About 6 months ago I wrote a blog about debriefing, and I showed you how I was attempting to do that for each of the countries that I have been to. Every month I have given each country a word that describes my time there and what the Lord taught me. This is the core of what I learned and experienced each month, and when I think about these words, it calls back so many memories and lessons. If you want to go back read it, you can click here. If not, no worries, I listed them for you:
Ukraine – Perspective
Romania – Stretch
Bulgaria – Intentional/Trust
Vietnam – Gift
Cambodia – Rest
Now that you’re all refreshed, I’m just going to jump right into it:
Thailand – Thankfulness
In Thailand I got a new team- just for a month. A big focus for my team during this month together, was thankfulness. We kept a running list of things that we were thankful for (I think we got up to around 850 bullet points throughout the month), we hosted a thankfulness themed night for the teachers at the school we were serving at, and in general, I feel like despite things that I wasn’t super happy about, God showed me how to be thankful anyway. I saw how meditating on thankfulness exponentially serves to produce more of it.
BONUS:
Here is a picture of our thankfulness list- inspired by 1000 Gifts by Ann Voscamp (I highly recommend reading it if you haven’t already!)
Myanmar – Perservance
The World Race has a term called the ‘B-zone’. The B-zone is a synonymous term for when the honeymoon phase ends and you kinda are just done with it all. This was the first month that I actually got sick on the Race, it was a month of uncomfortable living conditions, and it was a month of a lot of team friction- AKA the perfect storm of a B-zone. There were a lot of beautiful and wonderful things that happened in Myanmar, but this month I had to choose and fight tooth-and-nail to see it and give thanks for it. I am thankful for months like this that were hard and that required me to decide again and again to persevere.
Colombia – Community
Colombia was the month for my team. This was a month were we got to talk through and walk through so many things together. It was a month of laughs, card games, movies, and memories. I am thankful for the time that we had to grow closer together in our pursuit of the Lord. I am also thankful that this month my team had a pair of wonderful hosts who loved us so well and who entered into community with us in such a beautiful way.
Ecuador – Joy/Healing/Faith
Our time in Ecuador was broken up into three different segments: PVT (parent vision trip), Debrief, and ministry. Joy is my overall word for this month, but because these segments are all so distinct, I’ve chosen to add a few words in that specifically refer to certain times/weeks this month. PVT was a time of healing and restoration for me. It was a time of bridging the gap between my life back home and the life that I have been living on the Race. I got to share openly and honestly with my parents and I walked away from this week feeling more complete and at peace with myself, and more confident about what my transition back home will look like. The following week, during my time at debrief, I felt God challenging me to seek Him in new ways that stretched my faith big time. That debrief began a journey of faith, trust, and discovery for me with the Lord that has continued through the last few month of the Race. Overall this was a month filled with joy and seeing the joy of the Lord in things that I hadn’t before. Ministry was challenging, but fun and purposeful. This was a month that was hard to leave.
Peru – Perseverance/Payoff
Peru was both a hard month and a super incredible month. This was a month of pushing through and ‘finishing strong’, but it was also the month where the Lord answered a lot of prayer, and gave me a ton of gifts. I look back on this month and know that while walking perseverance can be super hard and discouraging, God was with me the whole time, lifting my spirits and letting me walk through this hard thing because He knows that it is good for me.
Bolivia – Shift
There are so many things on the Race that have become norms that won’t be norms when I go home. Feedback, team time, traveling every month, living out of a backpack, living with 5 other people, all of those things are just going to end. Bolivia has been a month marked by shifting and transitioning and preparing myself for life back in the states. It hasn’t been an easy process, but through all of the wonderings and uncertainty about going home, the Lord has been faithful.
Its crazy to me that my Race is coming to a close. It has both felt like a lifetime and like it passed me by in a minute. This year of my life has both been challenging and life giving. The lessons I’ve learned are ones that I don’t ever want to forget. Debriefing has become such an important part of my everyday life, and its a skill that I am so excited to be taking home with me.
I hope this blog gives you a little glimpse into what the past year of my life has looked like. I mentioned in past blogs how coming home has seemed a little daunting to me lately, and that really general questions can be overwhelming, but I want to say that questions about any specific months, or about the words that I’ve given any months, are so welcomed. In the last blog that I posted like this I also debriefed a bit of the fun side of things, I haven’t this time, but I would love to share those things with you!
I love you guys, I can’t to see you all! Thank you for supporting me on this journey, it has changed my life. I previously announced that I am going to be leading another trip for Adventures in Missions as well also undertaking another trip myself, and that means that I have to start fundraising again soon. I have an awesome fundraising opportunity coming up in July that I can’t wait to share with you! I also ask that if my blogs or my stories have touched you at all this year that you would consider donating. Any amount is welcome, and no amount is too small. Most importantly, please be praying for God’s provision in this area of my life.
Much Love,
Morgan
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