Pondering the lessons from Malaysia and sharing them has come much later and much slower than I intended. When self-quarantine began and then was quickly followed by the Stay at Home order, the planner inside of me just knew I was going to be so productive with blogging, reading, cleaning, and organizing. Then the reality of this strange state we are in settled into my head as well as my heart and the Holy Spirit began gently revealing to me the healing power of slowing down and running to Him instead of distractions.
Last night, I was journaling and spending time in Numbers before going to bed. Through reading Numbers and other books in the Old Testament God has shown me His steadfast faithfulness to the Israelites in the wilderness. He sweetly opened my eyes to see that the lessons I learned during Month 2, in Malaysia, were preparing me for Month 3 (and more) back in the United States alongside family and friends in quarantine. So here are a few of the lessons I can look back and see now that the Lord was teaching me:
The Joy of Dancing
Psalm 149:3 “Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!”
While volunteering at one of the local schools for students with special needs, we were told by our host to be careful with entering into explicit conversations about Jesus. The relationship between our host and the school was a new one and in his wisdom, he wanted us to continue to foster the connection through loving service and humility. Because of this, we desired and prayed for our actions to speak louder than words. For our love to reflect the love of the Father. One of the ways we loved the children and the teachers was through leading morning dance. My teammate, Angelica, has experience teaching Zumba and led the way. She intentionally picked songs with lyrics that spoke of the joy of the Lord — in fact the song we typically started with is titled “Joy” by Housefires (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQZWfbIJrGg).
As we danced, I couldn’t help by smile. I couldn’t help but feel the joy and presence of the Lord among us. Every student at this school has a special need that makes communicating and learning difficult, but they had not trouble communicating joy and delight as they danced with complete freedom. I came to treasure this part of our day. Witnessing the freedom these students had in dancing during morning exercises gave me permission to exercise that freedom to dance in worship in the mornings and during our church services as well.
This past Saturday my sister, Taylor, invited me to an online dance party and then FaceTimed me so we could dance and laugh together while following along with the instructors dance directions. I have not laughed as much as I did during that hour or felt such utter joy and delight since returning home.
Dance and music are beautiful ways to connect to each other and to connect with the Lord in worship. I am looking forward to putting this lesson into more frequent practice in the coming days.
The peace of days with a slow pace
Our days in Bali, Indonesia were filled from morning to night with interactions with the people from the village since we were living in their community center. Transitioning to Sungai Petani, Malaysia was a bit of a shock, especially the first week as we figured out the routine/schedule of coordinating teammates going to the school in the morning and others going to “Free Tuition” english tutoring in the evenings. We had a lot more unstructured and uninterrupted time to ourselves. In the beginning I floundered a bit, needing/wanting activity to fill my time to feel purposeful.
During that first week of floundering, God was patient and faithful in reminding me of the importance of intentional Sabbath, of resting in Him, and that productivity doesn’t determine my worth.
Saturday evening (Saturday was a great day ya’ll!) I read this quote from Phillip Yancey:
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46: 10) The Latin imperative for “be still” is vacate. As Simon Tugwell explains, “God invites us to take a holiday (vacation), to stop being God for awhile, and let him be God”…”We can stop doing all those important things we have to do in our capacity as God and leave it to him to be God.” Prayer allows me to admit my failures, weaknesses, and limitations to One who responds to human vulnerability with infinite mercy.
Wow, am I thankful for beginning to learn the value of a slower pace while in Malaysia. The transition home and this strange environment of living under a Stay at Home order was made easier by God’s wisdom in opening my eyes and my heart to slowing down, in seeking His face first rather than seeking all the tasks that could be completed to find my identity and value.
There were many other lessons learned and if I went into detail on all of them you would probably stop reading (I know I have to be in the right mindset to read an email/blog that is lengthy). So here is a simple list:
-The importance of eating meals together as a team (family).
-In order to grow as a community, it is necessary to actively choose each other apart from designated team times.
-Super feedback (constructive and encouraging) produces abundant growth.
-How fun church can be — Thanks, Bethel Assembly!
As I wrap this up, I want to leave you with a few of the lyrics from the last song we sang at a church service on Penang, Malaysia before traveling to Thailand. These words continually come to mind these days and I hope they are an encouragement to you as well:
“You are my Champion,
Giants fall when you stand, undefeated
Every battle You’ve won.
I am who you say I am
You crown me with confidence
I am seated – in the Heavenly place
Undefeated – with the One who has conquered it all.”
With love and genuine affection,
Caroline
