So I was explaining to someone how everything started, and thought it would be neat to let you guys know how God really worked through everything to make this trip possible.
I had the opportunity to go on a 9 day missions trip with SouthLake Church to Cusco, Peru last summer, and we worked with the street boys down there. They were the sweetest boy you could ever meet, and so full of joy, even though many of them had been rescued from the prisons only weeks before. There was one little boy in particular, Oscar, who I sat by during lunch one day—he stuck by my side as I explained the pictures (from home) that I had on my camera to him in Spanish. He would ask me all kinds of questions, and he loved taking pictures of himself and his friends with my digital camera. Ahh..It makes me miss them all even more just writing this :)
I can’t even tell you how much I loved Peru. Never have I EVER felt God’s peace, provision, and the total realization of just how powerful and beautiful He is like I did on this trip! I had the most incredible experience and would be perfectly happy doing something like that for the rest of my life.
I’ve always loved Spanish & been told that I was good at it. It’d been my favorite subject for a year or two, but still I came back from Peru wanting to soak up as much as I could as fast as possible. I wanted nothing more than to get as fluent as possible and go back again.
In January, I was looking at three possible trips to go on. Unfortunately, by March, two fell through and the last one was the EXACT dates of my volleyball national tournament in Miami, so that didn’t work out either.
By this time, I was like, “God, what is going on? I’m doing this for you! Right??” After struggling with this for a couple days, I was talking to someone and began to realize that whether or not I go isn’t what’s important. God doesn’t need ME in order to carry out what he wants done. HIS will is what I should want to be accomplished—not my wants. My desire should be to be available for the things that God has for me—no more, no less.
However, as soon as I let go, and resolved to see what I could do on a more local level this summer, another opportunity presented itself. I was talking to the lower school principal of my school, and she suggested interning with Scripture Union (the organization in Peru that SLCA works alongside of on the our Senior trip to Peru & the church trip I went on the year before).One thing led to another, and Billy (the head of the organization) said he’d love to have me!
Lord willing, I’m planning to Intern with Scripture Union for the ENTIRE month of July. I will be returning to Cusco for 8 days while I am there, so I’ll get to see all the boys. I can’t wait! :) The rest of the time, I’m spending 4 days at the Center in Kawai (on the beach), and then 13 days in Puerto Alegria (which is in the MIDDLE of the rainforest, right on the Amazon River…I’ve heard SO many stories about this place from multiple people, and have always wanted to go there)!
I was reminded of something VERY important through this whole thing.
I always want to be in control, I always know what I want, and I never think that there could be anything better than the way I have it planned out in my head…and that’s when things fall apart.
But it’s funny, because it is when finally I surrender the control back to God that he finally shows me that his plans are far better than anything I could come up with on my own.
I came across this passage in Job 42 the other day and thought it fit perfectly. It’s right after Job had questioned God about why all these bad things were happening to him. After God replied, and revealed to Job all he(God) had done & made, Job felt extremely foolish:
Then Job replied to the LORD :
"I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
Those last two lines sum up this process completely. What are my plans compared to the Lord’s?
I have everything “under control” and “planed out.” But, I’ve come to realize that God has plans for me that are SO MUCH BIGGER than I could ever try to create on my own!
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know!
So, now I’m finishing raising support for the trip. God’s hand has been so evident during this time and his provision has been stunning. He has brought me this far, and I know that everything about this trip is totally in His control. I’m thrilled to see what he is going to do between now and July. :)
