Happy Thanksgiving... with a poem!

So this past week I came to a state of complete exhaustion. I have not been getting the amount of sleep that my body requires and have been going 110%. It didn’t help that I had to make a trip out of the Country to renew my visa which consisted of 30 hours of traveling in 4 days, in which I got about 10 hours sleep the whole time. Of course, one would not be surprised that my emotional state of being also went out the window during this time. But God used this exhaustion to open my eyes to many areas in my life that I need to change or be healed in… things I need to give up to Him instead of trying to handle on my own. It has been a healing time for me, one that was not easy to go through, but one I am so thankful for.

I will share some of the less personal areas… only cause the others are a bit to hard to share at the moment… or ever ; ) Part of my personality and gift for discipleship leads me to take on the role of “Spiritual Mother”… for those of you who are mother’s of teenagers or ever have been you may understand what I am going through. For me it is so hard to watch some of the youth that I love walk away from God’s will for their lives, to make decisions that lead them down a path of sin, and then watch the results of that as they suffer the consequences. I wish I could take away that pain from them and that they would understand their value before the Lord but I have had to leave them in God’s loving care… knowing that He is the one who is going to lift them up. I can not make the decisions for them, but I can pray for them and allow God to do the healing in their lives. Although I know that God is in control, I had to give up MY desire to change the situation and allow Him to do His job… please join me in prayer for these youth that they will understand God’s grace and come back into communion with Him.

Although during this time of business I have been faithful in spending time with the Lord, it wasn’t always what I need to fill me up. I gave and gave and gave of myself and came to the point in which I had nothing left to give. One day in Jujuy, I was able to be completely ALONE in the house (something that has been impossible in Catamarca as my roommates are studying for finals and daily have study groups in the house… there is anywhere from 5-16 youth in the house at any given moment). During this time, I was able to pour out my heart to God and leave some of my hurts at His feet. I was able to acknowledge my sins before Him and feel His healing hand upon my life. I was able to kneel and pray and seek His will. I have come back so refreshed and comforted it is amazing… because of recognizing this need of not just reading His word but resting in His presence I have decided to make an effort of spending more time with Him… on Thanksgiving Day I was able to ignore the chaos in the house, go in my bedroom and spend just about ALL day with the Lord. It was a nice change of pace and something I hope to do more often.

God encouraged me in so many other ways through this trip to Jujuy. I saw His hand upon EVERY detail… even though I didn’t understand it at the moment. For me I got frustrated that I was without communication due to the fact that I couldn’t open my messenger and chat with anyone… but because of that, all I could do is spend time with God when I was alone in the house. I was nervous about leaving the Country because of all the trouble I had last time, but things went so smoothly I am still amazed. As I was returning to Argentina, I didn’t even have to wait in line… after about 5 minutes they opened the window and told had everyone with a passport hand it to them, they then closed the window and 3 minutes later returned with the passports stamped and ready to enter in Argentina again. God is so good! I was able to enjoy time with my friends in Jujuy and be encouraged by them. Both of them are currently dating and one is thinking about possibly getting married before I return to the United States in March, so we took one day to celebrate and enjoy the last ‘outing’ together as singles. Of course now they are praying for me to meet someone as they are both head over heals in love and think I should be too. I was able to spend time talking to another friend about many things that are going on in my life and get them off my chest. She was also able to share her struggles as well and we have made a commitment to pray for one another on a weekly basis as God heals us in these areas.

I would say the BIGGEST blessing, outside of my time with God… was the opportunity I had to visit with my friends Ale y Naty. They are a couple that went to India as missionaries for the past year. I was shocked to hear that they were in Jujuy and that I was going to be able to see them. They are back in Argentina because Ale’s father is having health problems so please keep him in your prayers. But I was able to take advantage of that and hear about their many stories from India. They had many trials, which made me realize that my life isn’t too hard here in Argentina. Haha! There eyes were opened to many things and they grew so much during this time. They don’t know where God is calling them in the future but their desire is to still work with street children whether it be in the dumps of India or the streets of Argentina. Pray that God would guide them and give them wisdom into what His will is for their lives. What an encouragement they were to me and they admitted that this night was the first time they have been able to laugh and feel so loved in quite some time. As I am listening to various sermons and one was talking about suffering and how God has allowed the missionary life to be full of suffering. It allows us to depend upon Him and be formed into His image so that He ends up with the Glory. May God be glorified through my life!

I give you thanks O God
For you are my Lord and Savior.
All that I have is because of you
And I lack no good thing

You have given me a faith
Which leads to eternal life.
You have given me a mission
And a purpose in this life

You have given me a family
That loves me unconditionally
You have given me friends
To support me through the trials

You meet my daily needs
Of food, shelter and love
And give me so much more
Then I could ever need.

I thank you for what I have
And want to praise Your name
I want to use these things
To bless those around me.

I give you thanks, O God
For you are my Lord and Savior
And all that happens in this life
Is under your loving Control

I may not understand the trials
But I can praise your name amidst them
For you have promised
To use all things for my good

I may not enjoy the difficulties
But I can give you thanks for them
For each one used to form me
Into the image of Your Son!

I may not know the future
But I can trust in you completely
For you are the one who guides me
And my final destiny is heaven

I want to thank you for who I am
For all you have done in me
And all you will continue to do
So I can bring Glory to Your Name!