Blogging…clearly my strongsuite…ehem…
I apologize for not keeping up with my it, it's harder than I thought it'd be. Anyway, we are currently in month 3, spending it in Cape Town, South Africa; truly a beautiful place! I promise that I will blog about it soon, however I wanted to send out a note from month 2, Swaziland! 🙂 …so here it is…
Swaziland –
Rest seems to be the hashtag God wants trending in my life as of late. Last month was a very chill month. I started out (the first couple of days) pushing myself through the heat and tiredness to finish a job that didn't have a deadline. We were working in the children's playground (digging up weeds and cleaning up trash) which was a lot of fun however I felt I needed to "finish" the job as soon as possible. This resulted in exhaustion…and 9 blisters. (Swaziland is quite a warm place…not as hot as Mozambique but warm enough to where the Swazi's only work until early afternoon and then are done for the day. HA!) I pushed myself until I couldn't go anymore; with the expectation of finishing it and moving on to the next project, however, that didn't happen. I didn't finish it in my ideal timing…in fact, I didn't completely finish it. After the first couple of days I felt like God was telling me to relax…to slow down and enjoy His beauty. Where we were living was at the base of a line of mountains…on one side was beautiful flat lands with trees and sugar cane fields and on the other…mountains. Down the road a bit was an animal reserve/safari park surrounded by huts and fields. Really just a beautiful scene.
At the beginning of the month our ministry contact told the group that there would not be a strick schedule to follow…that we had projects that needed to be completed however we would start around 9ish (which in Swazi meant 10-10:30) and be done around 2:30-3 (which meant 2-2:30). As soon as this was said my 5 teammates all looked at me and smiled! They all know what I walked through in Moz (past blog) and knew this was still apart of that journey. That said, jumping in, schedule minded the first couple of days was quickly slowed and I was told/reminded to rest and relax. I was blown away at how much I was truly able to see God's beauty in more than just the mountains… I felt Him in the wind and in the sunsets; in the trees and in the quietness; and in the rain… He sent a couple storms while we were there and in those times I truly felt Him the most. The rain felt as though He was washing over me with love and peacefulness and the thunder…I could feel His greatness through the deep rumbles. I love storms but I have never experienced them like I did in Swazi. Truly amazing and truly loved.
I learned how to just be, whether that meant laying in my hammock, listening to music or sitting in our commons area watching people play card games….relaxing and just being. Along with this, I was able to spend quality time with my team, which was amazing. It was so fun getting to know them on better and learning more of who we are as a team. They're truly amazing and I am SO blessed by them!
…anyway, as we prepared to go into the next country, I felt so loved, so relaxed and so at peace. In a month where I didn't really feel like I was "getting much out of it", He was teaching me how to rest and see His beauty in everything.
So there it is, month 2… As I was seeing His beauty in my surroundings, He was revealing the beauty of resting in Him. Truly amazing and truly needed.
#rest #swaziland #agapetos #pdabest #worldrace #boom
