November! An exciting month to say the least! These next few blogs will give you a little insight into my life this month — full of change, packed with adventure, and loaded with love! I ended the month of October praying that during November, my last month in South Africa, the Lord would walk me through an incredible amount of growth. Something I quickly realized, however, was that growth doesn’t happen when I’m hanging out inside of my comfort zone. So I decided to step out by turning off my phone and logging out of social media for the month! It may not seem like a huge sacrifice, but for a girl that loves talking to her friends and family, I was definitely reluctant to begin. Now that I only have one more week left before I turn it back on, however, I want to share with you a little bit about what I’ve learned!
Freedom from comparison!! While it’s exciting for me to scroll through Instagram and see all the fun things people are doing, the beautiful places they’re adventuring to, or the people they’re hanging out with, I know that doing so often causes feelings of jealousy and fear of missing out to arise within me. Here’s a funny example. Last month, I loved seeing all the pumpkin patch posts — you know, the ones with the girls wearing the oversized, fuzzy sweaters in front of the corn mazes? Yeah. Anyway. While yes, I was excited for everyone, seeing those made me wish I was at home, picking pumpkins and doing all the fun fall things that don’t exactly happen in Africa. It seems small, but I realized things like this were taking my attention off of reality. Letting myself imagine a life different from the one I’m living only dislocates me from the amazing journey that’s right in front of me! I’m continually learning that comparison is the thief of joy and this phone-free month allowed me to live without the temptation of comparison to life back at home.
A deeper love for my community back in the States!! Because I haven’t been in communication with anyone from home this month, I’ve taken lots of time to intentionally pray for all my people! Through this, the Lord has shown me just how blessed I am to have such an incredible community of friends and family that has raised and shaped me over the last 18 years. Asking God to show me His heart for these people has made me so, so thankful for all of you!
Greater intentionality with my community here!! I’ve learned that sometimes you have to disconnect to connect. Not having my phone has given me the opportunity to strengthen my friendships with my teammates so much more this month! I’ve gotten to have conversations that wouldn’t have happened had I been texting or snap chatting or face-timing. Instead of running to my friends or family at home when things got hard, my only option was to turn to and rely on the people around me. This allowed me to gain deeper trust with my teammates and experience more of intentional community living. I also laughed A LOT this month with the people around me!
I’m really thankful to be in a season of life that allows me to turn off my phone because I know that realistically, not everyone is in a place to be able to do that. I’m glad that I stepped into further abandonment this month and am excited to turn my phone back on and use it with the new perspective I’ve gained! I can’t wait to be able to talk to my family and friends this Thanksgiving weekend and swap stories from the last month!
With all of this being said, I want to empower you to challenge yourself during the month of December! To step into something uncomfortable that will spark a period of growth in your own life! And if you do, let me know how it goes! December is an easy month to get caught up in the craziness of the Holiday season. In the shopping and decorating and cooking and baking and exam-taking and traveling and being with family 24/7 and it being the end of the year!! But December is also the month that Jesus — the Prince of PEACE — came to walk on this Earth!! Live in that!
xo, Caroline
