Word: Meduza
This word is the Ukrainian word for jellyfish. The reason why I chose this word to describe my first week in Ukraine is for several reasons. It came to mind this past week because of where we were.
This past week, my team traveled with Salvation church to the city of Odessa in southern Ukraine. It is a town on the “sea shore” (black sea). So yes, we arrived to Rivne and then about 2 days later we left again haha. We took an overnight 12 hour train ride to get there and back and the trip lasted for a week. We went because our church was participating in this Christian beach conference for all churches in Rivne to attend. The conference was called “He is in everything.” (see picture below for Ukrainian word for this)
We were intended to go to enjoy the conference with everyone else and to get to know the members of our church. There were over 2,000 people there from many churches! The week looked similar to many other Christian conferences…breakfast, worship in the morning, free beach time and lunch, seminars and sports in the afternoon, dinner, worship and a sermon at night! Except… it was all in Ukrainian. So “the Americans,” as we were referred to, participated in as much as we could, but did not go to all seminars because translators were not always available. So we mostly bonded with our church and worked a lot on our lesson plans for English classes that would start the following week!
It was a great week of rest! The conference was an unexpected and very fun week for us. We enjoyed relaxing on the beach, exploring sunflower fields/ cliffs overlooking the black sea, sunrise views, some beach volleyball, exploring the city of Odessa and attending a ballet, and of course avoiding the many jellyfish in the water! It was an amazing first week!
So the other reason why I titled this post meduza, is because of the secret meaning that this word holds in my heart. Several years ago, my Bible study leader from high school started to encourage me to practice “jelly fishing.” This means floating through life, going with God’s plans and riding the waves. This was a beautiful reminder to me this first week (thanks God). This past week, it has been easy for me to be overwhelmed with all the change, being so outside my comfort zone, far away from home and wanting to take control of what this year will bring. Wanting to hold onto the tide, but jelly fish really can’t do that too well!
I have been trying to stay in the moment and take things in as they come. Trying to have a lot of patience and grace for myself and this experience without making judgements or expectations. Naturally, I very quickly jump to expectations which leads to disappointment and sometimes an emotional rollercoaster. So, I’m trying something new. Stay in the present and enjoy that God is around us all the time. We don’t need to pressure ourselves to see God in radical and unusual ways all the time, He really is in everything. So this week, I was at the beach, giving thanks for the little things like the comfort of a seashore, familiar worship songs, cute puppies running around, beautiful sunflowers, and the lightly floating jellyfish in the sea. Calm and trusting that the tide will take them in and out. Even when the sea is big and scary and can be dangerous, the jellyfish go with the flow. This is what my prayer is for. To float because He is in everything.
For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
Acts 17:28
