Living with six other people all the time is a blessing. The only way I have learned to describe it to you is that it is family. We are a dysfunctional mess. We support one another. We have learned to love each other when it is hard.
Some things that make living in community so entertaining for me is the way that God has called all seven of us that come from very different backgrounds and upbringings, but we all serve and follow our gracious Father.
Here are some of the things that make us family:
I talk in my sleep.
We play games together.
Sam likes to talk in different accents, even if they are made up.
Garrett has his own radio station where he is always singing Mumford and Sons, 90s, French, rap, anything and everything.
We all enjoy going out for a treat from Dairy Queen with one another every so often.
Jess makes incredible homemade meals for us.
We all work together in completing the chore chart so that we can all live in a clean and homey environment.
We have dance parties in the middle of the fairgrounds.
Josi is always inviting others in to her excitement of adventures.
We all enjoy listening to music and sharing our different tastes in music with each other.
Ashley is always reaching out to others so that they can be included in our family as well.
We have all learned how to speak to one another in love.
Michael is always listening to music, sharing intelligent information with the team and introduces us to new games where we are clutching our stomachs for breath from laughter.
We have learned how to love one another, even when it is hard.
This month of community has been really challenging for me. We have all had the opportunity to go explore somewhere, eat out, eat in, watch a movie, Facebook, read a book, take a nap or visit with someone else on the team. It has been different compared to the past two months of community because we were all on the same schedule, living in the same building together, did not have a lot of access to the outside world and it was just easier that way. Here in Thailand it has been quite the opposite.
I can say that I have been distracted here in Thailand. After coming back from ministry after lunch most days, I would be exhausted. I would come back and watch a movie with Josi and fall asleep until dinnertime. I would then join the team for dinner at the market, go on a date with a teammate to the mall, or I would stay back and make my own dinner. We would all then return to the church at a designated time to have team time and feedback. This is probably the only time when I would spend some quality time with the team.
I learned that this month I was really struggling with feeling loved by the team. It was because we were all over the place and when we saw each other it was brief and rushed. I do not like community like this. I want this to change.
However, this months feedback times were some of the deepest and most challenging for me. We learned how to respect each other more, how to love each other more, what we can do to serve one another better and how we can raise and encourage each other up to be more godly brothers and sisters.
Through the trials, experiences and adventures, I have grown to love this family of mine. I am reminded of Romans 5:3-4 after looking back at this month of community: “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”
We may endure trials of any kind in any time of life, but we know that these trials are meant to encourage us and to draw us closer to our Savior.
Prayers: We leave for Phuket, Thailand on the 28th and have our mini-brief there. We will then leave for Malaysia on the 30th and gear up for our new month of ministry. Pray for protection and for blessings.
Also, 3 of my teammates need to reach the October 1st deadline, by October 1st. They need to have $11,000 in their account in order to stay on the Race. The 3 that are below this mark, right now but not for long, are Josi Presley (josipresley.theworldrace.org), Garrett Hammonds (garretthammonds.theworldrace.org) and Michael Clevenger (mikeclevenger.theworldrace.org). If you feel led to support them financially, please visit their blogs and click on the Support Me tab.
Thanks for all your continued prayers and support! I love you all!
Love, Kaitlyn Michele
