Grace.
Living in community involves a large capacity of
grace according to someone I’ve met recently. And he is exactly right. It has
already been 3 weeks with my team and we are in constant company of each other
every day.
Let me explain something about myself; I have a small amount
of patience for certain things about people. It is no fault to them; it is a
fault in me. I get annoyed easily and to not be able to leave and spend some
time away from these things where I can breathe freely and where I can feel
alone is very stressful for me right now. I find myself getting frustrated
easier because I just haven’t had time away from people. I am a creature of
habit and I love my time to myself.
Now to be living in community with 5 other girls (whom I love
dearly) is definitely putting me out of my comfort zone. However, today we
visited the shop of Justees, which is a screen printing company newly started
that assists young Cambodian men to stay in school while learning life skills
and also raises awareness of social and ecological justice issues. You can
visit justees.org for more information on them and their organization.
So while we were there today all I felt was the hot dry air of Cambodia, the sweat slipping down my back and the feeling of my shirt sticking to my body. I was beginning to fall into a heat coma and found myself zoning in and out while the founder of Justees was explaining the organization to us. However, through the heat, the sweat, and the irritation I heard the word of God coming through Steve when he talked about GRACE and community. I have to stop being selfish and be like Jesus, who loved all and gave grace to us all (even the ones that didn’t love him, know him, or treat him right).
