17 days and counting

17 days and counting, who knew it would go so fast?! I was talking to a friend of mine here today and realized we have been here for 292 days- it’s incredible. What a journey it’s been! I have been doing some reflecting lately. It’s crazy to think about what I’ve learned in all this time, more importantly how deeply the Lord has worked in my life. I’ve had hard moments where I’ve seen parts of myself I didn’t want to admit existed. But God has proved himself gracious and faithful in every moment. I’m so glad that the Lord never leaves us, it’s been his presence that has been my constant reassurance, and hope; not just in Argentina, but in life. I am so thankful for his salvation; He is so sufficient and so good. I was writing in my journal this week of the things I feel that I have learned about myself in my time here, so here goes:

1.     I’m not humble

2.     I’m not wise

3.     I’m bad at being independent

4.     I’m always completely and totally in need of Jesus: For words, for humility, for strength.. for everything.

5.     I learned I have SO MUCH more to learn than I knew

6.     I leaned I’m not patient

7.     It’s hard to be kind all the time

8.     How to be real with people

9.     I’m selfish

10. I’m not right very often

11. I learned about the great necessity of prayer

12. I saw God faithful, powerful, loving, and correcting

13. I learned the importance of never giving up

14. I’m learning complaining never edifies

15. I am learning what a gift time truly is- not to take it for granted

16.  I have so much further to grow and so much more to change

17. But most importantly I learned that God is my rock, through it all He stands strong for me in my every weakness- I learned so much about the great sufficiency of my God. To wait, and be satisfied in him, because he is so worth waiting for.

It’s funny, cause it’s not so much Argentina that has drastically changed my life, it’s only been a tool in the hand of my God. Sure hard situations have forced me to cling whole-heartedly to Him because otherwise I would have drowned in bitterness, but it’s been him who upheld me and grew me- to Him be all the Glory. Even still I know I have so much further to grow.

Pray for me, pray that I would love others so much more than myself. Pray that the Lord would keep me humble, that he would make me wise, dependent, in need of him, that he would challenge, edify and give me the gift of endurance. All the while I pray He gathers every soul to himself for His glory, may He be mighty to save, and may we glorify Him with all that we are. May the God and rock of our Salvation be exalted.

17 more days: Pray that I will be all here, and with my whole heart I would glorify him, not just in these days, but in all my life. I love you all, and I can’t wait to see your faces again.

“I love you, O LORD, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”  ~ Psalms 18: 1-3

9 Months Down 1 To Go

Another month gone by, in some ways it felt like an eternity, in other ways it felt like I blinked and it was gone. It’s hard to believe that there’s only one month left of my time here; it’s also hard to believe I have been here for over 9 months already. Things have been busy, but we have definitely fallen into a rhythm. Every week seems to have the consistency of the last. I really enjoyed my last two classes. Hermeneutics was challenging, but interesting, Genesis was a sweet memory jogger. I feel like I learned a lot. I can’t say that I always agreed with everything, but classes always got me thinking and searching my Bible. I definitely think the Lord has used them to grow me closer to Himself; the Lord certainly is good and rich in blessing. Now I am on the verge of starting my next classes. We will be starting Bibliogy and a survey of the New Testament this last month here.  I’ll have to let you know how it goes.

Health-wise I am finally doing better I think. (knock on wood) Unfortunately I was sick for the better part of this last month. I started out with the stomach flu and then had bronchitis for a while. Also I found out that my stomach can’t handle a lot the food here at school anymore. But thankfully the Lord has been providing for me in other ways. He’s definitely taken care of me.

To be honest with you I was really looking forward to April here because I thought it would be a great blessing to really get involved with people. I suppose I was slightly disappointed when I spent the better part of that second month, sick and in bed. At first I questioned the Lord as to why He didn’t give me the strength to get out and be doing more ministry and pouring my heart out to others. But the Lord had a different plan. He always seems to teach me a new way of dependence on Him. I never get what I expect, but I always learn something new about the character and sweetness of my God. I spent a lot of time this past month getting to worship Him from my bed, to listen to sermons, read my bible, other books I hadn’t had the opportunity to read, pray, and get some much needed sleep in order to heal. But I thank the Lord for your prayers, He definitely heard our cry and has granted me at least for now physical strength.

34 days from now I will be on a plane. I’m really excited to come home. I miss my family, church family, friends, and in truth English in many ways. Although I must say I will miss so much about being here, especially the people and being able to always speak Spanish.

Pray for me, for the strength to say goodbye, for the desire to continue to press on, and that I would glorify God in all that I do.

One month left to go and I will be home once more.