UPDATE:
For month two of ministry my team and I are doing manual labor at an orphanage. Manual labor can mean literally anything. Manual labor for us this month started out with digging a trench. One more time… a trench.
At one of the houses within the orphanage the washing machines drain out into the front yard instead of the field where they were meant to drain, so we are digging a trench to help the water drain where it’s supposed to because it smells, attracts mosquitoes and just isn’t safe in general for the girls living there.
Yesterday we spent all day digging and we thought we only had a bit left to do until we could lay the pipe. YAY, right? Wrong. While finishing up part of what we started yesterday we realized that the other buildings drainage pipe had gotten clogged and we had to dig more to find the connecting pipe to unclog it. I know it sounds easy enough but this soil is full of rocks and broken pieces of tile which makes digging near to impossible. I don’t know if you’ve ever dug a hole in the ground with a crowbar but let me tell you it’s tough and it sucks. To make digging with the shovel or the ho easier, we had to break up the rock and tile pieces. Literally the whole time I was smashing through the rock and tile all I could think about was how hard it was and how much I just wanted to find the stupid pipe (which we found eventually woot woot) but before we did I was feeling discouraged and overall like I wasn’t accomplishing anything. We’d been digging for what seemed like forever and the hole had only grown a few inches. When I get discouraged like that it can be hard to see the Lord in the work we’re doing, but all I had to do was look up.
Even though the work we’re doing isn’t fun, I found myself taking a break from smashing rocks and tile with my crowbar to look around at this beautiful country I’ve been placed in and I couldn’t help thinking about how awesome our God is that he could create something so beautiful and detailed and amazing. Since starting the Race I’ve had a hard time seeing God in the hard things or anything in general to be honest, but today I felt overwhelmed by His presence. Every once in a while I looked up to wipe the sweat out of my eyes and the view I had in front of me took my breath away.
Sometimes it can be hard to see the Lord around you. I’ve been asking myself everyday, “where do you see God?”. Looking for God in your life makes everyday so much sweeter. Today I saw God in the mountains of Thailand. I heard Him in the laughter of the children playing around us. I felt Him in the wind in the songthaew ride back to the hostel. I didn’t have any big revelations or life altering experiences but my heart is still full and I’m still feeling energized after a day of hard work in the heat. This is what everyday looks like when you choose to seek after Him and it’s amazing.
I’ll leave you to think on that, but there’s an update on what’s happening in my life right now. Continued support through prayer is always welcomed and as of right now I am $4,655 away from being fully funded and would love to partner with you in that as well. If you asked if this was possible 3 months ago I would’ve laughed in your face but God is so good it’s crazy. Thanks for all the support so far! You can look out for another blog next Wednesday! Til then peace out
-Claire
