Final FAQ - the Deep, Probing Questions

Over the past seven months, I have been asked a lot of questions about my decision to come to Honduras, what I’ve been doing, and how it’s all affected me. Now that I’ve had a chance to reflect a bit I’d like to share with you my answers to the some of the deeper questions.

What have you learned about yourself?

I have learned that I really like to be good at things. I am not comfortable doing things in which I might fail, or even in which I won’t be outstanding. I like to be the best, and I’ve learned that that I cannot always be the best. In fact, I will practically never be the best. For example, I have been working really hard at improving my Spanish, but I will always speak Spanish worse than anyone else at my school. Besides one other teacher, who has lived and worked in Honduras for nine years, everyone is a native Spanish speaker. It is ridiculous for me to try to speak Spanish as well as they do. What I’ve learned, though, is that just because I won’t be the best doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. Although my Spanish isn’t perfect, I have improved enough to have conversations where I both understand and am understood. That’s a great accomplishment for me. All I can ask of myself, and all God asks of me, is that I try my best to use the gifts I’ve been given. With that in mind, I have learned that while I am not the best at everything, I capable of more than I think I am.

What have you learned about the character of God?
I think the most important thing that I’ve learned about the character of God is that God is there. God has made his presence known to me in a more intimate way over the past seven months. While my time in Honduras has been amazing, it has also been the most challenging experience of my life. Not only has God been with me through the difficult and joyous times in Honduras, God has been with me throughout my entire life. Even more, God is not just with me – God was in Honduras before I ever got here. God dwells within each of us. This is something that I have known intellectually for a long time, but have been amazed again and again as I grow to realize what that really means. And in a time of my life that is full of new experiences, uncertainty, and homesickness, it has been a blessing to have God as a constant in my life.

How has your relationship with God changed?

My relationship with God has changed quite a bit, but I would just like to talk about two main things. First, I see God in unexpected places more often. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that I am experiencing so many things for the first time, so I take a lot less for granted. Second, I pray a lot more than I used to. This I think probably stems from the fact that I spend a lot more time alone than I ever have, since I am living alone for the first time in my life. It’s not necessarily that I “say more prayers” so much as I am in conversation with God throughout the day. And while I have a long way to go, I think I’m finally beginning to understand what it means to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

I thought I'd share a cool sunset picture from December