Ok, I know what you are thinking.
- What the heck is fat spread
- What does this have to do with anything related to The World Race?
Well, I have answers to both of those questions. Let me give you some context.
Fat spread, is essentially “butter” here in Swaziland. It’s in a large plastic container. As a squad of 40 plus people, we use it for many cooking needs and anything you can bet we’ll need butter for. Our kitchen is small and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it empty. There is constantly people in and out of it. We gotta eat!!
On one particular night, I was on dish duty with some other squad mates when we had, in the words of my teammate Kayla, “a bit of an oopsies”. Someone on the squad must have left the fat spread out all day because when I was cleaning I moved a towel and the entire thing of melted fat spread spilled all over the kitchen. I then proceeded to clean up the fat spread with one of my sqaud-mates with our limited resources (paper towels are a luxury).
My point in telling this story, is not to complain about someone leaving out the fat spread, or about what we had to clean up the mess with, but to say that sometimes living with community can be messy. It’s probably one of the biggest adjustments I have had to make while living in Swazi. Although it has been messy at times, I have seen the Lord’s beauty in it so much already.
I never stopped and asked everyone around me, “who left the fat spread out??” I wasn’t quick to blame or get upset about being the one to clean up the mess. Instead I took a step back, had a good laugh, and said “ok Jesus you’re a funny guy” and got to cleaning. That’s exactly how Jesus see’s us. He see’s our mess and loves us anyway. He happily takes our hands and washes them clean of all the dirty sticky parts of our lives. He laughs because he enjoys the mess and the process of making us clean again.
He is teaching me the importance of finding rest, and quiet time. At home I never wanted to take time to just be, and you would think that living with 40plus people would satisfy that need to never be still, but instead Jesus has shown me that to just be, is exactly what I need. Every weekend we have a sabbath day, and I absolutely LOVE sabbaths because I get to spend it just me and Jesus all day if I so choose. Sabbaths give me the opportunity to present my true self to Abba. If I’m happy, I can bring all my happy to him. If I’m sad I can bring all my sad to him. If I’m angry, I can bring all my anger to him. God can handle every part of us because he made us.
Living in community has shown me how the Lord has created us all so uniquely. We each bring something important to the table. I might not be good at something, but another on my squad most likely is. The Lord intended us to work together, using our different strengths to further the kingdom and grow the body of Christ.
So far, I have been living with 40 plus people for a little over a month. Sure, it has been hard but I wouldn’t trade this life for anything. These people are family!!
Here’s to the next 8 months of living in community and learning more about them and the Lords character.
-megs 🙂
PS: I love hearing from all of you and reading your comments!! Please feel free to reach out anytime.
