How has the Lord been compassionate toward me?
This is a question my Spiritual Director from Barnabas International asked me during our last meeting.
We all know the Sunday school answer: God sent His only Son to live a perfect life, willingly give Himself up to pay the debt I could never pay, and defeat death once and for all. And that answer is wonderfully true. But if I’m honest, sometimes I struggle to connect that truth to my everyday life.
If you’ve been following my journey here in the Dominican Republic, you know I recently walked through a difficult season. At the time, I didn’t feel like the Lord was being compassionate toward me. If anything, I felt like He had left me to the wolves.
Now that I’m in a much healthier place, I can look back and see that His compassion was written all over that season.
I still don’t know the full purpose of why He allowed me to walk through it, but I can trust that it wasn’t in vain. Somehow, someday, He will use it for His glory.
I see His compassion in the people who faithfully prayed for me and checked in on me. I see it in His calling me to remain here in the DR and continue serving. I see it in the retreat in Italy that I never would have attended and the incredible cross-cultural women I never would have met had I not walked through that valley. I see it in how He taught me to cling to Him when I had nothing else to hold onto. I see it in bringing me through the storm. And I still see Him continuing to work in my heart because of that experience.
Looking back now, I can definitely say that He never left me. Not even for a second.
All I can say is, thank You, Jesus!
We just wrapped up our last VBS team of 2026, and it was an incredible summer! I always love hosting VBS teams, but this one felt extra special. It was such a joy to reconnect with old friends, meet new ones, and watch the Lord work through each team that came.
While the back-to-back weeks of hosting can be physically exhausting, I found myself feeling surprisingly full, even energized, by the sweet connections and the conversations we shared. The Lord used so many people this summer to encourage my heart, and I’m incredibly grateful.
Outside of VBS, there have been so many other things to celebrate!
I had the privilege of attending both CCED’s and Eastern’s graduation ceremonies. It’s hard to believe this was the third CCED graduation I’ve been able to attend! Bianca and I spent the night in Santo Domingo so we could be present for Eastern’s graduation. It was the first time we have been able to go an support Eastern’s students at their graduation, and it was beautiful to celebrate the accomplishments of both the sponsor students and their classmates.
During Eastern’s graduation, they played a song called Color Esperanza. It was one of the first songs I learned in Spanish in high school. Hearing it again all these years later, connected to how I’m serving in the DR now, felt surreal. The song talks about persevering through hardships, painting your face with the color of hope, and stepping into the future with courage. While it isn’t a Christian song, its message of hope has always been deeply meaningful to me, and hearing it that day was both encouraging and nostalgic.
Another sweet celebration was surprising our friend Jess, a missionary with another organization, with a baby shower for her sixth baby! It was such a precious afternoon spent loving on her. We painted onesies, which was so fun. I painted little sunshines on mine in memory of my Grandpa John and told Jess that every time the baby wears it, she has to sing “You Are My Sunshine” because that’s what he always sang to me.
Kelsi, Madison, Bianca, Hilda, Eunice and I went to Juan Dolio for a girls’ trip to celebrate Hilda’s birthday. It was nice to get away from San Juan for a couple of days. Hilda has been one of my closest friends since I moved here, so it was a gift to celebrate a sweet friend who has been such an encouragement to me.
I’ve also had blast creating content for our social media this summer. Between photos, videos, and all the random ideas I convince our teams and our staff to participate in, we’ve made some fun memories—and thankfully they’ve all been great sports!
One of my favorite unexpected adventures this month happened because a VBS team’s flight was delayed by a day, leaving me with a free evening in Santo Domingo. My friend Ayelen and I decided to see the new live-action Moana. She wanted to watch it in English, but the only showing available was in 4D. Neither of us knew what that meant! Once the movie started, our seats began moving, water sprayed in our faces, wind blew through the theater, and lights flashed all around us. We laughed through the entire movie. It was such a nice, unexpected surprise! Later, I watched it again in San Juan with Jess and her girls so I could see the Spanish version. I’m always impressed by how well musicals are translated and dubbed into Spanish nowadays.
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in the Punta Cana airport waiting to board my flight to North Carolina! Angel and I are headed to Camp Linn Haven to spend a week helping with service projects in the mountains of NC. I’m excited to spend time with family, serve at camp, and introduce Angel to one of my favorite places in North Carolina. Lizzie and Brayden (last year’s summer interns) will also be there! I’m so excited for all of us to be at camp together!
As I reflect on these past few months, I can’t help but see God’s compassion woven into every part of them. Just a short while ago, I struggled to feel His presence. Now, I can look back and see that He was caring for me in countless ways I couldn’t recognize.
This summer has been such a beautiful reminder of His nearness to and compassion for me. The tears in my previous season weren’t wasted. The hard season wasn’t meaningless. He was present in every moment, and now He’s allowing me to rejoice in His goodness.
My cup feels so full! Praise Jesus!
Thank you to each of you who have prayed for me, encouraged me, and faithfully partnered with what God is doing here. You have been one of the many ways the Lord has shown His compassion to me, and I am so grateful.
Prayer Requests
- Safe travels
- A sweet, refreshing week at camp
- Health and safety for me, my family, and my friends.
- That the Lord would continue to open my eyes each day to recognize how He is moving and pouring out His compassion in my life
- I’m currently raising support for the upcoming year, and there are lots of exciting things coming up (so stay tuned!). Please pray that the Lord would provide 10 new monthly supporters who feel led to partner with me in supporting my ministry responsibilities through a gift of at least $25 per month. Please join me in praying that I will continually trust Him to faithfully provide for all that He has called me to. If you feel led to be one of those supporters, please click here!
