1. It's okay to be tired. It's when we are exhausted in every way that we learn where real rest comes from.
"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." – Psalm 62:1
"Trust in him at all times, O people, pour your hearts out to him, for God is our refuge." -Psalm 62:8
"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted among the earth." -Psalm 46:10
2. Don't become numb.
Heights and depths, baby. It's the stomach aches and the long days spent on too many buses and the hard goodbyes that make the soccer games and the chocolate tastings and the salsa dancing in the kitchen so much sweeter. I just recently started re-reading one of my favorite books, A Severe Mercy. Sheldon Vanauken writes, "So if he wanted the heights of joy, he must have, if he could find it, a great love. But in the books again, great joy through love seemed always to go hand in hand with frightful pain. Still, he thought, looking out across the meadow, still, the joy would be worth the pain— if, indeed, they went together. If there were a choice— and he suspected there was— a choice between, on the one hand, the heights and the depths and, on the other hand, some sort of safe, cautious middle way, he, for one, here and now chose the heights and the depths." I don't want to become numb to the tearful goodbyes or the precious opportunities to invest deeply in people, even if it's for a short time. I want to continually choose the heights and the depths, not some "safe, cautious middle way."
3. Stay teachable. You are not invincible to parasites or pick pockets.
At this point in the journey there is real temptation to start to think we know what we're doing. After being on the field for seven months certain things become second nature, never throwing toilet paper in the toilet, always having a snack on your person, praying in Spanish, not carrying your valuables in your backpack around town, learning kids names, remembering their faces, eating whatever food is placed in front of you, this is daily life for us. The danger comes when we start operating out of a place of pride instead of having humble and teachable spirits. It comes when we start treating ministry like a job instead of living it as a lifestyle. I pray the Lord continues to humble and teach me throughout the rest of this journey.
4. You're doing the thing. Stop waiting for tomorrow.
I keep waiting for something to change. I keep anticipating this monumental moment that I will tell people about one day of how "everything was different." I think part of my expectations in coming on this journey were that I would have this so-called "monumental moment" that so many people before me seem to have experienced. God and I had a funny conversation about this one Saturday morning when he reminded me that he actually gives me those moments every single day. Just being here and being present with people and learning to allow His love to flow from within me, that's the monumental moment. That's the big deal and I don't have to wait for some crazy experience to live out the love of Jesus Christ whether I'm on an eleven month adventure or back in the States.
Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." -John 7:38
"As for you, the anointing you have received from Him remains in you. . .But as His anointing teaches you about all things, and as that anointing is real and not counterfeit, just as it has taught you, remain in Him." – 1 John 2:27
5. Embrace today. You'll be home soon enough.
Embrace the variety of forms in which you can consume a platano (i.e. fried, boiled, caramelized, cream filled, crunchy, or as delicious plantain pouches filled with cheese.) Embrace the hillside pillow talk had between tents under the stars. Embrace the slap-happy laughter that is a result of the post nap squinty eyes produced by afternoon siestas in the grass at your ministry site after the kids leave. These are the moments I will miss.
6. The call remains. That same voice who told you to "Go", He is faithful and He's not finished yet.
"Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with His son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." – 1 Corinthians 1:7-9
7. There is something sweet about race life being your reality. Keep learning to love the people God puts in front of you.
We have this unique opportunity to live life, do ministry, sleep, eat, travel, love alongside people that have the same big picture goal as we do, but may live out that goal quite differently. I like the way Don puts it in his book Scary Close, "A good story makes you thankful to be alive because it reminds you that while sometimes painful, life is indeed beautiful and even magical. . .I say that because I'm starting to wonder if that's not the whole point of life, to be thankful for it and to live in such a way others are thankful for theirs as well." Thank you Jesus for my teammates, for that obnoxious kid who punches people at soccer camp, for the sweet girl who just wants a hug. May we learn to consistently say thank you for the joys and challenges of each day.
