It’s not often that you find yourself laying on the cement floor of a third-world hospital hallway with your left arm in a sling, your finger in a splint, bruising up and down your whole body, while gnats buzz in your face and countless Bolivian women breastfeed their crying, sick children all around you. The heat is so unbearable that the only solace you can find is the cold cement. As you lay there in pain with nothing but ibuprofen to take, you just have to take the moment to say, “Lord, You chose me for this. You called me to this. You have a purpose for this. And You are here. You’ve never left my side.”
After waiting just twenty minutes, we are called in to see the nurse who examines me and determines that I need x-rays on my shoulder and hand. We are then told to go across the street to the dentist’s office to get the x-rays done (for a mere $14 a piece)…and to come back when we’re done so the doctor can read them. “Uhhh…okay…” So we roll with the punches. That’s what the World Race is all about.
The medical care was a challenge…and it was humbling.
This scene from the day after my moto accident is a pretty perfect image that sums up my month.
I was beat up physically by the accident. I was attacked spiritually on so many levels. I battled homesickness for the majority of the month.
But the Lord is good. He’s always been good and always will be good. In the midst of my frustration and my pain and the refining process the Lord had me on, He met me. He sat in those hard moments, those tearful moments. He sat with me when I just wanted to be at home in my bed with my family. He comforted me when I cried tears of sadness for the children of the village of Torewa who have no access to the medical care they desperately need. He gave me the strength I needed to finish every project placed infront of me this month at Casa de los Ninos in Rurrenabaque. Time and time again, no matter how frustrated or hurt or tired or homesick I was…the Lord met me in each moment.
He reminded me everyday of this awesome truth in James:
“Come near to God and He will come near to you.” -James 4:8
I didn’t always make the right choice. I didn’t always choose to draw near to Him. But my God is so so so sweet and so so so good, and would draw me to Himself, meeting every single need I had.
So friends, supporters, family, or casual readers…I’m so thankful for you. Your prayers. Your support. Your words of encouragement. Please continue to pray for our team & our squad as we depart for India next week!
