"for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'" Romans 10:13-15

As I look down at my feet at the end of the day, believe me when I say they are anything but beautiful! My feet already have the tan lines of my chaco sandals; they are disgustingly dirty along with the two wet wipes I have already gone through trying to wash them off; and only remnants remain of the beautiful pedicure I got before leaving home. Like I said, my feet are anything but beautiful. 

However, as I look down at my feet I begin to smile as a great realization sweeps across my mind. Oh how the Lord is full of paradoxes... to become great is to become nothing, to live is to die, to have beautiful feet has noting to do with the actual appearance of the feet. This paradox makes complete sense to me as I think about the many reasons why my feet look sobeautifully disgusting:

They look this way because of the hours of walking all over the beautiful dusty roads of San Juan, Dominican Republic building relationships with these people and prayer walking their community.     They look this way because the hunt for the beautifulAmerican delicacy of peanut butter and jelly ended successfully.   They look this way because of hours of playing soccer, volleyball, makeshift basketball, pato pato ganso (duck duck goose), tag, and so much more with the beautiful children of San Juan. 

I think you get the point, and so did I! I thank God so much for revealing himself to me in the most simple and real ways. This revelation became my prayer for each day here in San Juan. Lord please give me beautifully dirty and disgusting feet every single day!

Just so you know, launch is over and we are now in full time ministry. My team will be doing a variation of things including some sports ministry, VBS, nursing home visits and cleaning, and whatever else the Lord lays on our heart. Mostly we are focused on building relationships with these amazing people, hearing their story, and daily showing them the Love of our Father! Thank you for your prayers and more blogs and hopefully pictures will be coming soon.