Back on January 1st of this year, I remember waking up early with a strong desire to pray over the new year. As I was praying, I asked God if He had anything to say about the year 2020 and what it would mean for me. I distinctly heard the words, “Year of Praise.” I smiled and thought, “Of course! I have so many things to praise You for this year!”. From squad leading to moving to Nepal and getting married, it was obvious I had a lot of reasons to praise Him. Well, I can safely say that I had no idea of the circumstances in which I would be praising God.
I’m sure we can all agree that 2020 has been bizarre, and I figured I might as well let you know that just like everyone else’s plans, mine also went spiraling down the drain.
Here’s how the last couple of months went down in my life.
In March, I was squad leading in Thailand. We were supposed to be in Thailand for 6 more weeks before the squad flew back to the U.S., and I flew to Nepal where I would get married on May 24th. Well, one day we got a call from Adventures in Missions, who told us we needed to get our squad on a flight back to the States ASAP due to the corona virus, and border closures.
I immediately began looking into flights from Thailand to Nepal, hoping to still be able to fly to Nepal when my squad flew back to the States. My heart sank when I realized that just a few hours earlier, Nepal had announced its borders were closed immediately, and no one would be able to enter until at least April 30th. I had a small cry sesh on my bunk bed in Bangkok, and then comforted myself thinking, “If I go back to the States now, and then fly to Nepal on April 30th, I’ll still have almost a month there before the wedding to help with all the planning!”……..LOL
Two days later I found myself boarding a plane back to the States. We ended up flying from Bangkok to South Korea, and then from South Korea to Atlanta. It was the last flight out of South Korea before they shut down the airport due to the virus. CRAZY! It was a wild ride to say the least, and it was hard not to think about the fact that with each mile we gained towards America, we grew further and further away from Nepal.
After arriving at my parents house in Maryland, my parents put me in a two week quarantine in my bedroom to make sure I didn’t have the rona. Boy was that a fun time. My mom brought me food to my door three times a day, I slept and read a lot of books, made more attempts at learning Nepali, and sometimes thought about working out.
During that time, my fiance, Gresom and his siblings traveled four hours by bus from Kathmandu into the mountains to stay with their parents until the virus died down in the city. Gresom thought he would be there for one week, maybe two….nine weeks later and he’s still there lol. In order for us to talk, he has to climb the mountain near his parents house to get enough cell service to call me. He makes the trek everyday as long as their isn’t a torrential downpour…oh, the things we do for love!
Many people who live in the mountains are day laborers, and if they don’t work, they don’t have money to eat. Sadly, many families don’t have money to buy food, as there have been no jobs due to the virus. Thankfully, Gresom had the money my parents gave us to plan our wedding with, and he has been able to buy food and distribute it to people in the mountains. It’s definitely not how I thought we would spend that money, but I am so so so glad that families are able to eat because of it. The Lord provides in mysterious ways!
These 9 weeks living with my parents have been really sweet. We’ve been able to spend so much time as a family just hanging out, playing games, doing yard work, and going on SO MANY walks. My parents and brother have also been very patient with me quizzing me on Nepali vocabulary words whenever I ask. My mom has even tried learning some basic phrases and as you can imagine, that is super entertaining lol. Next time you see her, ask her how you say “mouse” in Nepali.
Right now, Nepal’s borders are closed indefinitely, and there are no flights to Nepal in the near future. It’s really hard having no idea when I’ll see Gresom again, but I’m super thankful we are still able to talk, and both our families are safe and healthy.
1 Peter 4: 12-13 has been an incredible reminder during this strange time.
“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad – for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to the world.”
I am well aware that the “suffering” I am currently experiencing is nothing compared to what many people in the world are facing right now. But I cannot say enough of how this situation has brought me into a closer relationship with God. He has been reminding me daily how involved He is in the details of my life, giving me little reminders throughout the day of how He knows everything about me.
Often, God speaks to me through songs. The other night I was praying and I heard the words “The Garden”. Confused, I asked the Lord if He was talking about the Garden of Eden maybe? Then I heard, “It’s a song.” I went on my Spotify, typed in, “The Garden”, and the first song to pop up was The Garden by Kari Jobe. HOLY MOLY. I had never heard it before, but WOW the Lord spoke right to my heart. If you haven’t heard it, or even if you have, please listen to it!! It is such a beautiful reminder that God knows our hearts and He can use difficult, confusing times in our lives to produce beautiful fruit. I’m learning that He is worthy of my praise regardless of my circumstance.
This blog is already long, but I’m going to leave you with a quote I saw on Instagram the other day. I don’t know who originally said this, but it screams truth.
“There is a lot to be said about pain and suffering, and the refining fire. There is a precious beauty that comes only from the aching. He is a Mystery. There is much I don’t know about Him. But one thing I am sure of, He is good. He is good when he removes the pain, He is good when He sustains us through it. He can be found in the hurting, but He does not delight in your bruising.”
Mmmm mmm that’s goooood.
I pray you all are doing well in the midst of this chaos, and I would love to hear what the Lord has been teaching you!!
If anyone is interested in helping Gresom and his family buy more food to distribute, you can send donations to my Venmo or Paypal and I will send it to him. Thank you!
Venmo: @Katie-Freeman-95
Paypal: [email protected]
