Re-entry

I still have so much to write about our trip, and yet this post has been brewing in my mind and heart for a few days now, so it's taking priority.  :)  

People keep asking us how we're doing.  "How's your heart?"  "How are you doing emotionally?"  "Are you feeling adjusted yet?"

Honestly, I thought I'd be completely wrecked and broken, but I'm not. Totally fatigued, groggy, and sad, yes.  Jet lag is NO fun.

The poverty in Ethiopia was tragic and sad, but it wasn't shocking for us.  Andy and I have both witnessed extreme poverty and maybe that's why - we were adding another layer of awareness to an already accumulated knowledge and compassion, instead of shocking our systems with a brand new reality.   It also helped that we experienced and processed this together, praying, debriefing, and talking through things as they happened.

When I returned home from my college missions trip to Mexico, I was a wreck.  I felt guilty for living in a house after witnessing people who lived in homes covered by plastic tarps and cardboard and whatever else they found in the dump.  I felt guilty that I could walk into a supermarket and have fifty choices of bread while others had to sift through garbage for their next meal.  I felt guilty for birthday gifts and restaurants and a working car and all of the other luxuries I had previously taken for granted.  It took a long time for me to reconcile the disparity between my life of abundance and their life of poverty.

I don't want to feel guilt.  Guilt alienates and it condemns.  It is a very poor motivator.   Instead of wallowing in guilt, I pray I can embrace gratitude.  Gratitude for this incredible opportunity.  Gratitude for the friends we made.  Gratitude for loving family and friends back home who supported and prayed for us.  Gratitude that God allowed us to be used, in whatever way, to advance His kingdom on this earth.  Guilt leads to shame and immobility; gratitude spurs action and service.

We saw and experienced things that will continue to impact us as we continue our daily lives here.  As we return to work and laundry and preschool pick-ups,  it's easy to begrudge the monotony of the life I've returned to.  And yet God never says that holding orphans is more spiritual than doing laundry.  He tells us we have a responsibility to care for orphans, widows, and the poor (James 1:27) but also says that whatever we do should be done in His Name and for His glory (Colossians 3:17).  Everything we do is spiritual if we're doing it for Him.  God is looking for hearts that see Him in the mundane as well as the extraordinary.  Hearts that ask, "How can I serve you here, in this moment?"  Hearts that expect Him to show up in mighty ways whether we're in Africa or in our family room.  He is a God of adventure, and He doesn't limit that to missions trips and mountaintop experiences.

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life -- your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walk-around life - and place it before God as an offering. This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life.  It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike, "What's next, Papa?"  Romans 12:1, 8:15 MSG

What's next?  I'm not sure.  We had an awesome, amazing trip.  We learned so much.  We interacted with the most incredible people.  We saw poverty of things and wealth of relationship.  We hope to go back someday!  For now, our prayer continues to be one of openness and trust - open to whatever He has in store for us and continuing to trust Him without borders!