It has been over a week....because I haven't really felt in the mood to write or do my devotionals or I guess do much of anything in this last week. This past week I have been feeling really home sick...all I want to do is be in my own bed, with my family and with my boyfriend. I could even go for a snow storm right now...
Until now this has been like a vacation, meeting up with old friends and meeting new friends. But now is when it gets real. My classes begin to have more homework and my group starts to branch of into little cliques. I would give anything to just sit and have breakfast with Sheena, lay on the couch and watch a movie with Eric, sit at the table and do a puzzle with my family, or just hang out and watch sports with my daddy. But that's not what God has planned for me right now. God is putting me through all of this for some reasons that I can see, and others that are hard for me to grasp. I know I must learn to support myself, be on my own, manage my money and take care of myself, but being away from everyone makes it hard to want to make the best of it.
There are 97 days until I come home...which seems like a long time. But something I need to realize is that I have already been here for 22 days and they have flown by! I have 14 weeks left here, and I don't want to spend it feeling sad and wishing I was home. I know that everything and everyone will be waiting for me when I get back home and that things may have moved ahead...but my relationships won't have changed. And the good part is...I will have so many more relationships from my experience here that when I go home I will have so many people to visit!
This is where I begin to change....this is where I need to prioritize. If I want things to go well, if I want to make the best of this, I need to perk up. I need to pray, and keep God close. He will guide me and help me fulfill my purpose here in the Dominican Republic this semester. I need to pray, at least twice a day. When I get up in the morning I need to thank Him for letting me wake up, pray that he will protect me in my day and ask him for opportunities to spread his love and his word. Before I go to sleep I need to thank him for my day, thank him for the situations he put me in and for the opportunities he gave me to love and serve him. I need to ask him to protect me during the night and to keep me safe so I can return home to the people I love.
God, thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for bringing me here to speak to the hearts of these wonderful people and to help me learn from them. I pray that you would help me work through my sadness and help me not let it get the best of me. Help me enjoy every moment of every day. Help me use this time to strengthen my relationships and grow in my relationship with You. Thank you for all you have done for me, thank you for protecting me, and thank you for giving your life for my sins. I pray all this in your Holy name. Amen.
This is so true. It can be so hard sometimes to see why you are put into a situation when all you wanna do is be somewhere else. But when it is all over with you look back and realize just how amazing the things you have done are. You get to be in a situation that allows you to grow in so many ways. We had a speaker the other night at His House who said what if you sat down with God and watched a video of all the things you could have done if you just took the chance to follow what God was saying to you. I know that I don't always go the way I should, but I also know that when I do I feel so full and complete. I know that nothing can keep me down for long and I just feel peace in what I do. So thank you for writing these! They are all really good and things worth hearing. I hope you are having a good time down there! You've been put there for a reason and were brave enough to follow it so sadness might come but power will overcome!
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