Who Can You Trust?

I blame my mom for a lot of things, the most awesome being my love of books and music.  My mom had music playing in our house during waking hours and that lady read to us four kids like it was going out of style.  She is a professional reader now and gets paid to tutor kids in reading...but I digress.  

Ministry, as of late, has left me feeling like I am crawling toward the throne of grace every day to lay my burdens at Christ's feet.  Let's just say church planting is not for the faint of heart.  Working with national pastors brings it's fair share of challenges, joys, and heartache.  We are in a time of heartache and sadness and shock.  It has just proven to be another event where we can proclaim that God is good in all seasons, that He never changes amidst our ever-changing circumstances, and we can trust that His plan is better than any plans of ours.

I posted similar sentiments of Ann Voskamp's on Facebook the other day and a sweet missionary friend on the other side of the world encouraged me with a song.  I had never heard Lauren Daigle's "Trust In You" but quickly fell in love.  Belting out a song is like a balm to my soul and there is nothing better, in my humble opinion, than truth sung by a sultry alto voice.  So like my mom, I am blasting this for myself and my family to hear on repeat.  Below are the words:  

  Letting go of every single dream
I lay each one down at your feet
Every moment of my wandering
Never changes what you see

I try to win this war
I confess, my hands are weary, I need your rest
Mighty warrior, king of the fight
No matter what I face you're by my side

When you don't move the mountains
I'm needing you to move
When you don't part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When you don't give the answers
As I cry out to you
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in you

Truth is you know what tomorrow brings
There's not a day ahead you have not seen
So let all things be my life and breath
I want what you want Lord and nothing less

When you don't move the mountains
I'm needing you to move
When you don't part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When you don't give the answers
As I cry out to you
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in you
I will trust in you

You are my strength and comfort
You are my steady hand
You are my firm foudation
The rock on which I stand
Your ways are always higher
You plans are always good
There's not a place where I'll go
You've not already stood

When you don't move the mountains
I'm needing you to move
When you don't part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When you don't give the answers
As I cry out to you
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in you

I will trust in you
I will trust in you
I will trust in you

Write Them On the Door Frames And Gateposts

In Deuteronomy 11, the Lord instructs the children of Israel to fix His words in the forefront of their minds and hearts.  He tells them to do this by talking about His word day and night with their children and by putting Scripture on the door frames and gateposts.  Philippians 4:8 hangs next to my kitchen sink for good reason. The sink is where I pass a good amount of my time.  The sink is where I think and pray.

It doesn't look as pretty as the image above anymore.  The yellow is faded. The corners curled up from enduring a suffocating humidity right next to open windows.  The paper may be ugly and dishwater splattered but the words are forever true.  An instruction for what to think on is not a bad thing when your mind can lead you astray; when your mind can convince you of things that are untrue. The Lord's words posted for me to see helps me choose thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure...

Do you have verses you hold close? What are they?
     

Michelle's Top Ten

We are nearing the end of team season here in La Ceiba and I would like to share my top ten reasons that I love short term teams coming to Honduras:

10. The CONTINUAL Retelling of Stories.  Week after week, teams come and ask us the same questions. How did you become a Christian?  How did you meet your spouse?  What led you to Honduras?  What's hard? What do you love? You get the idea.  I love that we get to share God's faithfulness and give Him the glory in all the details.  I also love that my teammates tell their stories and I LOVE getting to ask visitors their stories!

9. A Family Reunion Every Week. Most of our short term teams are returning teams.  They are supporting churches and faces that we know and adore.  I love team season because we get to see our brothers and sisters in Christ again and we get to meet new ones!

 Short term and long term missionaries at the Ceiba letters

8. We Are On The Front-lines of People Getting Excited About Global Missions.  The majority of our team would tell you we are on the field today because of short term missions.  Short term missions whet our appetite for long term service.  It's fun to see our new friends discover life outside of the United States and what the Lord is doing in other countries.  It's amazing to see hearts ignited for Christ and the making of disciples in other nations.  

7. We See People Contemplating What Local Missions Could Look Like.  One of the main questions we were asked when we started sharing our calling to Honduras was, "Well, what about the people in the United States?  There are needs to be filled here."  And our answer was, "ABSOLUTELY! Thank God there are established churches in the United States that should be reaching out to their neighbor.  We are all missionaries regardless of our location and should be working where the Lord has called us. Here or abroad."  It's incredible to see people think through what they could be doing to serve in their hometowns in the good 'ol USA.

6. Short-Termers Come And Use Their Time and Talents.  From preaching, engineering, and medicine, to photography, loving on people, and the like we get to watch the Lord use people well to bless HIS ministries here.  We have encountered so many people that know their giftings and pour into Hondurans and missionaries alike!

Professional photographers used their gifts to love our team well!

5. Short Term Teams Love Our Missionary Kids Well.  This one is completely selfish.  We were putting the boys to bed the other night and the conversation revolved around "150 of our closest friends coming to see us every summer."  It might be a tongue in cheek expression but our kids really mean it.  We have so many short term teams that come and play with, chat with, and involve our kids in the work of the week.  Our kids sit down at meals with "our new friends" regardless of age or gender and make relationships that carry on over the years.  Other Christians pouring into my kids is one of my favorites as my children don't have a Sunday school to attend or even Vacation Bible School here in La Ceiba.  

Asher gets to help remove and replace an old tin roof.

  

4. Returners Help Reveal Progress.  Sometimes, we are blind to how our own children grow in front of our very eyes.  Not only physically but also emotionally and spiritually.  It's easier to look at other children whom you may not see more than a couple times a year and notice so much change.  In a similar vein, short term missionaries that return year after year help us see how the Lord is moving in La Ceiba and in our team.  Short term missionaries reveal how our team has changed and grown together. In a recent debrief, a team noted how much we laugh together, enjoy each other, and how they felt they were welcomed into it. Short term missionaries also remind us of what the construction site looked like last year!!  That now there is a seminary and offices in progress and a beautiful clinic. Returning missionaries encourage us year after year in the growth they can see.
       
3. The hugs. Affection is my love language. Enough said.

My favorite hugger in the background.

2. The Connections. We have the privilege of helping connect hearts to each other by the glue of Jesus.  We have three church plants in La Ceiba whom have three churches in the States who sponsor them.  The connections made between congregations and pastors from two countries is sweet to watch.  How they care for each other is a true picture of the body of Christ.  The relationships that grow from teams going to the same communities year after year is a blessing to Hondurans and Americans alike.

 Partnering church from the US for Vicente's church plant prayed over him and his family.

They also did a prayer walk through the community of La Trejo.  It was a huge hit!

1. Partnerships in the Gospel.  Partnership is a gift of giving and receiving. It's a reciprocal relationship in which we can shine the light of Christ together.  It means we're not receiving teams with the expectation of what they can do for us physically or financially that week.  It means receiving teams with the expectation of working side by side for the Gospel while they are in Honduras and in the United States. It means continuing to bear one another's burdens through the sharing of needs and prayers.  It means edifying and encouraging our partners and having relationships that aren't just a week out of the year.  It's continually a two way street in which we care for each other.  The partnership formed to share Christ's love together lasts into eternity and is my favorite aspect of short term team season.      

Edit: Photo credits to Halle Sexton from New City Church's short term team!  You captured so much of what I had written about!