Bolivia 2018- Wednesday

            Tonight’s devotion given by Adria sums up perfectly what my day was like. Adria talked about how most of the time when something small happens, we blame it on a coincidence and don’t give God the glory. My day today was not a coincidence and I’m going to explain why. 

            Last night was a difficult night for me because I really missed my mom and dad. On this trip we don’t have our phones which means I don’t get to talk to them every day. So being thousands of miles away from them and not being able to know how their day was or what they had for dinner is difficult for me considering I am with them 24/7. Every day that we go on the worksite, someone has to stay back and help Carmen clean. For some reason I really felt the urge to pick today as my day to stay back. The first thing I had to do this morning was sweep the whole house. I thought “that’s exactly what my mom makes me so when I’m home”. I began to have a feeling of comfort, like my mom was with me somehow. Once we finished cleaning, we headed out to the market to get some fresh food for dinner. While I thought we were going to get food first, we made an impromptu stop to a nail salon. Carmen wanted to get her nails done which is also something that my mom does quite often. While sitting there and not understanding anything that was being said, I suddenly hear Carmen say “Your turn!”. At first I brushed it off because I didn’t think she was serious, but when she offered me her chair I realized that I was about to get my nails done. Her gracious offer to pay for me to get my nails done made me feel even more comfortable than before. This was all suddenly seeming like a big coincidence. How was it that the day after I cried from missing my parents, I felt like I was being loved by my mother from this lady that didn’t even speak the same language as me? After the nail salon we went on a trip through the city which consisted of screaming at pigeons, walking through a beautiful Catholic church that was more than 500 years old, and shopping in a market that was filled with mysterious meats. Once we bought what we needed, we headed back to the house. 

            Carmen took a nap for a while and in the meantime, I did some laundry. Once she woke up in a panic because we needed to fix dinner, we rushed to the kitchen peeling potatoes, slicing carrots, and grilling chicken. During our time cooking together, Carmen played some Christian music in English and in Spanish. The one song that came on that made me feel most comforted was “How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin. It was playing in English and I was singing along while chopping up the zucchini and all of a sudden, I hear Carmen singing along as well. Now remember, she can speak some English but not too much. Singing this song together really made me think of how great our God really is. The fact that two strangers who speak totally different languages can come together and sing about how great our God is, is truly amazing. 

            Now to bring all of these thoughts together and clarify my main point… How amazing is it that after desperately missing my parents, I felt the urge to stay home with Carmen? She made me feel loved, and not just any plain ol’ love, but a love only a parent can give. That was what I needed in order to muster up the strength to finish this week strong and come back to West Virginia, to my parents, a better person. God doesn’t cause coincidences. He gives us what we need when we need it and that is why I will always choose him. 

-Ripley Haney