I literally have not been on the internet since last Sunday for 30 minutes and I could not get it to load on my computer to post a blog, so there’s a bit of a backlog and I have a few blogs ready for your reading pleasure! Today, I’m focused solely on ministry so don’t expect to hear from me. Next month we are probably going to be in a bigger city with more access to WiFi, so things will probably be different. But, to be honest, I really am enjoying not being on WiFi and not talking to anyone back home. It’s nice to focus solely on the people I’m loving here in Palacaguina. But, unfortunately, my blog might be a little bit outdated. Rest assured it really was written on the correct day.
1/20/20
Happy first 20/2020! A few days late, I know, but when I wrote this it wasn’t.
Today was also our first sabbath day of the race.
What does that mean?
That means that one day a week other than church (this month is Mondays) we do not have ministry so we can spend our day with the Lord and each other.
I started my day after breakfast (thanks Hannah and Kristen for the delicious oatmeal!) by reading the Bible. Then I played games with some of the girls. Then we went to town to eat lunch and go to the internet cafe. So, I’m writing this blog shortly after posting the last one. I don’t know how long it will be before I’m back on the internet, though.
Now that we’ve returned from town, I’m currently hiding out in our room with Hannah and Kellie. For some reason, the mosquitoes have become absolute monsters right now and they’re literally dive-bombing the mosquito nets around our beds.
That’s right, for the first time in my life I’m sleeping in a mosquito net. They’re actually pretty cool.
Before today, the mosquitoes really weren’t that bad. It’s been a huge blessing. I guess they got hungry or something.
But the peace I had without them was wonderful. I can’t tell you how thankful, as well as surprised I was. I can only pray it returns soon.
But I am grateful for the sabbath today. I am grateful that I had the chance to just exist and not do hard work. Tomorrow, I’ll get to do this again, except by myself. Tomorrow, I will have a different task from the rest of the group. I will stay behind to help with cooking our meals.
There is a lovely lady who lives here that cooks for us 5 days a week.
We already learned a little bit about the difficulties of cooking for ourselves the other 2 days. Next time, we’ll get more food.
So many things are a learning experience here because they are new. I came on the Race for that. I wanted the opportunity to learn new things and new ways of being. Sabbath is a real art. It’s not something easy for a lot of Americans to slow down for even a short period of time, but let me assure you that the blessings are real. I learned that already at training camp when we first got introduced to the concept.
So I challenge you to try new things just like I’m doing. Don’t stay stuck in the routine of life. Get out of your box and do something new. It’s good for the brain. And secondly, I challenge you to try out this whole Sabbath thing. Take a day and devote it as a day of rest in the Lord. That might be alone reading scripture, or that might be in a community of corporate worship for hours, or that might be sitting still and expressing your artistic self in any format you choose. Start small if you have to, but take some time in whatever amount and devote it as your Sabbath time. And then just see what happens, and if you want to share the stories with me, believe me I want to hear them.
