My favorite definition of boujee is “Luxurious in lifestyle yet humble in character” and that perfectly sums up my friend, Maddie.
Maddie did ministry with us in Cambodia and it was so much fun to learn from her and get to know her. Maddie is one of those people that is so personable and confident being themselves that they can walk into a room full of strangers and within a few minutes develop connections with everyone. As an English teacher, counselor, and someone who has medical experience, it was so cool to see how she used all of her gifts and talents to serve everyone around her. Every time I turned around Maddie was either taking someone’s stitches out, massaging a charlie horse, giving people advice on their pooping problems, teaching English, or running the VBS. At the same time that she was doing all of these things Maddie was also developing deep relationships with our host family and the seventeen women on my team. What makes Maddie so unique is the joy that she carries everywhere she goes and her ability to be boujee and pamper herself even in the middle of Cambodia.
One of the most important things I learned from Maddie is that it is okay, even while you are on the mission field, to have fun and spend time taking care of yourself. Sometimes I get caught up in the mindset that I need to be as minimalistic as possible and spend as little money as possible and suffer for the gospel, but in reality it is okay to do something boujee once in a while just for fun. One of my favorite memories of Maddie was when we went to get her eyelashes done for her photo shoot. We went to the salon and the lady working there had a super slow day and was so excited to get Maddie just what she wanted. She showed us all the options and then applied the eyelashes complete with makeup. In a matter of minutes Maddie was transformed from ordinary to boujee. So on top of doing a little extra thing for herself, Maddie also blessed the woman working in the salon.
One of my favorite things about the World Race has been all of the things that I get to learn from people like Maddie. Seeing how well she pursues people and is so generous with her gifts, skills, and time has broadened my perspective of what serving like Jesus looks like even more. And Maddie does it all in style!
Photo credit: Tessie West
I’m not sure what my next adventure will be yet, but what I do know is that it will be fun, relaxing, and definitely boujee.
In Him,
Heidi
