Me.
Not going to lie, these past couple weeks have been a little rough. Before this month, I honestly can’t remember the last time that I was seriously sick. I can confidently say: that is no longer the case.
I spent the first week in Nepal in the hospital for an upper respiratory infection…dramatic, I know. But nonetheless, it happened. The medicine was great, the food was ‘eh’, the alone time was much needed, & I made it out of the hospital with my passport (which is actually a miracle).
The next weekend I went hiking in the Himalayan countryside & literally got attacked by leeches. Blood everywhere. Apparently, a leech will feed on an ignorant host until they explode. Talk about gluttony, eh? Also, wearing pants & thinking that they will keep the leeches off is a rookie move. Those things will find your skin no matter how many layers of clothing you’ve got on.
After fully recovering from the nasty cough & profuse bleeding, I thought that I would finally make it through an entire week of ministry with no distractions. Then…SURPRISE!! the stomach flu (lol) made an appearance in our all-too-cramped housing situation. My stomach started feeling weird in the middle of the week, but I thought I could push through. After two days of uncomfortableness, the fullness of the plague hit me, and I was throwing up (& other things) for about 4-5 hours.
Not 24 hours had gone by since I stopped throwing up when I first heard that 6 people sleeping in my room (which we lovingly nicknamed ‘the dungeon’) had gotten lice. Now, I had heard that this was a possibility on the Race, but never really took the warnings seriously. That was a mistake. I jokingly had a friend check my head in the middle of a coffee shop & sure enough…lice. I think it’s safe to say I was not a happy camper at that moment. In fact, I had semi-seriously stated earlier that day that “I would probably cry if I got lice right now”.
But as I look back I am overwhelmed by how much I saw Jesus in these seemingly low, unredeemable moments.
I saw him in the way that my squad-mates rallied around me with encouraging texts and notes while I was in the hospital.
I saw him in the selfless care that the nurses were giving me each day, & how they never failed to greet me by asking if I was feeling better.
I saw him in the ‘we missed you so much’ responses from my team when I finally made it home.
I saw him in the starry night sky & the breathtaking sunrise over the Himalayas.
I saw him in the mountain landscape as I hiked along with my trekking guide.
I saw him in my concerned friends’ faces when I revealed all my leech wounds.
I saw him in the way that Kim held tissue on my feet to help them stop bleeding—even though this meant getting my blood and dirt from my feet on her pants.
I saw him in Lindsay as she gave up a full night of sleep to comfort Taylor through a night with the stomach flu & then another when I got it too.
I saw him in the crackers and Gatorade that she brought me once my stomach could handle food again.
I saw him in Jess’s comforting words that ‘lice really aren’t that bad’ & her willingness to identify the bugs in the middle of the local coffee shop.
I saw him in the spreading of mayonnaise on scalps—that’s sacrificial love.
I saw him in the endless amounts of laughter that came from a night spent with saran wrapped buns.
I saw him as Alex and Taylor spent hours combing lice out of mine and other people’s hair.
I saw him everywhere.
I know sometimes life is hard. I know that there are moments where you want to call it quits. I’ve had many in just the past few weeks.
But I promise that if you look hard enough, you can find Jesus in them. He loves to come into the darkest places of our lives and bring light. He loves to take the moments intended for sorrow and spin them for joy.
He’s done it for me & he’ll do it for you too.
