfortable moments and in those moments of doubt.
I can’t tell you how many times I put my earphones in trying to fall asleep during those two days and listened to a worship song by my church back home called “Stand Firm” to get me out of my head and realign with the truth of his word and his character.
We were at the construction site for the whole week and so I did eventually make it there with the rest of my people. I was filled in on everything they had done up to that point and I’ve been back ever since being able to see the fruits of what we are providing for him and his family. Putting this house together has been humbling and internally wrecked me in the best way. When all is said and done this family will walk into their home each time and hopefully brick by brick remember 7 missionaries from America and remember the spiritual encounter they had with Jesus… But not by anything we’ve done, but by his works and works alone. We are just simply clothed with the skin of Jesus.
God has been so present in the midst of the beautifully messy week that consisted of snot, coughing till my abs hurt, and just being emotionally drained from the battling of this and still trying to find my purpose in this week. It’s come in the form of worship songs, encouragement and edification of my family here, and the child that has come to hug me when they don’t know how much I needed it. It’s in walking the streets of this Village and seeing the everyday life here that will change your perspective REAL quick.
So much to be thankful for this week. We are leaving for the island of Mindoro at 1am tomorrow morning and will have connection there surprisingly. Wifi has been hard to come by to say the least here. So I will be hoping to get pictures or a video up of the recap of our month here. I can’t wait for you to tangibly see the faces, places, and culture that has become so dear to us.
Mahalkita!!!!
That’s I love you in Tagalog
