1. NewLife – This is my new team of course. It has been a blessing to have the opportunity to get to know other people from the squad in a more intimate, team setting. Most of us started from scratch as far as friendships go…but can already see God’s purpose in putting us together! I am incredibly thankful to be able to spend this final season on the race with this group of people!
2. Snacks – Though my taste buds have definitely become more adventurous on this race than they were prior to it…still not a huge fan of white rice. Luckily there was a little store that sold coconut crackers for real cheap! Plus my awesome teammate Pam kept Kitkat and Pringles on hand as often as we could get our hands on them! I realize that isn’t real nutritious…don’t judge me…it was just nice to actually eat and enjoy!
3. Sleeping bag – When you are at the top of a mountain in Nepal…it can get pretty chilly. My sleeping bag got lots of use this month, but it was also accompanied by a blanket or two. This month our living situation actually felt like what we all expected out of the entire world race. We hiked up the mountain with our packs on and slept on our mats in our sleeping bags…no tents but I’m ok with that J
4. Purpose – Preaching isn’t my thing. We’ve done a lot of that over the past few months and I will admit that I have struggled seeing the purpose I was having in these ministries. Through talks with different teammates, I have learned more about my purpose and about ways to seek out ways to be purposeful in using the gifts and strengths I do have…even if they aren’t what our ministry calls for. I already wrote about that in my last blog but the part I am most thankful for is the new perspective I have on it that came through being surrounded by new people.
5. Thankfulness – I hope that through my thankful blogs that it is obvious that I have learned a lot about being thankful on this trip. I met a girl this month who very much so put me to shame. She thanked me for everything…even when I would stand up and introduce myself. I’ll admit that part of that is that ‘thank you’ is one of the only English phrases she knew…but it challenged me to continue to learn how to be thankful! I know that lately I’ve been thinking about how thankful I am going to be when I get home and get to be with my family and eat Taco Bueno, but I don’t want to forget to be thankful for the experiences I am having right now.
6. Mountains – I’ve honestly never really been that drawn to mountains…but now I don’t understand how you couldn’t lose your breath every time you look at them. I wish I would have taken more advantage of them than I did…but when I could I would sit and have quiet time while taking in God’s glorious creation. Even the view from our squatty potty was spectacular! My favorite time to sit and stare was during the sun set…absolutely gorgeous.
7. Animals – More honesty…other than puppies (Peyton and Eli I love you!), I’m not usually really one to want to touch animals. Especially not farm type animals. One of our first days in the village, a goat had babies and a couple days later, some chicks hatched. It was so much fun to cuddle them and play with them. We asked the goats names and they said ‘goat’s name goat…so we named them Gregory, Charlie and Herby!
8. Learning the language – When you are in a village where other than you, your 4 other teammates and your translator…no one speaks English, you pick up on the language a little bit. I’m not anywhere close to being able to actually carry on a conversation with someone in Nepali, but I got a few key phrases down. Pani, means water, which is what most of them thought my name was. Jai masi means Praise to the Messiah! Danyivat, means thank you. Bane or ‘Bonnie’ means habit (which isn’t really useful except to know what my name means). Mero nom Bonnie is my name is Bonnie…these few phrases will make you a crowd pleaser!
9. Servant hearts – The women who took care of us this month are some of the hardest working woman I have ever met! And they do it in sari’s. Can you imagine digging a trench wearing a floor length dress? They constantly made sure that we had any and everything we needed. Plus Auntie was very quick to jump at the opportunity to take care of us when we all got sick. I can learn a lot about being hospitable and being a servant from these women.
10. Thunder – I’ve always liked rain and thunder storms…especially to sleep during. At the top of a mountain, you experience thunder in a whole new way. I would hum “I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayedâ€� from ‘How Great Thou Art’. It was amazing to literally be able to feel God’s power moving on the mountain.
