Hey everyone!!! I just made it back to Thailand from Myanmar. Wow, I’ll be back in America in 5 days! It’s unreal. It’s been a crazy 3 weeks, that’s for sure. My life has been kind of indescribable haha but I’ll try to give a bit of a description. What I’ve been telling my family and other squad mates is basically I was on a 3 week camping trip. We were in a very small rural village. Every time we left our ministry campus people would stare, holler and take pictures almost as if they had never seen white people before. There was really nothing around other then this corner store that was maybe a 5 minute walk away so that became the hot spot. Pop and a package of chocolate wafers were the move. Less than 50 cents for both folks, mmmhmmm. The weather was extremely hot and humid, there were a whole lot of bugs everywhere and I slept on my sleeping pad in my tent or in my hammock until I found another sleeping pad because mine popped. Sad day. There were 2 Buddhist temples near us that played chants/music all night every night and we had 12 dogs roaming the property barking all night, probably at our 20+ lizard friends and 6 duck friends. There were also 2 roosters. They were not our friends because they would crow all night even when it wasn’t morning yet. Silly gooses. We took bucket showers from a trough filled with water, went to the bathroom in a squatting potty and we had eggs and potatoes for breakfast and rice and vegetables for lunch and dinner everyday. Every morning and every night we went to a church service with Burmese worship, prayer and a message that we each gave. Everyday I would teach English to my class of 16 wonderful students. After those 3 hours we would have free time for the next 7 hours. During this time there was a whole lot of nothing to do so I spent a lot of time thinking. It was a whole lot of time to process the race and prepare for this next season of my life. I read 2 books, a total of 1000 and some pages. I played lots of cards with my team and the kids, played a lot of catch with this sweet boy I kind of taught some baseball skills to. I also took a lot of naps in my hammock.
The days grew long and all the thoughts of this time on the race coming to an end real soon became a reality. I began to picture Home and seeing my sweet puppies and cozy bed. I got excited for my favorite coffee shops and to see my favorite people! I was so excited for the future; but it was still 2 weeks away. I realized I was counting down the days and although I loved my ministry, I was oh so ready to be home. It’s so fascinating to me that as humans we consistently look for more and more. We are never fully satisfied. I spent a whole lot of time longing for Home when in reality, Home is only something you long for that will never fully satisfy you. I had a realization that I will never, ever be fully satisfied on this earth. I will always be looking for more and more until the day I am finally with Jesus, my savior, in heaven. And truly, Home is where the heart is, and when your heart is with Jesus, you will always feel his comfort of being home.
I’ve had many homes on the race. The base in Costa Rica. A fun house that fit all 50 of us racers. It was truly a blast. A log cabin in South Africa. A sweet and cozy place built by hard working hands in honor of some amazing people now resting in heaven. In Thailand, Home was in the middle of a big city in a hostel. Hustle and bustle all around us night and day. And then Myanmar’s home was in my tent, outside a house, on the property of a bible school, in the middle of a very small village. All of these places were so different!!! There were hard things about each place. There were so many times I was looking for more and more to need my longing for full satisfaction. But, the only way I found my joy was when I laid it down to Jesus and said yes to where he had me!! When I saw Home for what it truly was: a disappointment until I’m finally home in heaven, but a place I can find joy when I find my home in Jesus rather than my atmosphere. When I put aside my fleshly desires and chose to make home where He had me, it changed the game!!! There was a shift that happened somewhere in these last few weeks when I became more comfortable with where I was living and what I was doing simply because my eyes were on Jesus. This has happened in every country, in every new home I’ve been in. I had to choose to be present and ok with my challenging surroundings and find joy in it. I now say I loved where I was these last few weeks. I shed a few tears when I left that amazing place. It was truly an honor to serve at the Esther Project and I love those kids with my whole heart. The way they serve and love people!!!! Like wow, I see so much of Christ in them. I will never forget the way these people and this place that impacted my life forever.
Also, I wanted to share with you all that because we spent very little on food in Myanmar, we had a lot of extra money in our food budget. So between team Warp and my team, we were able to donate $1,300 to our ministry!! it was such a nice way to end this time with them. It was an answered prayer for them so that they can finish their church building (:
And now for Home in good ole Loveland Colorado! 9 months later! Home will be a lot of things for me I’m sure: a challenge and a blessing. Have grace on me (: I can’t wait to connect with everyone and hear about your last 9 months. See you all real soon!!!! (:
