While at our last debrief in Kijabe, Kenya I was taught a
valuable lesson. Honestly, I was taught a lot of valuable lessons from the
various speakers, however there was one in particular that I learned that was
never a topic being taught on. Turns out I can’t learn everything secondhand.
The day we had our team debrief with the Hindes, Jake and
Allison I left the meeting feeling very humbled by the positive feedback given
to our team. I think God used that meeting to get the ball rolling in my mind
about what humility really looks like. He jumpstarted the process of teaching
me more about humility.
Later that day while walking to dinner I somehow managed to
get stabbed in between my toes by a sharp stick. Assuming the initial pain
would wear off I proceeded to dinner, only to discover the depth of the
puncture and a decent amount of blood. Due to the placement of the cut, I was
no longer able to wear my sandals, so I was left to limp about with one shoe on
for the rest of the night. Ironically enough (or not at all) one of the
passages brought up at a meeting that night was from a book titled Leading
With A Limp.
After our squad meeting, my team and I got together for our
evening prayer. I suddenly was feeling ill with a terrible headache and nausea.
The squad was planning a night of prayer throughout the whole night, and I had
hoped to participate. Due to my feeling ill, my teammates spoke truth over me
and reminded me that there is strength in admitting weakness. They sent me to
bed knowing they would be standing in the gap for me throughout the night.
I woke up the next morning feeling great. God had answered
the prayers for rest and healing over me. Feeling rested and rejuvenated I
decided to take a shower. Almost immediately after stepping out of the shower I
slipped and completely ate it, dropping all my toiletries and hitting my head
on the wall. Jostled and surprised I tried collecting my things only to
discover the culprit who caused my fall: a pair of someone else’s underwear.
Lying there on the floor of the bathroom I wanted to cry,
not because of the pain, but because of the “bad” things that had been
happening to me. In that moment I realized I had a choice. I could choose
wallowing in self-pity or I could choose to have joy in every circumstance.
The night before I had prayed for joy in every circumstance,
and God was certainly answering my prayer by providing the circumstances. As I
learned through those experiences, sometimes it takes God literally dropping us
onto the floor, naked and vulnerable in order for us to get the message. Thank
goodness God knows I’m an experiential learner!
