Every summer for as long as I can remember, my family has loaded down three SUVs with everything but the kitchen sink, said a driveway prayer, stopped for the week’s inaugural breakfast at Cracker Barrel, driven no less than 10 hours and kept with the fabulous tradition of Family Vacation! This year, we ventured to St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, for a week of frolicking on the beach, playing overpriced (but beautiful?) rounds of golf, enjoying “fine” dining (I highly recommend Southern Soul Bar-B-Q), venturing on Ghost Tours, Trolley Rides and Bicycling adventures, and generally taking a break from the day-to-day hectic lives we’ve all managed to build for ourselves. (See –God Doesn't Take Vacation– for pictures from the trip!)
Debrief is nothing like a typical vacation. For four days, my squad has parked in the CMBH (not sure what that stands for, exactly, but it’s a facility for Baptist-based Mission Groups that come to Port au Prince, Haiti.) We’re sleeping on bunk beds; we’re eating sandwiches for lunch; we have to monitor our Internet time so as not to overload and crash the system; we are currently out of running water (I managed to shower yesterday…) and we can’t leave the grounds. There is no beach and there are no nearby attractions. We even woke up this morning to a massive bee infestation! Somehow, though, after the first two months of The World Race, this feels like the greatest vacation I’ve been on in years.
When the water runs (cold!), it comes out of showerheads! Go a month without those and suddenly they are quite luxurious! For dinner last night, we had lasagna, and as a special treat, we had chocolate cake! In “real” life, I’m not even that crazy about chocolate cake, but last night, I had two helpings! (Pray against gluttony, would you?) For the first time in a month, I was able to see my mom’s face when we talked; likewise, I’ve been able to text friends and family that I otherwise haven’t talked to since I left the Dominican Republic! My laundry is currently hanging on a line, having been hand-washed by one of my amazing teammates! I spent this afternoon playing Nertz (hello, middle school throwback!) and the two most important things on my personal agenda are a) spending quality time with Jesus, and b) loving on my team and squad mates!
Life is all about perception. My teammate, Monica, noted how for most people, our current living conditions would be considered “roughing it.” There is absolutely nothing wrong with that; had I not just lived through the past few months, I’d be of the same mindset. Today, I truly realized the patience and grateful attitude God is developing for me. (Trust me, it’s a process still in the works.)
When several of our team leaders and team treasurers had to venture to a “local” bank in effort to withdraw enough cash to pay for our accommodations, I could hardly believe the line we had to stand in (outside the facility) just to gain access into the bank. Once inside, we found ourselves waiting in another line for service, and then another line to finally complete our transaction. Over the course of three hours, I would be surprised if 1/3 of the people standing in line got waited on. Having some banking experience, I marveled at this pace that just seemed normal and accepted; this would never have flown in the banking world I know. As I stood in line, though, chatting, joking and laughing with these friends who are rapidly becoming family, I realized how silly it would be to grow impatient with this process. It’s so much more prudent to be thankful – thankful for the air-conditioning in the building, thankful for the security guard we got to spend time with and pour into, thankful that God worked it out for us to get funds we needed, thankful for an opportunity to venture out of the “compound,” etc., etc. etc.
We are truly on vacation. We have NO agenda, except to be about God’s purposes. There is no rush. There is an actual desire and invite for interruptions in our daily routine. Seriously, this is the life!
Announcement!!!
I am not meant to go back to Corporate America. God’s been on me about this for quite sometime, but it’s taken a while for me to realize and trust that there is no sense in worrying about how I will be provided for. It seems whimsical, I know. It seems illogical that I will somehow manage to survive and maintain a typical American standard of living. It seems like I’m being lazy and foregoing the expectation put on me (by myself and others) to thrive in a career, to earn lots of money, to “keep up with the Jones” and to live the same life everyone else does…
There is more to life than a nine to five… There is more to life than material possessions… There is more to life than proving that I can live up to my high school “Most Likely to Succeed” superlative… I don’t have a clue what my life is going to look like when I get back from The World Race. I have a few ideas, and I covet prayers that God will reveal exactly what He’s got in mind!
I pray for a spirit of freedom – freedom to accept the life that God is calling me to, whatever that winds up looking like. Likewise, I pray for a spirit of trust – trust that He will sustain me, no matter what. (See Daniel 1 if you don’t think God can sustain on meager means!)
Consider the rest of my life a vacation. Oh, I’ll be working the whole time – working to build The Kingdom. Working to love and speak life into the people God puts in my path. Working to set others free from expectations and the bounded set mentality. I will be on Operation Working Vacation! Feel free to join me…
Be Blessed,
Ashlee
