things i learned in ethiopia but will certainly be taking with me!
we left at the end of february and I’m just now getting around to letting you guys in on some of the growth that happened there because there was a LOT. and well, I’ve been slacking a bit on the blogs! so here are some thoughts, straight from my journal!
1. You don’t have to be good at something to love it!
As I was walking through being undignified (wrote a blog about losing dignity!), I started taking myself a lot less seriously, and experienced SO much freedom from pressures I had put on myself (to look like I had it together, like I was capable, etc). I realized how many things I loved doing and that I could now ENJOY doing even though they were not impressive in the least! For example: dancing ! WOW guys I’m awful. But God gave them to us as pleasures, not so that we would master them (though that brings him glory, too) but so that we could ENJOY them! No one is going to be good at everything. Take yourself less seriously and allow yourself to experience freedom that lets you rejoice doing the things that you don’t naturally have an inclination for.
2. God’s word never grows dead our hearts just grow dull
A popular phrase in the church is “a dry season”- which I’ve recently discovered is a myth. We never have dry seasons with God because he never leaves us. But we do have numb seasons. We have seasons where we start to tune out the christian cliches or phrases we’ve heard a million times. I think that’s one of the most dangerous places we can be, also, the hardest one to fight. It’s REALLY hard for me to not roll my eyes when I hear the same phrase for the millionth time but those words are living and active and it is our job to ask God to renew them for us when they begin to feel dull – to ask Him to reveal something new through them. He will, we just don’t often ask.
3. He trusts me! Even when I don’t
He will never give us more than we are capable of. when tackling something that seems gigantic or more than we can handle – remember He knew what He was doing when He trusted you with that task. It may seem to be a stretch for your abilities but nothing is a stretch when you’re in His company.
4. Pride recognizes pride
A HARD pill to swallow. Really thought I was just a perceptive person until the Lord came around and convicted me that the exact things I was recognizing in other people I actually needed to work on myself. He got me GOOD.
5. Always choose to believe the best about people
Our team struggled a little bit near the end of our time in Africa. After being together 24/7 for 6 months, little irritations that usually slipped under the surface started to take their toll. It takes a conscious effort, but a lot of times I realized things that seemed to be a big deal to me really weren’t actually a big deal at all- they had just been adding up with no effort on my end to address the issue. I started to use these things to make assumptions about my teammate’s motives that weren’t necessarily true or their intentions in the slightest. ASSUMPTIONS KILL! Give people a chance. Believe the best until they prove otherwise, and then address it from a place of love or ask for clarity on how you perceived it.
6. “Heaven comes with your step”
A word I was given wayy back in month two (shoutout to paige luane) but the Lord called me back to meditate on. He revealed to me that heaven on earth starts with us. “His kingdom come” starts with us. We bring heaven when we bring freedom into groups of people who feel stuck or judged. We bring heaven when we love on people who don’t normally even get acknowledged. We bring heaven when we seek seeing everything through His eyes rather than our own. He has been consistently asking me to keep my eyes open to how I can bring heaven into each place we enter.
7. People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed
Christ didn’t come to teach new morality – he came to call people back to things they’d already been told, and call them out on rules + regulations that they were giving too much priority. When you are correcting someone, assume that they already know better and that you are simply calling them back to characteristics that are of their identity in Christ. Usually, the flaw is out of line with their true character but more often than not we assume that the flaw IS their character and the correction we gave is outside of them. Again, believe the best!
8. Thank Him for being ANY part of His plan
I often take for granted how lucky we are that God wants to partner with us. That he WANTS to use us and all we have to do is say yes. On days where it’s hard to be thankful, this is always something I can come back to. Gratitude combats apathy!
9. Be where your feet are!
Yup, we’ve got the end date. And it’s super hard to not let that distract from what’s happening right now! However, I’m determined to be (mentally) where my feet are (physically). Would hate to be wishing to be home now only to get home and wish to be here!
10. Goodbyes should never be easy
Sometimes, i’ve struggled with the fact that I know the closer I get with people, the harder the goodbye will be. Why bother getting attached if I know it’ll only make it more painful in the end? I realized as we pulled out of the driveway of HOPEthiopia for the last time that I would choose puddles of tears over never knowing, loving, and learning from the people of HOPE any day. The people we have the opportunity to connect with in life are far too valuable to pass up, and it’s what we are called to do anyway!
