Following the Lord

I have been doing a women’s Bible study over Gideon lately. Honestly, I didn’t know much about Gideon before the study, and I’ve learned a few lessons during my time in this study. I saw many similarities between Gideon and Jonah, and then realized that those same similarities were shared between not only these two great prophets, but me as well. 

Now, you probably know more about Jonah, so we’ll start with him first. He was a guy who loved God and wanted to serve God, but was anything but excited about where God was sending him. I am a woman who loves God and wants to serve him, but am having a hard time about where God has sent me. (No, this is not a pity party; this is my life, good and bad.) Why there God? Why not this other place over here? They need to know your truth also. Can I go there instead? Jonah and I were both thinking this, knowing that God’s calling is clear. Jonah actually ran away from God. Well… tried to. I’m not sure what he was thinking with that one. I’ve had a few people tell me along this process that it must be nice that our family has such a clear calling from God for our lives. Yes, it is great that we know we are following His will, but that doesn’t mean that it’s butterflies and rainbows every day. How would you like to be Jonah and go tell a huge group of people, the Ninevites, that God was displeased with them and was ordering them to turn from their evil ways? Jonah did it though. Did he have a good attitude? Absolutely not. Terrible attitude actually. But, he still did what the Lord called him to do.

 Gideon was a little different. God came to Gideon while he was hiding from the Midianites, a huge army inching in on Gideon’s town. Gideon was threshing wheat inside a winepress rather than out on the threshing floor. He did this because the Midianites were taking everything they could from Israel. In simpler terms, Midian is the bully and Israel is the kid getting his lunch taken every day. God came to Gideon and told him that he was going to lead the army of Israelites that was going to overtake Midian. Gideon asked God how that could happen, reminding God how strong and evil the Midianites were. Gideon tested God several times, asking God to prove to him that He was who He said He was, and that He was faithful. God, though He didn’t have to, appeased Gideon and proved Himself in every one of Gideon’s tests. So, reluctantly, Gideon agreed to lead Israel. He started with 32,000 men and ended up with 300. As God weaned the number of the army smaller and smaller, Gideon continued to be faithful. He went to battle for the Lord and was victorious. God followed through with the promises that He made to Gideon- to protect, provide, and bring victory. 

As my family goes back to Spesterra, my hope is that I may have faith like Gideon had. God didn’t tell Him everything at the beginning, but Gideon walked forward each time God asked him to take another step. God was able to use Gideon to show His faithfulness to His people, Israel, and to all the other tribes and peoples that were watching in expectation. I hope that I am faithful enough to God for Hms to use me. As Gideon began His journey with the Lord, he was found hiding because he was so afraid of His enemy. God saw a faithful follower and chose him in his weakness to bring glory to His name. My hope is that we will all be faithful enough to the Lord to be able to walk forward each time God asks us to take another step. And my hope for myself is that, while it may be incredibly difficult some days, that I would not have an attitude like Jonah, and that I would not test God like Gideon did, but that I would be faithful to what God has called me, and, as 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, that I would “rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances.”

Home

"So where do you live?" For some reason, many people have been asking me this lately, and quite honestly, I don't know the answer. Immediately, I'll say Spesterra. But is that really my home? No. I've only spent 6ish weeks in that country, none of which was I in my own home. My next instinct would either be to say "North Dallas" or to say "Well, I'm from Dallas and my husband is from Kansas." But, other than the time we spent with family before we left for training and the current stay at my parents' house while we get medical treatment, neither of those places have been our homes since we graduated high school. We love both of those places and the people there, but they also are not our home. I also might say, "Well, we lived in Fort Worth." That was in November. That was almost 8 months ago. It's not our home anymore. We drove to Fort Worth/Burleson to spend Sunday at church, with church friends, and with a few other friends. I drove by our old home, our old street, our old Walmart and I felt so at home. And then I was reminded that it is not our home anymore. If you are a man, you may understand this, but if you are a woman, I know that you understand the yearning to have a home of your own. Some place that you can make your own, that you can raise your family, and that you can make memories in. I know our home here on Earth is only temporary, but I still yearn for one. Perhaps one day my husband and I will have our first taste of a normal, settled life. (Okay, nevermind on the normal, let's just shoot for settled.) I can't wait! :-)

The Cow In the Road

Here are some more pictures from our first 2 weeks in Spesterra. This first picture is of the cow that comes every day to sit right in front of our building. He is in the middle of what would be a three lane each way road. I haven't seen him walk through the road yet, but I'd love to see the swerving. :-)

 

 
 This picture is of a popular tourist location here. This was in between times that we were mobbed by people wanting to hold Corinth. That'll take quite a while to get used to...

 

Our first family photo in Spesterra. We were at a place of worship that we visited. I like this picture!

 

 

We hope you're doing well! We'd love to hear from you all! Thank you to those of you that have sent us messages or contacted us via Skype. If you'd like to know how to get ahold of us, find me on Facebook! Love you all!

Here in Spesterra

We are here is Spesterra. That is Latin for 'land of hope.' I'm still throwing around the name, but I think that is what I will say when I refer to our country from now on! (If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!)

Our family on the long plane ride

We had a good 14 1/2 hour plane ride and have settled into our training center for 2 weeks. After those two weeks, we'll be off to our city! The time here has been good. Before we came, Kyle tried to prepare me for what Spesterra would be like by saying things like, "it will assault your senses" and "Spesterra is like a whole other world." So, in my mind, I prepared for... well, okay... honestly, I prepared for the worst. Well, that worked out in my favor, because it's not as bad as I expected! Really, it's a lot (to me) like Peru, which I spent a summer in and have a forever love for, so that is really good! We have had trainings in the morning, and then are free to go around town in the afternoons! Here are a few pictures from our first few days here! Thanks for reading, and please comment so we know we're not alone!

us on the roof of our building

my new clothes!

 

some girls my friend and I met yesterday