Last Friday, I started my 2 and a half day journey to beautiful Mijas, Spain. The night before I was buzzing with excitement, tossing on my brother’s couch… all night… After just a couple hours of sleep (maybe), I was stirred by the whirring of the coffee grinder. “Time to get up, I guess” I thought to myself as I felt my heart palpitating through my chest. “Today’s the day. T- 9 hours.”
After 3 days, 11(ish) hours in the air, news of lost luggage (which I finally received 6 days later), an 11 hour layover in Madrid, a 7 hour bus ride, roughly 4 hours of broken sleep, several garbage dumpster slime bus station sandwiches, and tens of thousands of steps in between, I finally made it to my new home in Mijas around 7am. There was a little bit of welcome food in the fridge, so I made a sandwich, had some tea on this gorgeous rooftop, showered, and passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
A couple of hours later, I woke up to voices and stirring downstairs. I seem to remember talking to a British guy (turns out, he’s my roommate) at some point in my sleep? I wasn’t quite sure. As sleep deprived as I was, I couldn’t help but wonder who the people downstairs were. Sure I had seen all their posts on the Facebook group, but behind all those posts were other people who had given up other dreams, sold their cars, quit their jobs, and left their families to pursue the call which God has placed on their lives. I nervously peeled back the covers and swung my feet around to the frigid grey and white marble floor. It was time for their Facebook profiles to come to life!
Tiptoeing down the stairs, my mind was racing with the same questions I’ve been asking myself for the last 6 months. Mostly, “Are they going to be cool?” and “Are they going to suck?”, “Are they going to think I suck?”
After introductions, we sat and talked for hours, from info about our families, to hysterically laughing. All my questions and insecurities seemed to melt away as the conversation continued. We started in our living room, then moved to another house for a change of scenery. Once we realized how silly it was to just sit in someone else’s house, we made our way to a quaint coffee shop for a while and dug deep. The coffee was devastatingly mediocre; the company is what made it worth while. Eventually we meandered back to continue settling into our new home.
Because of my 3 day sleep deprivation, bed time came early for me, around 8pm. Brimming with joy, I laid in bed that night, thanking God for who He has chosen to mend my view of community over the next 9 months. I feel loved, safe, and secure. This is exactly where I need to be.
I could get used to these people.
Since the World Race, for plenty of different reasons, I’ve been hesitant to dive back into community. From trust issues, fear of rejection, to being too “busy,” I made excuses until I left. However, after having intentional conversations, and sharing dinner with these nice folks over the last week, I’ve realized how much easier/better life would have been if I would have jumped back into intentional community when I returned from the Race. I guess it’s not that bad after all.
Either way, I can’t change the past. All I can do is learn from it and step into this amazing community God has placed before me, and continue to share this love I have been given to the community around Mijas. Get ready.
My fear of community has crippled me for the last year and a half.
From this day forward, I refuse to let fear drive my lifestyle.
What is your biggest fear?
How is it holding you back from all God has called you to be?
More updates in a few days…
To all my supporters, THANK YOU for sending me here. I have already experienced a new level of freedom and healing since the first day of class (more info coming up in my next blog)
If you feel led to support me on this next venture, I only have about $500 left ’til I’m fully funded. If you can’t support financially, please pray! Pray I dive deeper into community. Pray for opportunities to minister to the people of this beautiful city, Pray I don’t just learn, but have revelation in the classroom. Also, of course, pray this last $500 comes quickly. If you can support, go to www.generation42.org/donations and scroll down to my name to donate one time, or monthly. Thank you for all your love and support.
