Hey friends!
WE ARE IN PANAMA!!! It’s crazy to think we’ve been here for over two weeks! It truly feels like a lifetime. Its only month one but the Lord has taught me so much. After a 30 hour long travel day we arrived to our destination. We are currently in Las Lajas, Panama. We work with an amazing couple named Danny and Heather. We are doing a lot with them from manual labor to help the land be ready to be built for them to build a church in Las Lajas and every Monday and Wednesday we go to an indigenous village called Oma! We have the honor to help Heather as she beautifully coordinates games and activities to let this kids have fun but also in turn, teach them English!
We live about a block away from La Playa which in English is translated to the beach! This Florida boy is in complete heaven! We are blessed to be staying in Danny’s mothers home while she’s away which is gorgeous and we are fortunate to have both beds and showers this month! That’s very rare on the race! When we walk outside we are able to her the waves crash the shore all the way from the front porch. Its so serene. At training camp, we discussed hearing the voice of God. How to just be with the Father and talk to Him. After that session, I felt insanely guilty of my relationship with The Lord. To be quite honest with you it was a lot of asking and wanting and never praising. Walking away from that night at training camp I asked the Lord to let me hear Him more clearly.
I have a girl on my squad. Her name is Amanda. She’s pretty rad. She shows art and creativity in the coolest, most unique ways. One of those ways being stick and poke tattoos. I told her I for sure wanted a tattoo on the race. What I didn’t know is I would end up on the sixth floor of the Hilton getting a tattoo. It wasn’t just a random choice. It was something I’ve wanted for a long time. I ended up getting the word “Makai” on my foot. The definition for makai is in, to or by the sea. Seaward. Growing up in Florida the beach was a huge deal for me. We would go a lot in high school and a lot when I was younger. On teacher work days we got the day off from school. In other states, you probably just stay home or go to the mall. In Florida, we went to the beach.
When I was in high school, I had a good friend. She always wanted to go to the beach at night. We would go on weekends and weekends turned into school nights. A lot of the times we would go and talk about our problems get a snack at the 7/11 and leave. Or sometimes we would just sit there and hurt from life’s hard times. I have my views on the sea.
You see, God is a lot like the beach. The waves are his goodness and relentlessness for us. There’s low tide but there’s also high tide. I think we all have a high tide Jesus moment. That moment where just like my friend and I would sit in our problems and complain on the beach we should have let the high tide take us into his goodness more. We should have let us be immersed in his love. I got really convicted while getting this tattoo because I realized I treat Jesus like “Makai.” I know like Jesus the beach will always be there. I know Jesus is always fighting for me. I shouldn’t be Makai just when I want to. I shouldn’t just drive to the beach when I have a problem. I should always want to yearn for him. I was telling my team how I see Jesus in the waves. You swim out and you want to take each one head on. The easiest way to let it pass you is to swim under. The sting of the salt makes you close your eyes underwater. So you see, when we just let the wave completely take us and push us back we are completely letting sin and the things around us dictate our relationship with Him. He is so good. But Jesus calls us to have faith and it’s in those moments where we have blind faith because the salt causes us not to see. I am praying for more swimming under the waves in my life.
This country is pretty special. I cannot wait to share with y’all more stories.
Forever your friend,
Z
