A little over a week ago, I found myself in Iowa City spending my day shopping with my mom and some family friends. By the end of the afternoon, I was pooped and just ready to go home, but we had one more store that everyone wanted to go to. The last store we adventured into was Five Below (I instantly fell in love and spent way too much money… oops). One of the unnecessary purchases I made was a little felt letter board that I could hang in my room. I let the board sit in its box for a few days before I started thinking about what quote I could write on it. I turned to Pinterest to find a quirky little quote, and this is where I stumbled across the saying, “Wherever you are, be all there.” It was cute and I couldn’t find anything else, so that’s what I went with. Little did I know that a week later the Lord would be using that random Pinterest quote to reveal something much bigger to me.
I’ve been home for 2 1/2 months, but it feels like I’ve been home for years. My time home has been spent in quarantine, getting a nannying job for the summer, reuniting with friends and family that I haven’t seen since January, and a lot of time with myself and the Lord. However, my time home hasn’t been all butterflies and rainbows – it has been a lot of heartache as I have tried to process everything that has happened since January – the loss of my grandpa and boarding a plane to another country only a week later, the 2 months I spent serving on mission, being sent home abruptly, Covid-19, protests, riots, and everything else in between. 2020 has been an insane ride, and trying to process all of it lately hasn’t been an easy task. My mind has gone down the path of “what ifs”, and it’s had me all over the place.
Since I stepped off the plane in Atlanta, my heart just hasn’t felt HERE. My heart is still in Nicaragua and Guatemala. My heart is still with my team. My heart is still in ministry. Well, like my little felt board says, “Wherever you are, be all there.” My heart is still in mission, so I feel called to physically be there as well. I am being called to be all there – mind, body, and spirit. With that being said, I’m super excited to share that on June 30th, I will be back with Adventure in Missions doing mission work in Wisconsin for a month. I lost a month in Guatemala, but the Lord is giving me a month in Wisconsin. Although this wasn’t part of my plan AT ALL, the Lord knew about this from the very beginning. How beautiful is that? If I have learned anything over the last year, it’s that the Lord has a plan that is bigger and better than mine. A prime example is in the last blog I wrote when I shared that it would be the last blog I would write – God was sitting up there laughing at that one, because here I am! Also, remember my last blog where I shared that the Lord will never call us to something only to leave us disappointed…? This is proof.
God is SO good.
While I’m in Wisconsin, I will be working with Bridgepoint Mission Center. These people want to see their community THRIVE – spiritually, emotionally, and physically. They provide programs, trainings, and activities that are designed to be a catalyst to help their community members get connected, equipped, and empowered to positively impact their own lives, community, and their world – TOGETHER! Ministry will include relationship building with the students which may include bible studies, worship, and prayer gatherings, talent nights, cookouts, and hanging out at a local cafe. We will also be helping distribute food daily at their food pantry. Before COVID, they were serving 70 families, now they are serving over 350 families a week. Our schedule is going to be FULL!
The next time you hear from me, I will be in Wisconsin (only 4 short weeks!!!!) meeting my new team, new ministry hosts, and new community. Please pray for myself, my team, and all those who we will encounter within the next few weeks, and please pray as we prepare out hearts for this new adventure!
Kenzie <3
