A picture is worth a thousand words.
A thousand words can't begin to capture the heart behind the picture.
A moment in time.
Not to be recreated.
Nor is it suppose to be.
A smile ignites every time I recall the my first mission trip in the summer of 2005. The destination - The Dominican Republic. Fear of the unknown consumed me. My Spanish vocabulary consisted of "Si." Questions poured into my mind, "How was I to connect? How could I communicate?" As the week progressed God diminished my fears, replacing it with truth and joy. He showed Himself in victorious way as men, women, and children accepted Jesus into their hearts. He broke down barriers of communications. Life-long friendships developed. God received the glory.
Now almost a decade later God has allowed me to be involved with a number of missions beyond borders... The Dominican Republic, Haiti, Italy, and five times to Guatemala. In fact, a group of six of us leave on June 11 for the SETECA Women's Retreats in Guatemala. A surge of excitement rages within as I prepare and plan my session talk. Humbleness envelops my heart because this year I get the privilege to hand deliver each woman (representing 15-20 different latino nations) a copy of My Prayer Chair in Spanish - Mi Sillon De Oracian! Tears already well up just thinking about hand delivering the books to these precious women. To God be the glory!
I am excited to share that my daughter, Carly Jo, will be serving for 6-weeks as an intern for Vision Trust International in a village in The Dominican Republic. Her heart for serving Jesus inspires me. I'm excited to share that she packed about 40 Mi Sillon De Oracion books with her. Her team will use this little book to disciple young girls in the village. Who but God knew this would be this case!
Below is Carly Jo's blog post the day before she left for the intern-mission trip. May you be blessed by each word.
GOD IS GOOD (ALL THE TIME)
God is abundantly, sweetly, gloriously, and relentlessly good.
He is good because it was a piece of cake raising all the money for my mission trip? No, that was difficult.
Because He zapped up all the mosquitos in the Dominican Republic? No, in fact, we were just informed that there is a Malaria-type disease going around the Dominican Republic that is mosquito-borne. Yeah, talk about scary.
Oh, God is good because he has taken ALL of my fears away? Nope. They are definitely still there. And taunting.
It will take me a lifetime to understand the phrase “God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good”. We used to memorize this phrase in Sunday School but these were empty words until life started becoming difficult. In the lonely times, God gently opened my eyes to see that He, alone, is good because of His Character. Not based on the conditions I place upon Him. The Lord is good because of His constant, pursuing love for me. And you. Whether I am feeling like I am on cloud nine or in the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord is still pursuing me full force. Like a lion in pursuit of a deer, is the Lord’s love in pursuit of my heart. When I begin to take my eyes off the horizontal situation around me and look up to Jesus, my hope finds security in my constant God and I find peace that surpasses all understanding.He wants me to live confidently and unashamed because of who HE is. Because I serve a God who is furiously in love with His creation.
Click to read the rest of.... GOD IS GOOD (ALL THE TIME)
From My Heart to Yours,
Carla McDougal