#4: Primero Semana (1st Week)

Welcome back all,

Currently sitting in the upper room named after the upper room in which Jesus sat with his disciples in Spanish. Well I wish I could say the first week was absolutely perfect and everything was amazing, but it definitely was not. The thing about getting better though is in the first week I have already learned soooo much. Obviously Spanish(lol) but also in my faith and my walk with the Lord. I really struggled the first couple days with my mindset and getting out of the "I don't wanna be here I just want to be back home with everyone I'm comfortable with". But I have learned a lot through that mindset. A lot of the stuff we have been doing has been about changing your mindset and stepping out of our zone of comfort into a zone of challenges they call it here. How are you supposed to learn if you aren't challenged and you always feel perfectly comfortable where you are? That is something I have been thinking about. Through my 13 hours of training the last three days I have learned muchooo. That its ok to not be comfortable. Its ok to not feel great. But we shouldn't be wallowing in that mindset or feeling because that is where we fail. Its about being it that mindset, growing from it, and becoming stronger from that experience. Lots of prayer has helped me tremendously with that mindset. Therefore yesterday and today have been much better. 

Yesterday we woke up and went on a little hike to a huge cross they have here on property overlooking a beautiful and vast range. This hike was amazing for two reasons. One because its a great reminder of Gods love and creation. His every little thought he puts in every single plant and every single tree and every single part of his beautiful and perfect creation. The breeze the views the sun all of it is absolutely perfect. "And God said it was good". The other thing was still kind of feeling down but the night before had been praying a lot about trying to trust his plan and what he has for me and better my mindset. Choose joy as they say here. And as i have learned joy is only from the Father. Nothing earthly will ever get or bring you joy. True joy that is. Anyways, the devo we did at the top of the hill was about how we are feeling and our mindset about being here in El Refugio. The passage was Luke 12 22-34, I encourage everyone to read over that passage because it truly is an amazing reminder of how we should actually be going about our thoughts and worries and how the world works the opposite of the Lord. The Lord seeks a relationship with you and shows us time and time again there is no need to worry he provides for every animal and living thing on the entire planet, and they don't have nearlyyy as much as God has provided us with. "Are you not of more importance than they" part of the passage says. We don't need to worry about tomorrow or even today because that is all in Gods hands. We just need to trust that his plan is ultimately the best path for us and we need to stay on track. Anyways, the end of the devo ended in prayer and ultimately ended in me crying in my hands thanking God for getting me this far and vowing to trust fully in his plan. I then turned to my journal that said, "Jesus lead me” and "Be joyful in hope, Patient in affliction, and Faithful in prayer". To me an amazing amazing reminder that he has us in his hands. Because truly before my girlfriend leaving, my friends leaving, me leaving, i have never felt panicked or anxious but that is something that the devil has been using to attack me. The Lord says trust in me, and the devil tries to cause chaos. I know where i stand. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding". 

Ok, now i know that was a lot of heavy stuff lol. But I promise I'm having fun as well. We have done a lot of training to get ready for kids and churches and schools that come here for retreats. Learning how to appeal to the kids, how they can apply these activities and principles to their lives, while still having fun and enjoying their time and keeping them safe, etc. Other interns from Ecuador arrived a couple days after me and its been very nice getting to know them and experiencing growth with them. Even though its definitely hard sometimes because none of them speak English. Learning how to facilitate the kids, use the rock wall here, high ropes, low ropes, all my classes in Spanish, definitely been hard. But through all of it I've been trying to realize Gods got it and I just need to soak it all up and learn. We have had some great times as well. Playing uno at night, laughing the whole dinner (even if sometimes I don't understand the joke), me and this other boy on the trip have had some amazing conversations at night even with the language barrier. We have prayed for each other and gotten super deep which has been good for me as well to have some community. I will attach some pictures below as well of us. 

All in all has been some ups and downs in the first week. But I've been trying to find the joy in life and be in the moment. Challenging myself to grow and learn from others. Remaining in the background soaking everything up and realizing that Gods got me. Thank you for tuning in again hopefully I can teach you all some things while I'm here. Love you all❤️