As I wrap up month 3 of this trip, I have been reminded of something that I found allows a much more joyful outlook on life. As the title suggests, that reminder is that the best things in life tend to be completely unplanned.
I have begun to think of these awesome moments – moments that completely catch us by surprise – as little winks from God to remind us that He always has something great up His sleeve, even if we have no idea what.
To better explain how I was reminded of this, I have two situations that may seem insignificant, but are memories that I will always remember fondly.
The first, which is one of my favourite memories in Ecuador, was the last night Jordan and I spent in Baños when we visited last week. For most of that trip, we hung out at an adventure company called Geo Tours because we had become good friends with the awesome guys who work there. We were sitting in the open doorway, trying to figure out what to do since we had a couple hours to kill before our plans that we had later that night. Suddenly, a dog that we had seen trotting around town all day came up to us and laid down inside Geo Tours. Because dogs aren’t allowed in businesses, the guys tried to kick him out, but we managed to convince them to let him stay.
Unbeknownst to us, that dog was the start of a very interesting gathering.
As we sat there, a surprisingly intelligent (and very drunk) man named Jorge began passionately quizzing us on the capitals of countries around the world. Before we knew it, he stopped a girl from Finland who was simply walking down the street eating ice cream, and began quizzing her as well. As time passed, more people showed up. An awesome Columbian girl who we had met earlier that day showed up out of nowhere, followed by a kind Bosnian man who simply thought we looked like a fun group.
The night was filled with a lot of laughter, the man from Bosnia telling us about his life as a refugee, Jordan trying – to no avail – to show Jorge a magic trick, and a whole lot of diversity (an American, a Canadian, a Bosnian, a Finnish girl, a Columbian, a few Ecuadoreans, and a dog). Needless to say, it was an awesome night that was the last thing we ever expected.
Our lovely friends in Baños (Jorge and the dog not pictured)
The second unexpected yet delightful encounter that I had happened the night I left Cuenca.
That night, we had a going away party of sorts after our Bible study. I ended up meeting someone whom I had never met before, and it was evident that we had a great connection. As we sat on the stairs talking, I couldn’t help but think about how great it would have been if we had met at the beginning of my two months in Cuenca rather than an hour before I was leaving. Despite that desire to have met them earlier, I simply focused on enjoying the moment and being grateful that I met them, even if it was for such a short amount of time.
When I think about these encounters, I wonder why God decided to only allow me a few hours to spend with the awesome people I met in Baños, or why I spent 2 months in Cuenca and only met that other person two hours before I was scheduled to leave.
Even though I don’t always understand, I know God has His reasons and that I can always trust them. These encounters have allowed me to see that, even though it may be disappointing to say goodbye after such a short amount of time, that doesn’t take away from the value of the time spent with whomever I meet. Considering I will be saying a lot of goodbyes on this trip – in fact, I already have said a lot of hard goodbyes – I am so grateful that God has taught this to me early on. No matter how long I have with people – whether it is 3 months, 3 days, or 30 minutes – the value of the relationship doesn’t decrease.
In life, it is easy to be so focused on where you’re headed that you miss out on so many amazing things along the way. Whether it is an encounter with a specific person or an experience that you will never forget, by not giving God a little wiggle room to throw some awesome little twists into your life, you could be missing out on some of the best moments of your life. When things don’t go as planned, simply take a deep breath, smile, and joyfully move forward and look for what wonderful thing God may be doing.
Side note: I am still $2,695 USD away from being fully funded!! In order to stay on this trip, I need to be fully funded by the end of January, so please consider donating if you’re able! Thank you for all of your support and prayers so far!
