Clay in the Potter’s Hands

Praise the Lord, I have $7,062.37 raised towards my time here in Guatemala! It is such an honor just to be here. I feel so incredibly blessed by your support, and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude, both to you and to God. May the Lord bless you and make His face shine upon you! 

If you feel it on your heart to contribute toward my time here, direct donations through Venmo (shananz) or Zelle (contact me for the info) are preferred, but donations can also be made through the link on my blog! 

Now, let’s get down to business! As of April 24th, I’ve officially been here a month. Wow! 

It’s been a little while since my last blog, and the cool thing is that now I can now share about the fruit I’m experiencing from the growth I shared in my last blog that the Lord led me into.

For a quick recap (and to read the full post here), God showed me how I was placing expectations over myself of a worldly type of productivity. He led me into a deeper understanding of how productivity in His Kingdom doesn’t look the same as productivity from the world’s viewpoint, and I was able to release all those expectations for myself (that weren’t from Him).

Afterwards, I’ve been approaching my time here in Guatemala with truly open arms. It’s whatever God wants! And at first, when my schedule was clear, it was hard to trust that He would bring the right things into my path. I’ve been learning patience – patience to trust in His plan and timing, and a greater awareness of the gentle patience He so freely uses with me. 

And then, slowly but surely, one day at a time, God has brought incredible opportunities for me to be a part of. Now, my weeks are pretty busy, full of things that God has highlighted to me or given me the opportunity to participate in. 

I’m getting the privilege to jump right into community with others. Through His strength, I’ve been investing into relationships with those around me. 

I feel like the Lord is showing me how to live a life fully devoted and in-tune to Him. Right now that looks a lot like flexibility and pursuing people, after I pursue Him. And I’m certainly not perfect, but he’s definitely taking me further down this path with Him. 

I’ve also been able to be a part of Hope Ministry in San Antonio Aguas Calientes (a nearby town to Antigua), on Tuesdays. 

Through serving with ministry, serving at church on Sundays, and even just sharing the story of what He’s done in my life with others, I’m learning so much. There’s a great community of missionaries and Christ-followers (both gringos and Guatemalans) here, so this is giving me the chance to really learn from them and see how each of them uses their gifts for the Kingdom, and in a ministry setting in particular. It’s an honor to learn from all these wise people all around me. Part of my vision (the Lord’s vision, really) for this time was exploration and discovery of my gifts and skills, and how they can be used in a full-time ministry setting, so it’s super cool to see a first step in that direction.

Another sweet aspect of my time here is all the spiritual sustenance that I’m immersed in. Through Bible studies, teachings, and classes, the Lord is pouring into me a greater knowledge of His Word and His heart. 

But throughout it all, I’m committed to being moldable to the Lord’s plan. I don’t want to become so set on what I think I should be doing that I can’t be interruptible to the prompting of Holy Spirit. It’s hard, but already it’s been incredibly fruitful. 

It’s given me a new meaning of us being clay molded by the Potter. Not only does He want to mold me into someone that looks like Him, He also wants to mold me for His uses, in every step and every area of my life. He’s constantly molding me anew for each and every use that He’s leading me into.

Jeremiah 18:6 says, “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.”

What would your life look like if you lived wholly in-tune to Holy Spirit? Truly declaring that your life is available for His purposes. I still have a long, long way to go, but I fully believe that a whole life lived according to His vision will be the most fulfilling life out there. I would challenge you to ask God how you can be more flexible and interruptable to His plans, living under His guidance instead of living under the weight of your own expectations! 

Thank you so much for reading!

I would love prayer for me to continue to be completely invested in my time here. Prayer for trust and patience in the revelation of the Lord’s plan, but also for Him to bring clarity for next steps, along the way! Sending love to you all from Guatemala <3