“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

— Psalm 37:4

In October, I told my parents that I did not have enough money to come back home for Christmas. Instead, I was going to stay at the Mission and work for them all December. It honestly hurt, because I didn’t want to be alone here while everyone else was enjoying vacation. I didn’t want to work. I had this rough cough that wouldn’t go away, and it kept me up at nights. I thought I had it because I never got to eat healthy food and exercise, but God showed me different.

The weekend when everyone left, when I was at church, God opened my eyes to an “addiction” that I had–and that was work. Since I arrived at the Mission, and honestly even before that–I had not rested or giving myself a break to relax and recharge. It was constant work. And even if I wasn’t doing something for school or had a weekend off, I didn’t rest–I was always going to groceries or doing chores.

And when God explained to me what was going on–why I was so sick–I asked for rest. But I remember I told him, “If you give me an opportunity to rest, I will take it. I just ask that I get to go to Mexico City because most of my friends that I want to be with are there.” Keep in mind I didn’t tell anyone about this. This was between me and God.

The next Monday, I had my first day of working at Rancho–and it sucked. There was so much, and I was so stressed. So that night I went to Villas for groceries (but honestly also just to get out of there) with my friends Monique and Aldair. As we were going through one of the stores, I received a phone call from my friend Fanny (who was in Mexico City at that time). She said to put Aldair on the phone so he could translate for her, because her parents had a gift for my birthday which was that Wednesday.

After a few minutes, Aldair told me I had to pack my bags. When I asked why, he said it was because I was going to Mexico City for the month. Like, the whole month. God answered my prayer! As my birthday gift, Fanny’s parents bought me a plane ticket to go to Mexico City, and they paid for every expense on my trip. And not only did I get to spend time with Fanny’s family, but I saw almost all of my friends who live in Mexico City, and I traveled to Toluca, which is a few hours from Mexico City. 

This really showed me that not only does God answer prayers, or help us, but He also cares about the things we want–the things that we desire. He didn’t have to send me to Mexico City–He could have sent me back to Pennsylvania with my family. I think it’s really cool that that specific door opened up, because it helped me to see that God is the perfect gift giver, and that He really cares for us and for the desires of our hearts.

I want to use this to encourage you. I understand at times we don’t feel like God listens to us, or that He doesn’t give “good gifts.” But I promise–He knows you better than you know yourself. And He knows those secret desires buried deep in your heart, so I encourage you to give those to Him, because He knows how to give it to you. 

He did it for me, and I know that He’s going to do it again, because I asked Him. And He promised me He would. He will do the same thing for you too, if you just ask.