The race is officially half over! It does not feel like I have been away from home for 4 1/2 months. Time flies when you are having fun. It also flies when you are crazy busy working, doing manual labor, laughing, crying, adventuring, learning, and discovering new parts of you, the people around you, and God. When I get home, I’m dreading most the questions like “how did your trip go” and “did you have fun” and “what was your favorite part?” Because honestly and truly I have no idea how to answer that without a novel length explanation.
My wonderful friends and family, so all of you who are reading this, are the reason why I am here. There is no way that I would be here without all of the donations and the encouragement and the help. And since the whole reason for my being here is you, I want to tell you a little bit more in depth about what you have given me. Memories and experiences are the most valuable things to me. Time with people, conversations, moments of impact, I live for that stuff. And lucky for me the race has been packed with some of the best memories I have ever been given. Here are a few that I hold really close to my heart.
Worship! Never have I ever worshipped like I have in the last few months. I have sung at the top of my lungs outside under a tin roof during a hurricane. I have cried because of the spirit’s presence on a 3rd floor rooftop as the sun set over the Dominican mountains. I have danced with kids in the front of a congregation during a worship night in Haiti. I have had to physically sit down to sing because of being so overcome. I have heard the Lord’s voice clearer then I ever have or ever imagined, and I have thrown my hands up in surrender night after night. Something about the harmony of so many voices raising up in thanks and admiration, in one purpose and heart, for one almighty God, Abba, Father. Wow. There is nothing in this world like it. That feeling is the closest that I have ever come to touching heaven. Thank you to everyone who supported me, you helped hand me that experience.
During the time I spent in Haiti, I spent a lot of late nights up reading and studying or sitting on the 3rd floor roof of our dorms. One of the nights my friend Nick and I stayed up studying revelations. We started with one verse, which lead to another one with a new mind blowing concept, then another and another. By the time we finished we had read about Daniel’s signs, the end of the world, saints riding down from heaven with the savior, the dragons and the harlot and the beast and all of their symbolic meanings. It was overwhelming and intense. When we said goodnight I went up to the roof and I started praying. I prayed and I reread parts of the gospel from previous nights. I read over revelations and what we had read just that night. And for the first time I cried over the knowledge of the savior coming. I have never in my life felt the gospel so fully and believed it to be so real as those moments on the roof. Never have I prayed so loudly and so fervently and so hard. If there was ever a moment when I knew that I had to know God no matter what it took, it was then. Thank you to everyone who sent me on this mission, you were part of that moment.
Botswana! Girls girls girls. Having best friends is a sweet thing in this life. But I didn’t know what that was fully like until I set foot in Africa. Kara, Kate, and Alina are the three other girls on my team. I laughed more than I can ever remember in the first 4 days of being in Botswana. It was pure joy and harmony. Having friends who I can just be me with, who I can lay my burdens on, be honest with, share in my delight with, and enjoy being around is the epitome of a gift. These ladies strive to live the gospel more than anyone I have ever met. The work ethic, the wisdom, the kindness, and the integrity that they have is UNREAL. When people talk about God creating master pieces, they are what I think of. So friends and family, thank you for enabling me to make life long friends like my girls.
The night before we left Botswana there were six of us that had a campfire. We had a goal to pull an all nighter before our long travel day, so in efforts to stay awake, we danced! We picked random songs, and with no preparation three of us at a time stood at the opposite end of the fire pit and “performed”. How many people in your life can you be so real with? To dance without worry of judgment or any embarrassment. To go all out just because you can, to have no regrets and no limits. To laugh so fully and smile so big that your cheeks ache. THANK YOU for giving me that moment. Those are the kind of people I want and need in my life. And those are the kind of people I have been given…thanks God.
The last day in Botswana we had a bible study. There were two wonderful little sisters that we had loved since the beginning of our time in Kumakwane, and for the last time Kara asked them to dance for us. Throughout the two months we spent there they did outreach with us, came to every one of our bible studies and movie nights and kids clubs. They laughed with us, learned from us, and our time with them ALWAYS included them dancing. As Justin Bieber filled up the speaker and the girls started moving, everyone else, missionaries and locals alike, slowly started joining in. There was laughter, hand written letters, crying as we said goodbye, and heartfelt prayers. What a way to end such an incredible season of life. THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart and with everything in me, for such a memorable experience.
I could go on and on and on. I can talk about prank wars, and what I have learned about myself and how I have changed. I can talk about my heart and how at peace I feel about my future, or the new love I have for traveling, or the way my eyes light up when I hear a kid’s laughter. I can talk about the power of prayer and the fellowship and how I am coming to understand what kind of community and church I want to live my life in. I can tell you about the holidays and how we made them unforgettable. Or the other night when all of us girls dressed up as guys for a “bros night” because the guys said that they value quality time. You would be touched if you learned that the guys on our team, the day before leaving for Heidelberg made the 8 of us breakfast and gave us letters, then stood in front of and told us how they valued us, how they wanted to serve us, and what we meant to them. Having guys who so clearly represent what a man of God should like, tell us that we have set a new standard for them of what women of God should like was a wild experience. I could on and on and on about these unbelievable people. I could give a novel explanation about all of the reasons that I want to be here. But instead I’ll leave you with several of my favorite gifts that you have given me, and I’ll say thank you to my Father who has poured himself out so faithfully.
Abba,
To say thank you would not begin to describe how much you putting me here means. You are my closest companion, my best friend, and my most important ally. My life and every moment I live is from you and for you Lord. I pray that I may live up to the example that you sent with Christ, and that I may listen, hear, and respond to your voice when you call. God you are so gracious, so unbelievably merciful, and so so kind. Lord you are everything, the light that leads me and the air I breathe and the foundation I walk on. You embody love, happiness, laughter, community, and generosity. I lift up every single person who helped put me here. Thank you for inspiring them to donate, to email and call and ask me about this crazy endeavor. Thank you for working through them so strongly even if they didn’t realize it. I ask that anyone reading this may be touched and impacted. I ask that somehow Lord you can speak through me, because if I am not speaking words of the spirit, Lord why am I speaking at all?
If anyone wants to email me and ask questions or just talk, I would love to tell you more about what I am doing in Heidelberg. We are in South Africa doing lots of amazing ministry through an incredible church. More blogs about it soon, but I love telling people about what the Lord is doing, so feel free to comment your email or just email me! God bless,
Josie
