There is LIFE in the WORD

"Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."

-Isaiah 40:28-31

I have been struggling over these last 4 or 5 days to not stumble. I have felt so drained and tired, partially from being sick this past weekend, but mostly from missing home and the fellowship of believers. I am trying to remember that the first weeks are the hardest, and God vividly brought those verses to my mind. I had not thought to them in a long time, and there were in my mind as soon as I began to pray the other day... I love how fresh the word of God is when HE places it in our minds and in our hearts. This then leads me to think of Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." And here stands the conviction in my mind- put the Word of God in your heart, commit it to your mind, because what goes into your head, goes into your heart... and the Word of God will guard you.

And I must share something amazing that just happened... Lindsay and I are sitting here at the Institute in the common area, and I have "God of Wonders" playing on my computer and Linds and I are singing to it, and this girl (from Germany) across the room says "I know that song! My friends in America listen to it very often!" So we start talking to her some more and it turns out that she lived for a year in Raleigh, and listened to a lot of Christian music. What an incredible encouragement and reminder from God that even when we least expect it, HE is there. Always.

How strong is the Word!

Today was the first day of our "real" volunteer projects and I must say I was scared out of my mind when we left the Institute this morning! Only to make matters worse, we were riding in the same car that I got horribly car sick in last week. Ha! Glory to God, we got there in one piece and I didn't get sick! I am working at the "Hogar de Ancianos" or the House for the Elderly. In Latin America the elders of the community are high regarded and admired and as a result of this, the grandparents ALWAYS live with their families. However, the people I am working with are those that don't have any family to care for them, or are too sick to live at home. It was almost culture shock all over again to walk into that place and see such sickness and sadness, especially in a country with much less wealth than the US and speaking a different language. Many of them have Alzheimer's or some brain degenerative disease.

I was given a short tour of the place, and introduced to all of the residents. My heart just broke. I don't know that I have ever felt so saddened for such a group... I spent the morning in the kitchen there, chopping up star fruit that they made into juice (interesting...), and cucumbers, lettuce, and tomatoes for salad. i'm fairly certain the cook was laughing at me when i was peeling the cucumbers...I spent most of the time by myself actually because the cook kept leaving the room, which gave me time to process all of it. It is so interesting to be in a place like this, where I will only be for a limited amount of time, but with the knowledge that during that time, I will be forming relationships with all of these people. God really reminded me of the hope of His salvation in that each one of those elderly people was created perfectly in HIs image, He knows them, and He desires for me to work with them on His behalf. I was reminded also that even when peeling cucumbers, I should have the mindset that I am doing the task for God. I stand humbled, with this in mind "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" Colossians 3:17

God has begun a good work here, now I need to pray for the faith to carry out with the right attitude, trusting that He has the plan. Glory to God.