I did a study on Esther a few years ago that has been my favorite study of Esther that I’ve ever done to date. One thing I have carried with me from that study is when it said something along the lines of, “God had a rescue plan in place even before we knew we needed rescuing.” This statement is true for humanity and it’s true for me and for you. His rescue plan doesn’t always look like what we think we’re asking for, but He always gives us abundantly more than we could ever ask or dream (which is mind blowing since I’m such a dreamer). This statement is a beautiful picture of the gospel and also how the Lord works in our lives. He is our provision and sustainer in all things. 

Last weekend, Kelsi, Cora, and I were able to spend a few days in the Colonial Zone doing the 2025 Velvet Ashes EQUIP virtual conference. The full title of this was “Equipped for the Wilderness: Strength, Wisdom, and Provision for the Journey” Although there is so much beauty to be found in this life, it can also sometimes feel like the wilderness, even life here in San Juan. But the Lord has given us strength, wisdom, and provision for the wilderness so that we can draw near to Him and bring glory to Him in all seasons. 

I especially enjoyed keynote speaker Jenny Erlingsson who spoke about the Lord’s provision. 

Just as there is a rescue plan in place before we know we need rescuing, there’s provision before we need it. There’s provision for the here and now when we look back to the cross and when we look back to the moments when the Lord has provided throughout our lives. Maybe provision isn’t just giving us what we need when we need it. Maybe provision is sometimes giving us what we need before we need it. And maybe  to the Lord provision isn’t merely about giving us what we need to merely survive, but maybe it’s about giving us what we need to live a life of abundance in Him (John 16:33). 

As a team, Jeff, Kamanda, Hector, Kelsi, and I have been going through the book of John. To supplement that, I have been doing a study from the Daily Grace Co. called “Come and See: An Invitation to Know and Trust Jesus More Than Ever Before.” I have recommended it to friends because I have enjoyed the study so much and I am only in chapter 5! Up to this point, we see who Jesus is (God in the flesh) and we see His miracles, healings, and teachings. As I’ve gone back through this week’s lessons on chapters 4 and 5, I have had the word provision in my mind as I have reread everything. And among everything we see in these passages, we see the Lord’s provision through Jesus. He is the embodiment of provision for both physical and spiritual needs. He could have just healed one or the other, but he chose to do both. He could have just healed spiritually and never healed what is passing away. But He chose to also heal physically because eternity has already begun. It doesn’t just begin when our physical bodies die. We are already in eternity. And he has given us the key to a life of abundance in the here and now into eternity through Himself. 

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have overcome the world.

John 16:33  

Let’s take a look at the woman at Jacob’s well in John 4. Jesus met her in her shame, but didn’t leave her there. She came looking for water to quench her thirst for the day, but Jesus gave her more than she could ask or imagine. He gave her living water. One thing I haven’t ever really paid attention to in this passage until doing this study was that she left her water jar there. What a symbol of laying down the things you’re searching for satisfaction and security in because you’re satisfied and secure in Jesus! 

I struggle so much with putting pressure on myself to carry everything on my own. To do everything the right way and to do it well. But when I do this, I grow so weary because I put my time with the Lord on the back burner. I am not filled with the living water that satisfies and sustains. And if I’m honest, sometimes here, it feels like if I don’t do it, it won’t get done and then the things pile up. And when my to-do list is long, my mind spirals and the task-paralysis sets in. When I try to sit down and have quiet time, I can’t concentrate because my mind races with all the things on my to-do list that I haven’t yet thought of. I struggle with self-sufficiency, thinking everything will fall apart if I don’t get it done. This has been especially hard for me since we just had 5 teams in a row and I have also been doing sponsor student updates at our schools. I have felt the pressure to make sure everything is taken care of at the guest house while also traveling to the schools. But there is a paragraph of the study I have been doing that has really stuck out to me and has brought me a lot of encouragement. 

 “Apart from Jesus, we are all just broken cisterns trying to hold water (Jeremiah 2:13). We are searching anywhere for satisfaction. We are seeking lives of self-sufficiency, but the water runs right out like a glass filled with cracks. But Jesus offers a better way. In simple faith, He calls us to drink the living water that He extends to us. He calls us to Himself. He calls us to find satisfaction and rest for our souls that can only be found in His name.” 

I can’t hold everything up, nor was I meant to. In these seasons where busyness consumes everything and it’s easy to take my time with the Lord off of my list of priorities is when Jesus wants to meet me where I am just as He tenderly met the Samaritan woman at the well. He invites me to draw from His living water because I am but a broken cistern at best. My soul thirsts for Him, but my mind doesn’t allow me to make time at the well with Him. He meets me in my weariness and attempts at self-sufficiency and fills the cracks of my brokenness until I’m overflowing with His grace and mercy. And this, my friends, is the provision of the gospel at work in my life as I battle busyness and self-sufficiency. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

October Highlights: 

• Sponsor student updates are well underway. We have our schools in Elias Pina, El Cercado, and San Juan very close to being done. I haven’t been able to go to the school in Santo Domingo yet because of the storm, but I will go at the end of next week! I love visiting the schools and getting to see how the students have grown from year to year. Our schools are doing such amazing work and it is incredible to see how the Lord is moving at each of them! I want to give a shoutout to Cora, Hilda, and Yamila who have been helping me while Bianca has been helping Kelsi run medical teams. 
• We had a Pride and Prejudice night with some girls from church! 
• The teams have been great! At this point, they’re just like family coming to visit. I love all of our teams, but I especially enjoy when Jim and Mary Blankenship are here and tell stories about Solid Rock from the very beginning and to hear of how they’ve witnessed the Lord’s faithfulness in this community through this ministry. 
• Christian and Madison came to serve with the team. This was the first time I have met them and I am so excited for them to get back down here and be a part of our team! I think they’ll be a great fit and I’m really looking forward to working with them! 
• Jeff came and took over the guest house for a week so I could be at CCED (our biggest school) for a few days. He even went and played volleyball with me. We had a lot of laughs while he was here and it almost felt like the old days when he and Kamanda were here on the ground with us. It was such a blessing to have him here again for a bit and I’m so thankful that he was able to come and hold down the fort so I could get some work done with student sponsorship! 
• Kelsi, Cora, and I spent a rainy weekend in the Colonial Zone to do a virtual retreat with Velvet Ashes. It was such an incredible time together! It was great to process things we experience with Cora as it related to the videos we were watching. Cora is such a great resource for us because she has both an inside and outside perspective of what we do and experience on a day to day basis. So it was very encouraging to do this retreat with her! We were also able to explore new places in the Colonial Zone which made me fall in love with it even more! 
• Thankfully hurricane Melissa wasn’t bad for us in San Juan. We had several cloudy days and a couple of rainy days, but the guest house didn’t flood! Other parts of the country had worse effects, but I’m thankful we stayed fairly dry here. 

Prayer requests: 

• To prioritize my time with the Lord especially when it’s busy and I have a long to-do list 
• I haven’t been getting restful sleep over the past several months. I am trying to find a place here that can do a sleep study to help me determine what’s going on 
• Christian and Madison as they prepare for a big transition. We are excited for them to be here, but know that leaving home is hard. 
• Continued health and safety for my family back home