This month I have been put so far out of my comfort zone. I have held babies, had very one sided conversations with old folks who just need someone to talk to, I have worked kids with cerebral palsy, and I have been living in a community where we are with each other almost 24/7. This is a lot. But I will say that I have never felt closer to the Lord than I do now. I have been in word, praying, seeking the Lord each morning when I wake up. Its crazy how I have begun to notice days where I don't and how I really miss that time!
I have been trying to learn what it means to be a "man of God." So far what I have been learning is that a "man of God" is a man who has a strong faith, a boldness in Christ, humility, deep love, a genuine longing to be with Christ, and a man with strong convictions. What I picked out of Matthew 14 about being a man of God (modeling after
Peter) is:
*A man of God must have FAITH in God – Peter knew the voice of Jesus and
had enough faith to step out of the boat and walk to him on water
*He must have BOLDNESS – He was the only one in the boat that was bold
enough to step out of the boat and walk to Jesus
*He must be HUMBLE – When he began to sink he immediately called out to
Jesus asking for help, he knew he wasn't doing it by his own strength
so he calls out to the one who was giving him his strength
*He must have a GENUINE LOVE – There is no doubt how much Peter loves
Jesus by his actions
*He must have a LONGING to be near Christ – Peter was not content
waiting for Christ to come to him, he had this urge to be close to him
and he couldn't wait to be with him.
My goal this month and for the rest of the race has been to be a active follower, a silent force, a leader in my serving, to come behind my teammates and lift them to higher levels. In order to be able to do these things I need to be seeking the Lord daily and aligning myself with him and his will.
In the past couple days I have realized that I want to be a man with strong convictions. I want to know what the Lords will for my life is and walk in it. If I am doing something that I have reservations about I need to be strong enough to seek the Lord for direction. And as i seek the wisdom of the Lord in all situations I will be able to in turn lead and follow with confidence.
It has been a hard month for ministry because most of the jobs we've been a part of are thankless jobs. We have been working in an old folks home, a center for malnourished babies, and in a hospital with kids with cerebral palsy. On top of this I speak very little spanish (unless you want to talk about poop or cats… those being the only words I know). But this month I have really been able to seek out the Lord and really dig in and seek his truths in my life. It's weird that I'm starting to feel at home here in Antigua. I'm getting use to finding my way around, I went to the market the other day and held my own. So now its time to move onto Honduras!
I have been so blessed with my team, being in Antigua, as well as having the support of my family and friends back home. Thank you for your interest in my life! Stay tuned for more blogs to come!
