This month is one of my favorite months on the Race, and not just because I’m finally in the country I chose my route for. Vietnam is beauty through and through. It’s what I expected and yet it’s not at all what I expected. I was hoping to be in a tiny village in the middle of the jungle working in rice fields alongside the locals. That was my dream ministry for this month. I had this romantic idea that by living this way, I would finally understand what it meant to be truly alive. Because I thought true hardship and real adventure happened in the wild. I guess I still think that. I wanted to live in the jungle because I thought I’d be living similar to the Special Ops soldiers in the Vietnam War. And living amongst the Vietnamese people would teach me simplicity and a deep appreciation for their pain and suffering during the war.
I expected to love this month. I expected our ministry to be unconventional and new for the Race. I expected to love my team more. I didn’t expect to be living at the beach all month. I didn’t expect to enjoy hanging out with tourists so much. I didn’t expect to experience again and again God’s great and bountiful love for me. I didn’t expect God to answer the questions I’ve been pondering the last few months, and all my life. I expected to pursue my alone time. I didn’t expect to enjoy the constant presence of my team. I didn’t expect to have such great conversations that left me feeling more love and respect for the individuals on my team than I thought was possible. I expected to learn to drive a scooter. I didn’t expect to enjoy riding on the back of one so entirely. I expected to show Christ’s love to the locals and backpackers. I didn’t expect to experience ministry within the team as well. And finally, I definitely didn’t expect the breathtaking view of the pinks and oranges of the sunrise peeking through the rocky islands just off the coast and the ocean slamming against the rocks at the bottom of the cliffs. I feel like the luckiest Daughter in the world.
