recently i’ve been asking God to show me a lot of a fruit of the spirit every day. the other day when i asked God what fruit he wanted me to grow in that day, he said peace.
that ended up being the day i went to my first funeral. a child passed away last night and my team and i attended the funeral with our ministry hosts.
as soon as i heard that’s what part of our ministry would be for the day, my heart got . . . tight, for lack of a better word. death just makes me super uncomfortable.
we arrived at the house where the funeral was. i didn’t know what to expect. there were tons of people all sitting under a big tent on stools. we joined them. we were offered food and drinks.
but i felt super awkward bc some people were super dressed up. some people we crying. some people were laughing and talking to each other. there were so many different emotions and things happening, i didn’t know what to think.
all the while i was interceding for the family. intercession is something that i’ve learned a ton about on the race, especially in romania. it’s basically praying on someone else’s behalf.
i sat next to my teammate, gel. we went back and forth thanking God for different things.
thank you God for never pointing fingers of blame but always forgiving us.
thank you God for being the greatest comforter.
thank you God for wiping away every tear.
thank you God for using this event as part of a larger testimony to bring glory to you.
thank you God for your forgiveness that is an example for how we should forgive each other.
thank you God for not being afraid of our questions and emotions.
thank you God for being a consistent peace.
before we left, we were able to speak life over the family. a bunch of my teammates got words for them to encourage them through this time. it was amazing to see.
i learned a lot about thanking God in anything and everything. He’s got it all under control. we can praise him for that.
God reminded me of the song “yes i will” by vertical worship.
yes i will
lift you high in the lowest valley
yes i will
bless your name
yes i will
sing for joy when my heart is heavy
all my days
oh yes i will
that’s all for now, thanks for reading! i love you all sosososoooo much :)))
love, maddie
alsoooo i only have $2,000 left to reach my final fundraising deadline on january 15th! please prayerfully consider supporting me in my world race gap year. if you have any questions or anything, feel free to comment below or email me! i’d be more than happy to talk to you:)
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praise of the week:
ministry is starting again! i love love love it! we spent yesterday picking coffee beans and praying for families.
song of the week:
you and you alone by upperroom
lol of the week:
we celebrated the new year! there were fireworks everywhere! we had a dance party to some 2010’s classics! it was so much fun! happy new year everyone!
prayer request of the week:
a new team just came in to guatemala and they’re staying at the base with us! i’m super excited, but please keep us all in your prayers for everyone to be included and feel loved. 🙂
