My dear friend is a creative, caring little thing. She can bring joy to you so fast with the simplest cheeky smile, and heaven help your emotional state of being if she decides to gift you something! She has been blessed with the talent of being able to tailor the simplest things to have the perfect individualized impact on whomever she is decides to target with a bit of love.
Prior to our little summertime excursion to Peru I found myself being the happy victim of her love-sniping, via a 30 page hand-crafted glory of a little green journal. Little did I, nor she, know this little act would be a source for a fair few intense spiritual moments during my time abroad. This little journal, with its carefully selected verses, hand-written in various colours and placements throughout the lined pages, became the location to write down reactionary thoughts to events and discussions, a place to write down funny quotes and stories, and a source of divine timing and encouragement.
My first notable encounter came the morning of my departure to Mexico City for debrief. While sitting in the airport waiting impatiently for the plane to begin boarding, I decided to take the time to thoroughly examine the journal and read some of the verses she had chosen specifically for me. I didn't make it past the first page.
There it was, written in large, bolded red letters; Isaiah 6 v. 8. Then I heard the voice of the LORD saying "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I send me!"
Wham. Here I was, preparing to go to a far away country, to spend six weeks with people I did not know and worried I would have terrible difficulty connecting with, essentially saying "I will go." But was I really ready? I wanted to shout, saying those very words, "Me Lord, send ME!" But could I say them invariably? This was a constant thought that possessed me throughout the Trek. There are people, family and friends, that I care about deeply, and the thought of leaving them, being possibly thousands of miles away to where I cannot see them whenever I needed or wanted to, is nearly unbearable. I also love Jesus, and he said that whoever leaves behind friends and family and possessions for his name lives for him, anyone who doesn't is not worthy of him (Matt. 10. v. 37 and 19 v. 29).
I don't know what this is going to look like yet, and this trip certainly got me thinking and seeking after God's direction. I know it will not always be easy and I still have a million questions but I have found trust and a burning love for God (more on that later). It's all baby steps from here and continually asking for help to freely give over to him the things that hinder me from full devotion to the Kingdom and to use the things (skills, ambitions, and possessions) placed within my care to their fullest potential to bring love of others.
