Eight months ago I stepped off a plane into a country I had never been too, with a language a knew very little of, meeting people I had never met before. You can imagine how I felt.

It’s very easy for me to focus on where I need to go next, the next goals I should be accomplishing, the next task I need to do, etc… I think for me, and other like me, it’s easy to get lost on how far we’ve come if the goal hasn’t been reached. The problem I’ve experienced with this, is that any sort of big goal takes time. Some things can’t be achieved in a year.

This is when I came to realize the importance of progress. Our relationship with God will never be perfect. Our attitudes will never be perfect. Our responses to anger will never be perfect. This doesn’t mean we stop working on those things. We need to celebrate small victories. For me, learning a language has been hard to find something positive, because I make so many mistakes, all day long. It’s hard to be encouraged when my lens is showing me a big L on my forehead for loser. I feel defeated.

I started having to tell myself every night before bed one ‘small win’ for the day with speaking Spanish. And you know what? It helped. Every day I pass trash bins on my way to work. It’s a reminder for me to throw away all negative perceptions and hopeless attitude. It’s my reminder that GRACE is here and that Jesus wants me to be content with where I am. I get to walk in freedom, not in a place weighed-down by all the things I can’t do.

My friend reminded me of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 : “…So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger fro Satan to keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

When I feel like giving up, I remember that God has PURPOSE in our weaknesses. God works THROUGH the weaknesses. If I were fluent in Spanish, I feel right now the testament I bring wouldn’t be as strong. Would it help? Of course. But God has a bigger purpose right now. Sometimes we need to show others our struggles to remind them of God’s power.  I always say, “If God can send me to Spain and use me abundantly here, then He is able to do anything.” Only a God of THIS magnitude would be able to work through such a barrier and bring Glory to Himself through it.

So as I pass those garbage bins every day, I am reminded how powerful my God is. I remember what He is capable of, and I surrender all my fears and inadequacies to Him. For God does not call the equipped, but He equips the called.