It’s been three weeks since my last post – and the couple before that were each a
week “late” as well. I’d set a goal to post weekly and to be honest, I’ve missed writing. It’s been life-giving to me. But busy seasons mess with routines – even life giving ones.
It’s been a busy season. Not in the “they expect too much of me and I can’t keep up and now I’m demoralized and hate my job” kind of way. It’s been a busy season of exciting ministry and catching up with friends and meeting wonderful people. A season where I realize how much I enjoy what I do and the people I work with. Where I feel as if I’m in my sweet spot – my passions and my gifts intersecting. Where the hospitality of my home – which I love to offer – has expanded even more and is taking on a bit of a new look. Where there's a lot going on that I don't want to miss out on.
And, in a concession to being older and to it taking more out of me, I’ve had to temporarily let go of some other things.
So, in a change of pace from previous posts this is more an update on what I’m doing than it is a reflection on deeper things. The reflections will be coming soon though! They are already stirring in my mind and my spirit, and notes are already being jotted down.
In the 5-1/2 weeks since returning from my visit to Connecticut, my home has been opened to a World Race alum as he moves to Gainesville to work for Adventures, to long term missionary candidates in town for training, to a family considering connecting with Adventures, to a family reunion for a co-worker who needed extra space and beds, to Adventures staff (currently living elsewhere) who need a place to stay while in Gainesville and to parents who are in town to be Project Searchlight coaches. They’ve stayed anywhere from a couple of nights to three weeks.
I’ve always known that this is part of how I do ministry. The set up of this house – with a basement apartment – is part of why I knew this was “the house” when I was house hunting. It’s truly a gift to me to have people in and out of my home. And I'm learning new ways of doing that, including how to let go of certain things.
On top of the hospitality, in the last 3 weeks we’ve done two parent receptions for parents bringing their high school age kids to training camp in Gainesville. I’ve been to Washington, DC where we did an event for 80 parents as they launched their Racers into the 11 countries in 11 months World Race and we’re wrapping up a week of parents being invited to Project Searchlight – a six day, post-World Race experience designed to help Racers move forward after the Race. We have another Project Searchlight starting next week, with more parents attending. I have charts and to-do lists all around me to keep track of the various details.
The parent connection is where my heart is these days. To get to do this, to help build this new outreach, is a dream come true.
And in 3 weeks I leave for India (followed by another Project Searchlight that starts just as I return). The Lord has been nudging me toward India as my next trip out of the country. I’m not sure why – I would have thought He’d take me back to Swaziland – but I trust this is not a random trip that I picked. I believe there’s something to see or hear or receive from Him and that it’s going to happen in India. But how do I prepare, both logistically and spiritually, when I’m so busy? It’s a challenge.
I’ve talked before about hitting the stage of my life where I want to make sure that what I do matters. This matters – but it means also learning to be content when I have to let go of other things. And as the detail intensive stages of the events begin to let up, I’m finding myself thinking about busy seasons in general. More on that later …
For now, thank you for all of you who make it possible to do what I do, who encourage me, who pitch in and help, who cheer me on both near by and long distance. I hope you know how grateful I am for every act of kindness, every prayer, every word of encouragement and every act of service.
