Nothing Wasted

I think most of you know that I consider myself a "Bad Missionary." The semester after I graduated from college (H-S ... H-S ... U-U!), I spent three months in Guadalajara, Mexico. I cried almost every day I was there and felt like a horrible failure when I returned. I refused to leave the country for the next three years. In fact, I didn't even leave the state of Texas! After 10 days in Morelia, Mexico summer before last and two weeks in Central Asia last summer, I have come to understand that God can use even me on the mission field if I'm obedient to His call, but I've always felt like that trip to Guadalajara was so bad. This morning, my dad called. His Uncle Terry is having a birthday party this weekend, and he had called Aunt Margie to find out where to send a card. In course of conversation, they exchanged information about "the kids." Daddy told her how I was set to graduate from seminary this Spring, and he mentioned how much my cousins and I had enjoyed our visit to see her and Uncle Terry a few years ago (the Christmas after I returned from Guaddy). Aunt Margie got excited when he mentioned that and told him that her daughter, Maddie (who was in middle school back then) had gone on a mission trip to Mexico last summer. Aunt Margie said it changed Maddie's life. She came back so excited and talking about the people and very passionate about her relationship with Christ. When she signed up for classes in school, they told her not to take Spanish 4 unless she was a native speaker, but she told her mom, "Kristen did it." She passed that and is taking Spanish 5 this year. She still has her pictures up in her room from her trip, talks about taking more trips, and has dedicated her life to serving the Lord. Aunt Margie told my dad she really believes a seed was planted more than four years ago when my cousins and I spent the weekend with them. As my dad finished filling me in on Aunt Margie, Uncle Terry, and Maddie, he said, "Kristi, that trip that you thought was such a disaster planted a seed that is still bearing fruit." And, in my heart I heard a very clear Voice saying to me, "I do not waste a thing."

Jeremiah 32:27, "I am the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?"