This blog, take 4! Hopefully it uploads this time. Thanks for being patient. We are all doing well here in Azua. This blog was written while I was in San Juan. I want to add photos, but it will just have to wait for another few days! God bless you all!
windows is a foreign concept to me. Maybe it’s because I live n a “safe” and
small and friendly community in rural Manitoba. I feel safe here when I’m with
others, but on my own (which I am not) and, with a small group of girls, it can
be and feel pretty uncomfortable. Alone time means sitting beside someone
quietly as we read, sleep, journal, listen to music or anything else we can
think of when we get the time.
floor (welcome to the work race…tile floors), throwing our toilet paper in
the trash rather than the toilet (on the world race, this is a must
do…otherwise we fish it out), bucket showers (with cold water) as there is
very little water pressure, limited electricity (it’s only on about 12 hours a
day, usually at night and is unreliable, as it can cut off at anytime), the hot
and humid weather that makes us sweat and stink all day – every day, the
language barrier as I don’t speak Spanish (but wish I did…the little I know
doesn’t get me very far) and that I am usually hungry throughout the day, even
though we eat every meal (we have a limited budget)!
complaining only separates me from God and others. Complaining doesn’t get me
anywhere. Complaining only leaves me bitter and frustrated and angry. Therefore
I choose to be thankful! I choose into His love and goodness. I choose into
seeing the good in the midst of the different and trying times.
Rather than complaining about “the lack
of,” I am thankful that I have a place to sleep (just think about how much I’ll
love and appreciate carpet when I get home), that there is toilet paper, water
to keep me clean (it’s not a shower, but i can scrub, rinse and get refreshed),
electricity at night when it’s dark so we can see what we need to (headlamps
work great and the sun shines bright into our house during the day), for the
sunshine that keeps me warm so I can enjoy the outdoors (and not have to bundle
up because I’m buried under 4 feet of snow, freezing in the middle of winter –
trust me though, I do miss it – sometimes), smiles that communicate sometimes
more than words can (it’s amazing what you can communicate through a smile and
by trying to speak and listen to another language) and food to eat that is more
than most people would get on a daily basis in most Countries around the world
(no matter what, how much or little).
These are just a few thoughts and things
running through my mind as I get ready to close my eyes and go to sleep –
another Launch Training day has come to an end. Not having the internet at my
fingertips has been a struggle for me, but I know that in the end, it is for
the best, otherwise I’d be there rather than having God pour his Spirit on me!
I am blessed and loved and encouraged – I
am where God has called me to be. I am slowly starting to be transformed. I
have abandoned home and all that remains there – relationships and comforts –
to be on this journey into a new me. Finding out who I am in Christ. Loving the
Nations around me while I have Christ’s love and the Holy Spirit empower me.
What can I say – I am in awe and am trying to take it all in. My mind and heart
have been everywhere the past few days. Sometimes I forget where I am. In the
end, it’s all about God. He is MY focus this year! I am His daughter – a
daughter of Zion – His beloved!
