Resonance

So...I'm going to India this summer! In 15 days to be exact. I can NOT believe the trip is this close. Seems like just yesterday that I was starting my first year of PT school, looking forward to this blessed 10 weeks off that was still an entire year away, and praying for guidance on where to go on a mission trip during that break. Time sure does fly.

I am so thankful that the Lord has brought me as well as the rest of our team of 14 to this trip. Some of you may be wondering, why India? Trust me, I asked God the same thing, multiple times. Had you asked me this time last year where I would go, I probably would've told you somewhere like Peru or Kenya, somewhere that has beautiful landscapes and aren't so excessively populated. But, God in His sovereignty has brought me to this trip and I cannot begin to explain the change in my heart towards this country and her people.

It is so humbling to see God's power in leading me to this trip. I had been praying for about a year about where to go, and just figured I would know something as soon as I got the list of short-term trips. But when I started scanning the list, I didn't feel led to any one trip. I was a little discouraged, but thankfully got some wise advice from one of the women in my small group at the time. She told me to start praying through the trip options using my Operation World book so that I would have more information on the locations. I did that for a couple of days and still, nothing. I began questioning if going through my church was even what the Lord wanted, but then I got to India. As soon as I opened the pages to India, there was that feeling I had been expecting. Now, this is not to say that God isn't speaking if you don't get a certain feeling. But this time, it was undeniable. It was like putting 2 tuning forks side by side--India just resonated with me. And that's when I knew the Lord was taking me to this place halfway around the world that I had never even thought twice about.

This process of God leading me to this trip has taught me so much. I have truly come to see that His timing is always perfect. He could've told me where He wanted me to go when I first prayed about it, or even before that, because He is all powerful and all knowing. But He waited. He kept me from knowing because that made me seek Him out even more. This made me look back at all the times He's answered me with "wait" and see how, in my frustration, I completely missed the point. I want answers immediately, but the "wait" could very well be intended to make me (and you, all of us) draw closer to the heart of the one true God. I've also seen God's grace in even allowing us, His children, to go on trips like this to share His Gospel with the lost. God doesn't need us. 1 Corinthians 1:25-31 tells us that. We are foolish, weak, low, and despised, yet God desires to include us in His plan. So we go. We go where He leads us and we allow Him to use us to accomplish His purposes. And we know that He is faithful to complete them.

Please be praying for our team, as well as me individually. We will be gone June 3-12. Pray that the One true God will make His name known and His glory great among these people who worship thousands of gods daily. Pray their eyes will be opened to the Truth and that they will experience God's love through us. And pray that we will be humble servants, taking the Gospel boldly to these people through the power of the Holy Spirit within us. I'll be writing a few more times before we go, as well as while we're there (hopefully), so follow along if you want to hear what all God is doing through us in India!