delayed gratification

I got accepted for this trip in march, I was so excited! Those next 5 months of waiting went by slow but I was still so full of anticipation! Then august 27th came,  the day I was waiting on for so long, my bags were packed, I said my goodbyes and left for the airport. The first week in Georgia was really hard and long, and I was just ready to be out in the mission field, but I had another week to wait. When our two weeks came to an end in Georgia, the excitement was at an all time high. We were leaving for Nicaragua finally after all this time, this was what I was looking forward to for so many months!! we packed up our sleeping pads, tents, and pillows and arrived at the alanta airport at 11:30pm, we all sprawled out all over the floor and tried to get some sleep before we had to be up at 4:30am. 3 flights and 1 layover later we finally landed in costa rica! We were all exhausted as we gathered up our luggage from the baggage claim and walked out of the airport to wait on the bus that was going to drive us to Nicaragua. As we were waiting, I received the news that I had tested positive for COVID, along with another squad mate. (To be able to cross the border into Nicaragua we need to have a negative test). Later that night at midnight our squad all arrived at the hostel we had booked, sadly when morning came around we had to stay behind while the rest of our squad headed into Nicaragua. It has been 5 days since we first arrived here, and we retested this morning. The news that we received was not what we had hoped it would be.. I am still positive. I am looking at another week or so of being quarentined.

As I sit here processing this all.. waiting still waiting to be with our ministry hosts.  The word that comes to my mind is delayed gratification. I can only hope that the lord has something much bigger in store, I am learning to lean into him more, and trusting that his plans are much greater then what I had thought they were. The lord is teaching me that in “waiting” that is were I need to have joy, and I can  have hope because everything happens for a reason. He is still good. He is still faithful. He is still God. He is so mighty so powerful. I am not worthy to be loved by Him. 

I would appreciate prayers! Knowing that I have such a strong supporttive group at home, makes this much more dueable! 
I love each and every one of y’all! 
                                                           marilyn