A few weekends ago, I got the opportunity to serve at a retreat for women who have moved to Swaziland to fulfill the plan that the Lord has put on their life. Some were missionaries, some were teachers, some were in Peace Corp, and some were mothers. ALL were daughters of the king, radiating love and wisdom from the Father.
There was something stirring in my heart from the first moment I met these women. I couldn’t and still can’t put my finger on the way I was feeling all weekend. I felt new. I felt wonder. I felt naive. I saw these women, beautiful and fully committed to saying yes to the Lord. Looking at myself, I felt humbled. I’m a young, 18 year old women. These couple of months are the first time I’ve had to do things for myself. I can say yes to living in Swaziland for 3 months, but could I say yes to live here for years and years? I have only seen beauty and barely scratched the surface of understanding the poverty and brokenness here. I haven’t experienced loss, death, extreme missing out, or the huge sacrifices it takes to move or create a family in Swaziland. Sometimes I get wrapped up in how crazy my life is. How beautiful it is to serve and travel the world. How much I love living in community and how I never have to be alone. How wonderful it is to spend time wrapped up in all the good the Lord has given me. And all of this is good, in fact it’s beautiful. But I am young. I’m just figuring out how to fall in love with Jesus and walk boldly in obedience. I have yet to experience the sacrifices and the pain surrendering all of my life to the Lord entails.
Listening to these women speak, hearing their stories, I was mesmerized. When I heard their struggles, I remembered how real life is. Hearing how much of their lives were stripped away and changed yet they still loved the Lord made me reflect on if I would love the Lord the same way.
While we were serving the women, I believe all of us got filled up more than we were giving away. We were on this beautiful farm, sleeping in beds with pillows and blankets, drinking home grown coffee, sitting on grass, swimming, and running through flowers. We got to cook wonderful meals and clean up after women who haven’t had simple tasks like this done for them in a long time. We were living! When the women would tell us how blessed the thankful they were, it would blow my mind because I felt thankful and blessed to be there. I guess that’s how serving is when Jesus is the center, everyone feels refilled in the process.
Here is a video I created from the weekend! I hope you check it out and get a little glimpse of how the weekend looked!
Thank you for reading my blog! Questions and conversations are always welcomed!
<3 Sydney
