It’s hard to believe that month 9 just came and went! Some days it seems like just yesterday I was in South Africa thinking, "Would I ever make it to month 11?!" And here I am with two months to go thinking, "How in the world am I going to transition back to life in America?"
This month Abba answered that lingering question in my mind through ministry and by a very special week in which my Dad and bonus-mom joined me in Romania.
The answer is simple. Its an answer I've been living out on the race for the past 9 months, and it's something that I must continue long after the race ends: Together, one step at a time.
Together is such a precious word and I'm so thankful that God didn't intend his people to do things alone. He desires his people to join together and become one as He is one with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In Jesus's prayer right before he was arrested he prays, "Holy father, protect them by the power of your name-the name you gave me- so that they may be one as we are one." -John 17: 11
There's a sense of protection from being together, and Jesus himself thought it was important enough to be one of the last things he prayed for.
The second part of the answer is stepping into all that God has for me right now.
"The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him.." -Psalm 37:23
I don't know what many of those steps are currently, but I know God does. My job is to delight in Him and trust that He will lead me confidently exactly where he wants me.
Right now that looks like me not spending all my time wandering back to my return but instead being fully present here in Romania, and then Moldova and Albania. Being fully present with my family of B-squad and my sweet team of 6 phenomenal women. No other time in life will I have the opportunity to be poured into and pour out Jesus in this way, so I'm going to soak up every moment.
The first way Jesus answered this question was through my squad. We were all together for the third time on the race. Tight living quarters, limited number of toilets that had to be shared with 43 people, and never enough clothes line to hang wet laundry, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
We ate dinner together around large tables, studied The Word together, challenged ourselves to do a fast together, prayed together and served together. It was a sweet time to get to know some more of the people I hadn't had the opportunity to connect with thus far on the race and go deeper with those I already knew. We became even more like family and if I had been too focused on life back in America I would have missed so many sweet conversations, laughs, and cuddle sessions!
They were my together, one step at a time!
The next way Jesus answered my question was through my Dad and bonus-mom coming to Romania during a special week called the Parent Vision Trip. During this week my two worlds collided, and it had been something I had been praying for for years. My dad and bonus mom got to see what makes me indescribably happy: serving Jesus around the world. Not only did they get to see it or hear me talk about it, they got to join me in it. Those moments were precious and ones that I will cherish forever. I was reminded that Jesus' timing isn't a second too late or a second too early. Its perfect. For that week they were my together, one step at a time!
The last way Jesus answered my question was through my team and the ministry we did this month. We had the privilege of being the traveling team which meant we got to leave a few days a week to do ministry in villages. Ministry ranged from playing soccer with children, to weeding gardens, to picking grapes, to sorting through corn stalks, to sharing testimonies, to singing, to praying for local missionaries, to encouraging the missionaries that are here in Romania long after were gone. God hand picked our team because he knew its exactly what we needed. Plans changed but it was still so evident that we were right in the middle of Gods will this month. This is something we could only see as we took it together, one step at a time.
As you look at glimpses of my time in Romania I challenge each of you to embrace the "together" you are with currently. Whether that's your biological family, your church family, your friends, or colleagues. Find new ways to pour into them and learn to receive what they have for you as well. Life's about doing it together one step at a time.
