Amazing Love

6:33 AM



"Where are you from?" he asked.
"Los Estados Unidos," I replied. (The Unites States)
"How long have you been here?" he inquired.
"About 3 weeks."
"Wow! What are you doing here?"
"My husband and I came to help start a church," I happily told him.
"What brought you here? Work? Family?"
"God.  God brought us here. We are here for the people; to bring them Jesus." I shared.
"Oh, so you're here on vacation then?"
"No, we're here to live. I live right over there." I explained.
"Oooo, Que genial" He responded. (Which means how brilliant, or that's great)


 Then I got to share with Adrian and Natalia the greatest story ever known to man.  The story of God and how He sent His precious Son to die on the cross for OUR sins, to pay OUR penalty so we no longer have to suffer forever in hell, but can enter into heaven forever to live with our eternal King.  I explained to them that it's a choice that each and every person has to make for themselves.  I told them my parents were Christians, but that didn't make me one.
  When I asked them if they wanted to choose Jesus Christ to be their Savior, they both said yes!  Adrian even said, "Of course!!!"
   Before we bowed our heads for them to receive Christ, Adrian had a few more questions for me about our church.  Then he cut off our conversation and said, "Okay, now we need to pray." :)  Seeing the smiles on their faces after they prayed to receive Christ was one of the most rewarding feelings a person could ever feel. And to think that all this happened on my walk with the Lord this morning! He's an AWESOME God!

Welcome to Peru!

8:39 PM


Ever wondered why missionaries leave for the field, and it seems as if they fall off the planet????  I no longer wonder.  We have been busy every moment since we have arrived here in Lima!  I never knew so much went into renting an apartment, starting life in a foreign country, learning a new culture, switching from Mexican Spanish to Peruvian Spanish, and adjusting to a whole new life!  Okay, maybe I did know there would be a few slight changes... but I forgot how different it is living in a 3rd world country!
My first few days here in Lima, I couldn't get over how dirty everything is!  We're in the dessert here, so if you want something to be green you plant it and care for it very well.  There is dirt and dust everywhere, exaust smoke from the hundreds of combies (vans that people use for transportation) and new smells at every turn. (Not always the best, I might add.)  I have a new appreciation for Jesus washing the disciples feet, and have been trying to figure out how to clean our shoes so the least amount of dirt possibly makes its home on my tile floors!  A quick overview of our lives these past few weeks:
The day after we arrived, we went with the men from our team to look at church property.  We found a great location in a small building on a corner in Chorillos, and that weekend started evangelizing and having church with the Peruvian people.  My favorite part about it (Selfishness alert!!!) was that we got to be a part of the first day at our church.  I was tickled pink to be the first one to clean the bathroom for God, before we even knew where our home would be.
On July 13th, we moved into our apartment!  We were thrilled!  This is Dan and my first home and we are loving it! We have been using every spare moment (that we are not meeting or working with the Team) painting, fixing up, shopping for furniture or dishes, learning to cook, cleaning, and discovering Peruvian life! Here are a few pictures of our new place: 
Our apartment is on the second floor of this home.  It is beautiful! 

Our new furniture and living room

Dining room table 

My beautiful kitchen!  

Some fresh fruit and veggies I bought at market one day 

Devotionals

Loaded Daily

7:36 PM



On July 13th, we moved home.  I was ready. I had been waiting for 10 months to set up a home with my new groom.  Today was the day!  It was here! Want to hear a secret? On July 13th, I wasn't very spiritual.  I only read 1 verse in my Bible that morning in my time with God. Most days, I would push myself to at least read more than 1 simple verse.  But today, I just couldn't. My eyes hit 1 verse:


"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation." Ps. 68:19

I read the verse over and over, as my eyes flooded with tears!  In my journal that morning, I wrote:

"He truly loads us with benefits daily.  My life has been loaded with benefits.  I think back on my life to the many times that I gave things to God.  He wanted them, yes!  But not so I would be miserable and suffer.  He wanted to see how surrendered I was.  He wanted to know how much I was willing to give Him.  When I did give Him my all and everything I had- He has given me incredible blessings, beyond what I could have ever asked for or dreamed.  Today, we get to move into our apartment.  It's beautiful! Our apartment is huge; perfect for entertaining!  My kitchen is literally like an Ikea kitchen.  It's an American kitchen.  God is loading us with benefits for which I could have never dreamed.  I sit here in tears as I think of His benefits.  I feel so incredibly loved by an Almighty Savior."

God has been so good to us every day on our journey.  I love discovering His daily benefits!

Devotionals

Full Joy

10:50 AM





Yesterday, while making supper in the kitchen, I found myself singing, "This is my commandment, that ye love one another that your joy may be full."  It was a little song I learned as a young child, and while I was singing it, it hit me.... the reason God tells us to love one another, is for a purpose that I had sung over and over again, "that your joy may be full!"
I began to think of all the things God has commanded us to do.  Although I've heard it taught before, all of a sudden I realized that God gives us His commandments because He knows what will make us happy. He wants us to follow His commandments that we might know true joy.  
I thought about things He has asked me to do in the past, such as leave my home country to live in Peru for 6 months in 2006.  When my Dad first asked me if I wanted to go, I blatantly stated, "NO!"  After a while God worked on my heart, and I decided to go.  But after living in Peru several months, the Lord taught me that sometimes what He wants for my life is what I enjoy and even love.  He wants to show me the path of life, for in it is fullness of joy.  I actually had a BLAST in Peru in 2006, and left my heart there.  I loved it SO bad that I wanted to go back.  By following His plan for my life, I am once again living in Peru. And I am a very happy and joyful person!
Why is it that we hestitate when God tells us to do something?  As if we think we can know and do better than the Almighty God of this universe? His thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways.  So are we going to trust ourselves?  Or the one who knows how to make us full of joy?
Knowing the loving hand of God is guiding my way, making my joy full is one of the best treasures for which a girl could ask!  If I choose to keep His commandments and follow in His steps, He will give me full joy!

Deputation

Adventures Abroad

8:12 PM




It was 3:47am in the morning, and I had just woken up.  I woke with a start!  Today was the day we had been waiting for for so long!  We were going to Peru! We had things packed up and ready to go by 4:30am.  We were about to set out on a very long adventure!  After getting only 3 hours of sleep, I was sure it was going to be a LONG day!  We had 3 flights, and a 20 hour trip!  Of course we knew it would be worth every minute of it later.
    Everything was fine until we left Miami.  At least we thought it was... Leaving Miami, we let them take our carry-ons down to the "checked baggage." We didn't think anything of it until we landed in Columbia.  Once we landed we immediately felt the "third world country syndrom."  Everyone was speaking Spanish~the Columbian way.  I immediately started asking for our carry-ons while the airport security was funneling us downstairs.  We had another international flight which meant we had to go through security again, and check our already secure items. :)  We waited and waited, and finally made it through security.  Once through security, the only place for us to go was back upstairs, where our next gate was.  Dan kept reminding me that we needed our baggage.  I kept looking and wondering where they meant we would find it.  (I served as the translator for this trip.) Once upstairs, I realized there was no way to walk back downstairs, and we weren't going to get our carry-on baggage.  I started asking the Columbian airport personnel until I finally found a lady who had pity on me.  She hesitantly walked Dan and I through some doors she probably shouldn't have,(the bright orange vest says you can do anything, right??) and helped us get downstairs where we had to go through the Columbian immigration and customs to go get our carry-ons.  We realized we would have to completely leave the airport, and come back in the front door in order to get and keep our carry-ons! Once downstairs, we finally found our carry-ons.  However, we didn't find only our carry-ons... ALL our luggage was scattered around the room in the baggage claim! We were shocked!  Somewhere between frustration about how in the world we were going to put all our baggage back on the new flight and seeing the just found carry-ons, it hit me like a load of bricks!  If we hadn't "lost" our carry-ons, all of our luggage would be stuck in Columbia, and we would have lost ALL of it!  God is SO good! He didn't let us lose a single piece! We still had to return upstairs, sign in for our flight, show every kind of proof to the lady at the counter that we had already paid our $360 for luggage (and didn't need to pay again) before being allowed to board our next plane :) The good news is that the next flight went smoothly, and so did getting through customs in Peru!  We safely arrived at the country we call our home.

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