First off, I just feel the need to say that I’m in Africa right now. Freakin’ Africa! What the heck??? Haha Everyday this blows my mind. Oh man, God is good all the time, all the time God is good.
But anywho,
We’ve had a handful of people on our squad come down with Malaria, so we’re definitely on the lookout at this point. Please be praying for complete health over our entire squad, especially while we’re here in Africa. Nathan Boaldin and I went to the doctor yesterday to get checked for Malaria. The power was out, so we rode in an ambulance to the hospital about 10 minutes away. Did I ever think I would be riding in a ambulance to a hospital in Kenya to get checked for Malaria? Heck no. Am I upset about it? Not really. I’m actually kind of excited about it. Not for the whole feeling like crap and thinking we had malaria, but for being able to experience something that not everyone gets to. I’m sure not everyone has the desire to do what we did, but maybe they should.
Follow me for a minute…
Throughout life, we all make plans. Sometimes, if not most of the time, things don’t work out like we’d like them to. What do you do in those situations?
Do you choose to mope and groan about it? Do you sit there stagnant complaining because life just isn’t fair?
Or do you make the most out of the situation? Do you realize that we only have as many days as God’s will for us on Earth and we need to make the most out of each and every one of them no matter what our current circumstance is?
I’ve admitted on multiple occasions that I like when things go wrong. Most of my best memories involve the times that something or everything went “wrong”. It leaves room for spontaneity . It leaves room for an adventure. It leaves room for us to grow. It leaves room for us to live outside the safety box that we like to keep ourselves in. It leaves room for us to laugh. To find joy in unexpected places and people. To make memories. To see God provide in unexpected ways.
Of course I wouldn’t prefer to not feel well. I wouldn’t have chosen to leave ministry early to come lay on the couch all day. I wasn’t hoping I had malaria. I wasn’t looking forward to getting my blood drawn. I wasn’t glad that the doctor’s office didn’t have power when we got there. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of driving around town to the other hospital in the burning hot sun when I already felt out of it.
BUT!
I was happy to have a doctor to go to. If I did have malaria, I knew we’d be catching it early, we’d treat it, and I’d be on my way back to feeling good. I was thankful that the doctor was willing to drive us to the hospital instead of having us walk 25 more minutes. I was excited for the chance to ride in the ambulance…because, well, who does that?? I was glad to be getting a sneak peak of the hospital that we were going to be visiting the next day with the team. I was thankful for our contacts that came along with us to make sure we were getting good treatment. I was thankful for my squadmates, Nathan Boaldin and Alissa Rich, that were cracking me up on the way to the hospital. I was thankful that I got to talk with them while we were waiting for our results about what I’d been feeling and going through the past 2 weeks in Africa. I was thankful that by talking things out with them, I realized some things that I’d be dealing with but didn’t know how to get past. I was thankful to see God provide a ridiculous amount of peace within us in this whole situation. I was uber thankful that our test results came back negative. I was and am thankful that God completely restored my health and energy the next day.
If we didn’t know sickness, we wouldn’t fully appreciate our health.
If we didn’t have times of struggle, we wouldn’t appreciate when things are going smooth.
If we didn’t feel pain, we wouldn’t appreciate joy.
If we didn’t have times of uncertainty and unknowing, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to see how God provides.
To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.
–Oswald Chambers
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