*Believe it or not, I still have to tell myself it’s okay to flush the toilet paper down the toilet and then force my hand to drop it. Some habits are hard to break!
*The other day we had a family BBQ but ran out of plates just in time for cake and ice cream. My first instinct was to say, “No problem; you can use my plate when I’m finished!” I forget that Americans don’t typically do that; you know, share eve…ry…thing.
*Time is lost on me. I typically don’t know the hour let alone the day of the week or even the month! I get confused about what season it is and have realized that when talking about the past, I need to add a year of time to almost every story.
*Speaking of time, I now refer to it by countries rather than months.
These are just a few silly, little changes I’ve noticed in myself. I could go on, but all-in-all I have been shocked at how smooth it’s been to transition into “Month 12: AMERICA.” I suppose that’s partly due to the preparation our leaders gave us and partly due to the fact that we are used to change and transition by now. (Change pretty much defined our life this past year.)
The thing I’ve missed the most is being with a group of people that are so like-minded; starting every day together in prayer and seeing every opportunity as one to minister. The thing about ministering to people is that it’s so much easier and works so much better when we’re functioning as a body. We lived out the five-fold ministry (Ephesians 4) this year, and after experiencing the anointing in working together, I don’t ever want to minister another way. (I’ll have to write another blog soon about that.)
So back to processing the transition.
I’ve had such a warm welcome from so many people, and I have seen how much I am loved. The hard part for me is knowing how to begin relaying the stories and experiences I’ve had. I’m not a huge talker, and although the Race started off as a big adventure, ministering to people around the world became normal life. Seeing them with a KINGDOM perspective became natural. And although I am dying to share my experiences, I don’t like to exaggerate the truth.
For a lot of the same reasons, processing has been tough. One of my best processing moments happened when waiting tables at my parents’ restaurant last week. Some guy I had never met started asking me all sorts of questions with an earnest desire to hear my perspective. He’s not gone far from the small town in Nebraska where he was raised. However, he’s had a few experiences that have taught him to approach life with an open rather than closed mind.
