Throughout my time in India, I have seen some incredible things and I have lived within completely mission minded community. This country is amazing and this race is amazing. However I have been lacking the one thing that makes this whole world race worth it and that’s passion. For quite some time I felt as though I was in a slight funk, but not knowing how to identify what I was feeling. I couldn’t figure out why ministry felt incomplete or why talking to people on the street felt good, but lifeless. I couldn’t figure out the numbness I had toward excitement. How come the past month on this incredible year of mission felt like a relapse of everyday life and and not the passion filled short mission trips I had been on before? My squad told me that it’s because spiritual highs don’t last forever or because on short missions our goal is move none stop everyday of that week, exude extreme amounts energy, and love every single person along the way. I know these things, but I still longed for that feeling of excitement and passion for living missionally. So I sat with Abba and asked him to do something crazy. I asked him to give me passion, Passion for life, passion for people and passion for Him! Abba then told me to start looking everyday for moments and write them down. At this point I only had one week until we left India. To be honest I thought God was crazy. But let me tell you something. He did it. It started out with a car ride ride through Indian mountains on roads much like independence pass in Colorado. He let me feel the excitement of a roller coaster with the not so subtle reminder that professionals drivers in India might be younger than me. Then He took it to a whole other level on the train after the crazy car ride where he sat a team mate and I right next to a woman who was very sick. By the end of the train ride we got to pray for her and God did what he does best and she rejoiced. Abba reminded me of his power and ours through him. We arrived at our last ministry sight in India where a dog who looked and acted much like my own ran to greet me. When you’ve been six months away from home, there is nothing better than a happy dog to make you feel better. Abba showed me through the dog named tommy that he hears every passion even ones for woman’s best friend. The next morning I taught preschool. These little nuggets did not speak English (or barely their own language), they were not toilet trained, nor did ever sit still; but I can tell you that these precious little kids had more joy than 50 adults who just won the lottery. My class may have been crazy but the joy rubbed off and the Lord reminded me of the Love he has for these little ones and the love he has given me for them. Two days later we did construction work. Whooohooo!! Not really. It was hot and I was not looking forward to moving bricks all day. When we arrived I was happily mistaken. We moved sand from the middle of a river to shore. We got to swim. We got to throw mud at each other. And a group of 14 girls moved more sand than a team of men who had just been there before us! To top the fun day off we were rewarded with fresh coconuts! Moving on that afternoon, Abba had told me to visit a woman whom I had met a few days ago and visit her at her shop. So my teammate Kara and I did just that. Sadly when we arrived we found out that she was not there because she was ill. We were about to leave when a young boy came to store and the woman there told us that this boy was the sick woman’s son and He could take us to her house. We went of course and once again God did what he does best and now I am happy to announce that we were invited to tea two more times by this woman and were eventually able to pray over her entire family and sisters family. Throughout the week Abba gave me even more moments: everything from riding on the back of a truck, surfing style, to playing in the mud during a thunderstorm with 25 Indian kids. And to top the whole week off, I got to watch a man that came know to Christ only a few weeks ago after meeting our squad share his testimony in front of the whole church. Let me tell you that God is good. He sees us. He hears us. And when I say hears us I mean it. He hears every prayer and knows every desire. He knows the things that bring us life. He knows everything we are passionate about and let’s us experience those daily. Whether they seem little or big to us, they are same in Gods book. I’m learning that the joy I get from sunrises is the same that get when someone is healed. I’m learning that little isn’t little to God, but everything he does for us is a beautiful part in this epic romance novel he is writing for us. Things like these happened even before I had asked the lord to show me passion, but he used this to show me that Passionate moments happen every single day. It’s our job to look for them, to stay present in them, and to experience them to the fullest. God did not give us this life to sit and hope that something amazing will happen. I mean God can and will work that way to, but I believe He gave us this life to live. To feel. To be passionate about, and to experience him in every moment of it. John 10:10 “The thief came only to steal kill and destroy, but I came that you may have life and have abundantly.” So let’s live!
