Well, it’s that time again. We are leaving Lesotho on Sunday. This month has been such an amazing month for me, spiritually, the ministry, and just the people around us. We have been in the mountains of Lesotho in a village called Mokhotlong.
When we were in Durban, South Africa for a few days having a debrief, a man I met told me that Lesotho was “God’s paradise” and I will give him some props, this place is absolutely beautiful. We get to see the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Yes, you read that right, I have seen so many sunrises this month. I am not the morning person, but I have been waking up in the morning and working out with a group of team mates/squad mates and we get to watch the sun come up.
But anyway, I just wanted to tell everyone how this month went with not contacting home. So as many of you know from my previous blog, I decided last month that in order to stay present here on the race, I needed to limit my contact with home and social media as well. I have come to the conclusion that this was one of the hardest things I have done so far in my 7 months of being gone.
I miss talking to my mom and dad, I miss telling them and my best friend, Hunter about the things that are happening around me. I miss getting to talk to a non-bias person about things that someone said, or the things that someone did. I miss calling them on face time and seeing Wasabi run around because he can hear my voice but cannot find me. I miss just hearing their voice, and seeing their faces even if it is through a phone.
I found myself feeling the effects of not talking to them. I was getting more frustrated because I wanted to talk to them about the month. I found myself frustrated at the people around me sometimes because I just wanted to talk to them. It was just hard not to talk to the people you love the most or tell them about what is happening around the world.
But…on the other hand, there were great things that came out of this. I was able to stay present and I spent more time with Jesus and reading the bible. I prayed more, about my day, and just being in constant communion with the Lord. I read more books, and played games with my team. I woke up and worked out. I also journaled because I didn’t call home. It helped me to reflect at the end of my day and process because I wanted to journal everything for when I did talk to my parents in the beginning of next month. It was great to have to depend on the Lord and work on my self control to not contact home and pray to him when I felt my strength was running low.
I have learned so much about myself and I haven’t talked to my parents yet, but I have a feeling this was a huge growing experience for them as well. I have never gone more than a couple of days without contacting them, so a whole month is/was a long time to not hear from them or them to hear from me. Everyone knows how my dad can be about his little girl and her safety, and everyone knows I called my mom about 5 times a day in college. So I just know all of us grew from this experience.
With all of that, I don’t know if this is something that I really want to do again, but if the Lord calls me to do that, then I will. But on the other bright side, only 6 more days until my month is over and I will be in South Africa to call them.
Even bigger news, 25 more days until my mom is in South Africa, and 26 until I get to cry in her arms and hug her for the first time in 7.5 months. I cannot wait until the Parent Vision Trip (PVT).
PRAYER REQUEST:
Thank you for all the prayers for myself, as well as my family and friends this month.
Continue to pray for safety, and our ministry.
The people we are serving.
Safe travels for my mom as well as all the parents coming to PVT in a little less than a month.
Staying present in this home stretch. (WE ONLY HAVE 4 MONTHS LEFT)
