Introducing the "Celtic Women" two person orchestra. :) This was supposed to be a funny picture - I unfortunately didn't have enough hands to hold all at one time all the instruments I got to play for our Christmas cantata at church! But it was super fun, I can assure you.

My display board set up at one of my deputation meetings. :)

The Path Revised

God makes no mistakes. His path is perfect. No matter what happens. That's the reason I started this blog, right? To remember that, whatever happens, God's way is best. Well, God decided to test my faith in that this fall, right when I was getting full swing into preparations for deputation. I got kicked in the ankle during an high school alumni soccer game, and it changed my whole plans for the fall. There were a few tough, discouraged moments along the way, but I thank God that His way truly is best. Way better than anything I could ever come up with. And yes, my plans for deputation got changed up, but I believe that even in this, God has perfect timing. 

August 25: The infamous soccer game day. 

 

August 29: The bruising is starting to show. The Convenient Care Clinic only gave me an air splint, so I've been limping around on this swollen and bruised ankle. 

September 3: Now that's what I call a pretty good bruise.

September 6: I finally went to the Orthopedic and got this lovely boot. 

September 13: In case you didn't believe that my foot was really swollen. It went all the way down through my toes. 

September 23: My physical therapist gave me this really cool tape to help with the bruising. 

September 24: My office mate's daughter drew this in honor of me. I wasn't able to drive for three weeks because it was my right ankle that was injured. 

October 9: I went back to the orthopedic today and get promoted to an ankle brace. Now starts the fun part of learning how to walk again. 

Missions Update

August was filled with creating my prayer card, letterhead, website, contact list, and much more as I have prepared for deputation. Right now I am in the process of contacting churches, preparing my presentation, and working on my table display.

If you haven't seen it, feel free to check my website out at ruthtohonduras.com

There were 15 of us in the 2015 BMM Candidate Class. Each of us had a short bio shared in the Mission's Advance magazine, fall edition. Here's a picture of mine below. :)

Appointed to Missionary Service!

A little over a week ago, I officially became an appointee with Baptist Mid Missions! I'm currently in the process of creating my prayer card and preparing other materials so that I can start deputation this fall. I'm super excited to begin this next step of the journey and see how God is going to continue His work in my life, as I follow Him.

More details to come, but I just wanted to share the exciting news and the picture (photo courtesy of Herb Hunter, one of my fellow Appointees/Candidate class members).

Ohio Trip Excitement, Part 2

I now know that green fluid leaking from a car engine is antifreeze!

My car getting loaded onto the bed of the tow truck. 

To continue the story, I had a nice chat with my tow truck rescuer on the way back to Exit 42. (I broke down about EB Mile 46, but had made it to 47.) There was still a bit of traffic (the policeman had said it wouldn't clear till 10 or 11 at night) so it took a bit longer than it normally would have. Interesting note, those turnarounds that are marked for emergency vehicles only can also be used by tow trucks. I hadn't known that before, but we put our lights on and got to utilize one of them (I was thankful to not have to wait for a while longer till the next exit came up!). Anyway, my next blessing was that the tow truck guy said he would only charge me for an hour, although it went a bit over that when everything was said and done. He took me to the garage where we left my car, and then he drove me up to the top of the hill to the one motel at the exit where I was able to get a nice $49.05 room to spend the night. 

But my story's not done yet. God had a few more blessings in store for me! I walked down the hill and waited in my car till people showed up at the garage Friday morning. I had watched one truck pull in, but as the guy didn't get out, I figured he must not work there. He plays a part in my blessings though. Finally, another truck pulls in and parks closer to the garage. I went over and found out this guy worked at the garage, and he promised they would come take a look at my car once they got things opened up. They said I could go sit in the office while I waited, and I ended up chatting with the owner of the first truck who'd pulled into the parking lot that morning. He was getting new shocks on his truck, so while we waited, I ended up telling him I was on my way back from an interview with a mission board, and that I planned to go live in Honduras. I knew he had to have been in Honduras before, when he responded, "Where in Honduras?" I found out he had married a Honduran lady, and his daughter was living in Honduras right now. It's a small world, after all...

This gentleman was a blessing to me in a couple ways. He asked the mechanic if he could borrow a car and then drove me back up to the motel to check out and grab my bags so I wouldn't have to lug everything back down the hill. Then he and the mechanic treated me to lunch at the family restaurant across the street at the truck stop. Talk about overwhelming - God brought several people across my path who treated me so kindly throughout my break-down, and it was just so cool to see how God was not only looking out for me but showing me so much grace. 

I had found out after a bit that my radiator was leaking from both the top and the bottom, so the guys working on my car had calls in to different parts stores to get me a new radiator and thermostat, since my car had over heated. They ended up getting the parts in by noon, and I had paid up and was on the road by 1 PM. That was another blessing. I may not have gotten back in time for work, but I actually had my car fixed in four hours; to get everything fixed so quickly and not have to leave the car there and drive all the way back to pick it up after a few days was better than I could've planned. Like I've been saying, my God is so good! 

God's path is perfect. I think of how flustered and panicked I would have been if I had broken down on my way to my interview, but God planned this little detour for on the way back, when I had just been recounting everything I believed about God - and been reminded of how the facts I know about God connect back and apply to me and my life. Wow! And so I had to post the story - in detail - because as I've said before, "I want to remember that God's path is perfect, even when it isn't straight, flat, easy or how I would have planned it."

Ohio Trip Excitement, part 1

I had my interview out in Cleveland this week to defend my doctrinal statement after several weeks of hard core studying. I have to say, I'm super thankful for that experience, as nerve-wracking as it started out, because even while I was answering questions and giving verses, they were helping me see in a practical way how the different doctrines apply to my life personally. For example, we were talking about the Holy Spirit, and one of the pastors had me looking at Romans 8, and they showed me how the verses could be additional assurance verses regarding salvation (I had shared earlier about how I had doubted my salvation some growing up). Wow!

As if my interview wasn't enough excitement, I had some serious drama on I-80, about 2 1/2 hours from home. I was driving happily along, thinking a lot about my interview and different things that were said. I had just decided to turn on something to listen to when I saw some flashing lights on the side of the road and then saw trucks starting to put on their four-ways to alert people to slow down. I didn't realize at the time that there was construction ahead, with a seven mile stretch of one lane, instead of two. Anyway, as I am slowly driving, I suddenly start to see some steam coming from my hood. It was just a tiny bit, but then it continued to pour out. I was in the left lane, so I looked up at the trucker next to me, and since he was looking down at me and my car, I was able to wave to him, and motion that I needed to get in front of him so I could pull over to the road side. He was kind enough to allow that, and I pulled off the road and turned the car off.

I was on the phone with my dad at this point, since I had no idea what was wrong, only that steam pouring out from my engine was not a good thing! It had to be cool and slightly rainy, so I was standing outside, looking at green fluid leaking from my car and trying to relay what I was seeing on the phone. I happened to look up and noticed a police car, lights flashing, headed down the berm towards me. I have to say, I have never been so relieved in my life, as I was when I saw those flashing lights coming straight up to me and stopping behind my car! Blessing #1.

At this point, I hung up on the phone and went back to my driver's door to pop the switch to unlock my hood. The officer got out and asked what was wrong, and then he came over, helped me open up my hood and then started looking around in my engine to see if there were any broken pipes or what. He even got down and was trying to peer under my car. He couldn't see what was wrong and told me a couple things it could be. He went back to his police car and wrote down the state police barracks number and told me if I called that the lady on duty could get the information for the towing service and send someone to come tow my car. He told me about an exit a few miles back where there was a garage and a motel there where I could spend the night. At this point, he told me he had to go, since he had to stay with the traffic; however, he told me he would come back and check on me if I was still there when he came back through.

My dad asked me to try pouring some water in my reservoir, to see if maybe it was just low (the policeman had looked in there and couldn't tell how much fluid was there). With that, I then saw that the thermostat gauge showed my engine as cooled down significantly. I got back on the road to see if the extra liquid would be a fix; however, I only got about a half mile down the road (passing my policeman) before it was almost back to totally overheated.

Back to the side of the road again, I watched as the police car again pulled up behind my car, lights flashing. I got out of the car, and his first words were, "You didn't make it very far, did you!" He then asked if I still had the phone number he'd given me and told me to go ahead and call her, that this was my best option. I am so glad for this. Shortly after, I had a tow truck on the way! I waited for the tow truck, and 15 or so minutes later, I looked up and saw a police car again with flashing lights behind me. At the same point, my tow truck pulled in, right in front of me. I thought my officer was there again, but when I looked back, there was a different officer standing behind my car. He was also coming to check on my and make sure things were okay, but he said he could see my help had just arrived.

Fotos de Honduras!

We got to join the Doncellas group of young ladies from the church Friday night for a little get-together. I was asked to give my testimony, both salvation as well as what God has been doing in my life recently. Here I am writing out a couple things to remember, especially since I was speaking in Spanish! I was a little more nervous then usual, mainly because of trying to figure out what to say and how to say it in Spanish. There were several times I had to get help on what the Spanish word or phrase was, but I thought it was more important to speak Spanish, then to talk in English, which would have been easy for me, but maybe harder for some of them. 

 Saturday we got to off "gallivanting" - meaning they let us three single ladies go out and explore the city by ourselves. (Within reason of course. We did discuss where we were going ahead of time, and Hna. Maria called for the initial radio taxi for us.) Thankfully, people were looking out for us everywhere. Which reminds me of a funny story relating to the pictures below. After seeing the Cathedral, we went to a recommended Italian restaurant. (I know, choosing Italian when you're exploring Honduras, is a little cheesy, haha!) After our meal, we were waiting outside for the taxi (but still under the restaurant patio/roofed area), and our waitress came out and told the guard to look out for us and make sure we were safe.

 CreeAnn and I have more simple tastes and decided to go for just plain pepperoni pizza. Below, you can see that Joy went for vegetarian.

 CreeAnn had to leave Sunday, so Joy and I had Monday to do whatever we wanted. We decided to go to the beach. (A good choice, since it was 100 degrees basically our whole time there!). We collected some rocks and kept them in Joy's empty Aguazul water bottle.

 Selfie! Okay, not the most beautiful, but you get to see the beach area.

 Paola's dad would say we are crazy Gringas to go off by ourselves to Puerto Cortes, but it was a neat experience, and I needed some of that, since I will be living in Honduras one day, Lord willing.

Feeling very déjà vu. I'm in Dulles airport heading back to Honduras. I started this blog with my first adventure to Honduras and now I am continuing with a second albeit vastly shorter trip. This time I'm bringing a friend... And am ready for the sultry hot air that is going to hit me in the face as I get off that final flight and step into Latin America! Well here goes!!

A bunch of us hiked to the Balanced Rock last week!

Spring is finally here again!!!

Why do people leave the church?

I've moved on to the ecclesiology section of my doctrinal statement - the end is now in sight!!!! - and in the middle of some research, I came across an interesting quote:
"I would therefore suggest that the main reason people leave a church is because they have an entitlement mentality rather than a servant mentality."  
(Here's a link to the full article: http://thomrainer.com/2013/01/21/the-main-reason-people-leave-a-church/ *Please note that though I have cited the source, I cannot at this time give an endorsement of the gentleman that wrote it, since this is the first article of his that I have read.)

I agree with Mr. Rainer on this one; the church has been pervaded by the mentality of entitlement. Quite an accurate description, really. We have mastered the art of self-centeredness, thinking we deserve everything exactly as we'd like it, and not considering what is best for all involved. And when things don't go our way, we feel no shame in moving right along to the next thing, or in this case, church.

I'm not here to condemn but to challenge both you, my reader, and myself. I'm vested in my church; I want it to keep growing. But I know that can only happen if the people that enter its doors have a desire to give and serve and be changed more like Christ. So I ask you, what kind of mentality do you have towards your church? Do you come to church seeking to serve others, to give of your talents and gifts so that other believers can be edified and encouraged? Or do you come to church every Sunday expecting only to get, and criticizing all the imperfections you see? Can I encourage you that you will receive a much greater blessing if you enter the church doors ready and willing to invest and be a blessing to others?

A Weighty Subject

I've been working full steam these last few weeks on my doctrinal statement, the final step of my application. It has been exciting to dig deep and flesh out on paper exactly what I believe, and I am very thankful to have kept notebooks from my college doctrine classes, as well as having the world wide web for resources!

Tonight, however, was quite sobering. I just completed the section on what I believe about hell. Talk about weighty. I didn't write or learn anything new (other than which verses I'm basing my beliefs on), but to sit here and read what I just wrote is powerful. Scary. Because I believe with my whole heart that hell is literal, it's physical, and it's unending torment in a lake of fire. And people I know and have contact with every single day are headed there, unless they know and believe on my Savior.

I can't help but ask. Do you know Jesus? Know the One who chose to die for you, so you could stand forgiven in front of the throne of the Almighty God?

And for you, believer, I have a quote I came across today that reflects both my thoughts and ongoing conversations with a kindred spirit, and convicts after studying what the Bible says about hell. Here it is:

"Perhaps if there were more of that intense distress for souls that leads to tears, we should more frequently see the results we desire. Sometimes it may be that while we are complaining of the hardness of the hearts of those we are seeking to benefit, the hardness of our own hearts and our feeble apprehension of the solemn reality of eternal things may be the true cause of our want of success."      ~Hudson Taylor