Hey there friends, family, and strangers I have yet to meet!
I can’t believe I am in month 2 already. As I sit here in our little flat in Ternopil, Ukraine I am frustrated. I want to share the laughs and the cries and every beautiful moment in between. I also know that there is no way I can be fully authentic with them! It’s about driven me mad when writing this blog post.
Okay now that that is out I want to try and share something I have seen since I’ve been here in Ukraine. This month our days are more organized than my spontaneous free spirited self would normally approve of. I have found myself drained much faster than normal. My energy is just shot every day and all I want is to go back to our flat and take a nap. Which I absolutely HATE. I never want to live a life where I am not up for the extra “after conversations.” There are some crazy incredible people here in Ternopil and my flesh doesn’t seem to have time for them. The Lord has been speaking to me about how vast and everlasting He is. Our God is constantly orchestrating more and more beautiful things for us and He does it tirelessly. He graciously gives me the opportunity to choose into this reality as my own. His nature is so perfect that it fills the cracks of my flesh. I have been learning what it means for me to fill up my spirit so that I can connect with others around me better. It is so worth it to choose the reality of Christ so that others feel seen, heard, and loved. Those three things are what we subconsciously long for every day of our lives. Think about if you don’t receive one of those during your day, everything changes. You feel an emptiness in your interactions. The uplifting fact is that, as christians, Christ can shine so brightly through us when we make people feel seen, heard, and loved. You never know how empty someone feels in one of those areas of the soul until you see them full once again.
It has been so incredible to watch my team pour into the people here in this way. I hear John Mark ask every day how he can serve. He will spend any extra money, give any extra second, or exert any extra energy just to make someone’s day easier. Sara Roberts and Sara Mac patiently teach the beginner level English class because they see each persons drive and potential to learn this language. After each class I see them engaging in multiple conversations via google translate because they want to hear their students hearts about life. Sam Nevin met a student and each day I see them connect more and more over their love for the Rocky movies and combative sports. I have had the privilege of getting to co-teach the advanced English class with Melanie Lender and that girl an incredible teacher. She is so aware of what these students want to learn and gets just as excited herself to give them something they enjoy learning about. Claire Jones is incredible at seeing people’s hearts and spreading light to them. I watch people as they leave after talking to her and they have a joy that they didn’t have before. Every evening I see Justus Hyde with at least 4 people around him answering questions or just talking about everyday life. He never slacks on sharing his energy and smile with anyone who needs it.
My team is such an inspiration. They choose every single day to go the route most would subconsciously not have enough time or energy for. They see people through the lens of Christ so naturally and it changes everything. We may never see the full impact of all we have poured out here but I know those little things made all the difference.
Melanie and I had our classes analyze a Robert Frost poem, The Road Not Taken, and I felt the Lord wanted me to share these final lines…
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And That has made all the difference.
