Are we there yet?
The age old question asked by every child who is traveling to…anywhere really. “Are we there yet?”
Back home my standard response to this question was always “10 more minutes.” And then 10 minutes later they may ask again and my response will be “10 more minutes.”
Being on the mission field for 9 months now, I have started asking myself, “Are we there yet?” And every time that I ask that, I have to remind myself “10 more minutes.”
Is there only 10 minutes left in my race? No.
Is there only 10 minutes left in this country? No. But it’s not about the time. It’s a mentality.
It’s a mentality that no matter how much longer we have, to spend these next 10 minutes knowing that I’ll never get them back. It’s a constant reminder that no matter how much I am over today, or the next day, or this month. I only have a limited time here. Therefore I need to make the most of it.
Stop asking if we’re there yet. And start saying “10 minutes.”
Here in Africa there is something that I have noticed called “African Time” and that is well…when time stops moving. Or at least the people who live here think that. If you are told to start something at 11:00, you may start it before 3:00 but don’t count on it being anytime soon.
The African’s don’t care about time. Its not about how long something takes, it is about the journey, the experience of the life that you’re living at the moment.
So when I ask myself “Are we there yet?” I really need to remind myself of the “10 more minutes” because its not a matter of time. Its a matter of experience and life.
We get so caught up in being on time and the thought of time. Time runs everything in America. If you don’t clock out after 8 hours exactly you’re upset. If Wendy’s takes 2 minutes too long then we’re upset.
We have the mentality of “If you’re on time then you’re late.” But it’s got nothing to do with time. I once heard that life shouldn’t be measured by the amount of years in your life, instead it should be measured by the amount of life in those years.
I want to encourage you that if you struggle with wanting to be somewhere else, home, school, work, friends etc. etc. remember that its not about the time. You may never be there again.
I may never be in Zimbabwe again. Therefore I need to “leave it all on the field” and know that if I never come back then I did all that I could.
I need to stop worrying about “How much longer?” And start worrying about “How much more can I give of myself before I leave?”
I know that I am not the only one who struggles with this so if it’s you too, don’t forget to live where you are, instead of living in the future.
God Bless
