Yesterday marks one month since I’ve been back home and a year since World Race training camp. One month since I have entered back into the company of my family and friends from home. One month since I squeezed my little fur ball cat and slept in my own bed for the first time in nine months. This month has been many things. It has been a few weeks of coffee and breakfast dates catching up with some of the friends that I missed and getting things organized for college. It has been working again and a road trip with the people that I lived with these past nine months. Its been all kinds of good and all kinds of weird. But most of all it has been a time of reflection. Reflection of what this past 9 months of my life was, the people I met, the conversations I had, the places I’ve seen and lived in, and the work that the Lord did in my life and the lives of those all around me. So I thought what better idea for a last blog is there than to sum up what this past 9 months was to me and how your prayer and financial support allowed all of this to happen.
This year I tried to be a sponge, soaking in every moment, every conversation, and every face that I got a chance to talk to or exchange smiles with. Right now there are missing pieces and faces that I have not yet come to remember, but I know that in time names and faces with come back to me as sweet reminders of the work that the Lord did this past year.
I hope to never stop telling stories about the little old man dressed in blue who kissed our hands and lifted his hands in praise in Romania. Or lovely Ira in Ukraine who wants to be an actress in America and speaks better English than anyone I’ve met. She showed me the value of true friendship. I hope I never take for granted how we were welcomed with open arms in to our home in Chile and how when I tell stories about those two months its only natural that I refer to our hosts as mom and dad. Setting the table with mom, Elvirita, and slapping dad, Juan, in the stomach just like I do with my own dad. How my heart often craves to be back there with our family and baking Christmas cookies at our neighbors house. How we spent Christmas and other holidays gathered around a table eating celebratory breakfasts of tres leches cake. I remember the English students that I met in Cusco, Peru who were so eager to talk with us and share their talents, whether it was poetry or drawing, and a host family who welcomed us 12 girls into their home once a week for a meal and cared for us as their own. I hope to never forget Pacasmayo, Peru where I was given the opportunity to paint murals on the walls of an orphanage and classroom for the incoming students and the lord spoke so many joyous things over the students that would see those paintings. Or India, oh India, the place that makes my heart soar. Simple living and resounding hospitality, and of course endless chai. The stories I have about that place and those people are endless. Monrie, the best liaison, who made sure we were always taken care of and who quickly became one of the greatest friends I have come to know. The teachers in the little village of Senvon that taught us some many things about life and loving those around you with all you have, as well as how to fish with dynamite. I know I won’t forget the people I met in Nepal. Our hilarious ministry host, Gresom, who is in a rock band and carries a heart of gold, or how the people we met gave everything they had to their faith and were discriminated against almost daily for their beliefs.
It was a year of self-discovery and figuring out what makes my heart tick and the things that stir with passion inside of me. I learned what it was like to live minimally and how living with only your essentials allows room for so much more freedom and in turn this transitioned into learning to live without carrying your burdens around with you. In turn find freedom from the burdens of anxiety and depression in the Lord, finding solace in his promises, truths, and love. A year of me falling in love with the people in front of me and learning what it looks like to lean on community, lifting each other up and calling out the things that look like Jesus in each other. Discovering what it means to hear the Lord’s voice and how he speaks directly to me. How He meets me out in nature in his most natural and beautiful creation. How he shows me the world in a different light and that His children are represented so beautifully in creation, in objects as simple as a purple flower. My timid introverted self finding footing in talking and praying freely with strangers and communicating past language barriers in some of my favorite ways possible, laughs, smiles, and hugs. Welcoming people from all over the world into my family and me into theirs, solidified in jokes, nicknames, belly slaps, and tears.
It was on a mountain side in Northeast India where the Lord revealed himself to me in the vision He gave me at training camp. I sat without fear of the future, without a care in the world, simply in awe of where the Lord had brought me, who I had met and called family, and the beautiful creation that lay before me. I learned to simply be.
As much as I want to say that this will have been the best year of my life, I will not for the best is yet to come. Something that I have been learning over this past week and that I want to share with you is this: Burst forth. Spring forward. Radically dance. Cultivate beauty. Roll in fields of green and let sunshine soak into your soul. Life bursts from your heart bringing joy to others. Hold tight to the peace bestowed within you. Hold on to the growth that you desire, the eagerness for knowledge and learning and to be constantly molded, shaped, and smoothed. Allow your actions to paint a symphony of kindness and keep a heart of vibrancy.
