Reviving and Restoring

This month has been a slow and busy month all together. Christmas break came to a close the second week of January with us planning for our students. Most of the time was spent lesson planning, adding thirty numbers into our phones, texting people, and making our schedule for the upcoming semester! It was a good week to get back into the swing of things. We started the next week off strong with our Monday classes, lunch with Rosa, and our Monday Night English Devotionals! But as Tuesday night rolled around after classes, I started not to feel very well. Nathan and I just chalked it up to nervousness. (Y'all, I just get anxious when it comes to group classes!) At around 10 pm, I unfortunately started purging everything found in my stomach, and again and again and again. I had a stomach bug and Nathan wasn't far behind. Despite not wanting to, Nathan and I had to cancel our classes on Wednesday and Thursday. Weak and pitiful, Nathan moved to the sofa and I was in the bedroom, sipping on nothing other than the sick drink, Sprite.

As I'm sure most of us do when we are sick, we think about getting better! Why we can't just be better already! What life outside of the coziness of the bed would be! But as I sat there for the better part of the weekend too, I thought about how God restores us and revives us everyday. I had already started studying the women of the Bible with a few of my students and I was just drawn back to Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel.

Sarah, unable to bear children, was given a promise by God that included HER children.

Rebekah, like Sarah, knew the promise of the Lord but was also childless for 20 years.

Rachel also wanted to compete with her sister to give her husband children, but was unable to.

In each of their stories, the years of waiting show that God has His own timing for the fulfillment of His purpose. He restored His promise and revived their story. In their lowest points in life, which is usually where revival starts, God lifts them out of their darkness into His light. Our God is this same God! He revives us. He renews us. He restores us. He gives new life. He brings back to life! And as I was sitting in bed, wishing so much to become better, the Lord was reviving me. He was also reminding me to slow down, and enjoy the time I had to read, pray, and spend time resting. A lot of times, we forget that we need those things in life just amid the hustle and bustle of checking things off our to-do list. (Or maybe that's just me?) We must learn about self-care and God-care. I want to thrive in God's plan and purpose, and not just get by, feeling like I'm just surviving.

We were so thankful that our sickness came to a close by the start of the next week. So now, we have met with all of our old and new students, and we are so thankful that we have them! And that, my friends, is all we've done in the month of January. We are looking forward to February! It is full with a trip to Naples for us and a trip to France for me to attend a women's missionary retreat. I can't wait to share with you what I learned! Don't worry though, we will still be meeting with all our students during the week.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us! We would love hearing from you! We don't get many emails or letters from back home, but when we do, it is such a huge encouragement! So please, talk to us!

We hope you had a wonderful start to the new year!

In Christ's Love,

Ashley

#January #sickness #newstudents #semester