Excuses are something Satan feeds on. He loves them because they turn us farther away from God.
In April, only two months before leaving for Honduras, I decided to "show up" to do God's work. I once read a workout motivation article that said, "The hardest battle is showing up. After, it only gets easier." For some, that may be true, but whoever wrote that obviously did not see my noodle arms trying to work the bicep machine at Planet Fitness. All joking aside, I think there's some truth to that.
I love traveling, don't get me wrong. Actually, only two days after I got home from Honduras, I hopped on a plane to Europe for two weeks. Isn't it funny how God's timing works? I had this trip planned out for over a year in advance, so I never had the intentions of going on this mission trip. However, God's intentions were different than my own.
There was an opening for this trip and God needed someone to go! My decision happened so quick. I love the "living in the moment" lifestyle, so when they asked I said yes, without consulting anyone. Our lesson in Sunday School that day (taught by my mom) was all about listening to and following God's call. But, wouldn't you know it, SHE was making excuses for me NOT to go, like any mother would when realizing her daughter was going to the MURDER CAPITOL OF THE WORLD.
After praying about Isaiah 6:8 (the main verse of that lesson), it was almost impossible for me not to go. It says "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Feeling empowered, I fired back with the ultimate comeback to my mother's worries, "See mom, you can't argue with the scripture!" Who do you think won?
Spoiler alert: I went on the trip, so God won that battle between my mother's concerns.
Although I was very quick to say yes, I began thinking, "What the heck did I just get myself into?"
First of all, I was going to a country in Central America and I knew zero Spanish, except for the most important words like taco, quesadilla, guacamole, etc. But seriously, how was I going to teach these kids about the bible with this language barrier?
I soon learned, no matter what language you speak, a smile is universal.
Secondly, how would I be beneficial in Honduras? We did construction, building floors and la trines (outdoor toilettes) and roofs … all things I guarantee we all have.
What could God do with a 5'7 female blonde-haired greengo (the term in Honduras for white people) with "no anglais Espagnol" with a little bit of an attitude?
I found myself thinking and making excuses of reasons I should NOT go:
- My Europe Trip: I would be tired and jet lagged.
- Being out of the country = not working = no money.
- Not being around friends and family.
- Potential of getting sick; third world countries will do that sometimes.
Did you notice what all of the excuses have in common?
They were all selfish.
Obviously, God won this one too. I could hear him laughing at me and telling me to get over myself and my stupid ego, basically slapping me in the face with reality. That day, the "bible verse of the day" notification, was Philippians 2:3-4 which so beautifully says "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."
I had nothing at that point. No rebuttal. No argument. Nothing… and neither did my mom.
Instead of telling you the real juicy details about my trip, I'll share with you the reason I went and its impact. I realized how blessed we are to live where we do, have three meals a day, and something as simple as a floor.
We gave the ninos snacks every day at bible school. The day we talked about Zacchaeus, the snack was Fig Newtons because he climbed up a fig tree to see Jesus. Whether they got the reference or not, they were happy with the food. After breathing the poverty of the "least of these" that Jesus talks about, I became disgusted at how I (and those around me) live. We don't know any different. The saying our moms told us to make us clean our plate: "there are starving kids in Africa…" meant something more. Although eating one more chicken nugget won't make the starving kids any less hungry, perspective matters.
