truth #7: Change will come

Buenos Dias my friends and family. Finally I can say that I am WELL! After two complete weeks, the worst of days happened to be on the day that I last wrote on my blog, my sunburn is completely gone. I must say this is the first time in my life that I have been SO excited about seeing my own beautiful WHITE (mind you, NOT red) skin... Honestly if being in hell is like being in an eternal fire... those who do not know Christ have never been burned... I was not able to walk for four, almost five whole days, then it took a week after that for all the pain and swelling to completely leave. I think that even all the nasty peeling has finally quit as well. Praise God, I am now so much more thankful for the ability to walk without pain!

Many of you know that one of the most frustrating things about moving to another country (non-English speaking) is the language barrier. This one area has been a HUGE struggle for me during my three months here. More than I ever imagined it would be. I am finding out that my experience here is entirely new and different from my experiences in Thailand. My lack of Thai in Thailand didn't bother me or get in my way of ministry near as much as my lack of español here. Maybe it is because my job in Thailand revolved around English, as an English teacher of course, and my job here requires Spanish. This has been quite a bit of stress for me, especially since my English speaking, Norwegian roommate returned back to Norway a month ago. I think I floundered for a bit, and I am talking the frustrating floundering! It seemed that everywhere I turned there was some sort of miscommunication (normally it had to do with me agreeing to do something that I had NO idea I was agreeing to) which now looks a bit funny but at the time just made me want to pull out my hair and cry... I say all of this to add a HUGE

HOWEVER,

This week, something happened, something clicked. Suddenly I am talking in Spanish to people in the office, I am understand my non-English speaking Spanish teacher entirely in her explanations, I am talking with children, young people, older people, ok, basically everyone! Mind you it isn't always pretty or even the correct grammatical form but I am COMMUNICATING! This is mind blowing! I even shared my missions testimony in Spanish, talked with a woman on the Santay Island about her life and God. I know that these things must sound so simple to you. Most of you are able to do this with EVERY single person you meet in a day. I think that sometimes we don't realize what abilities that we actually have until they are taken away from us. Just think, you have the ability to walk outside your door and have a casual conversation with your neighbor, to share your testimony of God's work in your life, to impact someone by showing interest in their life! At times I find myself even asking God why I couldn't have stayed in the United States and done ministry that I know I can do. Why do I have to come and work in a place with a language that I don't speak and ways that maybe I am not used to. Why? Because He has called me, because it is Him that works in me, because when it is all said and done it will not be the work of Tabitha that is being done but His work! I don't know all the outcomes, I don't know all the changed lives, I don't even know how this will change my own life but I can tell you this, change will come. What is it that God has called you to do? Don't give up, LET Him work in you, listen to His voice.