Update #6 Central America B

For this trip, the phrase that keeps coming back to my mind is that I need to prioritize trusting in God and that he has a plan for this trip.

Unfortunately for this trip, I have been sick the entire time, now it’s been nonstop coughing and being exhausted both physically and mentally at the end of the day. But I have been trying to trust that through sleep and God, I can make it through the day. I believe and trust that every morning God would give me the strength and the willpower to get through the whole day which I can see him doing throughout the trip.

But God has been showing me and teaching me to trust in him in other ways.

For the church we visited today the Pastor from a church in Texas gave us the word this morning. It was about the word priorities. He kept on always resaying that word over and over which meant it was important. He said we need to prioritize putting God at the center of our lives, basically saying living and doing things for God every day. He also said we need to prioritize pursuing God’s righteousness. The last point he made, which stuck out to me is that we need to prioritize trusting in God because if we don’t we will be sitting in a constant state of worry. Why this stuck with me because I believe the Lord is still trying to work on me trusting in him and his plans. Trying to trust in his plan has been part of my journey (and testimony) since my sophomore fall semester of college. I guess the Lord is showing me that I still need work in that area.

Another example of when trust came into play today was during our visitations to the houses to install water filters. My team was led to a house where the pastor said we had to install a water filter even though they had no bucket.

The man came out with what was left of a plastic juice carton, the team thought there was no way we could put a hole in it without breaking it. But Joel had the confidence to do it and said he would try. So we had to trust in Joel’s abilities to puncture a hole in the bucket without breaking it, which he was able to do. I believe we need to trust that God would make a way for the team to use what we were given which we did.

Throughout this whole trip, I have fought the inside voices of my head saying you are not going to make it, you are incompetent because you fell behind, you will never get better, say something, and so much more. I am sure the people we install the water filters for have a lot going through their minds as they are being told the gospel. Things like doubt, confusion, pride, and maybe even negative talk about themselves. But God can take those thoughts and turn them into something positive like even when I am weak he gives me strength, when I don’t feel loved he tells me that I am loved. The Lord is continuing to hold onto me when I feel like no one else is and saying I got you and you are not alone.

Through the remainder of this trip I need to trust that God will get me though the day and put my team at the right house. I believe that I will continue to practice when I get home to continue to trust in God and his plan for my life.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed.

-Grace