Over the last 9 months, I have been so blessed to be able to meet so many amazing people. My favorite ministry on the race has been meeting people, building relationships with them, and then showing Jesus’ love by being who I am and sharing what I’ve walked through. And, in return, I have been so fortunate to become friends with these lovely people, and I’ve been able to listen to their stories and learn from them. These people have brought me so much delight, and I am so thankful for each of them.
Our second month in Peru, our squad stayed in a compound where two local families lived with us. One of the families treated me like one of their own. I had so much fun with them being goofy and also just talking about whatever came to mind. Everyday I would get a hug from both of their little boys. At the end of the month, saying goodbye to that family was so hard. They pulled three of us aside one night and called out spiritual gifts in each of us. The ones they called out in me, I wasn’t walking in them at the time. But they had been praying for us so they knew we’d be walking in those gifts one day. They were so intentional with us, and they loved us so well over the course of that month.
Our last week in India, a few of my friends and I spent our off time visiting a sweet lady who owned a cafe down the street from where we lived. After our second time visiting her, she invited us to her house. Thought that week, we were constantly in and out of her house and cafe. We became quick friends, and she shared so much of her life with us. We talked about anything and everything. She was such a huge blessing to me. Even though we only knew her for a week, she holds a special place in my heart. It still shocks me how quick she was to invite us in, and treat us like we had been friends since the beginning of time.
Our ministry hosts in India traveled with us for the whole two months we were in country. Since we were together for so long, our whole squad got really close with the three of them. They taught me so much about being myself with locals. A lot of times we get in to this mindset of I’m a missionary so I need to be serious and put together in front of everyone, and we forget that people are people. And, most people are silly. Most people want to laugh with you, and feel like they are talking to a relatable person not the perfect Christian. So throughout those two months, we goofed off so much with our hosts, and they felt like friends I would have back home. Our friendships with them felt so normal. And, when you feel normal on the race, that’s a blessing that’s petty indescribable. So I am really thankful to the three of them for being my friends.
Looking back on those three stories to proof read them, they seemed so ordinary. And, that’s because extraordinary friendships are built in ordinary moments. In the moments when you could choose your schedule and your convince over being a friend to a stranger, but you choose to build relationship. And, furthermore, the moments that mean the most to you and are your extraordinary moments will seem ordinary to everyone else because they weren’t there. They weren’t effected by those moments and those people like you were.
You can’t live off of other peoples extraordinary moments because they will always seem bland to you. You have to wake up each day to an ordinary life, and look for opportunities to make it extraordinary in your own way, with your own people and new people, doing the things your passionate about doing and loving people around you fiercely like you want to be loved.
