On Saturday I got the AMAZING opportunity to go to an elephant sanctuary! A bunch of my squad mates and I woke up early to go and hang out with elephants for the morning. It was so cool!! We all jumped into a truck that was picking us up at a hostel in the city and we drove an hour and a half up into the mountains. After traveling through the curvy bumpy mountain roads we arrived at the sanctuary!
We went through the guidelines and rules and then got to make our way down to this huge bamboo pavilion. Under the pavilion we watched the majestic and powerful elephants run down to us because they heard their master yelling “BON BON.” Bon bon means banana! So when all the elephants were down under the covering we got to feed the elephants bananas. It was so fun! I got to put the bananas in the elephants mouth and trunk and watch them as they broke up the corn stalks and ate them on their own. They are such beautiful and intelligent creations. That was definitely the highlight of the day!
Shortly after we changed into our bathing suits and ran down to the mud pit because we were allowed to bath the elephants! It was so cool! I ran into the mud bath and joined in on the fun until I got distracted by another elephant that started pooping in the water. (LOL) One split second later I felt pain like before on my left foot and realized that an ELEPHANT was stepping on my foot. He was stepping on my left side of my left foot and soon to be my whole foot if I didn’t act fast. Let me tell you all – Gods Angels were for sure looking out for me and I believe acted as a cushion between my foot and the elephants! It was truly a miracle that I was able to quickly slide out my foot through the mud from under the elephants foot.
After that I quickly ran to the side of the mud pit and inspected the damage. Thankfully my foot was just extremely bruised with some cuts and blood, but I figured it wasn’t broken because I was able to wiggle my toes admits the pain. Fast forward a couple of hours I got an x ray and Praise God there were no broken bones!! Again it was truly a miracle and still a week later thanking Him for protecting me!
So you are probably asking me why I am sharing long insane story… well first I can’t help but not share this story because it’s a testimony of Gods hand and protection! I mean come on an elephant stepped on my foot and I have no broken bones?! Not many people get to say that. There’s a purpose for sharing this story though – it’s to give God all the glory and share the lessons I learned through this experience.
1.) Be still.
I am always so humbled when injuries come up and I have to be bed ridden. It always starts out with me sulking and asking why me?! Classic, i know right? I should learn by now, but I don’t because I am human. There’s grace for me, thank God!
I learned through this experience that God wants me to slow down and take time with Him. Even though I hated missing ministry, I got a lot of good quiet time in with Him and just got to sit and rest in His presence. I also got to pour into myself, which was much needed. He taught me a lot about how I don’t always need something to do or a plan; just be still with Him. Sometimes you just need to sit with God and marvel at His beautiful creation, help your hosts wife cook and enjoy hearing her story or finish that book you have been trying to read for 2 months. He is in the big things; but also the little things in life, don’t forget that.
2.) Ask for help and accept it!
My teammates were really drilling lesson 2 and 3 into me. Currently there are 27 of us living together and I simply learned that it’s okay to ask for help and it’s okay to accept help that is offered to me. For example, I don’t have to hop up the stairs to the kitchen or church (which was the upper room on one of the buildings at the farm that we are living at for the month), when I can just ask or accept my friends piggyback offer. During those three days I had to rely on my squad in a way I never have before and I am glad I had to because it formed a new level of trust and friendship with each person. I am so thankful for everyone of my squadmates and for how selfless they were in taking care of me last week! Thanks y’all!!! Your the best! <3
3.) I am not a burden.
I learned that I am not a burden! It’s funny but society I feel like now a days teaches you that if you ask for help you are weak or a burden to people. This past week that lie was broken from me and I chose to believe and speak life over myself! Again, I chose to rely on God and my squadmates more than myself, which was hard but so worth it in the long run. Part of community is inviting people into your mess and allowing them to help and build you up with Gods love as their driving force. I am so thankful for Christ like community and for this season where I get to do this crazy journey with 30 something brothers and sisters in Christ.
