Hello friends and family! It has been so amazing being able to have pieces of home with me on this race so far! Last month I carried around my family bundle of tags, and this month I’ve carried my church families. It is so sweet to have this physical reminder of all of the support I have from home. Your prayers and encouraging words have made such a difference already, and I am so grateful to have such a supportive community from home.
A couple tags that have been particularly encouraging so far have been these 4.
In the beginning of this journey, these three pretty well describe my experience on the race so far. I love the quotes on the first tag from my aunt Judy that talk about spiritual journey and that being fully immersed in that journey means leaving behind fear and replacing it with the love of the Father. The first month put us in a lot of situations where it was very easy to be fearful, but something I constantly had to pray over myself was that we have nothing to fear because Jesus already conquered the grave, and because we were stepping out in faith to spread love and joy to some of the darkest places in the city, that He would bless that and protect us from harm. So my whole first month was a big process of unlearning fear and now that that fear no longer has a hold on me, I feel so much freer to live in the promises God has given us.
The second tag is from Tina who helps out with just about everything at my church! This is one side of her tag to me, but this side also defined a second big lesson I’ve learned on the race. The Holy Spirit leads with peace and joy, but the only way to feel that peace and joy is to be still and listen for God’s still small voice. Our leadership really encourages having daily quiet time, and at first it was difficult for me to find this time to set aside, but this month, I notice such a big difference in ministry when I don’t take that time in the morning to just rest in God’s presence. This is something I would have never even thought about doing before the race, and now I can’t imagining functioning without it.
The third and fourth one sort of go hand in hand. The third one is just a joke from my younger sister Michelle. She was determined to give me a funny joke before I left. The fourth one is sort of an inside joke from my youth group days written to me from a family at my church. We used to play this game called “Honey, if you love me” when the goal was to try not to laugh, but if you were in the middle, your goal was to try and make the person laugh while asking “Honey, if you love me would you please just smile?” And if they didn’t smile, you lost and had to find someone else to make laugh. The joke from the tag, though, comes from when I was trying to get one guy who just would not laugh to crack, so I went through all of my incredible world accents. I started with Russian, tried a little British, and then the third time, I acted like a spanish flamenco dancer, and to get him to laugh, I violently pulled him to his feet exclaiming “In España, we dance!” And to that he FINALLY laughed!
But this tag has been an encouragement to not be afraid and to just let loose and have fun. Last month I had it in my head that in order to me a missionary, I had to be serious all the time, and I didn’t really let myself let loose and have fun. This month, we have been living with a missionary family with 2 little girls aged 2 and 4, and while we are playing with them, I remember those moments in my life when I was most joyful and the most free to be goofy and be myself, and remembering that God was present in those moments. We are called to live in the joy of the Lord, so it’s okay to be silly and goofy and ridiculous because the moments when we can share pure laughter like that can be so holy.
I know this is only a small portion of tags that got sent with me, but I appreciate all of your support so much. I will continue to look to them for encouragement and inspiration. You guys have helped me get this far already, and I am so grateful, and I am just $2,600 from being fully funded thanks to you guys, but I still need some help to get to that final push. For everyone who donates while I am on the field, I will send you a personalized postcard from my time in country so you can see what your support is helping to do! Please prayerfully consider supporting this trip. I’m almost 2 months in and God has worked in such amazing ways because of your help!
