Screw ordinary, I want radical. These were the first words that came out of our hosts mouth as he started our very first meeting with us.
My thought was YES. This was some of the very reasons I left home in the first place. I didn’t want ordinary. I wanted something more, more of God. To see God in new ways. I wanted to live the radical for Christ.
So what happens when you reach your seventh month, and take a look around. You look and see that even though you sleep in strange places, live in new countries, and have become a pro at not needing to hold on while riding on the back of a motorcycle, while 3 of your friends are piled in the side cart. You look around and see that everything has become ordinary.
I sit on my bed talking/crying with a teammate. My feelings are hurt, only God knows why. If I look at the root of why these tears are unexpectedly streaming down my face, it is so much more than hurt feelings. At the root of it, I am disappointed.
I’m disappointed in myself. I have let things become ordinary, and I don’t just mean the sights and wonders I experience. I still am overcome by sunsets in every country. But I have let my walk with God slip into the ordinary.
I have stopped praying for miracles. I have forgotten that I have left home wanting to see the gifts of the Spirit in action. I have shrugged prayer off as a good thing, but have forgotten that it is necessary and vital. But mostly I have sat back and watched. I’ve watched and let other people volunteer. I’ve watched as our squad grumbled and complained about the fact our squad was having yet again, another month all together.
As I sat on my bed, I decided this is it. I have 4 months left. I need to remember and strive to become the person I have set out to be.
So this is my start.
It starts with prayer, and praying for each other.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
James 5:16 NIV
Here’s to making the most of these next 4 months. To not take for granted this unique opportunity God has given me, to not let it become ordinary, and to remembering why I left home in the first place.
(Coming soon: how I have started to put this into motion.)
