Things I have learned how to do while in Africa::
1.) Cutting fruits and vegetables the correct way- butternut squash and pineapple are HONORED in this household.
2.) The most efficient way to recycle, and also the importance of it!
3.) How to take a 4 minute shower
4.) Chinking….which we do for HOURS! It’s just hammering but they call it chinking here so we do too!
5.) How to properly sand, paint, and finish a table!
6.) I have learned how to evangelize in a way that honors the Lord and the person I am speaking to
7.) The best way to clean grass out from around a sinkhole.
8.) How to use an ATM! I know that may sound goofy but I have never used one in the States so!
9.) The fastest way to pick up rocks from a field- yes…we did that for hours one day ahaha AND WE DID IT WELL
10.) How to wear the same shirt 6 different ways, since we only have like 5 we have this thing all figured out now
11.) Live in community and thrive in community
12.) I can make a MEAN bowl of maize meal…it tastes like cream of wheat on steroids its DREAMY like I am going to miss it so much
13.) I low-key can surf!!!! That is if surfing means standing up on a board for 5 seconds and moving 3 feet
14.) Learned a lot about how to budget my money, especially with the conversions and such it can really seem like you aren’t spending a lot when you are
15.) LOVE WHERE I AMMMM! I’m learning a lot about contentment, patience and just being where my feet are.
I wanted to share all this with you as I am getting close to wrapping up my time here in Africa! All these sweet little things that add up to bigggg changes. The funniest thing about this list is that almost everything I learned was through doing something I was afraid of, or didn’t want to do in general (yikes- talk about needing a heart change)
But yeah just being honest- I didn’t want to stay in the kitchen and do ministry while the other teams were pouring into children or evangelizing. I was really struggling with the fact that picking up rocks could be what I was sent to Africa to do. I got tired of being in the shower and having someone in the bathroom when I got out.
Like I know these things don’t seem like legitimate things to be sad about or tired of, and I know I’m going to look back on my discontentment and be sad, I was just really going through it in regards to being present and content where I am! SO YEAH that has just been where my heart has been for a minute, and I wanna share the way God has changed it all.
The other day, I was doing my quiet time and came across a verse that literally made me stop in my tracks!!!!
1 Corinthians 15:58 says “Therefore dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
LIKE OK.
Man!! Can you believe that anything we do in the name of the Lord is not in vain? That means any effort I make. Every time I read my Bible, pray, or worship it is not in vain. EVERY ROCK I PICKED UP WAS NOT IN VAIN AND BROUGHT GLORY TO THE LORD! My heart rejoices in that. I just sometimes feel like I can never do enough, and that the things I am doing don’t matter. And heck yeah that’s true- for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God! But He appreciates our effort. He is pleased with our pursuit. “You will find me when you seek me with all of your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)
Like that’s literally it. That’s all he asks. If I am doing it in His name FOR His name- it isn’t in vain.
Yeah sure, I slip up. I don’t do enough. I get lazy. I do things for the wrong reasons. But I am trying, and He is pleased with me. And he is pleased with you as well. Each step you take towards Him is enough and is beautiful! Rest in that.
Love you all.
