One Year

Wow. I cannot believe that this next week marks one year for us here in Honduras. When we arrived, life felt so hard that I wasn't honestly sure if we would make it to a year. And yet, here we are. We made it.

I have been reflecting about the last year; thinking about what I have learned, how we have grown, how we have changed. I have thought about this blog post and known that I wanted to write a post to mark our first year on the mission field, but I have not had any idea what to write. I have read anniversary blog posts and newsletters in the past ... they always have so much wisdom and insight to share. And the thing is, I got nothing. I have no real wisdom or insight. But, these are the things that I know about the last year:

1. Our family grew. We added one whole person. And just like that, we are a family of six. Six. Holy moly. 
2. Traveling with four kids, five and under is INSANE.
3. I am not as tough as I used to think I am ... life is hard and I can be a big wuss. 
4. Marriage is hard. It is amazing and rewarding and full of blessing, but like anything worth doing, it is hard.  
5. Living, working, and existing in super hotness with no AC or relief from the heat is exhausting. And it makes me grumpy.
6. Learning another language is a process, one that I am not sure I will ever master.
7. God's creation is INCREDIBLE. I am blown away by the beauty of the ocean, the flowers, the lush green of the jungle. The sounds of the birds, the monkeys, the insects is unlike anything I have ever experienced. I am grateful for God's creativity and love enjoying His creation.
8. I am no different than anyone else who is working hard to be obedient and follow where the Lord has called them. So often, people tell me how amazing I am for doing what I'm doing with my family. And while my ego likes to hear it and I always appreciate the kind words, I always want to disagree. What our family is doing is hard and challenging, but life is hard a challenging. God calls us as Christians to hard and challenging things because that is where we are forced to be dependent on Him. My difficult thing looks different than your difficult thing. But, God calls us all to different things. If you are chasing after Him and following where He is leading, He is pleased. I need to stop comparing myself. I need to keep chasing Him and keep being obedient. 
9. Just because I am being obedient to where God is leading me does not mean that I will be happy all the time. Duh. (Does anyone even say Duh anymore? Gosh, I'm old.) I don't know why I thought that if I followed God to the mission field, I would suddenly be happy all the time. I knew that things would be hard, but I thought that I would be happy in the midst of the hard stuff. That's called joy. And it doesn't just come. I have to work for it. I have to keep my eyes on Jesus. I have to daily, often moment-by-moment, choose joy. 
10. God is good. All the time. Even when it doesn't feel like it. Even when I want to give up. Even when I don't understand. He is good.  

It has been a year unlike any other. I have experienced so many different emotions ... joy, sorrow, peace, anxiety, ... too many to list. Though it has been hard, I wouldn't trade the last year for anything.  I am so grateful for how the Lord has brought me through it and taught me to rely on Him more every day.

- Katie