Friends,
I am sorry it has been so long since I have updated you. Since training camp I have been scratching a large amount of things off my to-do list and taking time to relax and dwell in things I enjoy. I have been focused and I have been in la-la-land. I have been productive and I have been day dreaming in coffee shops and getting lost in museums. I have been packing my apartment and taking an extra couple of hours reading around the park. I have been studying and researching and I have been baking and cooking. I have been volunteering and I have been doing puzzles and talking for way too long on the couch. So what am I trying to say here? I have been working on being in the moment, trying to be in the present and enjoying the task right in front of me.
Guard your time fiercely, be generous with it but be intentional about it
David Duchemin
Yes, there has been a lot more dancing than usual and yes I have made a ton of lists and crossed all of the items off but I have also laughed with friends and gotten to know and hear from God in a whole new way.
Here are a couple of thoughts from lately, no specific order, no overarching message or great insight, just a quick look at my brain tonight:
- After hours of verbal processing, answering questions, looking at verses in new ways, reading too many blogs, filling up with podcasts and lots of trips to REI…. it is finally settling in that in a few short days my team and I head out on a huge adventure with Christ to get to know Him better and share His name and love with His children all around the world
- The eclectic mixture of excitement, fear, eagerness and unknown takes me on a wild journey, but the peace He has so freely given is the most overwhelming feeling of them all
- It has been incredible to witness the generosity, kindness, encouragement and love from my friends, family and even complete random strangers the past couple of months in prayer, financial support, words, acts of kindness (people realized my love for pizza and coffee very fast) and time. There are no words to describe the effect you have had on my heart, journey and walk
- Song lyrics that keep going round and round in my head lately: “My heart is the wick, Your Love is the flame, and I wanna burn for Your name”
- When you are packing, take a second (or a couple of hours) to look at old photo albums, laugh at your funny outfits and poses, smile at the memories and find a way to go back taking more pictures that simply capture the moment
- The unfolding of your Words, gives light – Psalm 119
- I used to not pay attention to the whole “opposites attract” thing but I very quickly learned that differences can create incredible strengths, of course, if handled, treated and cared for correctly, kindly and without hesitation or masks
- You know you have something good when the hard choice is less painful, not because it doesn’t hurt or because it is easy, but because the hard choice is the right choice and the only thing that pushes you through it is the hope and faith that prayer and time will discern God’s plan and way. It specially works as a great trust exercise when you know what you want the answer to be when the time comes but you remind yourself that you must fall back on not your understanding but His alone. All you can do is simply trust, pray and wait.
- Which reminds me of some more lyrics: I lean not on my own understanding, my life is the Hands of the maker of Heaven.. and I will climb this mountain with my hands wide open
- Trying to bake five kinds of cookies in one day will make you want to curl up on the couch and watch Harry Potter for days. Running and looking at Christmas lights is the best way to spend a Thursday. Road trips bring up the best conversations and jamming sessions. Coffee tastes better with Hazelnut creamer. Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet. Ask an 8 year old for his best touchdown dance and you will laugh for hours in your backyard. Life requires reflecting and it requires dreaming. Ask people to go on walks with you more often. And oh, get those French fries you have been wanting
- Be rooted deeply and build your house on rocks. Choose others. Give way more credit to the Holy Spirit and find God in all you see. Always operate out of love.
- The kind of love that we learn from Christ is not just a feeling, it’s an action. An action experienced and demonstrated. It is an overflow of the work of God within our hearts and it comes directly from a Christ dependent spirit and the realization of His unending love. Our ability to understand and extend His love to others comes from first being loved by Christ
I will trust in your unfailing love, I will rejoice because you have rescued me
Psalm 13:5
I leave for Australia in a couple of days but there is still time for phone calls and chats over coffee. You know where to find me to chat about my trip, what God is doing in your life, a funny memory we have together, partnering with me through a donation or prayer or just about your favorite kind of cheese.
Love,
Vielka
