Friday night we departed for Peru. We arrived in a border town, and we stayed in a hot, messy town for close to 12 hours. Then we trekked with our packs (definitely reinforced that I need to get rid of some things!) about a mile to another bus station. We boarded another bus, and 12 hours later, we arrived at our destination: Trujillo, Peru.
We knew all month that we’d have to sleep in tents, so we mentally prepared for such a feat…BUT God provided BUNK BEDS!!! It was a last minute addition at the location we’re at…thank-You,Lord!!!Seriously…SO happy 
We’re at a compound that I believe will eventually be an orphanage. They provide all meals for us, we have a room to have church in (which we did last night ), and there’s a VOLLEYBALL COURT (the Lord is just sweet)!
The entire squad is here…8 teams…plus squad leaders…equals 60 people and 5 showers. At least it’s showers…not buckets . My team is doing construction on-site for the first week, but we will rotate ministries each week with the other teams, so I’m not sure what the rest of the month will look like.
Last night, we had church, and one of my squad mates, Jan (he’s German), spoke. He spoke on Isaiah 60:1, which in my bible, says this:
“Arise (from the depression in which circumstances have kept you-rise to a NEW LIFE)! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!” –Amplified
He reminded us that our light has already come…it’s been placed in us and on us. Do we believe that? Do we walk in that? Do we believe it despite what we feel?
My favorite part was when he said, “We must be intentional in our thoughts about ourselves…”
We can’t be a victim of our thoughts. Too often, when we share our feelings, the reply we get is, “well, you can’t help the way you feel.” Can we not? Our feeling is a response to a thought we believe is true. But if the thought isn’t true, and if the thought can be changed, won’t that change our feeling?
I remember a day when I introduced two of my very good friends. They hit it off, like hysterically laughing and making plans, etc. My feeling: -hurt, wanted to run away, intense jealousy. It shocked me. The feeling was inescapable at that moment.
But I dove in. I realized the lie ran deep, like back to elementary school friendships, and the lie was this: My friend is going to get taken away. She will like her better than me. I’ll be unneeded.
I’ve found that many of our lies, when voiced, sound just as this: elementary. But they’re what we believe…and they are at the root of our response.
So, figure out your lie. And lay it before the Lord. He’ll walk you through it. He did me. He asked me if I ranked my friends…He asked me if I got everything I needed out of one friendship…He asked me if I trusted Him…WITH my friendships. And then I just got to praise Him FOR those friendships.
Satan wants nothing more than to turn our blessings of relationships into sources of division and contempt. He’ll want you out of them if they glorify God. So guard them, protect them, treasure them, share them…it’s truly awesome to see how complete the Body of Christ becomes when we allow each to give what they can to the other parts…and surrender our desire to be all to all.
So, don’t be a victim of your thoughts. Don’t give the enemy such a foothold.
