So I wanted to brag on God for a
quick second. This story took place back in Panama a few days before we left
for the Philippines. Bri and I have taken a few “married” nights so far on the
race. We feel that this is a super healthy and necessary thing to do on this
trip. Our entire group had a day off of ministry and decided to go to a little
Island not far from our ministry site called Bocas del Toro. It is a sweet
little Island tucked away in a small part of the Caribbean. The group spent the
entire day there doing fun “touristy” stuff and Bri and I scoped out a cheap
hostel to stay at. Dustin and Traci, who are the other married couple on the
race decided they would stay a couple nights as well because it was very close
to their anniversary. We love these guys and had a great time with them just
relaxing and getting some good spouse time. Well the cool story comes in on the
last day we were there. Bri and I decided to get some dinner before we headed
back to the ministry site. We looked at a few places and decided to go for the
only BBQ place on the Island. It’s called Shelly’s BBQ.
If you ever go to Bocas
make sure you stop bye. As we walked in to this little open-air BBQ joint we
realized there were some other white, “touristy” looking people eating there.
We asked them how the food was and they responded with, “excellent.” (For a
side note…BBQ in other parts of the world can be pretty sketchy, so it’s always
good to make sure)
We have really tried to be “financially conscious” so far on
this trip and decided we would just split a meal. We ended up striking up some
conversation with our fellow tourist friends and discovered that they were from
New York! They live about 2 hours away from where we used to live! We were able
to tell them all about the race and why were serving our God in such a radical
way. It was so cool to meet some Americans but even cooler to meet some fellow
New Yorkers! We talked for a little while and then said our goodbyes. The
waitress came to our table (who was the restaurant owner as well) and began to
take our order. We ordered one meal to split and only water to drink. The
waitress looked at us and encouraged us to order more. We kindly began to
explain to her that we are missionaries and don’t have a lot of money to spend.
She smiled and said I know you don’t but that guy that just left paid for your
whole meal!!! We were so blown away at that family’s generosity. Bri and I were
so excited! We still only ordered one meal to split but added an appetizer and
two smoothies to the order and then left the rest for a good tipJ It is just another
example of how our heavenly Father continues to pour out his blessings on his
kids. It proves the scripture in Matthew true that says, “How much more will
your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask.” I know it seems like a
small thing but that day it was so huge to us. We have battled all sorts of
discouragement on this trip so far but it is so cool to see God come through at
the right moments to give us that little boost we need to keep on going. We
love you all back home and miss you tons and if you are reading this blog and
are the family who blessed us that night we want to say thank you so much and
may God richly bless you in Christ Jesus.
