Hi my name is courtney and I have done so much and I could have written a hundred blogs to explain what has happened since I blogged last but I truly don’t have time for that so hopefully this super scattered blog will suffice.
I have been having the time of my life here in India. The amount of doors God has opened for me getting here, and even while I have been here for the future is mind blowing. God has blessed me more than I will ever be able to comprehend.
During this past week I got fitted for Indian Sarees, went to an Indian wedding, preached twice at two different churches, shared my testimony in front of a church, taught English to children night after night, went to the beach on our off day, went to the “doctor” for my HUGE BLISTERING bug bites, worshiped and fellowshiped with my squad, and spent many many moments diving into Gods word.
What. A. Week.
I could write an in depth blog about each one of these moments that happened and each one would be a fun read for you guys! But I feel like God is calling me to write about so much more… I feel like I need to share where my heart is at right now in my journey.
Coming here to India was not a hard transition for me. I have been on many missions trips to the Dominican Republic and I have spent many sleepless nights desiring to do missions work in many other places. Everything leading me to India has prepared me for the brokenness and hardships I have faced with SO MANY FREAKING BUGS, many sleepless nights, so so so many blistering bug bites, food that gives me diarrhea, living day in and day out in non stop community (I love community but sometimes it’s hard), seeing and ministering to people who have nothing, experiencing brokenness in everything I am surrounded by everyday, and many other things.
There’s not always going to be joy in paradise and there’s not always going to be an even amount of joys and pains but I am learning to rejoice in all of it.
Recently I have been reflecting on these past few weeks transitioning from being home to being a missionary and it’s been interesting. Short term missions trips do not and can never compare to longer term missions trips. Even this month in India can’t compare to the 4 months I will be in Africa soon or the 3 months I will be in Ecuador later and these 9 months on the field will never be able to compare to the years I may spend doing missions work in some capacity or way down the line. God has created different seasons for me even amidst the seasons I am currently in.
In India I have been sucked into the worst FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) that I have ever experienced in my entire life. I wake up literally at the crack of dawn and don’t go to sleep till 3 or 4 most nights. Not only have I become physically sick, I have also been enduring an emotional beating as well. I still have my devotional time and I still spend time with the Lord but I have started to prioritize time with my squad mates over those moments with the Lord. It has caused me much drain and much stress. Slowly I have started to see myself doing this more and more and I have prayed about it very much and I see God starting to bless me with a renewed mindset of chill. He is calling me to sleep more, rest more, have more time alone, have more time of doing nothing, and more self reflection in prayer. It has been beautifully hard. I love my squad mates and I love how God ordained us so clearly to all be together this month, but I feel like because of this I have learned more about who I am and where God is calling me to grow. One of those areas is being okay with being alone and prioritizing taking care of myself and my wellbeing.
I also have seen a new side of me in ministry. I am a natural take charge, outgoing, extroverted, no shame kind of person when it comes to life. I am the first to jump at any opportunity, especially in ministry. I have seen myself taking charge in leading songs, preaching, praying over people, leading games, transitioning from one thing to another and so on. I have seen God pushing me into all of this by giving me opportunities to do all of these things… but I have also seen him move other people to step outside their comfort zones on my team and it’s been cool to walk along side them in this and help encourage them to take charge also. It’s been super sweet.
I also am the treasure on my team so I deal with all the money, budget, and ultimately am the team mother when it comes to that stuff. I have to plan to buy food, make sure we have money for transportation, do the budget/receipts every night and much more. At first it was an extreme struggle and at some times it still is… but I have seen a new side to it recently. I have seen it become my own little ministry within my team. I have been able to bless them and care for them in more ways than I would have if I weren’t in this role on the team. It’s been bitter sweet and super growing.
India is just teaching me so much and I wish I could just go on forever and ever. There’s so many adventures I have gone on, sights I have seen, kids I have hugged, food i have eaten, and things I have experienced that I wish I could just show you and tell you about.
India is a hard country to jump into the world race with but it’s been super growing and beautiful.
Hmmmmmm what else could I talk about before I am done?
-The wedding was super fun! One of our teams sang and it was really funny.
-Being able to preach literally has been sooooooo much fun. So much fun. I love it.
-Me and Josh almost died in a Tuk Tuk adventure but we are still alive so it’s all good.
-I finally got medicine for my bug bites and so now I am happy
-I am currently painting nails with Sami and Brooke and they are using my nail polish and they hate the color so I’m just confused on why they wanted to use my nailpolish to begin with
Okay bye love y’all talk to you soon??
actually, I am back. Emma wanted to be featured in my blog. Emma is cool.
Okay bye again I love y’all ??
