Father, Son, & Holy Spirit y Dios

The rest of my team is off to Bajo Grande for the weekend, a small town in the mountains for a short-term missions trip with some students. I am left holding down the fort here in Panama City as my current physical condition isn't at a place where I can handle the conditions. So...it's me, myself & I along with 1 000 000 Panamanians for the weekend. But I have decided to forgo the Independence day celebrations that the rest of the city is partaking in to spend some quality time alone with God. And this is where my title comes in...

Father, Son, & Holy Spirit y Dios. A couple of weeks ago my team was jokingly discussing how Dios (God in Spanish) is the forth part of the trinity. Maybe not theologically correct, but there is an element of truth to the equation. There is a new side of God that I am experiencing for the first time here in Panama, Spanish God, Dios.

I think a lot of it is language, English is missing some words. Take the world 'love' for example. In English we say "I 'love' pizza" in the same breathe the we say "I 'love' my sister". Do we really feel the same way about pizza that we do our families? Spanish on the other hand has more than ten words for 'love'.

The same is true with God. El Senor, Dios, Padre, El Rey, our Lord, our God, our Father, our King. We came to Panama to show Panamanians how they can know God personally, but in doing this we're getting to know God personally in a whole new way. Being placed in a situation where you can solely depend on God you're given a unique opportunity to get to know God in a whole new way. It is really too bad that language stops us from experiencing all there is of God, or maybe more correctly being able to rely to others our exact experience.

While on STINT we are blessed with the opportunity to take one day a month as "a day alone with God". I look forward to these days, they are refreshing like nothing else. Its incredible, after a four day weekend interacting with few other than a couple of store clerks and a couple of phone calls home to friends and family, I crave nothing more than what I will experience on Wednesday, even after this weekend. I highly encourage you, if you don't take an entire day once a month or every six weeks for yourself and God, do it. He'll rock your world. I am not suggesting a day of solitude, though if that's what you need, go for it. I am suggesting a day free of distractions, a day completely free of responsibilities with school, or at the office, or whatever...clear the day and let God direct it. Maybe you'll be blessed by experiencing God in a whole new way, like I am experiencing Dios here in Panama.