12/23/19
we didn’t think we had ministry today. we thought we had another day off #sabbathpt3 and we were so excited to spend the time resting. this morning the 2 teams that didn’t have ministry got together and planned out our meals for christmas eve and christmas day and decided to go grocery shopping this afternoon.
and we were having a great time keeping our sabbath rest going. it was only 9:30, but my teammate and i were eating our lunch sandwiches while we sat in the yard falling asleep watching the movie home alone. talk about some REST.
but then our plans changed.
our ministry host came by the base and was like, “wait, you guys don’t have ministry today?” we had no. idea. but our ministry host was so chill about it. he said it was up to us whether or not we went to ministry today.
our ministry on mondays is going to an old people home and just hanging out with them for the day. it’s typically really slow and can sometimes be boring and difficult to see the impact you’re making.
as a team, we got together to talk about it. as soon as i realized that we might have to go to ministry, my first thought was *singing in kyle’s voice* “hELLllL noOOOO-aAHh.” i just wanted to rest and keep napping in the sunshine and finish watching home alone. i just wanted to rest. i didn’t want to go to ministry. i felt super guilty saying it, but i was being honest with my team.
my thought process was that we had already committed to go grocery shopping for christmas meals with the other team that didn’t have ministry, and it wouldn’t be fair to make them shop for 30 people in the chaotic grocery store by themselves. i used that as an excuse.
but my one of my teammates made a good point. she said, “guys, we have to remember WHY we’re here in guatemala.”
and BRO that hit me deep. i’m not here to vacation and watch movies and sit in the sun. i’m here to serve others. share the love of jesus. be with these old people.
so we decided to head into ministry today.
i wrestled with God on the chicken bus ride on the way there.
God, why did this happen? I was having a good day! and now it’s been interrupted and the plan is changing! my day isn’t good anymore! you couldn’t even give us a less crowded chicken bus, this one is packed! that doesn’t sound good. why are you doing this? this is so inconvenient. this isn’t good.
man oh man, i can see how selfish i was looking back on that. yikes.
God gave me the simplest response.
maddie, I AM good. i’ve always been good, i will always be good. your circumstances don’t determine what your day is like, you do. and when you’re doing what i want you to do, you KNOW it’s going to be good, because that’s who i am. i am good.
thinking about what he said gave me an entirely new perspective. i began looking for God’s goodness throughout the day.
as soon as we walked through the door at the old people home, their faces lit up. i walked around greeting them and they had the biggest smiles. and man, that completely made my day to see how happy they were to see us.
we ended up having a great time hanging out with the people there that day.
when we left ministry for the day and said our goodbyes, they all asked when we would be back. that’s when i realized how much of an impact i was making. us being there was a highlight of their week. even though we didn’t do much, just sitting together and being in each other’s presence was so encouraging to them.
how. cool.
God really is good. all the time.
even when i can’t see it, he’s always working for good. sometimes i’m blown away by how big and powerful God is and think “well THANK GOODNESS bc there’s no way i would be able to work all of this out.” God’s really got our backs.
so yeah, that’s all for now. another fruit of the spirit blog haha. thanks so much for reading!
love, maddie
