Hello from UKRAINE!
After 24 hours of travel in 2 bus rides and one car ride, we pulled into the camp ground we will be staying and serving at in Ukraine! We are working with an amazing organization called Jeremiah’s hope. (Website if you want to know more: jeremiahshope.org)
I am so excited for all that this month holds! Its day five and I love this place like crazy. This month, we will get to serve at an international school in Kiev, help take care of foster children, babysit our ministry host’s children, help take care of the facilities here, and take food to local families. Incase you don’t know, I LOVE children, so I am very excited for everything kids related especially! This past weekend there was a group renting out the camp ground, so we were helping make meals, cleaning bathrooms, taking out trash, washing dishes, and whatever else needed to be done.
Before I left for the race, my mom was expressing her hope that I would learn to cook on the race. This week I am assisting the cook with making Ukrainian dinners! Already I have learned how to properly peel potatoes, which is good because the day before I cut three of my fingers in my attempt to quickly peel them for my team. One of the girls on my team is also a phenomenal cook and I plan to learn everything I can from her! So Mom, hopefully your wish will come true 😉
One thing I’ve quickly realized on the race is that nothing ever goes according to plan, like ever. Flexibility is the key word on the race! I’ve learned a lot about Expectations. Before the race, I would have expectations for everything. I would specifically plan out how something would happen, and it never did, but I went into so many situations carrying expectations of how it would go.
I started realizing that life was so much better when you just went for something and let go of your expectations. The only problem is that it’s difficult to all of a sudden stop having expectation. They have a tendency to rise up in us unconsciously sometimes.
I used to raise puppies and something I learned was that often you couldn’t just tell them to stop, you had to tell them to stop and redirect them to something they should do. When my puppies would start play bitting my hand, I would say no and point them to a toy instead of my hand. Another example would be when a dog walked past, I would teach them to look at me, because if they stared at the other dog, all they would want was to go play with it. They had to focus on something else in order to not pull towards the other dog.
Similarly, I think when we say we are going to stop having expectations, we need to be redirected towards somewhere else. Instead of being focused on the future and what will happen, be focused on where you are. Notice the present things, people, places around you. Be fully there!
In Matthew 6, Jesus reaffirms this. We don’t have to worry about the future or have expectations. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is it’s own trouble.” (Vs 34)
On the flip side of that, I believe there is one expectation we should always carry, which is this: expect God to be present and working there.
This does not mean everything will be peachy, because often we don’t see the ways God is working behind other peoples lives and through us. But in each situation I am in, I know God is working and I can alway expect Him to be there.
How can you shift from having a mindset of always looking forward and having expectations, to letting go of expectations, living in the moment, and trusting God?
God, help us to allow you to change our plans and redirect our lives. Help us to let go of expectations and grab on to trusting you and living where we are.
Also, shout out to my brother Anthony for giving me some great music suggestions, that definitely helped the travel day!
Hello from UKRAINE!
After 24 hours of travel in 2 bus rides and one car ride, we pulled into the camp ground we will be staying and serving at in Ukraine! We are working with an amazing organization called Jeremiah’s hope. (Website if you want to know more:)
I am so excited for all that this month holds! We will get to serve at an international school in Kiev, help take care of foster children, babysit our ministry host’s children, help take care of the facilities here, and take food to local families. Incase you don’t know, I LOVE children, so I am very excited for everything kids related especially! This past weekend there was a group renting out the camp ground, so we were helping make meals, cleaning bathrooms, taking out trash, washing dishes, and whatever else needed to be done.
Before I left for the race, my mom was expressing her hope that I would learn to cook on the race. This week I am assisting the cook with making Ukrainian dinners! Already I have learned how to properly peel potatoes, which is good because the day before I cut three of my fingers in my attempt to quickly peel them for my team. One of the girls on my team is also a phenomenal cook and I plan to learn everything I can from her! So Mom, hopefully your wish will come true 😉
One thing I’ve quickly realized on the race is that nothing ever goes according to plan, like ever. Flexibility is the key word on the race! I’ve learned a lot about Expectations. Before the race, I would have expectations for everything. I would specifically plan out how something would happen, and it never did, but I went into so many situations carrying expectations of how it would go.
I started realizing that life was so much better when you just went for something and let go of your expectations. The only problem is that it’s difficult to all of a sudden stop having expectation. They have a tendency to rise up in us unconsciously sometimes.
I used to raise puppies and something I learned was that often you couldn’t just tell them to stop, you had to tell them to stop and redirect them to something they should do. When my puppies would start play bitting my hand, I would say no and point them to a toy instead of my hand. Another example would be when a dog walked past, I would teach them to look at me, because if they stared at the other dog, all they would want was to go play with it. They had to focus on something else in order to not pull towards the other dog.
Similarly, I think when we say we are going to stop having expectations, we need to be redirected towards somewhere else. Instead of being focused on the future and what will happen, be focused on where you are. Notice the present things, people, places around you. Be fully there!
In Matthew 6, Jesus reaffirms this. We don’t have to worry about the future or have expectations. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is it’s own trouble.” (Vs 34)
On the flip side of that, I believe there is one expectation we should always carry, which is this: expect God to be present and working there. This does not mean everything will be peachy, because often we don’t see the ways God is working behind other peoples lives and through us. But in each situation I am in, I know God is working and I can alway expect Him to be there.
How can you shift from having a mindset of always looking forward and having expectations, to letting go of expectations, living in the moment, and trusting God?
God, help us to allow you to change our plans and redirect our lives. Help us to let go of expectations and grab on to trusting you and living where we are.
Also, shout out to my brother Anthony for giving me some great music suggestions, that definitely helped the travel day!
