Five Minute Friday is a flash mob of writers, all writing for five minutes about one word. This week the one word is BUILD. Write away. And then join us at Kate's place.
Ready, set, write ...
A year ago my husband, oldest girl and I were in Guatemala. That one week in a foreign land rocked my world. There have been related tears and joys and friendships and dreams – all rooted in one week in a land whose language I barely speak.
My first mission trip changed my perspective of pretty much everything. We went there to build houses and distribute clothing, food, and wheelchairs, yet God is building something bigger. I see parenting and church and service and relationships and society different than I did before stepping foot in Chichicastenango, Guatemala.
For the past year, God has been building upon that mission trip I took to Guatemala. I know what he’s doing in my life, and I have to wonder what he’s still doing there with the seeds we planted.
Sometimes in the midst of everyday life, I still find myself wanting to let God build more, starting in my heart and mind and spilling over into all the corners of my life.
We moved into our new house June 18. Since then, we've unpacked {most} of our boxes and arranged furniture. The washing machine here didn't work so before I did my first load of laundry, we had to move some appliances around. We've had one toilet overflow twice and the plumbers have been here twice to fix two of the three toilets.
Ben had a pretty bad case of poison ivy the day before we left for a road trip that started with Greg's business meeting four hours away and continued with a stop-over in Louisville on our way to Buffalo, NY, where we visited my sister and the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. At the end of our trip, my nephew unknowingly shared his hand, foot, and mouth virus with Rachel. W came home to "road closed" signs near our house, thanks to crazy amounts of rain. A few days later lightning from another storm struck a tree that blocked us from the open portion of our road.
It all seemed overwhelming. I thought I had come into summer intentionally choosing a freer scheduler and then I found myself outlining my day on Post-It Note because I was worried I’d forget something. Summer has been more adventurous than I planned.
And then, right there with a Post-It Note slapped on my calendar, I remembered my week in Guatemala. I remembered what we were doing on July 7 and July 8 one year ago. I remember how building houses built my faith.
And I remembered that God is building a good thing here too. We are making a new-to-us house a home. We are creating memories and embracing adventures. We have work to do for God's glory.
All of that is the kind of building that matters.
Read all my Guatemala-related posts here.
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