Patience has not been one of my strongest virtues really ever; just ask anyone who knows me! So coming on the Race I began to earnestly pray for the Lord to create in me a more patient spirit. You know the saying, “Be careful what you wish for”? You could also say, “Be careful what you pray for.”
You see it would be so incredibly easy if God just divinely gifted us with patience (or self control or humility or….) the first day that we sincerely prayed for it. But we all know that’s not how God works. He wants us to experience the blessings and challenges along the way so that we may truly learn the lessons and be grateful for the work He has performed in our lives.
So as I began to pray for patience, the challenges came. Teammates you don’t always get along with. Incredibly long travel days. Contacts who can’t speak English. Ministry that is slower than expected. And each challenge was an opportunity to rely on God for His patience and strength poured out into my life.
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges came this past month when my team was running a camp for young adults with mental disabilities. I was partnered up with a 19 year old girl (who I’m going to call Beth for the sake of her privacy). Beth was born with a mental disability; it does not fit into a defined category but has some aspects of autism. I quickly discovered that she loves to talk, sing, and jump on the trampoline. She also loves to ask the same question to you 50 times, pinch your neck, pull your ears, spit on you, and sit up in bed for hours at night screaming.
My Heavenly Father, in His providence and sovereignty, has been prepping my heart for this for the last 6 months though. When I first met her, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to handle it. I knew the limitations of my temperament, and didn’t think they were going to stretch to fit Beth’s needs. But God had other plans in mind. So, through lots of prayer, I was able to keep up with her for 5 days. God gave me the strength to sing her favorite song literally 40 times a day. He gave me the patience to shampoo her hair as she drenched me with water while trying to get away from me. He blessed us with fun conversations about the names of our cousins and grandparents. And, never thought I’d say this, but I praised the Lord for how much of Beth’s favorite music artist, Britney Spears, I ended up having on my iTunes.
There were times throughout the camp that I was so exhausted that I didn’t think I could go on, and it was in those moments that God sent a teammate to hang out with Beth for a little bit while I had a break. Seven months ago I wouldn’t have been able to handle this, but through the challenges and blessings of the World Race, God is slowly but surely planting patience in my heart.
On the last day of camp Beth and I had a moment that summed up our entire experience. We were waiting for her parents to come pick her up, and she looked over at me and said, “I love….”
Hope sprang in my heart- I could feel the reward of all of my hard work coming. And then she finished, “….Britney Spears.” I burst out laughing and sang Toxic for her one more time. I didn’t need Beth to tell me she loved me, although it would have been nice. God had already given me my reward.
