*WARNING: This is a long, rambling post....so read at your own "risk" ha!*
Let me start by saying, it feels so good to be home! I have been in Tijuana, Mexico which I am convinced is atleast a million miles from here! I left here early one Saturday morning expecting BIG things from God for the families we would be serving there....little did I know that He also had big things in mind for MY heart!! During the planning process it seemed as though Satan pulled every trick in the book to get this trip canceled: from swine flu, to highly publicized crime and travel warnings, he even used personal trials in the lives of our mission team members. I've said it before and I'll say it again we serve a mighty God that is bigger and stronger than swine flu, travel warnings, or kinks in the planning process. The trip was a huge success! We were able to build two houses and also we purchased filtering systems that will provide the families with clean water for a lifetime!! But also I learned a valuable lesson first hand:
all you need is Love!
Driving into Mexico is chilling, heart breaking, and saddening. As we rode down the dusty, bumpy roads I sat still and quiet (yes, quiet for once) staring out the window at what seemed to be a living nightmare. Trash, dust, mangy dogs, graffiti, run down shacks for homes, barefooted dirty children, broken down cars, roosters scavenging the trash for food, men and women selling whatever they could on the roads just to make a little cash, I mean I don't even feel like I can describe it well enough for you to imagine. But the amazing, incredible lesson is....everyone there was smiling, waving, and happy!! The Mexican people we met, they had their priorities right!! And then it hit me all they need is Love. They have what seems to us like nothing but really if they have Christ in their lives they have all they need. I began to realize that no matter how much I have I won't be able to find joy and happiness unless I have the Love of Christ. Then, and only then, will I be able to receive Love and give it. I know...I should already know that, but I haven't been living it! I asked myself while I was there: If I was in those living conditions would I still love God the same, could I still find peace and joy in Him?? That is such a tough question if answered honestly. After seeing their living conditions I vowed to never take all my blessings for granted again and to always find my joy in Him and not my situations. OK, so I made it sound like a light bulb went off and instantly and quickly I learned this lesson but actually that is opposite of what really happened. The past two weeks my heart and mind have been a spiritually battlefield, an emotion roller coaster, the end result is this sweet and much needed truth but it was not fun getting there.
From the beginning...before the trip I had some doubts about going which I am convinced now was just Satan wanting me to miss out. Once I was there I also encountered some "bumps" along the way: my thumb was smashed by a hammer on day one, a 2X4 was dropped off the roof and hit me in the face (ouch) on day two, by day three I was coming down with a little stomach issue and day four my GI system was a full disaster!! But for everything Satan threw my way God fired back with something awesome: our campsite background was a beautiful, grand mountain that the sun would set behind each night, I met and formed a great relationship with a new godly friend on the trip and shared some great conversation around the campfire, I experience love and support from some godly women when I was needing it the most, and I saw social, geographical, and language barriers broken down in the name of God, and I saw two families lives changed when they received a huge gift from God. On my way back into the states I was encouraged and spiritually on fire (this is when I was making that vow I mentioned earlier)....that is until Satan got a hold of me. By the time our flight landed in Atlanta I was feeling tired, still sick, grumbley and I was questioning why I spend a week away from the comfort of home, away from family and friends. How could I have so quickly forgotten how blessed I am and how God gave me the honor of serving Him for a week?? The next few days were filled with laziness, sickness, and grumbling. I had forgotten all those incredible things and was quick to tell the "harder side" of my trip. Not only was I negative about the trip I was short tempered, rude, and no fun to be around for my family and friends(the people I love the most). Everyone kept saying, "Natalie are you ok? You aren't acting like yourself." I was allowing Satan to steal my joy... I didn't realized what was happening until my sweet, godly boyfriend (did I mention how blessed I am???) pointed it out to me. Satan was attacking, he knew that I had a story to share, a truth, some really great experiences from the trip and he wanted to do whatever he could to keep me from spreading it...sadly it worked for a week. But not any longer, so anyway I hope that from this long rambling blog you see how God moved in a BIG way in the lives of the Mexican families we met, as well as in the hearts of the mission team members He sent "a million miles" from home. Pictures are soon come in the next post :)
Let me start by saying, it feels so good to be home! I have been in Tijuana, Mexico which I am convinced is atleast a million miles from here! I left here early one Saturday morning expecting BIG things from God for the families we would be serving there....little did I know that He also had big things in mind for MY heart!! During the planning process it seemed as though Satan pulled every trick in the book to get this trip canceled: from swine flu, to highly publicized crime and travel warnings, he even used personal trials in the lives of our mission team members. I've said it before and I'll say it again we serve a mighty God that is bigger and stronger than swine flu, travel warnings, or kinks in the planning process. The trip was a huge success! We were able to build two houses and also we purchased filtering systems that will provide the families with clean water for a lifetime!! But also I learned a valuable lesson first hand:
all you need is Love!
Driving into Mexico is chilling, heart breaking, and saddening. As we rode down the dusty, bumpy roads I sat still and quiet (yes, quiet for once) staring out the window at what seemed to be a living nightmare. Trash, dust, mangy dogs, graffiti, run down shacks for homes, barefooted dirty children, broken down cars, roosters scavenging the trash for food, men and women selling whatever they could on the roads just to make a little cash, I mean I don't even feel like I can describe it well enough for you to imagine. But the amazing, incredible lesson is....everyone there was smiling, waving, and happy!! The Mexican people we met, they had their priorities right!! And then it hit me all they need is Love. They have what seems to us like nothing but really if they have Christ in their lives they have all they need. I began to realize that no matter how much I have I won't be able to find joy and happiness unless I have the Love of Christ. Then, and only then, will I be able to receive Love and give it. I know...I should already know that, but I haven't been living it! I asked myself while I was there: If I was in those living conditions would I still love God the same, could I still find peace and joy in Him?? That is such a tough question if answered honestly. After seeing their living conditions I vowed to never take all my blessings for granted again and to always find my joy in Him and not my situations. OK, so I made it sound like a light bulb went off and instantly and quickly I learned this lesson but actually that is opposite of what really happened. The past two weeks my heart and mind have been a spiritually battlefield, an emotion roller coaster, the end result is this sweet and much needed truth but it was not fun getting there.
From the beginning...before the trip I had some doubts about going which I am convinced now was just Satan wanting me to miss out. Once I was there I also encountered some "bumps" along the way: my thumb was smashed by a hammer on day one, a 2X4 was dropped off the roof and hit me in the face (ouch) on day two, by day three I was coming down with a little stomach issue and day four my GI system was a full disaster!! But for everything Satan threw my way God fired back with something awesome: our campsite background was a beautiful, grand mountain that the sun would set behind each night, I met and formed a great relationship with a new godly friend on the trip and shared some great conversation around the campfire, I experience love and support from some godly women when I was needing it the most, and I saw social, geographical, and language barriers broken down in the name of God, and I saw two families lives changed when they received a huge gift from God. On my way back into the states I was encouraged and spiritually on fire (this is when I was making that vow I mentioned earlier)....that is until Satan got a hold of me. By the time our flight landed in Atlanta I was feeling tired, still sick, grumbley and I was questioning why I spend a week away from the comfort of home, away from family and friends. How could I have so quickly forgotten how blessed I am and how God gave me the honor of serving Him for a week?? The next few days were filled with laziness, sickness, and grumbling. I had forgotten all those incredible things and was quick to tell the "harder side" of my trip. Not only was I negative about the trip I was short tempered, rude, and no fun to be around for my family and friends(the people I love the most). Everyone kept saying, "Natalie are you ok? You aren't acting like yourself." I was allowing Satan to steal my joy... I didn't realized what was happening until my sweet, godly boyfriend (did I mention how blessed I am???) pointed it out to me. Satan was attacking, he knew that I had a story to share, a truth, some really great experiences from the trip and he wanted to do whatever he could to keep me from spreading it...sadly it worked for a week. But not any longer, so anyway I hope that from this long rambling blog you see how God moved in a BIG way in the lives of the Mexican families we met, as well as in the hearts of the mission team members He sent "a million miles" from home. Pictures are soon come in the next post :)
Natalie, that sounds awesome. I think one of the remarkable things about people in Mexico, and I imagine many underdeveloped countries, is their amazing ability to have nothing, but really possess everything. When I did some mission work in Mexico, in the Yucatan, I realized that I came with my mission to help them, to feed them, to provide a roof for them, to give them all these things they lacked, but I was the one needing help, hungry, and failing to recognize my home in Christ's kingdom. I gained much more from those humble people than I was ever able to give. Praise God indeed!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I read this post, even though it was much later than you went and posted it, because it certainly reminded me of my experiences, and the lessons, all too easily forgotten, that I learned there.