I know this may come as a
surprise to some of you, but it’s really easy to get distracted sometimes. It’s really easy to get carried away with
everything else other than what is right in front of you.
soon, which is possibly my favorite US city, and shortly after to Ireland. The last few days my thoughts have been
consumed with the details that are involved with the upcoming weeks and not so
much from a logistical standpoint, but more of an entertainment
perspective. I can’t wait for the
exploration that will come with the trip to these two places and even the
luxuries that we expected to give up for a year.
Couple this with the fact
that I have been toiling over a few big “God questions” like “what are the
actual desires of my heart” and “do I really want to know God’s will for my
life” and you’ll begin to see why I have been so distracted. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still working my tail
off paving the road and doing all the cleanup that comes with that, but I’ve
almost used my hard work as a justification for my mind to take off. If I were being honest, I would tell you my
mind and maybe even my heart left this island a little under a week ago.
This realization didn’t hit
until the night before last when the two teams working here decided to have a
time of worship together. We played a
few songs, shared scripture and other words that were on our hearts, traded
testimonies, prayed over each, and just had a time of encouragement for everyone. Throughout this process and a few words from
teammates, I realized that I had all but physically checked out of this
ministry.
This broke my heart because
these are some great people that deserve our attention and our love. I spent most of Saturday beating myself up
over this and just moved myself from place to place counting down the hours
until Wednesday when we leave and I could move on to another country and
another chance to love better. We
decided to throw a party for the kids that night and it was at that time God
allowed me to refocus.
I was laying in one of the
hammocks with a three-year-old girl that’s getting adopted on Wednesday (which
is the same day we leave, but no worries parents, it’s not by one of us…) and
we were watching the older girls show us some of their traditional dances. It was at that moment when she was laughing
on my lap and everyone on the porch was all smiles as the party rolled on that
my heart rushed back to me with my mind not to far behind.
These kids may have groups
come in all the time and we may be headed to another ministry in a few short
days, but we’re here now. For some
reason with all their groups and all of our travels, we intersected and we’re
together. I think a lot of times our
ability to get so easily distracted robs us of the moments we have with each
other. We take for granted the hours we
count down until the next big event and we lose out on opportunities that we’re
perfect for.
It’s a daily choice (for me
hourly, if not every second with my mind) to focus on what’s in front of you,
but there is amazing freedom in seizing those opportunities. Hopefully I can continually be reminded of
that thought…
