(God is Faithful)
I hope you all (as in probably like 5 of you who actually
read this) enjoyed my last post about my many blunders. It was written with a highly sarcastic and
self-deprecating tone. I have had to
just laugh at myself for many of the little funny things I have done, and I
hope you got a laugh out of it too.
However, this post will take a very different tone, because
I decided it is time to share some of the ways that God has been faithful to me
while I am here. This is good for me to
write about not only because you get to see what God has done, but it also
forces me to sit down and really think of all of the ways He has been faithful. Maybe even in ways that I have not yet
recognized. I often struggle with being truly joyful, and I think this is
because of how little I really go through and list reasons why I am thankful to
God for what he has done and is doing in my life.
So, here it
goes. God is faithful because:
- overall, I have had excellent internet access, which has allowed me to talk to many friends and family members via Skype
- after suffering from headaches for a couple of months before Christmas, I have been headache free for 2 months!
- I have not had any sort of notable sickness since I have arrived
- I have a wonderful host family here
- umm, hello, I get to be in warm weather in February!
- my schedule here allows for me to have a super regular (and healthy) sleeping pattern
- God has provided me with awesome friends (Jen & Julie!) who are making decorations for my wedding while I am gone
- I have been able to have many moments of solitude, prayer, and reflection here that I wouldn’t probably have gotten if I was at college
- God is teaching me to rely on Him and to be content in Him
- Nick and I have grown a lot in our relationship by being apart…we are both learning even more about each other even though we are far apart
- as much as I still feel like a failure at Spanish, my speaking skills really have improved a lot since I first arrived
- I have been able to have a really healthy lifestyle here (exercising more regularly) that would be more difficult in the cold Ohio weather
- I applied for a job while I was here and got a Skype interview!
- I have been forced to learn to ask people for help (aka: asking for rides home when it is dark and I am far from where I live, asking for help in understanding Spanish words I don’t know).
- I am having to experience some pretty hard and lonely days. This is showing God’s faithfulness simply because he is getting me through it, and I know he will be helping me until the end of my time here
And finally, God is faithful
simply because He is God. His steadfast love endures forever. Even on days where I feel like things are
falling apart, He is faithful. Even on
days where I dream of being in the Miami airport simply to know I am closer to
home, He is faithful. I just hope I can be as faithful with the time he has
given me here.
I hope some of my struggles and
successes here can be an encouragement to you. While it is getting hard to be
here away from everyone I love, I am trying to find strength in knowing that
Dios es fiel. Even on bad days, I hope
to have an attitude that reflects this.
If you are praying for me, please
pray that I can keep my mind in the present and finish this experience strong.
I am nearing the end of my time teaching, but I do not want to give up simply
because I am going home in a month. A
month is still a long time, and there are plenty more lessons for me to learn.
However, being a person who likes to plan ahead, it is hard for me not to get
in the mindset that soon I will be back in Ohio with other things to do and
think about. Please pray!
-Katie
