Howdy,
It’s been just under a month since I left Texas and 3 weeks since I left the US. Everything is still surreal and truth be told, more difficult than I thought it would be.
See, I left the US with some unknown expectations. I was in a hurry to go no where fast. Since the middle of December I have just been going and going and going. I would hang out with friends, watch movies, play games, hang out with family, play videogames, and eventually sleep. I was constantly moving and being involved in my friends and family’s lives because I will not be able to do so for a long time. Having been to Latin America before, I thought that I could handle the cultural transition quickly, but I still find myself in a rush to get things done rapidly so that I can move on to the next thing.
The past 3 weeks, Dar Vida has been praying to God about the Spiritual Fruit of pacience. This had been difficult for me because I often lack the pacience to do things slowly.
One day at our ministry site, I was asked to water the yard to help prevent dust from blowing into the halls and onto the food as the kids ate. For me it seemed like an easy enough task. I had equated it to watering the grass and infield before a baseball game. It was fun to think of it that way and it helped me get through the process fairly quickly.
I say this all of this because I was asked to repeat my work, but much more slowly and much more paciently. What I had missed the first time was that just because the yard is all rocks and dirt that I needed to do the job correctly and no half-ass it just to get the job done.
As I finished the second round of watering the rocks, I noticed how still the ground was. I noticed that even after being bothered to have to water the rocks again, I was also at peace for doing the job correctly.
Since doing this, I have watered the rocks twice more and God keeps bringing the message of, “Do it right or do not do it at all.” God also keeps placing Hebrews 12: 1-2 in my mind. It is appropriate, and humbling, since I am on the World Race, to recieve such a message and reminder from God.
Eventhough I am about to leave El Salvador for Guatemala, I will continue to water the rocks where ever I go. To do the job correctly and with perseverance will be challenging, but the best thing to further God’s Kingdom.
As always, thank you for reading my blog. I’ll update everyone when I can from Guatemala.
I love and miss y’all.
Ryan
