I remember sitting in the car with my family when I was about 8 years old. We were on deputation to go to Cuba. As I sat in the backseat of the car, I listened to my dad talk to my sister about his burden for the Spanish speaking people. I overheard my sister, who was about 15 at the time, tell my dad that she wanted to be a missionary to Mexico. Those words planted a seed in my heart about being a missionary. I began to realize that eventually, God would have me do something for Him and I thought about the possibility of it being missions work. A few years later, I was reminded of that conversation as I read my Bible and came across this verse, “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalms 126:6 In that moment, I felt the Lord calling me to be a missionary.
Many things transpired between that point and the summer of 2015 to keep me in prayer about being a missionary. My husband and I had been praying about Spain since before we were engaged and God, in many ways, opened the door for us to take a survey trip to Barcelona. While there, I came across Psalms 45:10, “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house.” It seemed clear that this is what the Lord wanted, now we just had to wait for His timing.
In 2017, at a church revival meeting, the congregation sang the hymn “Day by Day". Our pastor remarked that the song was one for missionaries to cling to. A short time later, my husband came and asked me to start praying for him and our calling to Spain, I did just that. The next day the Lord gave me the passage in Joshua 18:3, “…How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?” I thought I was reading into things a little too much until I went to work and turned on the radio to hear Alexander Scorby reading Deuteronomy 1:6-8, “…Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: Turn you, and take your journey… Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers…” Right after that the hymn "Day by Day" began to play. I was so excited, and I wanted to tell Justin, but I thought I should wait for the Lord to make it clear to him first.
In my mind, I pictured him coming and telling me what the Lord showed him about Spain and then I would tell him what the Lord showed me and we would have this amazing "AHA!" moment. I might have even pictured angels singing... But, to say the least, it didn't quite happen like that... I waited a week for him to tell me, then two weeks, and before you know it a month passed, and Justin still hadn't said anything else about Spain. I began to think that maybe that's not what the Lord wanted and that I read into things.
In the meantime, we had already planned a trip to Colorado for a family vacation. It's always been a dream of mine to live in Colorado and I thought that maybe while we were there, Justin might get some divine revelation that we were supposed to move there instead of being missionaries (oh how fickle the human heart can be). Well, there certainly was divine revelation, but not only to Justin. On our first night there, we went to the downtown Colorado Springs area and lo and behold, there, waving in the wind was not only a Spanish flag but a Catalan flag (the region we're called to) alongside it. I was in the process of pretending like I didn't see it when Justin tapped me on the shoulder and pointed it out. In that moment, the Lord gave me the reassurance that we were called to Spain.
As I reread over this testimony, I'm so thankful for the Lord's faithfulness. In all the times I've doubted or wavered to believe what He so evidently laid out for me in scripture, He's still been so good to patiently remind me. I might also state that I have no doubt of our calling to the mission field and, I'm so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to be a part of the ministry the He has called Justin into.