Hey everybody!! It’s been a busy couple of weeks for us in Central America. We have finished our ministry in Honduras. I was hesitant to leave because I had gotten so comfortable with my hosts and didn’t want to abruptly put a halt on the relationships I was building with them (at least that’s how I saw it). But I’m learning that goodbye’s are just a part of life and that I really have to be present and appreciate the time that I have given with the people that God puts before me. I learned so much this month. There were really hard times and hard lessons that God wanted to plant in my heart. He showed me more of His character.
I’d say that the thing that stood out to me most this month was the openness of it all. From watching my teammates and the children that I built relationships with this month, I saw all of them give their love away so freely, and in abundance. They weren’t closed off. They didn’t let fear get in the way of being open-hearted with everyone they encountered. Knowing that we would have to eventually leave, everyone still invited others into their hearts instead of just giving them pieces of it. And I love that. I think there’s so much beauty in that. After watching them love on those around them, I was reminded of the love that was so freely given to me by Jesus. He doesn’t expect anything in return. He just gives away that love in abundance. I, on the other hand, am naturally a very closed-off person. I tend to put up walls around my heart in hopes of protecting myself from ever getting hurt. But I’ve learned that God doesn’t want that for me, He desires so much more for my heart than to keep it in a safe little cage. I want my heart to be wide open. I want to love even when I’m terrified. I want to be vulnerable even when I’m uncomfortable. I want to be honest even when it’s hard. I want to be available and approachable, even when I just want to be alone. I don’t want to hold back love towards anyone, that would be missing the point. Love is what makes it so special, wherever you are. That’s what changes things. And I want to do it freely. And in abundance.
After wrapping up our goodbye’s and a rough 8 hour bus ride to Tegucigalpa, we met up with the rest of our squad! And by rough I mean that I puked all over myself in my seat and had to sit in my wet puke for 5 hours because as some of you might know, public transportation stops for no one. So I was overjoyed when we finally arrived in Tegucigalpa. The next two months are all squad month which means that our entire squad will be living together instead of being split up into teams.
Fast forward past the 11 hour bus ride from Tegucigalpa and we have arrived in Nicaragua!! I’m enjoying this time of rest with my squad for the next few days and embracing every moment with them. We arrived at about 8:30 last night and I am seriously SO EXCITED for this month and to see what all the Lord is going to do.
P.S. I have am about $850 away from meeting my February deadline! I have to meet this deadline in order to stay on the field. If you would like to support me in this way, just click the donate button at the top right of this page! And please keep the prayers coming. Y’all are amazing! Thank you for getting me this far.
