Thursday, January 17, 2019

Here I am vs. There You Are

Today, I was reading a book and it was talking about leadership and integrity and the idea of here I am vs. there you are; how many leaders walk into a room and are looking to be seen, noticed, to be appreciated (here I am!) – all natural desires but yet the Bible teaches us that Jesus came to serve, not to be served and how as leaders we should be focusing on others – how can I help you? What is the best for everyone?  Putting others above yourself…
I can remember a time quite a few years ago, I was working in a community  and one of the leaders came to me and said there was a small group coming to visit/serve us for the day and what were some activities they could help me with.  I thought about it and said “to be honest, right now the biggest blessing would be for them to help pick up all the garbage around the yard” it wasn’t a glamorous job, but it was genuinely one of the most pressing things needing to be done.  To my surprise I was briskly told that that was not an option and how could I even suggest that so and so pick up garbage!  Apparently, they were big donors and very important people – even the notion was preposterous to this leader.  I don’t remember what they ended up doing but I do remember feeling discouraged and confused… “weren’t they coming because they wanted to serve?”

It made me think about  ministry life and whether or not I fall into the here I am category, I thought about a conversation I had just yesterday where someone was telling me about a leader and their attitude – it’s something people really do notice, once you look past the ‘glamour’ of the spotlight.  Reality is, I think, we can all fall into the here I am category, it’s natural.  It’s not about judging others but rather being aware that we are human and sometimes we suck...but doesn’t that make the whole notion of grace and forgiveness that much more impressibe and valuable?!  I mean we screw up all…the…time!  Well, at least I do!  Yet, Mr. God still loves us, still hangs around to cheer us on and pick us back up… pretty exciting no?!



2018 wrapped up pretty nicely for me and 2019 has been off to a delightful start!  Back in November I finished up the Perspectives course (I passed! Woohoo!) it was a great experience and I had a wonderful time learning and making new friends.




My brother and future sister-in-law came the day after my last class and toured me aaaall around Costa Rica!  It was so much fun!  I love them so very much, it was a great way to unwind after a stressful semester!  I could go on and on spamming you with pictures but I will spare you! (mostly because my phone/computer and the internet are being difficult)





I spent Christmas and New Years here with one of my Tico families, which is always a good time!










January has been great so far!  A week ago, I went and picked up our latest Strider from Switzerland – haha well I didn’t pick her up from Switzerland, just the airport!  She’s here!  She’s absolutely delightful …may I present to you *cue drum roll* Zoe!!! 
Please keep her in your prayers as she picks up some more Spanish and settles into her new position in a local elementary/high school where she will be working with children with disabilities!













This past weekend I represented Latin Link at a youth conference called CIMA and it was super successful and a great testament to what a dork I am, can you even believe that I was discouraged at the beginning, feeling like people wouldn’t want to talk to me or care about the cool stuff God does through Latin Link?!  So ridiculous!  He proved me very wrong!  I literally had someone come racing up to the table and tell me she had been waiting for me to show up all week (the conference had started on Monday and I was doing the booth on Saturday) because it was exactly what she’d been looking for!  She told me part of her testimony and I told her all about what we do…*swoon* it was so amazing – I tear up basically every time I think about it, because it’s just like .. how amazing is God?!




What’s next you ask!
Well, next week I will be helping in the kitchen for the youth camp at church, then starting in February Zoe will move into her host family home, we’ve got the annual Latin Link Central America South (haha yes! It’s a mouthful!) conference, THEN I’ll spend the following weekend serving in the young adult camp for church (games team).  Aside from all those fun things, I also have my wonderful administrative duties, discipling, we’ve got TWO Step teams coming this year, plus I’ve got some Stride profiles to find opportunities for, plus I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of English students I have piling up...but all of that is nothing compared to the very exciting event and creator of joy within the Chandler family that is, the wedding of my baby brother later this year!!!!

2019 is shaping up to be an excellent year!  As always, I’m super grateful and blessed by each and every one of you who support me whether by faithfully praying, keeping in contact, financially supporting me, and all of the other ways you make me feel loved and cared for.  I am truly blessed!

Big hug!

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