For those of you who have been following my blog for some time now, you know that I purposely do not turn this blog into a spiritual commentary, but choose instead to just write about our life here in Honduras. Today I make an exception to this. No...not really. When I stop and think about what I just wrote, that "I choose instead to just write about our life here in Honduras" I realize that our life here is deeply spiritual, and that to be true to my promise to you and to myself "to tell it the way it is", that I need to also share that part of our lives from time to time.
I woke up early this morning, 3 am or so, and as I sat at the kitchen table waiting for the coffee to finish perking I opened my Bible and began to read the story of the Exodus, the tale of the Israelites as they left Egypt headed for a new land, a land of promise. They left their old life behind through a series of miracles and promises. Along the way they met with disaster and disappointment, they experienced moments of great discouragement, times where they longed for the things they had left behind. They lost their way, they doubted from time to time that God was able to do what He had promised. But despite all this, they did arrive in the land of promise.
As I read, I reflected on our own journey. As with any allegory, at some point it fails to appropriately represent what the storyteller is trying to bring across, and this is true here. For example, I do not see our leaving the United States as leaving "Egypt", but there is no doubt that we left behind all that was familiar to us and headed on a journey into the unknown. We, as a family, have experienced times of disappointment and discouragement. We have lost our way several times. We have longed for what we left behind. We have doubted that our God would keep His promises to us. But, despite all this, I know that we have arrived in a good land and that we are in a good place, a place of promise.
The songbirds have been amazingly vocal these past mornings. As early morning approaches the air is filled with their trilling and twittering. I look from my front porch towards the mountains and I never tire of the beauty we are surrounded by.
I am challenged and encouraged in my own spirituality by the men with whom I meet each week for breakfast as we discuss the things we believe deeply in and how that is lived out in our own lives. I am grateful for these men and to the wisdom and scope they have added to my own understanding and thought processes.
We are blessed to have so many friends here and to be able to participate in such a wide variety of experiences. We are blessed to live in a house far larger than we had ever dreamed of living in. With that has come the blessing, yes even the responsibility, of opening our home and our lives to many people. As we do this, God turns blessing back upon us by those we bless.
We have been blessed to participate in the lives of those around us. We have been blessed to share with others from the abundance God has given us, and in so doing, God has supplied all our needs, even without an income. Everyday, we have food on the table and everyday we are blessed to be able to feed extra mouths.
In all this I am aware that this life has now become the "new normal". I am amazed at how quickly what was once new and even a bit frightening becomes common and commonplace. My prayer for the future is to never believe that just because we did something unusual by moving here, that we have arrived. That this is where the journey ends. No, this is where it just begins...of that I am convinced.
I do not know what the future holds. I do not know if we will stay here the rest of our lives, return the States or move to another country, but for now I have to pinch myself almost every day to make sure that I am not dreaming. And that's a fact.
And this is what I spent most of the early morning thinking about. I thought about this good place that we are in and my heart overflowed with praise to Him who brought us here.
I woke up early this morning, 3 am or so, and as I sat at the kitchen table waiting for the coffee to finish perking I opened my Bible and began to read the story of the Exodus, the tale of the Israelites as they left Egypt headed for a new land, a land of promise. They left their old life behind through a series of miracles and promises. Along the way they met with disaster and disappointment, they experienced moments of great discouragement, times where they longed for the things they had left behind. They lost their way, they doubted from time to time that God was able to do what He had promised. But despite all this, they did arrive in the land of promise.
As I read, I reflected on our own journey. As with any allegory, at some point it fails to appropriately represent what the storyteller is trying to bring across, and this is true here. For example, I do not see our leaving the United States as leaving "Egypt", but there is no doubt that we left behind all that was familiar to us and headed on a journey into the unknown. We, as a family, have experienced times of disappointment and discouragement. We have lost our way several times. We have longed for what we left behind. We have doubted that our God would keep His promises to us. But, despite all this, I know that we have arrived in a good land and that we are in a good place, a place of promise.
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| Honduras |
I am challenged and encouraged in my own spirituality by the men with whom I meet each week for breakfast as we discuss the things we believe deeply in and how that is lived out in our own lives. I am grateful for these men and to the wisdom and scope they have added to my own understanding and thought processes.
We are blessed to have so many friends here and to be able to participate in such a wide variety of experiences. We are blessed to live in a house far larger than we had ever dreamed of living in. With that has come the blessing, yes even the responsibility, of opening our home and our lives to many people. As we do this, God turns blessing back upon us by those we bless.
We have been blessed to participate in the lives of those around us. We have been blessed to share with others from the abundance God has given us, and in so doing, God has supplied all our needs, even without an income. Everyday, we have food on the table and everyday we are blessed to be able to feed extra mouths.
In all this I am aware that this life has now become the "new normal". I am amazed at how quickly what was once new and even a bit frightening becomes common and commonplace. My prayer for the future is to never believe that just because we did something unusual by moving here, that we have arrived. That this is where the journey ends. No, this is where it just begins...of that I am convinced.
I do not know what the future holds. I do not know if we will stay here the rest of our lives, return the States or move to another country, but for now I have to pinch myself almost every day to make sure that I am not dreaming. And that's a fact.
And this is what I spent most of the early morning thinking about. I thought about this good place that we are in and my heart overflowed with praise to Him who brought us here.
well said Mike. I feel it for you all. I anxiously wait to come down again and feel what you are doing. Love you much. Amy
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