“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Fathers house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” -John 14:1-4
I was listening to a podcast by Judah Smith the other day and he was talking about this scripture and this quote really stood out to me:
“You know the point of life and how to get there.”
It’s month 11. I’m physically tired, I could fall asleep anywhere at anytime, no matter how much sleep I get I always wake up tired. Looking back on my life this year I can see why I feel like this.
Traveling every few weeks, I’ve slept in 35 different places, not counting the sleeper buses I’ve been on in Asia and the flights across continents. I’ve been all over the world, from India to Rome to Zimbabwe. I’ve held babies who were thrown away and shunned from society. I’ve done countless house visits and prayed for families. I’ve shared my story in churches. I’ve hung out with college students at coffee shops and taught them English. I’ve filled gardens and put gravel in driveways and pathways. I’ve put on a puppet show for children with random stuffed animals. I’ve hiked in the mountains of Nepal praying over cities. I went to Angkor Wat in Cambodia and pretended to be Angelina Jolie. I hiked up waterfalls in Thailand and swam with elephants. I’ve been to the Disney of Vietnam. I’ve held hands with a beggar and prayed for him and his family he lost. I’ve feed the littles in some villages in Swaziland. I’ve loved on kids in the bush of Zimbabwe.
I could go on and on. If I wasn’t tired by now I would be disappointed because that means I didn’t give everything. I’ve done so much pouring out this year, but it’s given God room to pour into me. He has taught me a lot, how to love others, how to love myself, how to love Him more. He has given me my worth back and always reminds me how worthy I am of life with him, life in abundance. He has given me a joy for life I couldn’t put into words. He has given me a peace beyond understanding in hard times. He is the point. Without him I have no purpose worth living out.
So going home, I’m not sure what my life will look like. I’m not sure where I’ll be working but I do know I’m not going to settle for less. I want to volunteer more, I want to actually get plugged in to a church and serve with them. I want to find community and do life with them. It’s a little scary thinking I’ll be back in Oregon in a month but one thing I’ll cling to is that I know the point of life and I know how to get there. My souls is excited for what’s next. This is just the beginning.
