I got punk'd

Yesterday was unbelievable. I like how in my last message, I confidently laid out my travel plans as a mere matter of fact about my transportation to Guatemala. Funny thing is that nothing happened the way I said it would yesterday! Isn’t that how it always is? We set out with a plan from figurative point A to point B because realistically that is the most logistic and thought out route. Right? Wrong. We have no omnipotent control over what happens in our lives. Yes we have free will but that doesn’t mean things won’t happen outside our control to land you in a totally different spot than you had pictured. But, the hope in all this is that the new place in which you land will to be far more beautiful than the place you had imagined. What kind of God would we serve if that wasn’t truth?

So, I am learning more and more that I just have to walk out on the water in faith rather than remain controlled by fear in the boat. Here is a quote from one of the books I brought: The G.I.F.T. by Max Lucado:

“Faith is not born at the negotiating table where we barter our gifts in exchange for God’s goodness. Faith is not an award given to the most learned. It’s not a prize given to the most disciplined. It’s not a tithe bequeathed to the most religious. Faith is a desperate dive out of the sinking boat of human effort and a prayer that God will be there to pull us out of the water.”

So, yesterday when I was feeling like I got punk’d over and over again, I had to keep telling myself that all things happen for a reason. In faith, I can know that in all things there is a specific season, purpose, and reason.

Just for kicks, want to know the details of what happened yesterday?! Well, mom, Jessie, and I drove to the Knoxville airport to send me off, but for some reason the automatic kiosk wasn’t working for my ticket. Why you ask? Probably has something to do with the fact that my ticket was out of Nashville! (My friend who bought the ticket forgot that I wanted to fly out of Knoxville, and I didn’t even notice that whole different city thing.) Ya, don’t know how I overlooked that one. Well, after rescheduling to a later flight, Jessie and I jumped in the car and drove Amazing Race style to Nashville where I made it through security and to my gate with plenty of time. Everything looked good. We boarded that plane on time, had a great seat, but then they decided they had to change out the whole braking system so we were delayed 2 hours. I landed in Houston when my plane to Guate started boarding…..3 concources away! So, after a mad dash (I am grossly out of shape even without the 30lbs of luggage strapped to my body), I made it just in time. Funny thing was that the easiest part of the traveling was getting through the Guate airport, finding a shuttle to my hotel, and checking in the hotel…where I barely spoke the language. At least it makes for a good story….and some really good lessons for my heart. So now I’m just relaxing at the clinic. My supervisor just wanted me to take the day to rest a bit. I will go to my host family either tonight or in the morning, and I will let you know how it goes. I’ve heard it’s a house full of sisters whose family runs a bakery. This could be dangerous.