Oh Romania. Month 1.
I loved you so much more than I ever thought I would. I didn't think I would miss you, but I do! Your sunsets, your children, your mountains, your ice cream, your grocery store malls, and your simple way of living all helped me set a foundation to my World Race.
Romania was never a country I even caught myself thinking about. Honestly, I never thought about it until I switched to T-Squad and all of the sudden it became my first country.
I have invested some of myself into this country and its people, and now I'm leaving pieces of my heart here in this place that, as far as I was concerned before the Race, didn't exist.
Ministry there was honestly up and down for a lot of people. Because we were with the whole Squad we spread out and did a lot of different things. Some did awesome ministries and others honestly didn't feel used well sometimes. My team got chosen to do prayer/intercession in the mornings and evangelism in the evening. To tell the truth, it wasn't that exciting, but I didn't hate it. We weren't able to talk to that many people most the time, and we had a lot of free time and didn't know what to do. My team didn't get to spend a lot of team time together and because of these things there grew a lot of frustration.
Of course I don't enjoy frustration, but I knew that this was probably good. I wanted it because I knew it was like training for the rest of the year. The World Race is awesome. It's the adventure of a lifetime, but so much of it is frustrating. I just felt like embracing this would be smarter than fighting it.
This month I began to learn so many lessons. It's actually overwhelming. I'm learning from my squad mates, my mentor, my coaches, my squad leaders, and of course the Lord. Part of me thinks I'll never be able to fully grasp the totality of these lessons, but I think that's ok because perhaps if I fully understood it all then I would be Jesus. . . so it's ok if I keep learning for the rest of my life. I gotta start somewhere.
These are 11 things I BEGAN to learn in Romania.
1. I am strong and capable of handling a lot of things emotionally and spiritually and truly be OK. But I must continuously recognize that this strength is not my own. It's His. I cannot attempt to use this strength to take on others burdens or problems. There is a difference in supporting and encouraging someone in the Lord and taking their stuff on as my own.
2. Just because we don't see immediate results from our ministries doesn't mean that we aren't doing ministry or that we aren't being used well.
3.Leadership: As a Team Leader my identity and responsibilities as a leader are not shaped by what my team expects a leader to look like. I don't have to become the leader they want me to be or who they think they would be. I am called to be ME and to follow the Lord. My identity comes from Him and I am here to serve those on my team.
4. Love is a choice. Not a feeling. It's not about my present emotions. I choose to love someone no matter what the situation and no matter what I get back from them
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5. Serve first and push others to be great! Let them shine and empower them to become more in Christ and grow closer to Him.
6. Be ok with unknowns. Let go and fully trust Him. Live with open hands so that He can give and take away as He pleases. Don't always seek to understand everything and just follow the One that does.
7. Check my heart. Make sure I am constantly being filled by Him. I am relational and my most important relationship is with Him. I must focus on maintaining that relationship.
8. I have the ability to read others well, but I need make sure that I see people as God sees them and not trough my own eyes or perception. I must remember that whoever they are, they are worth Jesus dying on the cross.
9.Don't doubt where God has me. Embrace where I am at and know that just because I can't see the purpose or the reason doesn't mean that they don't exist.
10. Seek Him with my whole heart and I will find Him. It is a promise in His Word. I must seek Him even in the small whispers.
11. Frustration can lead to 2 things. . .Patience or Anger. Choose patience. Trust the lesson He is trying to teach me. Know that frustration, if embraced, can help me become a better person and can help me Love easier.
Learning these 11 things don't require coming to Romania. It just so happened that for me this is where God led me and where I began to hear Him speak about these things.
But for you. . .
What is God teaching you? Are you listening? Are you willing to listen and follow?
