It’s 9 different countries.
9 different cultures.
9 different seasons.
9 different goodbyes.
9 months of loneliness, and feeling forgotten about.
9 months of completely falling in love with 50 people.
9 months of sweating summertime.
9 months of the same clothes every day.
9 different currencies.
9 different languages that you have to remember.
9 months without your family and friends.
9 months of missing weddings, births, and birthdays.
9 months of everything you know changing every month.
9 months of sketchy food, and lots of carbs.
9 months of getting sick of the people you see and live with every day.
9 months of painful pruning of your sinful nature.
9 months of more growth then you can imagine.
9 months of feeling exhaustion slowly creeping up on you.
It’s 3 team changes.
Crying in front of people you would never imagine.
And broken heart after broken heart.
Its feeling sadder then you ever thought you could, and more happy then you ever had, all in the same week.
It’s the hardest 9 months your life.
It’s fair to say that after 9 months of being on the race, I have lost the initial joy that I had the first couple of months i was on the field. The first few months everything was new and exciting. Those first few months I wanted to know everyones name, history and language. I came into this Month, month 9, tired, and weary. 9 months is a long time. Then our pastor surprised us with some unexpected news. This months we will be working with 10 other American missionaries (and one Canadian) from AIM (Adventures In Missions, the organization that runs The World Race). We arrived at our house that we are staying in this month, the one that we had previously been expecting to be empty, only to find it full of 8 girls and 3 boys all between the ages of 18 – 22.
They radiate energy,
Joy,
Excitement,
Eagerness,
Desperation.
All of the things that I have been missing, and needing.
The Lord gave me these people to remind me.
They remind me of why I came on the race in the first place.
They remind me that traveling the world is fun,
Learning languages is so interesting,
And that we are so lucky to have the community that we have.
They remind me that it is easy to smile,
Its good to laugh,
And that I truly love the people on my team.
They remind me what hunger for the Lord looks like.
And that the Lord can do anything and everything.
They remind me to watch what I say, and to love at all time.
They remind me of Joy.
God always know what we need, and gives us exactly what that is, even if it is not what we are expecting, or even want. I would never have said that what I needed was a tiny house with 17 people living in it. The Lord knows better then me however. Thank goodness. It would be so easy to look at this month and see all the bad things that comes with having so many people around me all the time. Instead I chose Joy, love, and faith, that all God’s plans are to prosper me and not to hurt me. I choose to look at this month, and see the amazing blessing in it.
Is there any area of your life that God has given you exactly what you need, but you are choosing to look at as a hinderance, or inconvenience? Is the Lord trying to stretch you, grow you, or challenge you, but you are only looking at the pain and sorrow in the situation? Maybe in your struggles, and pains you just need a paradigm shift. Maybe all you need is A reminder of Joy.
