Home from Honduras

Our long-awaited trip to Honduras has come and gone.  We got home last night, enjoyed a hot shower and then slept hard in our own bed.  


The experience was incredible, and I was not very eager to come home.  We took over 1000 pictures while soaking in every moment of the experience.  It is hard to believe we were only there a week... Christmas seems like ages ago.  I've hear that your perception of time is determined by the amount of information your brain takes in...I feel like I was living in hyper-drive while we were down there, taking in 3 times more information than usual.  And I am so grateful for that.

Its going to take a lot of posts to cover this experience and share pictures,  but for today I will start with some general thoughts about the experience.

My words are so insufficient to describe this trip, but I think the Word of God sums it up pretty well:

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen."  
Ephesians 3:20-21

It is so obvious to me that God's blessing was on this trip.  He blessed us with an AWESOME group of kids and adults to go with, amazing missionaries to host us, far beyond the finances we thought we "needed" to go the on trip, and efficient hands to do far more work than we thought we were able to do.  My hope for this trip was that no matter what we did or planned, God would multiply it so that it would be obvious that it was not us, but God who was working, and He was so faithful to grant that.

Prayer

Going into this trip I was weary and empty, and I knew that I would HAVE to rely on the Lord to get through it.  I knew that I needed so much prayer, but I didn't even know what to tell people to pray.  I just needed prayer.

The Lord continuously reminded me of Romans 8:26-27, which says

"... the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."

I will speak more of how God prepared me for this trip in another post, but for now I will mention that every time I felt overwhelmed, not even knowing what I needed, God would speak softly to me and say, "I know what you need, and I will meet that need."  And He was so faithful.

Changing & Growing

Before Christmas, Sapphire and I went to see The Hobbit.  At the beginning of the movie, Bilbo is deciding whether or not to go on a journey.  Gandalf thinks he should go, but wants him to understand the risk.

Gandalf: You'll have a tale or two when you come back.

Bilbo Baggins: You can promise that I will come back?

Gandalf: No.  And if you do, you will not be the same.

I know its kinda cheesy to take a movie line seriously (and I wasn't really afraid I wouldn't make it though alive or anything) but I knew that going on this trip would change me forever.  I didn't know how or how much, but I remember going to bed the night before I left and thinking, "This is the last time I will be this Stephanie.  When I come back, I will be different."

I don't fully know how I have changed, but one thing I know for sure... part of my heart is now in Honduras.

People often ask us if it is hard to live so far away from our families.  Yes, it is hard to live far from the ones I love...but at the same time, I live near to so many people I love here.  If I were to "move home" I'm not even sure where that would be.  There are many people I love where I grew up, including my parents, but part of my heart is (and always has been) in Nebraska, with my dad's extended family, as well as all over the US with my mom's family.  A large part of my heart is also in Upland, at Taylor University which in many ways feels like home as much as my parents' or here.  Since I have been married, I have also been blessed with amazing in-laws and my heart is also with them.  And now part of my heart is in Honduras.

While it is painful to have your heart spread all over the globe, it is amazing to see how God grows your heart to allow you to love more and more.  I wish I could be with all of the people that I love all at once, and I pray that they all come to know the Lord before they die so we can be together forever in Heaven...my one, true home.

Poverty

I was worried that I would be bowled over by the poverty we encountered in Honduras, but by God's grace I was not.  While people down there (and most of the rest of the world) live with far less than we do on a daily basis, it was beautiful to see the joy that they had.  I was afraid that I would be overwhelmed by the needs that they had and my inability to meet those needs, but really, they didn't need much.  Yes, many of them had a few basic needs, but being there really reminded me of what "needs" really are.  And honestly...that is what their life is like and they don't know any different to be dissatisfied with what they have.  

So I guess that rather than pitying them for what they didn't have, I was reminded to be grateful for what I do have... and to not feel entitled to certain "needs" that are really just comforts.

Beauty

The people down there are just so, so BEAUTIFUL.  Physically and spiritually.  They are generous and loving, and their big, dark eyes and beautiful smiles just get me every time!  

That's it for now... more to come soon, including details of the work we did and the ministry of the children's home.

Thank for reading, and Happy New Year!