Be Grateful

I began this blog to allow everyone back at home to have an insight into what we are experiencing here in Dominica but I have noticed that all I have really begun to tell you are the good side of things and the adventures we have had and that although we are thankful and grateful for this time that we have been able to spend here, I have really neglected to show or tell everyone how changed Christopher and I are as people and followers of our Lord and Savior.

We come from a country that has everything and until you have to do without those things that you may think you "have to have" it becomes a whole new perspective on life. Back at home many of you go to the mall or to a store and think man I have to have that shirt. Well you don't have to have it you want it and it is important for people to understand that life is so much more important than wanting things and living life wanting more.

I have learned that you should be so thankful for everything you have. From things such as a washer and dryer to going to to the grocer store and being able to pick up sour cream. We send out our laundry and honestly we have no idea where it is washed, where it is dried or anything. We trust its clean but there is no telling, it could have been taken down to the river and washed by hand in a river but I am grateful that I know one day I will be able to wash my clothes by myself and know for sure that they are clean because these people in Dominica may never get to experience what true really clean clothes are like. I often see many of the locals washing their clothes in the river by our house and its not an uncommon thing. Sour cream does not exist on this island if it does it is a very uncommon thing. Last week my friend gave me a recipe to make my own sour cream. So I am thankful that when we get back home I can buy my own but for now I'll continue to make it myself. Life is so easy in the US and if for some reason one day you wonder or are desiring more please thank again and be grateful for what you have.

Every day here is a struggle. Day in and day out we both wonder why we are here and both of us continually feel as though it was so that our Lord could change both of our hearts to truly understand that we are not in control of our lives just as it says in Proverbs 16:9 The mind of man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps.

Never in a million years could you have told Christopher or me that you will be moving 2,617 miles and 14 countries away from home. Because well if any of you know either us we are both quite the family people. But things don't always turn out like we plan, obviously because its our plan and not the plan of our Lord. I have often gotten the reaction "How do you do it?" or "You are stronger than me because I couldn't move to a place like that" Well let me tell you, its all about Trust! We trust that we are doing what God wants for our lives and although its not our ideal plan its His ideal plan for our lives. The bible teaches us that God is sovereign over both the "good' and the "bad" times in our lives.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 says When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.

Isaiah 45:7 says I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things.

Lamentations 3:38 says Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?

God controls both the good and the bad. God has not looked the other way or been caught by surprise when adversity strikes us. He is in control of that adversity, directing it to His glory and our good.

So I have realized that just as we must learn to obey God one choice at a time, we must also learn to trust God one circumstance at a time. I know that trusting God is not a matter of my feelings but of my will. and I never feel like trusting God when adversity strikes, but I can choose to do so even when I don't feel like it. That act of the will, though, must be based on belief, and belief must be based on truth. So that is why we are able to make it work here in Dominica. Not because its easy and not because its what we want but because we believe and our belief is based on truth.

I am grateful and very thankful we have been given the opportunity that we have to learn and to grow closer to our God through this experience. I didn't write this for everyone think that we are miserable here because we aren't, but we are challenged and changed everyday by this experience. I will never walk into another grocery store or another home without being so thankful for the abundance of food we have in the grocery stores and the hot water running out of the kitchen sink. But we trust that our God has us right where we are supposed to be at this point in our lives and we will continue to serve Him. So be thankful and grateful for what you have because not everyone in the world gets to experience the wonders of the US.