Do you ever have those moments or maybe even days or weeks
where you just feel complete and utter contentment? I can’t say that I feel that all the time,
but those times that I do are just some of the sweetest moments. I can honestly say that that has been the
case for me quite frequently in the past couple of weeks…
This past month I had the opportunity to go to the beach –
twice. I know what lots of you may be
thinking. I thought you were going on a
mission’s trip not on vacation. Well,
after almost 9 months of being out on the field my team had the opportunity to
get a little rest and relaxation at the beach for a few days. I can honestly tell you that I feel like I
did more “ministry� during our little vacation than I feel like I’ve done in
the past couple of months. I can’t even
describe it. I feel like God used me in
more ways to speak specifically to individuals and be the light of Christ to
them than I’ve been used in quite a while.
It felt wonderful. It was just a
reminder of why I’m here, why I follow Christ, one of the reasons why I wanted
to go on this crazy trip in the first place.
My first morning there I decided to go have my quiet time
down on the beach. I got up early and
headed down the street. It’s only about
a 5 minute walk, and it was extra quiet out because most of the shops weren’t
open yet. As I approached the ocean I decided to turn right towards the less
busy section of the beach. Before I
could even lay my conga out to sit on it, it began to rain. I took cover at a little
restaurant/guesthouse called the House of Malibu and ordered some hot coffee
for the first time in quite a while. It
was raining so it was actually a little cooler outside.
There I was, sitting in a comfy seat, drinking delicious
coffee and looking out at the ocean while spending time with Jesus. It just doesn’t get much better than this,
and believe me I was super thankful for the opportunity. I was trying to take a picture to capture
this moment forever on my memory card when a Korean man came up and offered to
take a picture for me. We began to talk,
and he pulled up a chair next to me. I
found out he’s actually the owner of the guesthouse. We sat there and talked for maybe an
hour. He told me about himself, and I
told him a little about me. This opened
up the door to share about Jesus.
That morning I received one of the highest compliments of my
life. During the course of our
conversation my new friend told me, “You have Jesus’ eyes and Jesus’ smile.â€� This of course brought tears to my eyes…
How many times have I asked Jesus to let people see something
different in me, to see HIM? How many
times have I prayed to literally be the hands and feet of Jesus to people?
I ended up going down there every morning that we were there
and having coffee and sometimes breakfast while chatting with him. On the last morning I had the opportunity to
pray over him. It was just one of those
special moments that I’ll never forget.
Me and my new friend John
During our time in Sihanoukville we also made friends at a
Mexican restaurant with some Navy men stationed in the area and had the
blessing of loving on the kids selling bracelets at the beach. It was just such a refreshing time of peace.
I didn’t want to leave this place when the time came. I felt used and filled up by Jesus. I had made friends. I felt like I wasn’t in the “box� that I feel
like I’m in on the World Race sometimes.
I absolutely loved being there and developing relationships with the
people. Honestly, I wanted to stay there and finish out the Race, but I left
and went back to our little village.
Team picture! (plus a Spaniard and some random kid in the background)
Don’t get me wrong, I loved our ministry in the village too. The kids we taught English to stole our
hearts with their shining smiles. Coming
back to the village was just felt like coming to a whole other world that I’d
almost forgotten about.
Less than a week
later our squad leaders had a little “retreat� for all of the team leaders so I
had the opportunity to actually go back to the beach in Sihanoukville and reconnect
with the people there. It was a good but
strange feeling being in a “familiar� place.
It’s not a feeling that I’ve really gotten on the Race thus far.
A-Squad Leadership Team!
This time at the beach the Lord really blessed me with open
doors for life after the Race and allowed me to have some really great
conversations with people back home and other people out on the Race. He just totally filled my cup and let it
overflow.
One afternoon I was sitting outside of my favorite coffee
spot, just reading my Bible, journaling and sipping a delicious iced
mocha. I just sat there in complete
contentment. Loving this life that God
has given me. The breeze was blowing and
life was just GOOD. I could just sit
there be thankful for the blessings around me, for people on the Race and
family and friends back home, for what the future holds and what He’s taught me
in the past.
I’m so thankful to be in this place, this place of
contentment and yet excitement and peace about what’s to come. I feel on the verge of something that I can’t
quite grasp, and I’m pumped to find out what’s around the bend.
“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14
Love y’all,
Jessica
