Wow. As lame as it sounds, time really does fly. It feels like just yesterday that I was packing up my things in Omaha and getting ready to come to New Zealand. Now, I only have a few weeks left here and it's hard to wrap my brain around it.
I think one overarching theme of my time here is God's faithfulness. I was SO intimidated by the thought of living in a different country. I had to really trust God when I quit 2 jobs and moved out of an amazing apartment not to mention leaving behind close family and friends. I had no clue how I would ever have enough money to come. I wasn't sure why God wanted me to go to bible school and you can guess my general hesitations towards Adventure Bible School.
But God provided again and again. He allowed me to continue graphic design with freelance and then opening up the door for my internship here. He provided ways to keep in touch with people back home (I will now permanently remember my talk'n'save phone card pin number) and provided good friends here at school. I also was kind of a part of a family over Christmas when I went down south and stayed with my friend Esther's family. God floored me with how He provided monetarily for me coming. I seriously still get overwhelmed when I think about how many people gave for me to come.
I still wonder sometimes "why". Why did God have this planned for me? Couldn't I have learned what I have learned here back home? I don't think so.
God made me and knows how best to teach me what He wants me to learn. He knows I can talk until I'm blue in the face about trusting God but that's not trusting God. Trusting God is doing what He asks us to do when He asks us to do it. I've had to walk by faith by coming here and not just talk about faith.
I also have seen how much I had to learn about loving others. (I still have a lot to learn about loving others). Back home, I thought if I was nice to someone, I was loving them. Most of my close friends and the people I did life with were easy to love. We had similar interest and they generally understood me. But that's not the kind of love that God calls us to. The love I showed back home was done on my own strength. It didn't push me outside my comfort zone and didn't really push me to rely on God. At Bible School it's very different. You are in community pretty much 24/7 and with people from different cultures and with hugely different backgrounds. I saw that I use to blame personality differences or circumstances for me and someone not being friends but here I've seen, I'm also to blame. I've seen how opening up when God asks you to, doesn't always mean you're going to get hurt. And loving someone goes way beyond being nice, it means opening up your life to them and walking along side them.
And lastly, I've learned to let go. Ok, so this one is by far the hardest so I probably should phrase it that I'm learning to let go. When you live so far away from people that you care about you really have to trust God with taking care of them. I've seen how sometimes I try and fix people or control my circumstances but God is showing me that I can't. It seems so simple in theory but so hard to put into practice. But, when I get glimpses of it, it is so freeing. I believe that with the power of the Holy Spirit, I can live a life free of worry and anxiety. One that is open to the adventures God has for me and ultimately to glorify Him.
So the plan for right now is that I'm done with school on July 1st. I then fly out to Fiji with a few girls from school and stay there until the 6th. Then I fly back to Omaha and get home on the 6th because of crossing the international dateline.
I have a few prayer request for the next month:
- Praise for all that God has done over this last year
- Prayer that I would finish well here at school
- Prayer for safe travels and a good time in Fiji
- Prayer for a job when I get home
Thanks again for reading, praying and supporting me in this adventure!
