I find myself getting comfortable with this lifestyle. It is becoming normal everyday life but in reality I am not living a normal life. I live in one country for one month and then leave and head to another country. I have found that I just go through the motions and don’t really notice the significance of what I am getting to do.
I don’t want to be comfortable. I never want to be at a point in my life where I am completely comfortable. I never want to take for granted the opportunities that God is giving me every day no matter where I am.
So far on the race I have not felt called to do long-term missions. This feels like a season of my life and when it is over I will take what I have learned and I will apply it to my everyday life back home.
I have discovered a continued desire and greater passion to live a simpler life and also to be a stay-at-home mom. Being in Ethiopia this month has given me a desire to cook, bake, garden, and sew more. I want to appreciate the resources that God has given me. The people of Ethiopia only know gardening with hand tools or harvesting hay by hand or using donkeys to transport water or groceries. Ever since entering this country I have felt as though I am living in Bible times. We are living in the “desert” aka dry season and all around me there are shepherds herding their sheep, cows, or goats or a combo of all three and there are donkeys pulling carts and people riding horses as their mode of transportation. It’s amazing and humbling to see. We are SO spoiled in America. We literally have a machine of some kind for just about everything.
One stereotype that Americans have here in Africa is that we don’t really know how to do anything because we have a machine for everything. In Uganda, they were amazed that we knew how to cut up fruit; in Rwanda, they were shocked that we knew how to hand wash clothing. It frustrated me that America has been given that stereotype. We have it so easy at home and reflecting on these past 5 ½ months has made me appreciate everything that I have been given but it has also made me want to live a simpler life when I get back home.
I don’t want to get comfortable with a routine of getting up every morning and going to work then coming home and relaxing and then doing it all over the next day. I want to be challenged every day to make a difference in my community. I may end up with a 9-5 job for a bit of time but I truly believe that God can use that and can challenge me to make the most of that job. I don’t have to move overseas to make a difference or to be uncomfortable. There are so many people in our local communities who need Jesus just as much as each person overseas. Maybe God will call me back overseas but as of this halfway point I am not feeling that call and I believe there is work to be done in our own country and local communities.
With that being said, I am so grateful that God has given me this opportunity to experience his church all around the world. My eyes have been opened up to so many different cultures and styles of worship and ways of life and I am excited to bring what I have learned back to American soil. I believe that experiencing the world is a great way to put things in perspective and really understand what this world is like. It is a great reminder of how extremely blessed we are.
So with that being said and coming back to my original point of not wanting to be comfortable, I want to challenge you to look at each day as a challenge. Find joy in your 9-5 job. Don’t take for granted your tiller when it comes time for gardening. (I dare you to try hand tilling your garden.) Maybe decide to give up one comfort each day. Take a cold bucket shower. Walk or ride your bike to work. (Maybe wait until it warms up though J. Try using no electricity for a whole day. Turn off the TV and read a book. Turn off your phone for one day. Give up social media for a week. Have an actual face-to-face conversation with your family or friends.
Give one of these a try. I guarantee that you will realize how amazingly blessed you are and will maybe even want to continue doing one of these. Or not. All I ask is that you thank God every day for hot showers, western toilets, (even though squatties aren’t that awful), Internet access at your finger tips, your tiller, your car, your TV and every other thing that we take for granted every day.
Challenge yourself.
Choose joy in each moment.
Live uncomfortably.
See how God changes your perspective.
~Andrea
P.S. If you decide to give one of these suggestions a try I would love to hear about it J
