Far & Away

We're going to the Dominican Republic this summer! That means *I* am going to the Dominican Republic! I am so excited that I almost can't stand it. I spent the last 2 weeks trying to pull together basic travel information for the missions team. That was fun! For me personally, it's a good thing my passport is updated. Onward to the doctor for immunizations (typhoid, oh yeah!). And emailing a hundred million questions to our missionaries... or it seems like that many. Haha.

I spent a little time tonight working on my Mexico scrapbook. It's been a year and a half since I went to Mexico. It feels like yesterday and eternity all at the same time. Yesterday because the memories come so clearly. And eternity because so much has happened and changed since then. *sigh* The Mexico trip was one of testing for me.

Today, I found a Filipino peso that an orphan gave me when we went to the Philippines in 2000. Now that was a trip that changed my life. Mission trips do have a way of doing something to people. Maybe it gives perspective, or pulls us out of our comfort zones, or shows us the Church is not limited by America's borders.

For me, I breathed deeply of the tropical breezes and looked in the dark Filipino faces... and I saw Christ. I saw His love through my fellow Christians. I held the babies with no mothers, and did not forbid the children to come to Him. I worshipped Jesus with ones who sang in a different language. I taught about Him in a hut with a dirt floor. And one hot July night, I looked out into a field filled with people and saw that Christ loved them... and so He died.

Amazing love,
How can it be?
That You, my King, would die for me.
Amazing love,
I know it's true
It's my joy to honor You
In all I do, I honor You.