Our first Friday in Serbia (August 12), my team had the opportunity to serve at a kids’ camp in Novi Sad. As part of the evening, the kids had a royal ball. The boys all brought knight costumes and the girls all looked like princesses. We had the opportunity to do the girls’ hair before the ball. There was a tiny girl named Deborah who spoke no English and had crazy, blonde, curly hair like mine. I had smiled at her a few times, so when we sat down in their picnic area, she came over and sat by me. I offered to do her hair, and I attempted to braid the curls back. When I was finished, she smiled and ran off to play with the other kids. Later that night, she came over to me, hugged me, kissed my cheek, and flashed the biggest smile I had seen from her all night. The simple act of having her hair done gave her so much joy, and I was reminded how beautiful true joy is.
My lovely teammates and I couldn’t resist taking a picture in a prayer room made of vines.
My first year of college, I was reminded that joy is a choice we make and not dependent on our circumstances. We can choose to step into the joy of the Lord in the midst of the deepest of pain, or we can let or circumstance dictate how we feel. I lived in the truth of that during my second year of college, resting in the joy of the Lord through my hardest semester and rounds of trials. But I forgot that about a year ago, and I started to resent the Lord for the circumstances I was facing instead of resting in his peace. It took a toll on my soul, but I hadn’t realized how much my joy had disappeared until now.
Isn’t Novi Sad lovely?
Here in Novi Sad, the joy radiates from the Spirit. Our circumstances have been relatively happy as we’ve begun our World Race, but our joy comes from the simple ways the Father sustains us. Like Deborah getting her hair done, the Lord has provided so many opportunities for joy. When we’re longing for familiar people and places, he gives us opportunities to belly laugh with our teammates over themed Bananagrams. When we’re feeling like we have no energy left, but long days ahead, he refreshes our souls and sends us squad leaders to remind us that our rest is important. When we’ve eaten more bread in two weeks than the rest of our lives, he sends us teens with pieces of bread, asking for prayer. Little did they know, those prayers blessed us just as much as they blessed them. We’re choosing to trust in God for our joy, and He is continuously faithful in providing joy in the midst of our pain and brokenness. He’s reminding me that joy is about rejoicing in Him. So I’m choosing joy for the rest of my race. I may not have packed it originally, but I’m thankful that I could pick it up along the way.
The carpet in the church we stay in looks like this. We played Bananagrams one night, and had a round where we had to name the colors. Our favorites were “leg,” “broil,” and “Gabe’s.”
“Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation.” Psalm 35:9
A Few Notes:
- I’m about $500 away from my next deadline on September 30th. It would be awesome if that could be reached early.
- Please pray for our ministry the rest of the month. We are supposed to engage with the teens we met at camp, so pray for opportunities to do so.
- I caught a cold from the teens at camp. Pray that it goes away quickly and that my whole team will be healthy and able to serve.
