Packed liked a bag of peach rings that had been out in the sun too long. The overall feeling was sticky with a faint hint of sweet or NOT. Picture this, 20 women in a 23 passenger van designed to hold approximately 14-15 comfortably but the road trip went on for 2 instead of one day. This was many of our first yearlong adventure and we, the 20 of us, had finished our first month. The goal was to drive from Guatemala to Nicaragua which is an estimated 15-17 hours, not including any potential road stops or unexpected surprises. The windows were open, breeze flowing, and the colors in the sky running dark with the setting sun.
I was basking in the melodies from home as music played in my ears. Then I distinctly heard, “Soak it all In”. So my mind paused as I tuned into my senses and I began to linger in the coolness of the night as calm began to settle on the van. It was kind of feeling that makes you shut your eyes tightly as if not to let it escape you. We finally arrived to Nicaragua despite some long moments at the boarders and minor trouble with directions once in Nicaragua. So many people along the way, breath taking views, and note worthy moments but when you’re on a journey you can easily get caught up in getting there, at least I know I can. Whatever your “there” or destination point might be!
We finally settled into our host site with new schedules, meals, people, towns, climate and ministry structure. The biggest change of all is that for this month instead of being on a small team of 6, the squad will be altogether for the month!! But in the midst of all this newness I couldn’t feel the abundant joy that I had experienced in preparation for the race. So I began to pray and finally reached a point of being able to verbalize it with a squad mate. She began to ask me questions like:
-What makes you feel alive/happy?
-What makes you feel opposite?
-It’s important to have a way to externally check your perception. Have you tried?
Later that night I had a dream about my one of my most favorite foods, especially abroad…. SWEET BREAD!!!
The dream started in the middle. A group of us we were rushing to eat as many of them as we could. It tasted like a cross between croissant and sweet bread with a pinch of crumbly sugar crunch in the middle.
I remembered feeling rushed as the group went from package to package trying to eat as much as we could. Unfortunately, I could never taste and enjoy it so it always lead to disappointment as we began eating one sweet bread after another.
Back in the real world of ministry, I shared this dream with a Squad-mate and she gave me some timely incite. She brought to my attention that God might be warning me; Warning me not to let the sweetness of life be stolen from me. I could obviously recognize that it is sweet but my focus was more on the task at hand. Also she shared a couple more cool and interesting takes on my dream. Man, God has fun ways of getting my attention and I’m grateful that he constantly puts experiences in my path to make them even clearer.
Major take home lesson:
My last couple of years has went from the business of finding work, acclimating in work culture, professional development, home life, social life, church life, preparing for the World Race and now seeking Gods face in ministry!!! These all can be such sweet things just as sweet as my SWEET BREAD but the question becomes…
Are you really allowing yourself to savor them or is it just one to the next thing??
Maybe its time you slow it down again!
One thing my team also does is called “High, Low, Buffalo”!
*You get to share one highlight, low-light, and a random experience.
*On my own I have started to write down as many highlights of the day I can think of just to process and enjoy my day fully.
What ways might you put this in practice for your self?
