Pieces No More.

06 Sep Pieces No More.

NOTE:  During the months of September and October we are excited to have our summer staff missionaries take over the staff blog!  Many of you have served with or been served by our summer staff and God has used each of them in tremendous ways!  We are blessed to have partnered with them!

“How was your trip?”

Four simple words that are so hard to answer. I often find myself brushing off the question with simply responses, such as “It was amazing. I loved seeing all of my friends.” or “It was so good.”

But honestly, this summer was not just “amazing” or “good.”  It was challenging, life changing, and exhausting. The Lord challenged me each and every day, while showing my ways to love that I never knew were possible.

This summer I loved like I have never loved before. I loved with my whole heart. Literally giving everything I had to every person I came in contact with. It was exhausting at times, but through that exhaustion I completely relied on the Lord and His strength to get me through each day.

The Lord spoke to me though the verse Matthew 11:28

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

I was reading a devotional one morning while completely exhausted. I have read this verse multiple times but never really grasped the concept of Godly “rest.” I knew what rest was in my own worldly terms, but not the way the Lord intended it.  Oswald Chambers put it best, “The Lord isn’t going to put you to sleep and sing you a song. He is going to get you out of bed and out of the list of the day, giving you strength and rest.” Being able to rest in the Lord each gave me comfort and strength to pour into the lives I love so much!

After long days of pouring myself out, there were times where I struggled to love wholehearted. We are called to love like the Lord and He doesn’t give us just a little glimpse or piece of His love.  He allows us to see the fullness of His love at all times! His love is always present and never wavering. As a believer and missionary, the Lord calls us to love at all times and not be selfish with our love.  He calls to love with our whole heart, rather than giving just pieces of love! (btw…check out the song Pieces by Amanda Cook. Taught me how to love and be loved.)

Once I began to give every person my entire heart and not just the parts I wanted them to have, I was able to let go completely and see the Lord moving and working in rapid time!

Since 2013 I have been able to serve alongside Sparrow Missions in San Pedro Sula. In 2013, I met one of my very best friends, Madelin. At the time my Spanish was awful and I knew very little but we instantly connected.  Over the years I have been able to watch Madelin grow into a beautiful young woman. This summer our relationship grew and was different.  The past few years our relationship was full of silliness and laughter (which it still is.), but this summer our friendship became real and included honestly with each other.  Madelin will turn 15 this November and she is facing struggles that most every 15-year old girl struggles with.   I knew exactly what she is facing.

So on a Saturday morning, Elena and I had the chance to take Madelin out for a cup of coffee and it gave me the opportunity to be completely honest and share my entire heart with her.  As we sat in the middle of the food-court (with me crying like a baby and bringing more attention to us than my blonde Gringa hair already did!), I knew sharing every piece of my heart would be used by the Lord.  We talked about boys, boundaries and obedience to our parents, but more importantly the obedience that we should be showing God in our relationships!

I’m telling you the Lord works in crazy ways because on my last Monday in Honduras, I got to spend time with Madelin and her entire family one last time before heading back to the states.   Beyond my connections with Madeline, I also had the chance to connect with her mother more deeply than previous summers.  She is now my Honduran Mama and even request that I call her Mama!!  As we sat in a woman’s discipleship class, we were able to laugh and talk about how this wasn’t a goodbye or an ending.   We would be together again and we would pick up right where we left off. She told me she was so grateful for my relationship with Madelin and that Madelin had something to tell me! After class we walked out and saw Madelin excited to share. She told me that she actually ended a current relationship that she was in due to the fact that she wasn’t being obedient to the Lord in that relationship! This may not sound like a big deal, but if you have ever been in contact with Madelin you would know that she is pretty shy and not very open about things!

While I listened to her give me more of her own heart, The Lord just reminded me of how He wants me to always love people with His fullness.  Not just pieces.

“How was your Trip?”

My summer was not just “good.” It was a learning experience from loving and pouring out everything that I had in ways that I never could have imagined! Loving with my whole heart and not just loving in pieces.

My love is in pieces no more!

God bless, Brooke M.