You know those mornings when you just can’t fully convince yourself to get out of bed. Yep. That was this morning. I woke up thinking, “No way am I paying attention to my alarm.” Then I remembered…
Prayer walk…
Ministry with the church…
Squad leader…
I know there is free and all, but I felt like outside pressures (like titles and peers) really weren’t giving me an option.
I’m pretty sure I was half sleepwalking the first 10 minutes. When we arrived to the base of the “hill” (*cough, small mountain, cough*), the burning sensation in my legs forced me to wake up. Thankfully, I had some trusted squad mates to keep me company along the way. We told stories, laughed, pressed through the pain. It was grand.
Side Note: As I’m writing this, I’m realizing that it sounds waaayyyy more dramatic than it actually was. I pretty much got up at 6:30 am and went for a 20 minute walk with some awesome friends. Just go with me on this…
So after conquering the treacherous journey to the top of a mountain that makes Everest look like an anthill, I looked around me in awe! A 360 degree view of Durres! There was the city and the sea, buildings and ships. Breath-taking! In addition to the view, I immediately saw something else; we were not alone on this hill.
I saw two guys sitting in the grass, eyes closed, speaking in…German! What the what?? Come to find out, we were amongst a group of German and Swiss missionaries. It was really cool! As one of my squadmates, Josh, said, “Different people from different nations and languages came together to pray for people from a different nation and language.”
As Josh and I stood there smiling over the situation, I was struck with something deep and profound: We are really weird. Seriously. Take us out of context and you have a group of grown adults, walking around a hill, talking/singing to themselves, early in the morning, for no apparent reason. Yeah…we really are weird!
Side Note: I was telling this same thing to God at the time to which He laughed and said, “Haha! Yes, you are! That’s what I like about you!”
Put us back in context though and you get something pretty powerful. Random strangers, coming together under God, to fight an unseen battle, alongside other believers in a different region of the world, who are fighting that same spiritual battle. There is a underlying tone, feeling, energy, vibe, whatever-you-want-to-call-it that can’t really even be put into words but speaks volumes in those moments.
Something is happening. I’m seeing it every where I go. It’s like the calm before a storm, the drumroll before the big reveal, that couple-second-moment right after a firework is shot into the air but right before it explodes. The crowd goes silent, the anticipation is building.
I’ll never be able to document this whole journey. I’ll never be able to fully convey what is happening. But I promise you, this isn’t the only place it’s happening. If you want to know what this is for yourself, all you have to do it step outside your front door and ask, “God, open my eyes to the things unseen for Your glory.” And then hold on tight, it’s going to be a crazy ride!
