Right now I am working in a kitchen in Costa Rica, and yesterday a new guy got hired to be the dish washer.  Today he had to work from 6 am to 10 pm, and the entire time he scrubbed dishes and washed floors.  By the end of the day he was drenched in sweat and looked completely exhausted.  When the chef was around I told the dish washer that he was doing an amazing job, trying get the chef to acknowledge his hard work as well. Sadly the chef didn’t take the bait, and instead launched into a story about how many dishes he has scrubbed and how this dish boy has it easy compared to what he had to do.

I call this the ‘been there, done that’ syndrome.  When we go through challenging or even devastating circumstances, there are two ways to incorporate that into our lives. The first is to look down on others and say, ‘well I got through it so suck it up.’  The second is to allow the pain or frustration that took place to shape us into more compassionate people.

I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for people who helped me through my dating drama in junior high, through math class in high school, and through the death of my best friend when I was 20.  If these people had ignored me in my time of need because they had ‘figured it out and therefore I should too,’ I would have struggled alone.

So ladies, let’s not look down on other peoples’ troubles or hardship with pride that we got through it ourselves.  It is my hope that our circumstances shape us into women of compassion, empathy, and action.

Love from the jungle,

Michelle

I find myself in the middle of a storm these days. These times are never easy, but I can’t help but wonder what God will teach me while I’m here.

When I look back on my life, and find that the times where I grew most with God were the times where life was the hardest.

Often God uses these terrible times in life to teach us and grow us and to draw us closer to him. I cry out to God and talk to him much more when things are not good, then when life is wonderful and easy.

These tough times in life are bitter sweet. Suffering is never good, never our preference, but we are often the most intimate with God during these times.

My prayer for you is that if you find yourself in the middle of a storm; hang on. I pray this time would be a time of growth for you, and you would learn to call on Jesus. He often doesnt make the storm go away, but give syou peace and comfort and friendship while you are there.

You come out trusting him more then when it first began.

Blessings and love

cat.

I am barely keeping afloat through all of the busyness in life.

With all of my tasks and expectations at work, in my personal life and the always consuming thought “what does tomorrow look like?” It is like trying to drive a car while sitting in the passenger seat - it doesn’t work!

Busyness is a term thrown around that makes up some sort of excuse to not find a moment to sit and ask God what His plans are for my life. I let my thoughts of the future flood my mind hourly as if I have all of the answers. Picture this you and Jesus sitting down for a coffee and He is telling you what is next and you keep cutting Him off to offer your two sense. Are you more superior than Jesus?

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This post is for girls who are still looking for Mr. Right.  The world tells us that he is out there somewhere, and our job is to sail into the sea of men and find the perfect fish.  But, if I may, I’d like to introduce a different way of looking at it:

Instead of looking for Mr.Right, you must become Mrs. Right.

I know so many girls who are trying so desperately to find a perfect match that they forget their own character development and spiritual growth.  If you are not married, what are you doing to become worthy of being someone’s wife or girlfriend?  Are you serving others actively, developing humility, and learning to forgive?  Are you daring to dream God’s dreams and discovering your calling?  Or are you just waiting around?

Here is my advice: don’t wait around for a guy to sweep you off your feet before you figure out who God made you to be.  Do the hard work of figuring out who you are and how you can advance God’s Kingdom with or without the ‘perfect match.’  Who knows, maybe a Godly guy will take your passionate, on-mission life as a challenge worth pursuing.  But if not, what do you need to do internally to get to the point where God is truly enough?

Michelle

A couple days ago, my husband Jay tore up a picture.  And he did it out of love for me… let me explain.

We were in town at an internet cafe, and Jay had loads of work to do online.  I had just come down with bronchitis, and after a short time in the internet cafe I started feeling quite sick.  He was my ride home, and I asked him if we could leave early despite knowing he had important things to take care of for a few hours.  He had a moment of hesitation and looked frustrated for a couple minutes, but agreed to leave his work behind so I could rest.  And that was that, he did not complain about it for the rest of the day.

My very wise mother-in-law once said something to me that has stuck with me ever since: tear up the picture or tear up the person. We often get an image in our head of how we want something done, how we want something to look, or how we want something to go.  We have an ideal situation painted in our minds in most situations, and are disappointed when our plans do not fall in to place as expected.  In those times we must learn to tear up our ideal picture and paint a new one instead of hurting those we love out of frustration.  Jay chose that day to tear up his picture of an ideal afternoon getting work accomplished online in order to keep the picture of our relationship intact.

Do you ever tear down people when your ideal situation is compromised?  Are you good at painting new pictures when plans fail?  How do you do this?  Hopefully we can all get into a habit of practicing this more!

Michelle