I
love this country and the people that fill it. I love that God called me
here 4 years ago for 6 months, and that I'm still here 4 years later.
Sure, I miss 'home' at times. But this is home. Yes, I miss things like a
quick run to Wal-Mart or to the grocery store...without needing to factor
in traffic time. I miss the seasons. I miss seeing my friends, and now
their littles growing up. And yes, I miss eating food without at times wondering what is actually in it or what I've just bought.
But living here is beautiful.
I've grown, I've
learned to live life in another country. Learned a new culture,
language and how to cook new food. I've grown to recognize the constant noise and music around as soothing and find it quite odd when I'm somewhere that is filled with silence. I have seen lives changes for Jesus
and seen kids seek after him fully. I've seen him be rejected. I've
watched as communities come around one another in times of hurt and need. I've seen teens grow in their love for God in a culture that doesn't deem him worthy. I've experienced the joy found by those who live in utter poverty. Which may seem confusing, but that's a story for another post. I've listened to humble prayers offered out of pure awe and seen God move in ways that are just hard to fathom-still.
I've seen the hand of my Savior at work in my own life because even when it seems impossible to take the next step, somehow I do and what He does always blows me away.
We're learning about prayer right now in class. Teaching 13 year olds about prayer and communicating with God is just about as convicting and challenging as it sounds. How do you teach a group of 16 7th graders to pray in faith when you yourself at times find yourself lacking that very thing and just uttering the words out of habit? How do you teach them the importance of communicating with your Savior when, I hate to say it, you make yourself so busy that you forget to take time and just talk with Him.
This has been a challenge.
Through 4 years of living here though I have learned this. Prayer works. Even in our doubt, or when we put limits on God. He hears. He works. Sure, not always the way that we want him to, but He does. He won't always answer how we expect Him to, but He will answer-and in a way that is so much better for us than we could have ever imagined.
