“The Bible is not a magic book. It doesn’t reveal its treasures simply because you read a passage. It doesn’t make you holy simply because you hold it in high esteem. Many cults use the Bible. Even Satan quotes Scripture. We desperately need the Bible and all it has to say to us. We also need the Spirit of God to guide us in reading and study. We need God to help us understand his Word. The Bible is meant to be read in fellowship with God. But what do I read? Well what if you ask God? Simply ask, ‘What would you have me read today?’ Letting your Shepherd lead you in your reading allows Him to take you right to a passage that you need for that day, struggle, joy, time in life, dilemma, or challenge.” (Walking With God –John Eldredge 43-44)
For awhile I was stuck in a rut of just reading a book of the Bible at a time and reading a chapter or two a day, but most mornings I couldn’t see application and wasn’t getting any challenge or growth out of what I was reading. After I read the first few chapters of this book “Walking with God,” I was challenged and decided to try what Eldridge challenged his readers. So before I picked up my Bible I would shut my eyes and talk to God about the day and some other things, then I would ask Him, ‘What do you want me to read today?’ So far everyday He has answered in one way or another. It hasn’t been in an audible voice, but a book of the Bible has been put on my mind. In the book Eldridge recommends that if you start to get an impression, thought, or hear God say something, ask it back to Him. For example, the other day I was asking God what He wanted me to read and the book of Joshua came to mind. Then I asked God, ‘what chapter do you want to lead me to today.’ I was waiting and didn’t have a sense for any specific place. After 30 seconds or so a chapter in the 20’s came to mind. I had no idea how many chapters were in Joshua. So I asked God again, ‘Is there a specific chapter in the 20’s?’ The number 22 came into my mind and I asked God, ‘Was that chapter 22?’ I didn’t sense any sort of response so I started flipping to chapter 22 hoping there actually was a chapter 22 in Joshua and hoping that I didn’t just think of that number by myself. Well it turned out there is a 22 and I looked at the title, “Eastern Tribes Return Home,” and I thought, 'wow this looks thrilling, but God led me here today so there must be something He wants me to see.' I started out and nothing really stood out in the first two verses, but the 3rd verse (it’s crazy it was only three verses in) I stopped and underlined the last part of that verse which states: “you have not deserted your brothers, but have carried out the mission the Lord your God gave you.” First of all this stood out to me because 1. I have brothers and 2. I know God has called me on this mission to Guatemala. God wanted me to see that because He has me here for a purpose and recently it has been pretty difficult because I came here almost four months ago and I feel like I haven’t done much except spend an excessive time working on Spanish. I’ve missed my friends, my brothers, my family, having a vehicle to go places whenever I/we want, having my dad’s shop down the road to use and borrow tools, and just familiarity with the area. It is difficult, but no one said following God would be easy. To move to a new country, a new language, new people, semi-new food, and new culture is part of the mission that God has given me. Adjusting and learning takes time and often it gets irritating, but if I call myself a follower of Jesus I need to trust Him more than anything else. As the title of Eldridge’s book says, I need to be ‘Walking with God’ more than ever before. The example of Joshua was just one day, I asked God, ‘What do you want me to read today?’ So every day I have asked Him He has always given me a challenge or led me to something I needed that day. It is so awesome to know that God’s Words are in our hands in the form of a book, but that The Holy Spirit can guide and lead us. This process of asking God what to read was a challenge, because doubts started coming into my mind like: What if I don’t hear anything? What if nothing stands out in the chapter? What if….what if? I realized that was Satan putting those thoughts there and I just need to trust God. So I challenge you. Are you asking God what He wants you to see or hear in Scripture? Or are you just reading a certain book of the Bible and not getting anything out of it/reading because it’s the ‘right thing to do?’ (Side note, I’m not saying that following a reading schedule or going through the Bible in order is bad. I just needed a new way to read scripture and God laid this on my heart to try so I decided to give it a shot.) Give it a try, practice, and let God guide you. I would love to pray for you as you try this out or any other things that are going on in your life right now, feel free to let me know.
The past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to practice driving a manual transmission vehicle. Manual transmissions are much more popular here in Guatemala than in the states. So it’s pretty important to know how to drive one. My first experience driving here has been on some amazing roads as you can see in the pictures :). While I am on the vehicle topic. We are starting to keep our eyes open for a vehicle to purchase. There are some specific things that we are looking for: diesel (diesel is cheaper here than regular gasoline), manual transmission, preferably 4WD, and something higher off the ground than a normal car because of the road conditions and terrain. There are many things in this culture that are cheaper than the states, but vehicles are not one of them. The prices are comparable to those in the states. So to fulfill some of the requirements we have, it is not going to be a cheap purchase. We have $4,000 set aside already, but are looking for at least $8,000-$12,000 that to be able to purchase a good quality vehicle. Then we will have insurance and gas prices as well. If you would consider helping us out with this purchase it would be such a blessing and we would be extremely thankful. If you have any questions or want to know how to designate it directly to this expense let us know.
Spanish lessons are still going well and I can see improvement day by day which has been so encouraging. I started meeting with a guy once a week from our church who lives in our town to do a language exchange. He wants to practice English and I want to practice Spanish so we take time to speak in both languages so we can learn and practice and correct each other!
Last Sunday afternoon we were able to spend time after church at our friends, Rob and Laura’s house. We had quite the experience making our own sushi :)
Two weeks ago we also had a Christmas celebration with the employees of Hope for Home Ministries at a local garden which was a lot of fun, great fellowship, and great practice for talking in Spanish! The pictures below are some fun we had at the end of the celebration!
We have also been thinking, talking, and praying about where God wants us in this amazing country. Shauna and I both brought up a name of a place that seemed to be set on our minds and it turned out to be the same city. So continue to pray that God will make it clear if this is a door He is opening. We will hopefully be visiting this place in January or February.
As we have been in this advent season and with Christmas only a few days away. Here are some thoughts to ponder that I’ve been challenged with recently.
- The more prepared I am the less I have to trust God
- God wants to be first- you will never be satisfied until He is first in your life.
- He wants us to constantly run toward Him.
- Expectations impact the quality of any and all of your relationships.
- He wants to be wanted.
- There is nothing more important than the chase for Christ.
May you feel the presence of our Savior Jesus Christ during this Christmas season as you spend time with family and friends. Most of all though remember there is nothing more important than knowing Him and sharing His love to the World. He is Christ The Lord! Have a blessed Christmas and New Year.With love,
Andi and Krishauna
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