Is it worth it?
A question I found myself answering while sitting on the cold bathroom floor next to the toilet.
I believe social media can make the Race look like so much fun and sunshine all the time. Which it is, a lot of times, but there are also a lot of moments that are really hard that don’t ever get posted about on social media. And I want to let you all in on one of those moments for me.
Three days ago I woke up at 4:30am with severe pain in my upper gastric area. I’ve dealt with heart burn and acid reflux my entire life, so this happens every so often. This time the pain was worse than it’s ever been. I managed to pray and continue dozing in and out until 6am, when my three roommates started getting up and getting ready for the day. It was our last day of debrief, which is where the entire squad is together for four days for rest, teachings, and worship. I really hated to miss this day, but there was no way I was going to make it through the day, I actually felt like death. I spent the next five hours in and out of the bathroom throwing up and in so much pain. My entire body was aching and I felt so weak and had cold sweats. There was a point during that time that I was on the bathroom floor for a while, and there was so much pain in my stomach and in my back, that the question I started this blog with crossed my mind. Without hesitation, I found myself able to still muster out to the Father that it’s worth it. Every bit of what I go through overseas and on the mission field is worth it. He is worth it every time. It’s really hard to be so sick and so far from the comforts of home and my parents. But the Gospel is worth it! It’s worth it to get to tell people about our Good, Good Father, to get to witness people choose a relationship with Him, to get to pray with people, to get to sit and hear people’s stories from all around the world, to get to love on babies, to play with kids and watch them smile and laugh, to get to disciple and do life with the thirty eight people on s squad, to get to be Jesus to people. It is worth it.
And you know what’s really cool? In the midst of the hard, the Lord is still so sweet and so faithful to me. I already knew the beautiful community I’m surrounded by, but I got to be reminded of the body of Christ a few days ago when I was sick, and it was so sweet. My co-leader, Kristen, was the first person to see me looking sick and pail early that morning, and before she left our room she stopped and prayed for me. A few minutes later, another one of my co-leaders, Kelly, came over and sat on the edge of my bed with me while I was trying not to throw up, and she scratched my back and prayed for healing over my body. Later in the afternoon, one of our racers, Sarah, took the time to walk all the way up to my room on the third floor (it’s a lot of stairs & it’s not an easy climb to the top floor) to ask me how I was feeling and she also laid hands on me and prayed for healing. The Lord healed me enough for me to be able to join the squad for our last night of worship during debrief and as soon as worship started, my mentor, TT, came over and laid hands on me and prayed for healing. At the end of worship, Kelly asked all of the sick people on the squad to get in the middle and the rest of the squad circled around us and held hands and prayed for healing over each one of us. Y’all! I love the body of Christ! I love doing life and being surrounded by a body of believers!!
I felt 100% back to my normal self the next day and was able to hang out, fellowship, and rest with my leadership team all day, which was exactly what I needed. I did start feeling sick again yesterday afternoon and through out most of the night, but woke up this morning feeling better, not 100%, but better. There’s a lot of people on my squad that are sick with typhoid, typhus, and bacterial infections. Would you all please pray for healing for everyone that is sick and not feeling well? We have three months left of this Race and we want to finish strong and well and able to do whatever the Father has for us over the next few months! Thank you all so much!
With love,
Mads
P.S. I’m still fundraising! I have TWO more days to raise $3,350. I have a deadline to be fully funded by September 1 and I’m believing that I will be! Would you consider donating and supporting me during this season of Squad Leading for S squad? There’s two ways you can donate: You can click the orange “Donate!” button at the top of this page to make a tax-deductible donation OR you can Venmo me @ madisonthompson-. Thank you all so much for the support thus far! It’s been astounding and mind blowing to watch the Lord provide.
