Happy 1 Year Anniversary!!!

Signing up for this gig was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done and now that I am a year into it I can hardly believe that it has gone so smoothly. Many of the fears I had before I left seem ridiculous now, and as I come to my one-year anniversary, I see that God faithfulness is the only explanation! A year ago, around mid-January, I boarded a plane to Lisbon, Portugal to live and work with a church planting organization called Christian Associates International. Before that I had been living with my parents in Michigan, working random jobs and preparing to move abroad. In many ways during this time I was bracing myself for the impact of moving to another country, saying goodbye to family and friends and trying to build a life for myself there. With so many unknowns in my future, I found it difficult to keep my anxiety under control. However, today, as I watched the waves crash against the shore while I stretched after my morning run, I realized that like the consistency of wave after wave, God faithfulness never falters. I worried that I wouldn’t have any friends and that people wouldn’t like me for who I am, and now, a year later I don’t seem to have enough time during the week to hang out with all of them. I worried that I wouldn’t have family here, but in the Christian community I find I not only do I have numerous nephews, nieces and cousins to play with, but also several sets of parents to look out for me. I worried that I would struggle with the language and be unable to communicate, but now after a year, I find that I am at level of communication that allows me to enter into conversation and keeps my Portuguese friends from having to speak English so I won’t feel left out! I worried that I would get so sucked into the international community that I wouldn’t be able to build strong relationships with the Portuguese, but since I joined a Portuguese volleyball team and also started making friends in my neighborhood, I now wonder if I’m not spending enough time with internationals. This one sounds silly, but I worried that I would be living in a dark, cold apartment, but I find myself sitting in my adorable apartment with large full windows in every single room, with sunlight shining in to warm me up. Not only is my apartment amazing with dangerously close proximity to the beach, I also live two amazing women who care for me, who laugh we me, watch chick flicks with me and who are working in ministry as well. God has met my personal needs abundantly and has shown me that those things that I worry about are often the things that he has already taken care of. Ministry-wise God is blowing me away as well! My relationships with people around me are going deeper! Trust is being built and I am starting to see the fruit of that trust in some of our conversations and interactions! I am also continuing to see still more relationships being started! When I look back a year ago when I moved here barely knowing a handful of people, and then start list the relationship I have now, I am simply amazed. It makes me wonder why I ever fail to trust God. He knew as I boarded the plane fighting back the tears I didn’t want my mom to see that there was really nothing to be afraid of. He knew that I would definitely have some rough days and rough moments, but He also knew how He was going to provide for me and take care of me. It makes me wonder what other fears I am holding on too that are also entirely unfounded, that will seem ridiculous in a year, a month or even a week. Seeing God come through for me here in Portugal, providing financially, emotionally, socially and even spiritually, gives me peace as I glance into the future and wonder what steps He is asking me to take next. But until then, my Portuguese adventure continues and only God knows what testimony I will get to share next year!