May 25th

My mom begged me for a new blog today, so this one is for her :) I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this...but I never seem to know right when I start writing. So here it goes. Quick update as to what I've been doing since the last time I blogged. We hiked up the mountains to Pinalito to stay there for five days. Within the first three hours we managed to kill three scorpions, an endless amount of cockroaches, one rat that was bigger than my foot, and dispose of a rat that had been dead behind the oven for probably two months. Definitely a wake up call that we were no longer in the desert of Zacapa. The mountain village stole my heart, though. The amount of poverty in this village shocked me and the way people live there humbled me. But the simplicity that these people lived in was something to be desired. 

After the five days in Pinalito we went to Rio Dulce for the dedication of Tiffany's bridge. I can't begin to describe how blessed I feel to be apart of the dedication. The mayor donated three calves to be eaten and the four villages came out to worship God and rejoice in the bridge. At the end of the dedication we were able to worship and pray over the people of the village. There's something to be said worshiping a God that the language barrier doesn't hinder Him working through all of us in great ways. 

 Now we are in Zacapa for a while which is kind of like our "home base". Most of the days we will be here working on the dorm building and tutoring the students. However, When it's not raining we will hike up to Rio Dulce to work in the village.

In our morning Devos we have been reading a book called The Wild Goose Chase. If you haven't read this book yet, please stop reading my blog and go order it on Amazon! It will change your whole perspective on life and your relationship withGod. The main thing that the book talks about are cages that we put God in. One cage that we read about was the Cage of Routine. This one struck home with me, because lets be real here, I love my daily routines and hate when they are messed up. I began to realize this cage last semester especially. My life was very constant and predictable in a sense of I always knew what I would be doing every day and had it all planned out. I'm never one to make New Years resolutions because I can never keep them and then feel bad about myself. However, this New Years I decided that my prayer for my semester would be that I would be so uncomfortable with my life that the only thing comfortable would be my walk with Christ. Its amazing what happens she you pray radical things like that and the lessons that God teaches you. 

One example is of Moses and the burning bush. Moses tended sheep for many years before the burning bush. how much more routine could you get? Every morning waking up knowing day after day you will be watching sheep. But God stopped Moses in his routine with a burning bush. God took something so ordinary as a bush and made it divine. I think God used a bush so that every time moses saw a bush, he could be reminded of Gods divine intervention in his routine life. While at the burning bush God asked Moses an important question that applies to all of our lives. He told Moses to throw down his staff. Think about it. That staff represented security, routine, and identity to Moses. But God asked Moses to through his staff down to see if Moses truly trusted God with his future. What would have happened if Moses didn't throw his staff down? I think Moses would have gone right back to his routine of tending sheep. 

All of us can look at life and see staffs in our lives and they are all different for each of us. God is calling all of us to through down our staffs at the burning bush. I'm realizing right now my staff is my identity in others. I search and desire approval of others. But God is actively telling me to throw that staff down and search for HIS opinion of me. If we hold on to our staffs, we are going to lose what God has planned for our lives. In the book, it says the only thing scarier than asking God what His will is for our lives, is not asking Him. Think about about a staff in your life right now. If you can't pinpoint it, take time today and ask God for him to reveal it to you. Be willing to throw down your staff so that like Moses, you won't miss out on the incredible calling and desires that God has for your life. Just think, as much as we desire to follow the will of God, he desires his will to be played out in our lives even more. Throw down your staff today and see what God has in store for you.