Humility and Trials

It's been over a month since I've been back in Tegucigalpa, and it has flown by much quicker than I could have ever imagined. A lot have changes have taken place this past month! My coworker went on maternity leave and since then two different teachers have come to take her place. Her baby is now here and he is cute as can be :) I think we'll finally get one teacher to be a sub for her for the rest of her maternity leave. What a blessing! Baby Elias came into the world to greet us last Saturday, February 8th. Please pray for his parents, Melina and Hans as they continue to transition into their new roles as parents!

This past month has definitely had its ups and downs, but I've been constantly reminded that God is constant and faithful. More than that, He is constantly faithful. In my church here, my pastor started a sermon series on 1 Peter. The very beginning of 1 Peter is Peter encouraging believers that they are chosen people who are living as foreigners in a land that is not their home. As the first chapter continues, Peter talks about the joy that is ahead even though we may have to endure many trials now. I know that God's glory will be revealed on the last day for all to see, but I don't always understand why some people seem to endure such great suffering and others so little. Then I continued to read. 1 Peter 1:7 says this, "These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--though your faith is far more precious that mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." I know that God is working through every sorrow and trial because I feel Him drawing me even closer to Himself in the middle of those times.

On a different note, God has reminded me so much of His abundant love and grace over this past week. On my birthday last week, I told a friend that it was a great day when I felt so blessed and humbled. I felt extremely blessed because of all of the love that I felt showered with from family and friends in person and through facebook. The dose of humility, however, was something that I wasn't expecting. Have you ever been given something that was a wonderful surprise and you felt like you could never ever deserve anything like it? That's how I felt on my birthday. I couldn't tell you how many hugs from students, notes from teachers, and messages on facebook simply overfilled my heart with joy. Then it struck me. That love that I felt was only a glimpse of the love that God my Father has for me every day. It might be extremely hard for me to accept it, but He extends it freely anyway. There's nothing that I did to deserve it, and nothing I could ever do, just like all of the kindness I received on my birthday. I just have to accept and remember that it is a true gift. His grace and love struck a different tone that day, and now I feel continually reminded to just be thankful for that grace and love. I hope that my life will be seen as a constant praise of who God is and what He has done/is doing in my life.

Thank you all again for so much encouragement and love. Your prayers mean the world to me. To know that so many people are lifting me up to the One who cares the most about me is just about the most heartwarming thing I can think of. And as a treat, here's a picture of baby Elias Keane at just one week old :) Much love to you all!