immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph 3:14-21

The Lord has been my strength and my song this week, and these words have been the lyrics. I remember first being drawn to these verses during our first week in Guatemala, and they’ve just kinda stuck. I asked a lot of God when we got here: ‘God I want to do this and I want to help with  that and oh please if you’d just let me bless them in this way or that way…’

It’s dawned on me since that my pleas were of good intention but showed that I hadn’t thought things all the way through just yet. He gently responded, ‘My child, I love you deeply, but you should know that you will not be doing anything, for it is I who will accomplish Love through you.’

Oh, how I love Him so. How I love this all-powerful God who doesn’t need me or you but uses us anyway, with our little faith and halfway decent abilities and the scales on our eyes and our sinful tendencies. We have so many limitations, but yet what He looks for is that enthusiastic heart and a desire to do good and bring healing to the world He cares so much about. And He says, Okay, I can work with that.

So I’ve been learning, and He's been merciful. Been waking up earlier than I’m used to (this is difficult, ha) and immediately my mind starts racing with anxiousness for what the day holds. But as soon as I can remember to, I ask Jesus to steady my heart and try my best to just give the day up to Him. And those days that I remember to do this? Those are the most blessed days!

This week I was given awesome opportunities to learn and grow every single day. Some of those days I was asked to step outside my comfort zone. And other days I was right inside my element. The Guatemalan doctor (Dr. Rivera) I’ve been assisting at the Prince of Peace Girls’ Home clinic serves at another clinic in Palín several times a week. Palín is another town about 20 miles away, but it takes at least an hour with traffic. Isn’t that sick?? I’ve been accompanying him there lately, as there’s been an American group of doctors here on a mission trip for 2 weeks. Working alongside their team and the Guatemalans who normally work in that clinic has been just awesome. Everyone is so kind and loves the Lord and just wants to see lives changed, physically and spiritually. All that drive time to and from during the week has allowed me to get to know Dr. Rivera and another nurse, Susi, really well, and I am so thankful for their friendship! They answer all my questions about their country, and we laugh a lot, too. :)

Something really cool that happened one day last week was that I was not asked but basically told by the mission team coordinator that I was going to be the interpreter for the pastor whose role in the clinic was to provide health education/share the Gospel to patients while they were waiting for their medication after receiving their check-up. At first I balked and did the Moses thing, giving him a really confused/scared face and starting to explain that I was not as good at Spanish as he somehow thought I was (I hardly know this dude) and that there was already an official Interpreter on his trip and why wasn’t he going to use her?? In my mind, I said NO WAY. But strangely, my head started nodding on its own and I just replied in a tiny 13-year old squeaky voice, “Ok, I’ll try…” and pretty soon patients started lining up at the door. And there I was, sitting next to this old white-haired pastor, and looking into the coffee-brown eyes of Guatamalan mothers and fathers and their children. And I translated. Every sentence. God gave me this peace and strength to withdraw from my brain all the Spanish I knew and put it into the words the Pastor was saying. I have done a little bit of translating for Melissa at the orphanage, but I’ve never done this much before, and for such a crowd. It was nothing short of intimidating at first, but eventually I started to feel more comfortable, and then later, just blown away at the courage God so faithfully gave me.

Some other highlights of the week were Zach and I getting to help some teachers lead a field trip to the zoo! ANIMALS ARE SO CUTE. So are 4^th graders. It’s a close tie. And last Wednesday I began a rather large process of performing physical evaluations for all 60-ish girls at Prince of Peace. I haven’t even reached the halfway point yet, so there are still a lot of girls to meet! I record heights and weights, medical history/allergies, vision tests, and a basic head-to-toe exam. I’ve enjoyed this so much, getting to know names and faces and personalities of all the precious girls at PoP. I am so in love! Praise God for that place.

Would love to share more with you, but time runs short. If you feel at all inclined to pray for Zach and I, we would be so blessed by that. You can pray for Zach's learning and teaching in the classroom, and for my safety as I travel to the coast with the doctors for the next 4 days. And for both of us to be continually challenged in our faith and that we would be obedient to love God, each other, and others in all that we do. Love you guys! 

Kristen