Continuing on from my last blog post, and referencing that NY Times article I told you about (see previous post: http://christinadombrowsky.theworldrace.org/?filename=being-broken-of-busyness-were-on-honduran-time), the author writes about his 'best ordinary days'.
Thinking up your 'Perfect Average Day' is an exercise I visited a lot when I was obsessed with 'Life Coaching' (about 2008/2009, when I was living in and returning from Argentina 😉 Figuring out what your 'perfect average day' would look like is an idea most people struggle to define. We think we know what we want…but when we have to put it into to words – or schedule it- we struggle.
So I thought this would be an appropriate time to share with you what my best ordinary days here at Gates of Zion Ministry in Honduras look like:
-Wake up around 8/8:30am
-Some quiet time in my cozy tent (adorned in tons of love msgs from friends & family) thanking God for another beautiful day and reading my 'Jesus Calling' Devotional
-Breakfast (not promptly) at 9am
-Work out with some girls – either an "Insanity" work out video or a jog around the property and some sit ups
– Shower (always ice cold but refreshing)
– Depending on the day of the week we either get started on yard work or pile on the bus to go do ministry somewhere, but since this is MY best ordinary day I'm describing, I will pick Thursdays b/c those are the days we go to INFA to work with the teenage girls (my favorite day of the week)
-So on Thursdays we have free time until lunch, so I will usually read or chit chat with teammates
-Eat lunch (not promptly) at 12pm. Eat lunch in the grass while watching the school children play on the swings (our property is next door to an elementary school and all the kids come over to play as they wait for the bus to take them home)
– Pile on the bus, with 53 of my new closest friends, to head to INFA
– Spend the afternoon entertaining the girls, hearing their stories, painting their nails, and just loving on them
– Eat a snow cone from a street vendor on the way back to the bus (I got strawberry/pineapple/condensed milk on top — soooo delicious! And no- I did not get sick. What's a delicious snack without a little risk involved? 😉
-Head back to the property on the bus
– Mosy around and see what people are doing or help make dinner
-Since this is my perfect ordinary day, we'll have chicken tacos for dinner 🙂 That's my favorite meal we eat here.
– Team worship night is Thursday night, so we spend some time in community sharing what God is putting on our hearts and making beautiful music
– Grab an ice cream sandwich or some popcorn from the 'Pulperia' (snack shop)
– Watch a movie or read and doze off to sleep by midnight
It's pretty average. And it's pretty perfect!
I don't know if a day like the above described is 'My Perfect Average Day' for the rest of my life (I think I'd prefer not to travel everywhere by bus, and I'd definitely want a microwave in my kitchen!) … but for this month, it's perfect 😉
I challenge you to brainstorm up what your Perfect Average Day would look like!
What would you need to change to actually make your days look like that?
What do you LOVE about the days you now live?
What do you LOVE that is missing from your days?
I love watching the children play on the swings when they get out of school.
I love the weather here: sunny, breezy, cool at night.
I love taking a break from working on the yard and walking down to the 'Pulperia' to get a lollipop or to the Cafe to get some chicken tacos.
I love listening to the stories of the children who live here and how God has used this ministry to physically & spiritually save them.
I love talking to Tony about his vision for this place.
I love reading my book "Kisses for Katie" (a 19 year old American girl turned Ugandan missionary's memoir) and thinking about how maybe I am doing something like what she is doing!
I love reading and reading and then drifting off to sleep for a nap, just to wake up and start reading again.
I love sleeping so deeply that when I wake up, and it's pitch black in my tent, I think for the first few seconds of consciousness that maybe I am in my bed at home! 😉
I love waking up and realizing I can go back to bed for a little bit ( but I love doing this no matter what country I am in!)
I love eating our simple lunches of either ham & cheese or chicken salad sandwiches on the soft grass under the tree in the from yard.
I love watching the people that come in and out of and past the the property each day: ice cream truck vendors with a shotgun for security, police officers just looking for a free energy drink, panhandlers selling anything from fruit to shampoo/conditioner, school children looking for a game of just about anything to play as they wait for the bus.
I love that my Blackberry is finally working and I can communicate with my Mom daily! (lemme know if you have a BB and we can BBM, too! 🙂
I love spending each day in a community of young people that have hearts like mine.
I love the pace of life here.
I love that God has brought me here and I love knowing that He is going to use me in ways greater than I could every imagine.
I love that this is just the beginning 🙂
