Today I am celebrating. Celebrating today, celebrating my breath, celebrating my family, and most of all, celebrating God’s loving faithfulness toward us all. This morning I hit a major milestone in my physical journey which spills over into my mental and spiritual journey as well. A year ago July 1st I weighed in and began battling the baby weight for the last time. I was at my highest weight ever (including 9-month-prego weights!), 273. Today I hit 199.6—ONE-derland, as many call it (being in the 100’s again)—with almost 74 pounds gone. My next big milestone still lies ahead, my wedding weight of 185, preceding my final goal weight of 155 (average weight for my height). With 13.5 weeks and 14.6 pounds to go before my fortieth birthday, I am celebrating this triumph and trusting the Lord to provide the strength for the remainder of this journey.
I am also celebrating God’s favor on our ministry as we gear up for our big summer mission trips to Lima, Peru. In less than two weeks now, the first team will be on its way made up of many high school students from our home church as well as a few others who decided to come along. This week we had an unexpected but welcome addition to the team. A friend of mine contacted me through Facebook looking for mission trips to Peru for her son, inquiring who we go with and if there were upcoming trips we knew of, not knowing that we have our own ministry that does that very thing! We immediately set up a dinner meeting with the son and his father to share what we do and see if he would be interested. Then within one day he had raised all the money he needed to join us! In addition, his father works for a world-renowned, Atlanta-based ministry that is willing to provide us with countless resources for the work we do in Peru! And it all came together in less than five days!
I have been fortunate to see God do many miracles before my eyes, but as I look back on most of them, they have usually related to Peru in some way over the years. In all of the areas of my life, I have not seen more opened doors than I have seen for Peru. God’s favor has showered Alex and I and our ministry, Amor Real, with countless blessings through financial provision, physical provision and the right people to help us bring our dreams for Peru into reality. And each new person he connects us with brings more blessings. Such as, one of our closest, long-time friends who is joining us for the medical mission trip during the second half of this July; he sent a letter to the CEO of the hospital he works at, and the CEO has sent a box of supplies for our medical clinics!
Truly, if I wrote down all the ways God has blessed our relationship with Peru since it all began on October 6, 2003, I could fill up countless books to give Him all the glory!
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were recorded one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:25 AMP)
I feel like my going on this upcoming trip with Alex and my eight-year-old daughter, Eden, is like a victory lap. Last year the trip was long, hard and wearisome as I chased after all three of our kids for three weeks with little time for much else. This year I have the physical weight lifted off my shoulders and need only focus on serving where God has called me alongside my husband and daughter. Together we can celebrate all that God has done, depend on Him for His continued provisions, and enjoy each other’s company while making new friends and watching His glory increase. His yoke is so easy, His burden so light, I just cannot doubt His presence and impact on our lives for a single moment. I have every confidence that no matter what we face, He will be our Strength, our Defender and our Provider.
But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and renew their power; they will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired. (Isaiah 40:31 AMP)
The Art of Choosing True Life 