God is good and we can trust His promise to provide – Matthew 6:25

We recently celebrated our 2-month anniversary here in Guatemala.  There have been so many good days, but there have been days when this seemed like an experiment gone awry. 

As a guy, husband, dad, and leader I am accustomed to “making things happen” for my family, career, and pretty much anything else.  I am very good at using the wisdom that God has blessed me with to strike out on my own and conquer a situation.

Life in Guatemala has been humbling for a headstrong Type-A personality.  When you do not know the language, customs, and work-arounds it is hard to make major purchases like renting a house and buying a car.  With the grace from a God who has a lot of patience our family is the proud renter of a beautiful home and owner of a ’01 Toyota SUV.  Neither of these blessings are because I figured how to get things done here – but rather because God provided.

A few weeks ago Angel and I were getting consumed with worry about where we were going to live when we leave Antigua and move to Eagle’s Nest.  There were tears from Angel and I am pretty sure my blood pressure was out of the healthy range.  We prayed, read the word of God, and called home to talk to trusted friends. 

In the midst of trying to figure out how to take the hill in my own strength I got an email from a friend telling me about a home in Panajachel.  I knew of the house and had heard that it was beautiful and in an area that would be great for our family.  During that same time our new friends the Erickson’s got us connected to a missionary website where stuff gets sold – kind of a private Craigslist for Guatemalan missionaries.  On our second day of membership to the group I saw a 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser for sale.  Turns out a young missionary couple was returning to the States and needed to sell their car.

So in the midst of trying to use my strength to provide for my family, God provided.  Please don’t read this and congratulate me for trusting and learning – God provided while I was at a low point of trust and a high point of fear and frustration.  God did not reward me; he rescued me.  Looking back on the situation God gave us one option for a home and one option for a car.  He gave us what we needed, when we needed it.  In reality both options are more than what we need and go way into the area of wants.  God did not simply clothe the lilies of the field, he dressed them finer than Solomon.