I am an introvert. There is no other way to describe it.
If I don’t get a little peace and quiet in the day (or go to bed at a sensible hour) I become a tad irritable.
I love people, I really do. I love being surrounded by other’s laughter and chaos. I love their company and constant conversations. But tell me I am going to be staying in one house with two other teams, my introverted soul panics. That’s eighteen people. In one house. For three months. That’s a lot of peopleness. A lot of peopleness I did not at all think I was ready for.
Here I am, after almost two and a half months of being fully submerged in life in the “Loveshack.” My stubborn self hates to admit it, but I love it. I love it a lot. I don’t want life in this house to ever end. I want to pick up the entire people and contents of this house and transplant them back in Calgary once the Race is over. There are most definitely moments where the only thing I want to do is walk out the front door into some peace and quiet. There are moments where I get frustrated at the amount of dirty dishes not done, or the fact there is another argument over who paid for the last Uber we took or who ate someone’s peanut butter.
Those moments are greatly outnumbered by the moments I’ll miss. The moments where we are all sitting in the living room as people make up songs about anything and everything. The moments where you walk into the house to a chorus of people welcoming you home with a thousand and one questions. The moments where everyone is trying to make grilled cheese sandwiches on one panini press. I love falling asleep knowing I will wake up the next morning to a house filled with some of my favorite people.
I have never experienced this kind of community before.
I am doing life with these people. Walking in the Lord with these people. Working for Jesus with these people. This community is raw. This has become community that I crave. I have heard it over and over again preached that Jesus didn’t intend for us to do this walk alone. Now I understand. People are vessels of His love and communicators of his message. People are here to push you, to listen to you, to keep you accountable, and to love you.
I never expected to love this life as much as I do, but Jesus did. He knew that I needed these relationships in my life. People who will be here now, as well as forever. And that is so cool. He has put me so far outside of my comfort zone that I don’t think I have a comfort zone anymore.
Love your favorite little introvert,
Jill
This past little bit we have been running an afterschool program in an area called Westlake. Westlake is often described as a misused community. Since it is in a very central location, it has become an excellent center for drug trade and trafficking. At the program we help with homework, sing lots of songs, play games, and tell Bible stories. The past few days we have also been refurnishing and pulling weeds in the Westlake community garden. We have recently been granted access into the Westlake School, and we are hoping to start ministry in the school soon! We would love prayer for safety and for many divine appointments as we finish off our last month here in South Africa!
Month 5 is now done, and we have two videos!
