Finding God in the Mundane

Month 2 update!

We just left Nicaragua and made it to Colombia. Its been a little while since I’ve updated you all, so wanted to share some of what the Lord did this past month. In Nicaragua we worked with Light & Salt Ministries, which helps reverse generational poverty. They have a boys school, a sewing class for the women that helps them learn skills and provide income, and Mercy in Action which provides food for the elderly and disabled and builds relationships with them. Tara is the ministry host and I absolutely love her heart and everything that she is passionate about. This month we had lots of birthday parties, dance parties, a Beauty for Ashes Women‘s event, served with Mercy in Action, and many ice cream and Coca-Cola runs. It was a good balance of ministry and fun!

When we first got to Nicaragua, Tara had a list of roles for things that she would like to get done while we were there. We took an evening to pray about which role the Lord was showing us and I ended up being on the construction crew. The 5 of us got to work with her husband, Alex. He was such a joy to work alongside and is so very talented! One morning he was dividing us up in different areas and said “I need two daughters here..” We all thought that was the sweetest thing ever.

Before the World Race, I had the thought that life would somehow look so different this year and that we would constantly be on mission for Jesus. Which is true, but the Lord is also showing me that life is just normal here. I can live life on mission with Him everywhere I go and whatever I’m doing, whether that is walking through the store after ministry hours being aware if there’s someone who Jesus wants to minister to or if it is just playing cards with some boys. Both are ministry!

“Life is ministry. Ministry is life.”  It is a perspective shift in our mind. I still have struggles, temptations, times where I feel like I’m not hearing from God and feeling distant. Part of me thought that all of those things would be gone while overseas, but that’s not necessarily true. Life is not perfect just because I’m on the Race. I still have to choose to be diligent to see God in the small mundane things in life and still choose to be willing to be “interrupted” in my agenda for what God wants.

For example, sometimes ministry in Nicaragua looked like giving a dog a bath, watering a wall (curing the concrete), pulling weeds, moving rocks into a pile, digging holes, sifting sand to make cement, running to the trash dump with your ministry host, shoveling a pile of dirt and moving it to another pile of dirt.. I could have very well just taken those things as they were and not seen God in them. I could have just looked at moving rocks for what it is OR I could have a kingdom perspective and see that what we were doing was actually clearing the land so that they could eventually build a church there. How amazing is that?! As we were sweating the most we’ve ever sweat before and with our bodies aching, we had the option to see it as a mundane thing or a kingdom thing. It was definitely a struggle some days, but I came to the determination to set my mind on things above and know that everything that I do for Jesus has purpose in the kingdom.

Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

I am forever grateful for my month in Nicaragua and all that God did. I may not ever see the fruit of it, but that is okay! Sometimes we sew the seeds, others water, but the Lord causes the increase and I trust that. I do believe saying goodbye to Tara was just a see you later, and I can’t wait for more homes to come back to! 

Now we are in Medellin, Colombia and it is absolutely breathtaking! I am so in faith for all God is going to do this month. Stay tuned…More to come!