I think many people view the World Race as a 11 month mission trip and it is but its also our real life. You have work, you spend time with friends, you go to church, you fix dinner, do laundry, clean, have bible studies. You also get to live in interesting places, sleep on floors in schools or churches, eat street food for dinner, do 30 hour weeks of contruction, visit prostitutes in bars and talk to them, make 2000 dolls for a nonprofit to sell for missionary support. My real life now looks a little different than most of you back home but its still real life. I go grocery shopping but it usually means taking buses, taxis, or walking. I still get excited to watch a movie on a Friday night. I get to have days where I travel to beautiful places and see crazy things and do crazy things, like pet tigers and ride elephants.
I want you to know that everyday life is filled with God’s work from making dolls, to translating curriculum, to teaching BIble classes, to playing with children, to talking to a teammate when they are having a bad day, to singing worship music at the end of the day. God can be and is in every part of our days you just need to include him in everything.
Many people think that if you are on a mission trip for 11 months you have to be working your butt off and into the ground. Well if I did that I might not make it out alive. Just like real life we get weekends, or days off. But even on weekends you can still be doing things for God’s glory. Enjoying his creation in nature, spending time getting to know his people, laughing and having fun pleases God.
On the race its has been hard to fight the thought of doing ministry all the time like a job. There is a hard balance to know when you are “working” and “relaxing” but really they should be intermingled. In real life just being in the presence of God and seeking him in your daily life will open up opportunites throughout your day to minister to everyone around you. Whether it be giving someone a hug, carrying someone’s bag, making someone dinner, letting someone go in front of you in a line, telling someone that God love them. I’m learning that everyday whether its the weekend or a work day is a ministry day. We always have the opportunity in front of us to serve or be in the presence of God.
I’ve struggled with hearing people say “you shouldn’t put pictures up of you having a good time”, or “it looks like you dont work”, or “I want to see what you do everyday not just the fun stuff”. On facebook we all show the fun, good times of life: the highlight reels. I don’t see many people posting a picture of themselves sitting in front of a computer doing work or scrubbing a toliet or cleaning out their garage. We only put the highlights, the crazy extraordinary stuff on there.
For that I’m sorry, my life looks alot more glamorous than it is.
I’m sorry I dont post more of the mundane: sewing dolls all day long, teaching english, translating curriculum, shoveling dirt, scrubbing walls, etc.. Those are just ordinary days and I forget that there are alot of people who helped me come on this amazing journey.
I will try to be better about letting you in on my everyday life not just the cool adventures I get to have on the side.
I am so grateful for everyone’s support and for everyone who has followed me on this journey.
As glamorous as it looks, its hard, sweaty, and exhausting: mentally, physically, and spiritually. But God is so good and so full of blessings and surprises. I’m trying to learn to accept those with open arms.
What is your everyday looking like nowadays? I would love to hear from all of you how God is showing up in your everyday lives! Please email me sometime! SERIOUSLY- I would love to know what God is teachin you, a bookstudy you are going to, a great book you’ve read. God is present in so many ways and I would love to share that with you.
Blessings,
Jennie
