Reflections on Serving - Brandon

If I am being honest I started with a very poor attitude about going. I was excited to spend time with my daughter in a foreign place and away from all of life's distractions. But other than that I had some angst about traveling, about the country the water, the planning, and the fundraising, just to name a few. It was so hard to leave work and put life on hold for a week to go on a mission trip.

I am thankful that God pushes us out of our nests. He forces us on stress journeys to temper our souls. He did that for all of us in Mexico. You name it, we each had our challenges to overcome - the heat, the language, homesickness, bowel sickness, or itchy bug bites of torture. For me God, put me in a place that I did not want to go to serve people I didn't want to serve, and he used this to strengthen my relationship with him, with my daughter, and with my church family. It always amazes me the attempts of Satan during times like this. It is an amazing experience to know that you are following God’s will because of the amount of challenge the opposition is putting in your path. 

Mexico and the orphans of Hogar de Amor don't need us.  Rather, we need them. God asks us to do things not because he needs us or our resources, but because he knows our imperfections and he knows how to use them for His glory. Dios es Bueno! and he glorifies that truth best when we overcome challenges and rely on Him along the way.

I pray that the changes we experienced in Mexico will motivate us to more often oppose our bad attitudes and serve the will of God in an answer to the need that exists all around us.