Today was definitely more of a Monday kind of day, I was kind of out of it all day and I was just off in my own little world. I was thinking about life a lot today and focusing on God and His control over all things. God just always amazes me. I just thought about life and how everything has always worked out and how God has continually provided me with everything that I have ever needed. I was focusing on this because I have come to that point once again, where I have done everything that I can do and now I am just waiting and seeing what God has in-store. My future is uncertain, but I know one thing to be true I will continue to serve the Lord with all my heart and I will continue to serve and love others.
Two years ago, coming to Costa Rica was just a dream, but about a year ago God turned that dream into a reality. I remember when I came back from Spain in the summer of 2009, my heart was broken. You see on that trip I lived with a woman named Elizabeth. From the outside, you could see that she was this sweet godly women who served the Lord and her family with everything she had. She also gave everything she had to others and opened her home to missionaries. However, on the inside she was broken and overwhelmed with sadness.
I will never forget the day that I was sitting in church and she got up and gave her testimony. I had been living with her for over a week and I had grown really attached to her and her family. I was sitting in the pew trying to understand what she was saying and I just couldn't (that was so frustrating). Then I saw her break down into tears and I just started crying, because I could see her pain in her eyes even though I couldn't understand what she was saying. After church, my trip leader Stephanie told me that Elizabeth announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer. All I could do was hug Elizabeth and mourn with her (there are somethings that don't require any words).
I remember shortly after that day, one night as my friend and I were getting ready for bed Elizabeth came in and told us she was going to the doctor tomorrow and tears started to roll down her face. As she was getting ready to leave the room the Lord placed it on my heart to pray with her. That moment sitting in that tiny room praying was one of the most humbling and powerful moments of my life. My friend and I both prayed in English and Elizabeth prayed in Spanish, neither one of us could understand what the other was saying, but in our hearts we knew what was happening. Our relationships and love for God transcended all of the cultural and language boundaries, just like our prayers to God.
It was after that moment that God placed a strong desire on my heart to learn Spanish. I knew how much I loved Elizabeth without speaking any Spanish and God worked in our relationship in such amazing ways, that I couldn't imagine what God could do in our relationship if we both spoke the same language.
After returning from Spain, learning Spanish seemed less like a goal and more like a dream. If I were honest, I never thought it would actually happen. Now here I am in Costa Rica typing this blog. Isn't our God amazing? There is no one like Him. He took a dream and made it a reality. A dream to learn Spanish, minister to Spanish speaking people, and build cross-cultural relationships. That dream is now a reality, thanks be to God. I am not learning Spanish for myself, but in order to glorify God and share His truth and love with Spanish speaking families and children. God is so good and I can't wait to see what He has in-store for the future.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."- Romans 8:28
