the story...

Ecclesiastes 11:5 says: " As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who makes everything".

I have realized more and more in the past year, that I am not able to understand the way God works, especially in my own life...but what I do know is that HE has a plan for me...for all of us.

Last year, I was blessed to be able to lead a team of 19 to Honduras for a mission trip. I learned a lot about myself and more about life and what is important. I got very close with the team that went. And I realized I had a passion to continue doing mission work, just not sure where, how long, etc. I thought that maybe my calling was to plan short-term mission trips so that others could experience what it is like...then I got into nursing school (totally a blessing from God!) and my energy had to be put into that..

Well, as many of you know, while we were on the trip in Honduras, my dad got hurt. Long story short, part of the palm of his hand was sliced off by the sharp metal that was used to build the school buildings we built in Honduras. SO many miracles happened that I can't even explain them all (maybe I will post it one day). Why I am mentioning this, is because it led me to my next mission trip.

The doctor that went with us to work with the medical team in Honduras, happened to show up on the construction site just minutes after my father hurt himself. He was then able to assist in his surgery to reattach the part of his hand. I was SO thankful to God for sending this doctor with us. That's when I found out he had his own clinic in Guatemala.

It's crazy how God works. And I don't understand it, but I guess we aren't really supposed to.

The leader from our trip to Honduras, Judy, and I decided that it would be awesome to go and help this doctor at his own clinic. This is how our mission trip "Guatemala 2013" came about.
So despite the fact that I just got into nursing school, which can be quite stressful for some,  I knew that God was calling us to serve at this clinic. So I started planning. I announced the trip at church, KNOWING that at least 20-30 people would want to go. But God's plan was different. We ended up only taking 12 people, 12 disciples.

I can't even begin to explain what I experienced in Guatemala. I guess if I could sum it up, it would just be "LOVE". Love of the people, love for the people, love for the culture, God's love, just...love. Now we only went for 14 days, some of you may be thinking that there is no way I could have fallen in love in 14 days, but like I said, God works in mysterious ways.

I have this prayer that I pray everyday, and that is that God give me the heart of His Son. That whatever His Son's heart would feel, I want to feel. And this is a prayer He never fails to answer. I believe that this is the reason I want to serve God with every fiber of my being, for my whole life. I can't really imagine living life without serving God, and then I look at my life here and I realize that I do just that.

Mission work is in my future. If we are truly believers in Christ, it should be in ALL of our futures. Where your mission field is, well that is a different story.

I am praying about where God will send me. People EVERYWHERE need help. He gives us all different gifts, and I am just praying about where mine are most needed. If you are a prayer warrior, please pray with me.

Like I said earlier, God has a plan for all of us. He has called us all to follow Him. The question is, will we follow Him? Will I follow Him?

My next post will be about my actual trip to Guatemala! It will have plenty of pictures, so stay tuned ;)