I’d like to tell you a nice little story about how I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to do something, I acted in obedience, and saw the fruits of my labor. Unfortunately, this is not that story. What I do hope to show, though, is that God can still bring good out of situations where we mess up. I may have had to learn this lesson the hard way, more than once, but He still used my mistake to grow me and show me I am loved.
Rewind a couple of months to the beginning of January. As the snow came falling down, I was up in my room making the final decisions on what to pack before launching on the World Race. There were a handful of things I decided to leave behind last minute because space and weight in my pack were limited. Out of all the things I left behind, there is only one that I regret. I had been using a single column journaling bible before the race and absolutely loved it. I could take notes and highlight to my heart’s desire. Because it is larger and heavier than your average bible, I decided to leave it home and bring my small travel bible instead. As I physically made the switch while adjusting my day pack, I felt a twinge and knew I would regret leaving the big bible behind. I convinced myself I was making a practical decision. I didn’t need my huge bible, just a bible, and could write all the notes I wanted to in my journal. That’s the decision I went with as I flew to Georgia for launch then on to Colombia.
As soon as I got into a routine with my Jesus time month one, I felt the regret of leaving my big bible at home. The words of the scripture were popping off the page at me, but I didn’t have room in my bible to highlight or take notes. I wrote references and notes in my journal, but it wasn’t the same. There’s something special to me about going through my bible and seeing things I wrote and highlighted in the past… a reminder of what the Lord showed me. Because the bible I brought is so small, I hadn’t even been using it much. Instead, I used the bible app on my phone and a study bible downloaded on my kindle. I quickly realized that my big bible is the only thing I regret not bringing on the race.
Once I recognized this, I took it to the Lord, my Heavenly Father. Like a child who knew she messed up, I told Him I was sorry for not listening in the first place, for ignoring the twinge as I took the bible out of my pack and replaced it with the tiny one in the days leading up to the race. I asked Him to forgive me and help me forgive myself so that I do not regret my decision for the rest of the race. Being the good good father that He is, He did all of this and more.
When you don’t have something you want or need on the race, it isn’t like it is back home where you can stop by the local specialty store or make a quick purchase online and have it shipped to your door. In many places around the world, shipping isn’t secure or affordable, and I haven’t found an English Christian book store yet in my travels abroad.
Fast forward to month 2 in Ecuador. The ministry that housed us also served other missionaries. For the most part, there weren’t many other people staying there while we were, but my team did meet a group of three girls serving with Inca Link. They spend around 6 months in South America working in Ecuador and Peru. Kendall was the first one we met of this trio. She easily mingled in with our team while we were at the house. {check out Kendall’s blog here}Toward the end of the month, we found out we would in the same area of Peru at the same time as she and her team. Actually, one of our guys teams would be staying at the same compound they were. We were then intrigued to hear that she would be going home to the US for a short time then meeting up with her team in Peru. When our team found this out, several people asked if they could have a few small things sent to her house for her to bring to South America. She generously agreed. It wasn’t until the last moment I thought to have her bring a bible for me. It was too late to have my family ship mine to her house, but I was able to purchase one on Amazon and have it sent to her before she left. Yay for Amazon Prime!! {check out my bible on Amazon here}
In Peru, my team is serving in a small city called Pacasmayo almost three hours from Kendall and her team. We were asked by our host to spend a few days working at the church in Trujillo, closer to where their group is. While we were there, we met up with the Inca Link team and our guys team that was staying there as well. Unfortunately, Kendall had not arrived in the country yet. We made arrangements for the guys to bring our items from her when we meet up with the squad in Lima in a couple of weeks. Later on, while we were still in Trujillo, we found out that the guys were going to be at the same mall we were going to on our off day. By then Kendall had arrived and was able to give them our things to then pass on to us. I saw others receive their items with joy but cannot tell you how happy I was to be handed my bible. Let’s just say I was more than excited to receive it. While I regret not listening and bringing it in the first place and will never get back the opportunity to use it for the first 2.5 months of the race, I am so thankful the Lord worked out this crazy story and used Kendall as a messenger of His forgiveness and provision. {check out Bible Study Bootcamp for a great program that really helped me learn to dig into the Word of God… highlighters not included}
Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Stay tuned for more posts from Peru!!
