Westwinds Student Journey Team: Day 3 (Tuesday)

            All the books in the world will never get you closer to God.  Not even all the pastors or really good Christian friends can do that.  Only God and your need for Him can do that.  As soon as you give your life and open yourself to Him big things will happen from the inside out.  He will change your heart, perspective, attitude, or what your heart longs for.  He will change you.

            That’s the type of God we have an ever changing, forming, and creating God.  Through what I can grasp from scripture one of Gods favorite things to do is change.  Change sinner’s heart to see Him, Saul to Paul, women at the well, the blind men Jesus healed, and me.  I find that once we finally allow God to truly impenetrate our minds and souls, He will begin to teach us brand new things.  He will show us a brand new life.  One that is different from almost every person you know.  A life that is so rare that when you see one you are memorized by, you are truly shocked and in awe to see that the things it says in the Bible are not only true, you actually are able to see them in action. God will completely flip your life around once you let Him, and trust Him that He will be flipping it for the better.

            So God loves us and wants the best for us, that means that He will not leave us as we are. So if we truly love God, and allow Him to do what He loves to do, we will change.

            Those are some of the things God has taught me so far on this trip. He has shown me, through John and Amy, the leaders of GSM Guatemala, what it means to truly rely on God.  I have seen this type of life a few other times in my life but every time I see it I am still amazed at their faith and there willingness just to leave it all to God. He has also been present in our devotions at night, a whole room of followers just realizing what it means to be a God follower and what it would actually take. 

Thanks be to God for simply being God.

Amen.

-Nina

Hola Family and Friends!
            Wow, where to start?......This journey has truly been one of a kind.  Both flights here had no problems at all and were simple and easy.  When we got here we were all nervous about customs, but even that was a breeze!  When John, Amy, and Joe met us at the airport I think we all knew the adventure that awaited us here in Guatemala was going to be one to go down in the books. 

            I truly have been having the time of my life.  I am someone who easily gets homesick, but here it feels like home.  Truly, there is a peace that surrounds me here, in Guatemala, that leaves me smiling constantly.  The scenery is SO different from what you see in Michigan which is actually really phenomenal.  There are all kinds of different trees due to their location near the equator, and all the trees are absolutely beautiful.  I love it! 

            John and Amy have been nothing but amazing.  They are two people to truly admire and look up to.  Their faith is so big, yet seems so simple.  They give glory to God for ALL things, they depend on Him for ALL things, and they truly allow their hearts to be open to any direction God may lead.  They are servants of the King and it is refreshing to see. 

            I love Guatemala so much.  The people we have encountered so far have been absolutely beautiful.  On Monday I got to play with a little girl named Miranda who had the most adorable little laugh.  As I hid behind a small soccer ball she would giggle and then as I popped my face out from around the ball she would laugh as loud as she could.  She is precious. 

            The experiences we’ve had thus far have just been so various and so great.  Monday we went shopping in the local market or “terminal”.  It’s quite a different way of life.  Its huge and busy with lots of different smells (both good and bad).  We bought food and baskets for people living in super impoverished areas.  And yes, we even bought a live chicken…(Kevin – you would have laughed hysterically at me trying to avoid those four chickens we carried around ALLLLL day hahaha)  The homes of those people were so….poor.  No electricity, no running water, no roof (and it rains about every day here) It’s just a bit unreal.  Yet they all love with all that they have and they greet you with the warmest welcomes.  Here, it is not about the individual, it is about relationships and the community.

            At night we have been having devotionals together as a team.  What we have been learning has been so dead on with what God knows I need to hear.  We have been talking about the verse that says “the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come so that you may have the best life possible” (paraphrasing).  It’s been wonderful meditating on this verse and applying it to my life.  I am truly learning to depend on God in just such a simple way.  It is hard to explain….but ultimately the plan and the will God has for my life is far greater than anything I will ever dream up, and yet I put so much weight on myself trying to live out the life I think God is asking of me.  Yet, I’m learning that if my heart is truly dependant on the Lord in a very scary letting-go-of-all-control kind of way, God’s plan for my life will come to pass.  John and Amy have plans and hopes for the future, yet where God has already brought them was so much more than they have ever expected, so they know that God can place those desires in our hearts, but that He can also exceed are greatest expectations if we are leaning on Him.  It’s a sigh of relief really.  It is scary to just wait for God and to be content in the waiting, knowing that whatever God has planned is what is going to be the best for us, but it is SO REWARDING.  It strengthens our faith in ways nothing else can and it brings a peace nothing else can.  It is important to know that the life we live now are still part of God’s wondrous plan and that when we’re following after Him with our whole hearts, nothing goes wasted. 

            Before I was born, my parents planned on me being a boy and therefore only had the name Paul picked out for me.  Well, I used to really not like the name Paul much and was thankful to be a girl.  As I got older and began reading stories of and letters from Paul in the Bible I absolutely admired who He was.  Yet, His life was so dang difficult.  Paul’s life was not something I think anyone dreams of having but his FAITH and his LOVE for the Lord…wow!!  God spoke to me last night and told me to stop hating being Paul.  IN a profound way I can’t explain, but to stop hating the hardships of life and where life has unfortunately been harder than I expected.  To stop hating being Paul, because maybe I’m more of a Paul than I think and God uses that.  So wherever life is at, EMBRACE IT! And Lean on God.

            I am beyond blessed to be here.  I cannot thank God enough.  Wow.  And I am so blessed by my team.  Everyone has this trip has just been absolutely incredible and I am so thankful for each and every one of their beautiful hearts.

            I’ve written a lot…and could write more…..But I’ll leave it at that.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and constant support.  God is so faithful and He is moving in ways words cannot describe.  I pray that he be moving in your life the same way as well, because Guatemala or Michigan, God is still God no matter where we are!

All My Love,

--Jess