It is well known that The Office is my favorite show in the world. One of my favorite quotes is from the final episode when Andy talks about how he wishes he knew he was living the good old days while he was still in them. Life has a way of painting the past in a light that makes it seem better than it was. There have been many times that I have looked back on a time in my life and wish I could have known how special that period was at the time. This past month the Lord opened my eyes to the fact that I am indeed living in the good old days now. These days that I am living on the World Race are going to be days that I look back on with joy for the rest of my life. I have made many friends all around the US and even the world. I have had a chance to see some on the most beautiful creations on the face of the earth. I have been able to hear the Lords voice for my life every day and see Him make differences everywhere we go.
Last month I had an amazing opportunity to spend the entire month with all the guys on our route. I was not too excited when I got the email from Kylee because I was loving the flow our team had and didn’t want to do anything to throw that off. This quickly changed though. As I got to know the other four guys more and realized how cool they were. We got to have many amazing discussions about things ranging from the Lord to sports and even our future wives. Early in the month we were hanging out having a good time with the guys and some Indonesian friends we had made, and I felt the Lord asking me the question “When are you going to get this moment back?” I am bad about not living in the moment. I love looking forward to what lies ahead. I love knowing what is coming next so I can prepare. When I heard this question, I was shook. I realized how much I was missing and how blessed I was to be living the life I have. I will never get back the nights where we were hanging with fifteen plus Indonesians with Nadia going around putting her hijab on everyone. We would most likely never get back that group of people together in one room again and share the laughs and conversations we had. I did not want to take it for granted or miss the blessings I was living with.
There have been many other times on the race before this month I did not realize what exactly I was taking in. I took many moments for granted and I am sure I have missed many blessings. I am now trying to not make the same mistake since the revelations I have made. Yesterday we had an almost fifteen-hour drive across South Africa. (This month my team is going to Namibia instead of Botswana.) While crossing the country I spent a lot of time just staring out the window soaking up creation. In Asia we saw some of the most beautiful and picturesque places on earth. It was amazing to be able to see the all the details the Father put into his creation. It was a huge blessing to get to see these places I wouldn’t have gotten to see if I was not on the race. No matter how beautiful these places were, they didn’t touch the beauty I saw yesterday driving across Africa. I was in constant awe of everything I was looking at. There were beautiful mountain ranges in all directions. Loads of beautiful trees and other plans and bushes. We got to see some cool and crazy animals. We also crossed paths with a couple people on this trip that I would have normally just let go by. At 5:30 am while waiting for the bus we asked a guy if we needed to check in or just get on the bus since we got our tickets online. He helped us out. After we checked in, he comes outside where we were standing and says “Our bus will be pulling up right here in a few minutes. The only issue is that they don’t let anyone with the last name Morris ride the buses here.” We laughed because we thought he just heard me give the lady my name. It was funny. Then he said that it was okay because he can’t ride either because it is his last name too and we could walk together. Then I was really loving that moment. We started asking him about where he was going and what he did for a living. We found out the he was from the Congo and was in South Africa for seminary. We told him that we were missionaries. Before the bus took off, he came back to our seats and he prayed for our journeys and we had the opportunity to pray for him as well. When we got to Upington our host picked us up from the KFC across the street from the bus station. In the car ride back to the house we found out that he is a retired pastor. We get to stay with him the next couple days and hopefully can get more insight on Namibia and South Africa.
I know that the Lord took His time here in Africa with both the people and the environment. I am blessed that He has opened my eyes to the fact that I am in the good old days right here and now. I am blessed that I have been able to fully live in the now this past month and starting off in Africa. I know that there will be many great things that I get to experience at such a deeper level than I would have before. I am excited to see where the Lord takes us this month in Namibia because this is the most “Unscripted” we have been, but we are confident in His calling for us to be there.
Also, if you are reading this, I need your help. As you can see at the top of my blog I am not fully funded yet. The deadline for us to be fully funded was the end of April. Thankfully they have given us a grace period for this. We are trying to get fully funded as a squad by the end of the month. Every dollar helps and to prove this fact I am doing an adopt-a-box. Even if you can only donate $1 or you feel led to donate the remaining balance it will be a huge blessing. Once I sell these 100 boxes then I will be fully funded. This will give me an opportunity to stay in the field and continue to grow closer to the Lord. It will also allow me to help the others with their fundraising. Please consider joining me in this awesome crazy journey with the Father. Everyone who donates even a dollar is an equal partner in this with me. Thank you for the prayers and donations. I know that I will reach this goal with the help of the Father and the help of you.
