A Pilrgrim's Progress

It’s amazing what good screens on the windows and reading up on food handling safety can do for the psyche. When we returned to Honduras our number one priority was to fix some things so that I could feel comfortable and not be distracted from the work God has for me here. We put a mosquito net over our bed so that I would stop waking throughout the night and imagining bugs all over me (it probably wasn’t my imagination). I’ve added new precautions to our family care – like boiling water when I wash dishes, putting the leaking meat in another plastic bag at the grocery store, throwing things out of the refrigerator when the power is off for a day – and so far none of us have gotten sick since we’ve been back.

Simple things, but they make life so much more livable for this American princess. And now I can focus on the things at hand: like making sure every single junior high student aces their English class; like organizing a sponsorship program for AFE to help raise funds for operations, like seeing to it that everyone in our family is growing spirituality and not wasting this amazing opportunity God has given us.

It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, which season of life you find yourself in; spiritual disciplines remain integral to everyone’s spiritual growth and formation. Thus, these are the new disciplines we’ve built into our daily lives: (1) my personal Sabbath – Friday mornings: a couple of beautiful, cherished tranquil hours ALONE with no one tugging on my leg, mamamamamamama. (2) My small group for fellowship: Saturday nights. Rey watches Elijah for me and I cross language and culture to find companionship in the family of God. (3) Morning breakfast: Elijah and I consume the Word together with our cereal. (4) Worship: although there is a sala cuna available, I feel like it is good for toddlers to participate in corporate worship, perhaps they can sense the spirit of God there despite their limited intellectual development. (5) Intercessory journey: what better way to use the time walking to a rapitito than to pray for those we are serving?

Mothers: which spiritual disciplines have you successfully built into your lives, now that your time is not your own?