SUP. I’ve taken some time to process my last three months on campus at Adventures in Missions, and I THINK I’m ready to attempt to share some things God opened my eyes to & taught me during my long, hard, but sweet days there. There’s one basic theme, and that’s the eighteen inch journey from my brain to my heart. Taking all the bible stories from Sunday school, youth camp sermons, and celebrity podcasts, combing all of it together, and launching it from my brain into my heart as hard as I can… but also never letting it abide in me as head knowledge instead of heart knowledge ever again. Here’s 10 things I learned.
1. Hot water & flushing toilets? Overrated. Who needs ‘em. But also severely taken for granted.
2. Entitlement needs to be kicked back into hell where it came from & was formed in. We are a people that HAS to have it our way, on our time, on our agenda. Expecting each neighbor to treat us with a certain amount of respect & understanding. Expecting perfection & expecting SOMETHING at every turn. Where yo name in the bible? It’s all about King & neighbor. I‘m not elaborating because it’s simple & you know it.
3. Living with 30+ people at one time, in one place, taught me what beautiful community looks like. Sweetness at every turn. Someone to laugh with, dance with, cry with, pray with at every moment. Dying to self & choosing to breathe every breath in consideration, prayer, favor, patience, and understanding for the sake of the person beside you.
4. We need so little & have so much.
5. I don’t know about you, but I have such a wandering heart. Always wandering to the next thing to make me feel something. I’m so quick to forget. I forget that the Father is only good and only fulfilling. I can sense when my heart needs reminding & it’s so easy to be reminded of a God this sweet & this true. Also, we’ve never gone too far or been gone too long? Ugh.
6. The chemical in our brain that makes us feel anger, only lasts 90 seconds. Any anger beyond that is your choice to feel. Think about it, people.
7. Beauty in surrender. Disconnecting from the outside world, living in a tent, washing clothes in a bucket… still, never ever felt more freedom. There is something super sweet about saying, “Aight, I’m literally terrified but here’s my heart & everything I hold dear, God!“ And just running with that. Dropping everything from your hands to hold His. Goosies.
8. We think that church should look like a movie theater. Everyone watching the same thing in front of them, being quiet, and sitting still. Actually, church should look like a gym! Everyone doing a different thing and working on different parts of themselves. Everyone’s progress looking super different & that being okay!
9. God showed me my passion & heart for racial reconciliation, which will be a blog in itself. Gosh. It’s all about neighbor, folks.
10. Tiny can! Check out my blog “tiny can” for context. I was created so tiny & SO mighty. An heir to the hecking throne, bruh.
So yeah. God’s really good & really worth it, and I hope you choose to drop your entire life and live in a tent with 30 strangers one day. There’s beauty in not knowing what the heck is about to happen & just doing it anyway. He’s in the crazy. I love you! Hope you read this far
