Well sock me sideways- can't believe I've officially made it to month eleven- sweet heavenly realms-never thought I'd see the day…
Romania= colder/darker/drearier than our Black Sea paradise, but we've got a really cool ministry working with gypsy kids this month, which is awesome.
The other night we got wine with dinner(it's almost cheaper than water here…and that's what happens when we have to 'cook for ourselves' this month)… I still don't feel old enough to drink wine, let alone sophisticated enough for doing the wine swirl in the glass trick, but it got me thinking nonetheless.
I've got lots of questions- I was thinking about how humbling this whole experience has been- that all around the world people have given us so much, and not only around the world, but at home too- I'm fully funded thanks to everyone who gave/supported me this year( including my awesome teammates families-I salute you…)
I was just wondering why- why did I get to go on the race this year? How can I say thank you enough? How can I move on? How is this whole gig ending? How can I go back to old life stuff with a new me?
Then I remembered Luke 5:37 where it talks about new wine- "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins.If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No new wine must be poured into new wineskins."
I thought about myself as old wine before the race. After eleven months of intense pouring out/refining I've been made new in a lot o' ways. Refining this year=nuts because this whole community living= insanely intense- living with people like we do magnifies every insecurity you have about ten fold, so it's a constant changing/growing/redefining/stretching.
Anyways, I think the whole idea just made me thankful- thankful for the chance to be renewed. Thankful for change-for getting to see- getting to adapt- getting to grow-getting to give-getting to love- getting to be uncomfortable-getting to learn-getting to struggle- getting to have fun.
I'm thankful for this year and couldn't have done it without so much support,help,prayers, snoop bloggy blog comments, encouragement, etc. I know I'm not going to be fitting back into old wineskin- I know I have some new wineskin ahead(how many more times can I use the word skin?), and I'm more than thankful for that too.
Also, clown ministry is a part of what we're doing this month, which may or may not include us performing dances for the gypsy kids in costume.
