Right now, my squad is being driven down a winding mountain at a little less than breakneck speeds in the pitch darkness. Looking out the window, I realize I’ve been in this same situation before.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, my father is Swiss, and our family is able to visit Switzerland every couple years to see family. There, we drive down a winding hill at far less dangerous speeds.
I’m gripped with nostalgia as in South Asia, greenery and little houses made of ridged steel and stone whip by, while in Switzerland steel gates and precipitous drops flash by instead. It’s a pleasant reminder that every country has things in common, and that Abba has designed it to be that way. Each new country I visit has foreign things to display that I delight in, but it’s just as fun to reflect on the similarities between the unlikely too.
^^^
The next day, we were walking to breakfast, and I noticed the ground sparkled. In Switzerland, during winter two feet of snow often covered the ground. Walking on the roads, the undisturbed snow twinkled like diamonds.
The same phenomenon happens here in South Asia, but in the dirt instead!
^^^
This week, I’ve been really focused on me. Me, me, me. And I don’t like it.
I was constantly focusing on how inconvenient situations are happening to *me*. How I don’t like this or that. In addition, I constantly imagined my favorite foods and places from the States.
Tonight, I had a one on one with my squad leader, Diana. A one on one is where I tell Diana how I’ve been – whether that’s spiritually, mentally, or physically.
I love them. I’m an external processor, so I figure things out when I talk about them out loud. And as everyone knows, I’ve always got a lot to say.
I realized the root of why I had gotten stuck on me: I was constantly talking with or listening to people who were talking about *their* favorite foods. Then I started imagining my favorite foods, which led to just thinking about my favorite things, and how I don’t like this specific situation I’m in, and then I kept spiraling and fuming about everything I dislike.
So! To stop this type of thinking in its tracks, I’ve been trying to recognize when I start thinking like this, and just go, “What am I thankful for?”
I look around me, and thank Abba for what I spot. It’s been helping a lot. As I’ve said in the past, you can’t be grateful and miserable.
I appreciate Abba reminding me that things can be the same in different countries, because that extends to myself: I have the choice to make myself miserable, or to look around me and appreciate what I *do* have.
My current favorite verse reflects this well: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” ~Philippians 4:11-13 NIV
Until next time,
Cheyenne
