This year was the first year I have been away from my parents and brother for the holidays. It was hard seeing them together for Christmas, but I have learned that when the Lord calls us to step out into something, He will bless you.
Some of my teammates were trying to plan a trip to the beach for a few of our off days, but couldn’t get a place lined up to stay at. When they would try to book somewhere, it kept falling through. A few days later, one of the ladies at the church we were staying at invited us to her house for christmas. She said she had a place for all of us to sleep, that she would arrange transportation to her house for us, and that she would cook us dinner. We were all so excited and felt so blessed. Through talking to her more, she mentioned that she has a beach house that we could go to instead and it was a 4 hour trip to get there. We decided to do that instead, so we left at 7am on Christmas Eve and got there around lunch time. After getting settled in, we went to the beach and swam around. It was so pretty! Then, that night we came back to the beach after dinner and did worship under the stars, with the moon reflecting on the ocean. In this moment I was just totally in awe of God, the fact that he has my life in his hands, and that his plans are way better than mine could ever be.
The next moring we sat around and exchanged gifts and opened stockings. Community living can sometimes be hard, but it is moments like these that make it all worth it. It was really cool to see how all of us bonded. We were all away from our families, but we made the most of it and had a great time. After breakfast, we went and hiked a waterfall. What? Hiked a waterfall on Christmas? I know right! Those waterfalls were probably the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. To get there, we walked through a shallow river in the middle of the woods, which was gorgeous just in itself. We climbed the waterfall, found another waterfall, climbed that one, and then found another. Personally, I love water, so this was like the best thing ever. After our adventure, we went back to Heredia refreshed and ready to do ministry. (Update on ministry coming soon)
Seeing how God lined all of this up just blew me away. Through all of it, I really just saw what it means to have a true heart of giving. Teresa was so kind to invite us to her house in the first place, but then she cooked for us and didn’t even want us to pay for our food. She was such a blessing, and reminded me of the real heart behind Christmas. It’s not about recieving, but giving of what you have, serving others how you can, and loving them.
Also… 3 of my teammates (half of my team) only have TWO WEEKS to raise the rest of their money for the race and still need your help. We would really appreciate it if you could help them meet their goal and keep them on the race. They all have huge things that they bring to the team, so please consider blessing them this giving season. Any amount is greatly appreciated. Their blog links are below. To donate just click the “donate” button at the top of their blog. Thank you!
Yours in Christ,
Landon Mullins
