Author: vbates

A beautiful day

20140104_071240-2As I awoke this morning my first thoughts were on the agenda for the day, then quickly moved to the thought of it being my sister’s birthday.  This made me a little sad since we had plans together in Honduras today.  Within minutes of being sad about not being with my sister I looked out the window and saw a beautiful rainbow.  I have never been so close to a rainbow before and seen the end of one so clearly.  It was a beautiful reminder of God’s promises to us.  He never promised us for everything to be exactly what we want but he does promise us that we will receive blessings when we follow Him.  You see, when the trip to Honduras was first brought up I had no intention of going.  However, I kept feeling that God was nudging me to come. I surrendered to that nudging and now the blessings that I have received are too many to count – seeing children be fed when we thought there was no way the food would last,  talking with someone who feels defeated and has no hope and witnessing the joy and huge smile on their face when they accept Christ and know for certain where they will spend eternity, the difference being made in my oldest son’s life for being right where God wants him to be…and many, many more blessings that are too plentiful to count. I will be able to share all of these blessings with my sister upon our return to the states.  God will give us many other opportunities to share His love in other places…Happy Birthday, dear Amy!

As I end my day I am reminded of an earlier post and just want to say, How GREAT is our God!

How great is OUR God! (Cuan Grande Es Dios)

What a great day here in Comayagua, Honduras!   The opportunities to serve have been plentiful and the blessings received have been in abundance! 

We began the day by painting at an orphanage. We painted a few of the rooms and most importantly we were able to spend time with the girls.  They are adorable and I am reminded of the universal language of love and OUR God!  We will be returning to the home again tomorrow and painting some more rooms and spending more time with the girls – I cannot wait!   Oh, and for anyone reading this to Austin, please let him know that the girls love his Scooby-Doo that he sent with us to share.

This evening we went to a Church service and I was truly blessed worshiping OUR God!  We began singing with them “How great is our God” of course I did not know the Spanish, but was able to join in and worship with them. That was the theme of the day for me, being constantly reminded that no matter where you are in the world when you fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ you automatically feel a connection with them.

Another wonderful day in Romania!!

Wow – there are no words to describe what a wonderful day it has been, although I will try….
God is so wonderful! Yesterday I was asked to give my testimony and I said no, I was not comfortable doing that. Well, I should know by now to not say No to something for God. This morning as I was getting ready to read my bible I just happened (or more accurately, God led me to) begin reading Psalm 139.
Psalm 139 vs. 4 – 6
4. Even before a word is on my tongue behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5. You hem me in, behind and before and lay your hand upon me.
6. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it.

Through the verses there I was lead to give a brief testimony in Church this evening. All day I knew this is what God wanted from me – complete trust and surrender to Him. As much as I like to talk, I do not like to speak in large groups. I was very nervous about having an interpreter and speaking to people from a different culture. It all worked out good. The biggest thing I learned from this today is something that I also shared in my testimony….it is beyond my comprehension to know that since the moment I was conceived God planned for me to be in Romania at this time in my life, however, who am I to question the Creator of everything?

As I said before, this has been a wonderfully blessed day. I came to Romania prepared for the younger children from the villages and orphanages to capture my heart. I thought I would not be able to handle being with the the majority of the time here because of my own children back at home. I was not prepared for the joy, blessings, and breaking of me that would come from being with the “teenagers”. That is what we refer to them as, but they are a group of boys and a few girls that grew up in some of the oprhanages from here. They are helping us with VBS and things here. They are wonderful and have stolen my heart!!! They love taking pictures so I have attached a few. Please be praying for these special kids. They know about Jesus, but they do not have a personal relationship with Him….keep them in your prayers….They are wonderful and I will miss them a lot when we leave…

Valerie

To Adam: I love you forever!
To Austin: I love you berry much!
Love, Mommy

Hello from Romania!

This will be very short as I am blogging from my iPhone and others are waiting to blog also. I am enjoying the wonderful time here! Today was our first day of VBS with the children from the villages and it was awesome. Although there is a language barrier, there are universal signs and body language that allows us to communicate – the waving, high-fives, of course the smile, and the nods of approval. We went to worship service in Baia Mare tonight and it was great – so nice to worship God with other brothers and sisters in Christ! I was very touched when we all sang the Alleluia chorus.

For Adam – I love you forever!
For Austin – I love you berry much!

Can’t wait to get back and share more with everyone in person!

Valerie